Corsairs
Corsairs, privateers of the Barbary Coast of North Africa. They were Muslims licensed by their governments to prey on Christian shipping. Among the most notable corsairs were the two Greek-born Barbarossa brothers, who were active in the early 16th century.
During the Middle Ages the corsairs built strongholds in Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis. They sometimes held captives for ransom and frequently collected a fee from ships before permitting them to navigate the Mediterranean Sea and nearby waters. The United States partially subdued the corsairs in the Barbary Wars (1801-05 and 1815). Their power was finally destroyed by the French in 1830.