The taboo history of Europeans: white slaves**.
Despite the fact that Europeans considered themselves superior, if they were to travel back in time to an era, would the most historically savvy people choose to go back to the 17th century? Not to mention going to the Ottoman Empire, the once mighty Turkey, where they will have to face that dark history.
At that time, there were countless unclothed slaves in the bakery, new palace, and new city of the Ottoman kings, who did their best to do heavy manual work such as grinding, quarrying, and masonry under the abuse and whipping of the king's overseers.
However, contrary to our imagination, these slaves are naturally fair-skinned, while the scolding overseers are dark. Although the stones on their shoulders almost crushed them, no one dared to stop for a little rest, for if the movement was a little slow, the overseer's whip would already be drawn on them, and slaves were beaten to death almost every day, but there was no shortage of slaves at the work site.
Because in the prosperous slave market at that time, replacement labor could be found at any time, and the price was not expensive, 30 pounds could buy a strong young man, and a young boy was worth about 40 pounds, and even more could have a "wholesale price".
This is the historical "white slave**", which occurred in the 16th and 19th centuries for more than 300 years of enslavement, is a completely unfamiliar story for many people, and some people even wonder if this is a real existence?
British best-selling author, Giles Milton, through the letters of Thomas Pello, a British teenager who has personally experienced being trafficked and enslaved, to his family, combined with other relevant documents, turned this history into a bestseller that is closer to ** than academic research work - "White**".
01. Do you know how white slaves came about? It all started in 15th-century Spain. At that time, Spain was very powerful, and they plundered the territory of the surrounding small countries through war, and their territory was constantly expanding.
The Moors living in the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily were forced to leave their homes and flee to North Africa. North Africa is mostly desert and life is very difficult. However, the appearance of two pirates wandering off the coast of Barbary changed the lives of the Moors.
They began to raid the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian merchant ships, and fought more and more bravely, even the mighty Spanish navy was defeated. Since then, this group of pirates has been known to Europeans as "Barbary Pirates", and has terrified European merchants in the past.
The Ottoman Empire saw this opportunity and began to support the Barbary pirates, allowing them to plunder European merchant ships and kidnap them to the Ottoman Empire to serve as slaves and army soldiers.
Each kidnapped slave had to pay a high amount of compensation, which made it very painful for Europeans. Over time, the Barbary pirates also began to plunder other European countries, and their maritime combat power was so strong that even a powerful country like Britain could not compete with them.
02. What did the white slave go through? They were forced to leave their homes, kidnapped by pirates, and enslaved. They were taken to the Ottoman Empire, forced to do some hard work, and even forced to go to war.
They have no freedom, no dignity, and their lives are very difficult. Their families need to pay a hefty compensation to ransom them, which makes their families very miserable.
What happened to the white slaves was very tragic, and we should cherish the freedom and happiness we have now.
In the book "White **", the British teenager Thomas. Pelo had experienced first-hand the brutality of slavery. When the slaves first arrived in the city, they were paraded like sheep and subjected to public humiliation.
Such an experience can trigger despair and breakdown in the hearts of many slaves. However, this is just the beginning, and more terrifying challenges await them. In the underground prison, the slaves would face six months of groundwater and sewage that would seep out of the mud and spill over their knees.
To avoid soaking in sewage, slaves made hammocks out of nails, and those who slept at the bottom could come into contact with the water. If the hammock breaks, everyone will fall into the water to spend the long dark night.
Every day, they get only a small amount of coarse bread and water. Only when the slave auction was about to be held would the strong men receive generous food – fresh food twice a day for several days and good white bread that would make them look better on the day of the auction and sell for a good price.
These experiences revealed the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery.
Slaves who were sold to new masters, young women not only had to do menial work, but were also responsible for giving birth to small slaves. Older women would be sent to the bakery to grind the dough day in and day out.
Male slaves, if they have special skills, will be bought, and those without skills will be sent to the quarry. Both men and women were forced to change their religion and face death if they resisted.
This lasted for almost 300 years, and the countries of Europe united and decided to use force against the Barbary pirates and get them to stop the European slave trade. Every commander who participated in the campaign knew that it was a big gamble with no known outcome, and if it failed, the prestige of the Barbary pirates would be higher, the sold slaves would be imprisoned forever or immediately executed, and the European merchant ships would be more dangerous.
Under the attack of more than 50,000 shells, the captive white slaves were able to return to their hometowns, and the fishermen and merchant ships of the Barbary Coast no longer risked captivity to go to sea, and the white slaves** also came to an end.
According to Giles Milton's description in The White**, the story of the white slave trade is like a man trapped in a nightmare from which he cannot escape. Many people perished in this purgatory-like life, but a few were lucky enough to recover from them"The hosts"Escape from the control.
These escapees, who have almost nothing left, choose to publish their own stories in the hope of earning some money to make a living. As a result, these not-so-pleasant readings serve as the most powerful clues to our quest for dark histories that Europeans don't want to be known.