Surf Wiki
Save to docs
people/17th-century

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Mezzomorto

Ottoman-Spanish military and political official

Mezzomorto
Summary

Ottoman-Spanish military and political official

FieldValue
nameMezzo Morto Hüseyin Pasha
titleDey of Algiers
imageConterfan dess Mezomorto gewesten Daÿ in Algier, iezünd Capitan Bassa der Flotten dess Gross Türcken .jpg
captionMezzomorto as a Grand Admiral.
successionAdmiral of Algiers
reign1671–1683
predecessorMohammed Trik
successorHadj Ahmed Chabane
houseFlag of Algiers.jpg Regency of Algiers
house-typeCountry
occupationCaptain then Dey
religionIslam
succession13rd Dey of Algiers
reign11683–1688
predecessor1Baba Hassan
successor1Hadj Ahmed Chabane
succession2Kapudan Pasha
reign21695–1701
module{{Infobox military personembed=yes
battles
death_date1701
death_placeFlag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Chios
burial_date1701
burial_placeFlag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg Chios

| house-type = Country

  • Franco-Algerian war (1681–1688)
  • Morean War
    • Battle of the Oinousses Islands
    • Battle of Zeytinburnu
    • Battle of Andros (1696)
Bust of Mezzo Morto Hüseyin Pasha in the [[Mersin Naval Museum]].

Hussein Mezzomorto (d. 1701) or Hajji Husain Mezzomorto was an Algerian corsair, dey of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) of the Ottoman Navy. His epithet mezzomorto is the Italian for "half-dead" and was acquired during a fight with the Spaniards, when he was gravely injured.

Biography

Mezzo morto pasha was a converted Christian from Mallorca. Mezzomorto was mentioned as a captain in 1674. He rose to prominence during the French attacks on Algiers in the early 1680s. He was present for Abraham Duquesne's 1682 bombardment and commanded a fleet of corsairs the next year. The dey of Algiers Baba Hassan handed him over as a hostage to the French, but Mezzomorto persuaded the French admiral to send him back to shore, where he led an insurrection against Baba Hassan, killed him, and took over as dey of Algiers. He then opened fire on the French fleet, forcing Duquesne to raise his blockade. During the 1684 bombardment, he signed a "100 year" treaty with Duquesne. However, the French fleet bombarded Algiers again in 1688, and Mezzomorto retaliated with attacks on the French coast.

As dey of Algiers, Mezzomorto took part in the Morean War between the Ottomans and Venetians in 1686. He then commanded the fleet in the Danube in 1690, and afterward in the Black Sea. The Venetian threat to the Ottomans' Aegean possessions led to Mezzomorto's appointment as sanjak-bey of Rhodes in 1691.

He was held captive by the Venetians for many years, knew them intimately, and swore revenge the day he was freed.

Distinguishing himself during the reconquest of Chios in early 1695, he was promoted to Kapudan Pasha, acquiring lordship over the Province of the Islands. His primary goal was to expel the Venetians from the Aegean. He defeated a Venetian fleet off Lesbos in September 1695, preventing it from reaching Chios. He commanded at the Battle of Andros in 1696, and on July 5, 1697, defeated a Venetian fleet off Tenedos. On September 3 he scored another victory, this time off Andros. A battle off Lesbos on September 21, 1698, was interpreted as a victory by each side.

With the support of Sultan Mustafa II, Mezzomorto began a reform of the navy. His reforms were compiled into a book of regulations, the Kannunname, published shortly before his death in 1701. He was buried on Chios.

References

:Corsari del Mediterraneo. "Mezzomorto Hassan".

References

  1. E.J. van Donzel. (2022). "Islamic Desk Reference Compiled from The Encyclopaedia of Islam". BRILL.
  2. Orhonlu, C. "Hadjdji Husayn Pasha." ''Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition''. Vol. III. Ed. B. Lewis, V.L. Menage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971. p. 629.
  3. Panzac, Daniel. ''La Marine ottomane. De l’apogée à la chute de l’Empire (1572-1923)''. {{in lang. fr
  4. Orhonlu, "Hadjdji Husayn Pasha." p. 629.
  5. "MEZZOMORTO HÜSEYİN PAŞA - Osmanlı Hikayeleri - ehlisunnetbuyukleri.com {{!}} İslam Alimleri {{!}} Evliya Hayatları".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

17th-century-births 1701-deaths rulers-of-the-regency-of-algiers pashas privateers-from-the-ottoman-empire ottoman-people-of-the-great-turkish-war kapudan-pashas 17th-century-algerian-people algerian-people-of-spanish-descent morean-war converts-to-islam
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Mezzomorto — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report