Podcasts · The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History

The Maltese Corsair Who Became a Knight

19 Jul 2026 · 7:02 · S4 E165

This episode tells the story of Fra' Mathurin d'Aux de Lescout, a Knight of St. John who was captured by Barbary corsairs in 1601, enslaved for five years in Algiers, and ultimately ransomed back to the Order. But the twist is that before his capture, d'Aux had himself been a corsair, raiding Muslim shipping from his base in Malta. We explore the paradox of the Religion—the Knights' term for their Order—which forbade knights from engaging in trade but openly tolerated, even encouraged, corsairing against 'infidels'. The episode dives into the economics of the corso: the prize courts, the slave markets at Piazza degli Schiavi, the role of the Inquisition in policing the line between legitimate warfare and piracy. We also examine d'Aux's own account of his captivity, written after his return, which reveals the brutal realities of the Mediterranean slave system and the strange solidarity that sometimes emerged across religious lines. Finally, we ask what it meant for a Christian knight to live as a Muslim slave, and how the experience reshaped his understanding of faith and honour.

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