ΟΙ ΠΕΡΙΠΕΤΕΙΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΗ ΚΑΛΑΜΑΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΛΩΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΩΝ ΚΟΥΡΣΑΡΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΓΑΙΟΥ ΣΤΗΝ ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΒΡΕΤΑΝΙΑΣ (1756-1763)

Abstract

Basil C. Gounaris, The Adventures of Constantis Calamattas and of other Greek Privateers in British Service (1756-1763)

The story of the Angligrecs is not an untold one; nor is the name of Constantis Calamattas, a privateer from Mahon (Minorca) who raided French ships during the Seven Years War commissioned by the British Admiralty. It is, however, the first time, we learn, through the use of various British archival sources, in detail his adventures in Minorca, London, the Archipelago and Constantinople, where he ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans. The study of his correspondence with the British ambassadors reveals that bravery and a British letter of marque were not enough for a Greek Orthodox privateer to survive in the Archipelago. His protection was subjected to the complicated politics between the Levant Company and the Embassy. Curtailing French trade could be a serious threat for the provisioning of the Ottomans. Dissatisfaction also endangered British diplomatic maneuvering. To make thing even worse for Calamattas, his arrested crew participated in a slave revolt and the capture of an Ottoman man-of-war. Under these circumstances his release was not a British priority and his sympathies with the Royal Navy insufficient to get him off the Ottoman hook without the employment of bribery.