Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Straits of Gibraltar.
For a geological history see…
http://www.nasca.org.uk/Medit/medit.html
To see what Montagu would have to encounter, see a modern day crossing on…
http://www.sailnet.com/collections/articles/index.cfm?articleid=shardp004
And an interesting description of a crossing around 1900 see…
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles04/spain28.shtml
Bosphorus Straits
I suspect that the straights referred to in the Jan 19, 1662 entry, are the Bosphorus. Sam notes that “the Turks do take more and more of our ships…” meaning they were levying an increasingly heavy tax on goods passing through. This criticism of the Turks was perpetually voiced by nations shipping goods from the Black Sea.
Sorry! do not agree, Clement, the darned Moors, they ranged right up to the English coast {Cormwall) to get cheap labor and bed warmers. They, the Moors are the cause for the occupation of Tangiers and creating defences, in order to have Trading ships sail around the Horn of Africa to the East Indies and not be pestered by the Corsairs of Algiers and Morroco.
The Straits
Vicenzo is right here: it’s Gibraltar and not the Bosphorus. Don’t be deceived by the use of the word “Turks” in this context: what’s meant are the North-African corsairs (pirates if you want, but “loosely” in the service of the Sultan in Istambul). The term “Turks” was applied generically by the nations of christian Europe to every harassment coming from the muslim world - here specifically the Algerian pirates who more or less undisturbed slipped through Gibraltar, and raided the Spanish, French and British coastlines for booty and slaves.
The Knights of St.John at Malta were very active against these corsairs - with good results - but they couldn’t prevent some of them slipping through the Straits.
Striking sail in the Straits
Yes, Gibralter is a stronger case. You’re right about the broad use by Europeans of the terms Moors and Turks for any Muslim, but I find even further support for Sam’s description. The Turkish Sultan sent Pashas to rule areas of Northern Africa until at least 1659, having gained a measure of control in the early 16th century supporting Barbarossa’s contest against Spain.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/history/American_and_Military/Barbary_Pirates/Britannica_1911*.html
(1911 Britannica with scan error corrections)
Modern pirates: Bloomberg News [google s] today LA Times stated that slayings in pirate attacks rise . Main Area of concern surrounds Aceh Province along with Nigeria with many incidents.
‘Eureka!’ Off Gibraltar: A Trove From 1694
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07EFDB1E3EF937A15751C0A9649C8B63