[post_page_title]The Mediterranean high seas[/post_page_title]
Though Caribbean piracy is featured in stories and movies that we know today, there were actually more pirates in the Mediterranean, who were just as formidable. Ever since the first crusade in the 11th century, the rivalry between Muslim and Christian powers was present. Muslim, Ottoman privateers attacked what they thought to be enemies of their faith, and across centuries, captured over a million Europeans. European powers fought them and created privateers of their own. However, the same powers also used the pirates to harass the fleets of their rivals.
