The Ransom Business
Stephen Clissold describes a world of Christian slaves and Moslem masters in North Africa, from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries.
The holding of captives to ransom, now the device of blackmailers and terrorists, has antecedents far back in the history of human conflict. It was common practice in the Middle Ages, when feudal tenants were required to contribute towards their lord’s ransom, particularly during the Crusades, where the struggle between Cross and Crescent emphasized its religious aspect. Where this struggle was prolonged, as in Spain during the seven centuries of the Reconquest, special institutions were evolved to handle the ransoming of captives.
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