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The Turkish Abductions (Icelandic: Tyrkjaránið) were a series of raids that took place in Iceland between July 4 – July 19, 1627. Both Austurland (the eastern edge of the country) and Vestmannaeyjar (islands off the south coast) were raided by Barbary pirates from the regency of Algiers.
In 1627, Jan Janszoon hired a Danish “slave” (most likely a crew member captured on a Danish ship taken as a pirate prize) to pilot him and his men to Iceland, where they raided the Icelandic city Reykjavík. Initially they managed to steal only some salted fish and a few hides, so they decided to make the raid profitable by kidnapping potential slaves. The number of slaves kidnapped from Iceland has been estimated as between 400 and 800.[1] Our most detailed account of the raid is found in a work by Ólafur Egilsson, a priest initially enslaved by the pirates and sent back to plead for funds from the King of Denmark to redeem his Icelandic subjects still in Algiers.[2]
All those offering resistance were killed. The pirates took only young people and those in good physical condition.
When the pirates invaded Vestmannaeyjar, some of the inhabitants and a minister left for the mountains of the island to hide in a cave. Later that day, the minister left the cave to look; some pirates saw him, killed him, and found the cave with all the people in it.
Those captured were sold into slavery on the Barbary Coast. The most notable captive was Guðríður Símonardóttir who was sold as a slave and concubine in Ottoman Algeria before being bought back by King Christian IV of Denmark.
The pirates also attempted to attack Bessastaðir, but were thwarted by cannon fire from the local fortifications (Bessastaðaskans) and a quickly mustered group of Lancers from the Suðurnes.[3]