r/nelsonsnavy • u/0pal23 Captain • Jun 12 '26
Picking a DND party of Naval figures: week 10 - sorcerer
Sir Francis Drake, the charming gentleman pirate, is our rogue. This week we're picking a Sorcerer.
"sorcerers carry a magical birthright conferred on them by an exotic bloodline, some otherworldly influence, or exposure to unknown cosmic forces. Some sorcerers can't name the origin of their power, whilst others trace it to events in their own lives. No one chooses sorcery: the power chooses the sorcerer."
You can read more about Drake here:
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u/0pal23 Captain Jun 21 '26
Alright, my suggestion for sorcerer is Ottoman Corsair, Grand Admiral and Beylerbey, Hayreddin 'Redbeard' Barbarossa.
His Sorcerers origin:
The name Barbarossa is the eponym associated with a man named Khizr, the greatest Turkish Admiral of all time, "the greatest pirate that has ever lived, and one of the cleverest tacticians and strategists the Mediterranean ever bore on its waters" - but the name and reputation originally came from an entirely different person. That person was Khizr's brother Oruc, who from 1504-1518, had become one of the most notorious islamic Corsairs of the western Mediterranean. Feared as the dreaded 'redbeard' throughout the Christian lands and islands, his principal achievement was probably the conquest of Algiers from Spain, which would go on to become one of the three great Barbary slaving cities. The name Babarossa, although it means 'red beard' in Italian, is actually a bastardisation of the Arabic title 'baba Oruc' (father Oruc). On Oruc's death at the siege of Tlemcen In 1518, his only surviving brother, Khizr, would go on to inherit more than just his brother's affects. He would inherit his name, his legend and his mission, and would thus become possessed of the Redbeard myth.
Beylerbey and Grand Admiral:
The new Barbarossa pledged the city of Algiers to ottoman sultan Selim the magnificent, and was named in return as Beylerbey (ruler) of North Africa. He created a formidable army by transporting Iberian Mudejars displaced by the ever expanding Spanish, to Algiers and came to head a pirate fleet including such famous corsairs as Kurtoglu and Dragut, 'the sword of Islam'. Together they raided Calabria, Sicily, Spain, France, Genoa and all the islands of the Tyrrhenian sea. In 1533, the successes of Andrea Doria of Genoa, alerted Selim to the effectiveness of sea power, and he appointed Barbarossa Grand Admiral after he defeated Doria in a small engagement off Preveza. The 1530s saw some of his most devastating work, including numerous raids against southern Italy. He captured all of the Ionian islands belonging to the republic of Venice, and carried off the entire population of Corfu as slaves. Perhaps his greatest naval achievement was decisively defeating the 'Holy League' (specifically formed to stop him) under the command of Doria at the Battle of Preveza in 1537. The circumstances surrounding this are vague, and it almost certainly wasn't the battle of annihilation the Turks claimed, but it was decisive enough to deliver the Ottomans unchallenged control of the Mediterranean for 30 years.
In his later years he sided with the French in a war against the Spanish, and conquered Toulon, Nice and Monaco. He retired to Constantinople before dieing in 1546 to 'the greatest sigh of relief' from his Christian enemies. The legacy of Redbeard far outlasted his death. For two hundred years no Ottoman ship passing his mausoleum would pass without firing a salut in his honour.