From the oxford protegee to a renegade pirate in Vatican’s service: the case of George Aptal

Abstract

George Aptal's life destiny reflects the conditions on the Mediterranean in the beginning of the eighteenth century, which called for individuals of different ethnic background to try their best to fit in. Although he was of Greek origin, from Izmir, in their youth, George Aptal and his brother had been preordained for the career in one of the most important of the factories (merchant colony) of the Levant Company in the very Levant itself. After a short-termed sojourn in Britain, during which he had obtained his education at Gloucester Hall in Oxford, and after a series of adventures, Aptal returned to Izmir in 1704, since he had been bound by contract to the Levant Company. There are no reliable data of his life and ventures in several following years. However, Aptal rose the interest of the diplomatic circles, when in 1713 he robbed the goods of the Tunisian merchants, having killed a number of them. From that moment on, the British authorities considered Aptal a pirate. Aptal's activities influenced the British representatives in Italian and Levantine ports, who tried to dissociate themselves from the case, with raising the issue of compensation of the losses to the Tunisian merchants. The better times arrived for George Aptal when the Porte decided to declare the war to Venice at the end of 1714. The same decision presented an introduction in a much larger confrontation, when in April 1715 the Court in Vienna declared the war to the Porte. Using the new events, Aptal decided to become a pirate in the service of the Papal state, thus becoming a mercenary of Vatican. Documents from the National Archives in London, together with the press that covered the ongoing incidences in the Apennine Peninsula and Europe (Avisi Italiani), point to this event. The decision of the Porte meant for Aptal that he had escaped the punishment of the British authorities, since Britain had no mechanisms to pressure the Papal State to extradite George Aptal. The tensions in the British-Ottoman relations, caused by the Aptal's piracy were resolved in 1719, owing to the successful actions of the new British ambassador to the Porte, in the person of Abraham Stanyan. This signifies ceasing of interests in George Aptal, who most probably had decided to remain in Italy, where he was protected for a time.