Christian White Slaves, Muslim Masters

Photo: A Meccan merchant (right) and his Circassian slave. by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, c. 1888

From as early as the 14th century to the 19th century, white Christian chattel slavery ran concurrently with the transatlantic slave trade. Under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire, upwards of 2.5 million Eastern European slaves were captured. And in Western Europe, historian Robert Davis has estimated that 1.25 million Europeans were enslaved by Barbary Coast pirates, with the sanctioning of Libya, Algiers, Tunisia, and Morroco in North Africa. Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands coastlines were said to have been depleted, in some periods, by the raids. Merchant and passenger ships along with fishermen were also targeted by Muslim and European privateers. Sources: Davis, Robert. British Slaves on the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800. -- The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 3, AD 1420–AD 1804)