Kingdom of Navarra Book 2: Barbary Pirates

By Xavier Arista

In Book 2: Barbary Pirates, our hero creates the first Basque navy. Lessons learned from ancient Greek scrolls allow him to develop a version of Greek fire and fast ships. He also creates a bank, which funds the recovery of Navarra. But treachery causes havoc. The peasant army fights back, as the little navy attacks the Franks in Germany and the Barbary Pirates in North Africa, and Ireland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xavier Arista
• Release date: Sep 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370820542

Xavier Arista

The Author is a former Tank Company Commander, airborne trooper, and commercial diver. He had the record for deepest working dive (Wasp & Jim, armored diving suits) from 1982 to 2000. He was a pilot for Alvin, a manned scientific submersible operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. And is currently a director at a oceanographic research institute, but will retire in December 2015.The Author is an American of Basque decent.

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Kingdom of Navarra

Book 2, Barbary Pirates

By Xavier Arista

Copyright © 2016 Xavier Arista

All rights reserved.

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Cover by Adam Wayne

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ISBN 9781370820542

Discover book titles by Xavier Arista

Kingdom of Navarra, Book 1: The Banu Qasi

Kingdom of Navarra, Book 2: Barbary Pirates

Kingdom of Navarra, Book 3: The Witch Trials

The Family of Assassins

Prologue

White slavery had become big business in the eighth century A.D. as Moorish pirates from the Barbary Coast raided mainland Europe, and even the British Iles, to capture white slave girls for their harems and brothels in North Africa. And from there they often sold the slave girls to the powerful Muslim Caliphate of Bagdad. The Moors called the young girls they captured walking white gold.

In those days, the Muslim Caliphate of Cordoba ruled two thirds of Spain. But three small, independent states still struggled to survive; the Christian Kingdom of Asturias, the pagan Basque [Vascone] clans that comprised the Kingdom of Navarra, and the Basque and Visigoth converts to Islam who had created the Banu Qasi Emirate.

By the early ninth century, the Kingdom of the Franks had absorbed all of Europe that we now call France, Germany, Austria and northern Italy.

Recap of Book 1

The Kingdom of Navarra, Book 1: the Banu Qasi, tells the story of boy named Inigo, a mountain Basque, who saves a pretty girl, Catalin, from Frank raiders. When Inigo was just a boy his father had agreed to have him serve two years as a squire in the Banu Qasi Emirate. During his time as a squire, Inigo battles the Franks near Villanova and again in Barcelona. He also learns the skills of love in the House of Pleasure. Returning to Pamplona, he discovers that he’s the biological son of the chief of the Arga Valley Basques. The young prince fights against a Frankish invasion up the Ebro River Valley, in Pamplona, and then he finally ambushes the Franks at Roncesvalles Pass, where he kills the famous Frankish knight, Roland, nephew of King Charlemagne.

Inigo’s brother, Salazar, tries to get help to fight the Franks from the Kingdom of Asturias. He successfully brings a sympathetic Princess Isabella of Asturias to his home in the Pyrenees Mountains. In the mountains, Isabella meets her betrothed, Prince Petri of Aquitaine. Isabella and Petri get married, and Isabella leads a cavalry charge to save her new husband at the Battle of Roncesvalles Pass. Later, Isabella is captured and sold as a slave to a Berber lord, after the Franks defeat the forces of Aquitaine near Bordeaux.

Inigo marries Lady Eleanor of Leon, and Eleanor conspires with her father, the duke of Leon, to murder the king of Asturias. Inigo is elected King of Navarra, and under duress, he supports the Caliphate of Cordoba in their failed attempt to take Toulouse. Later, Inigo helps his Berber friend, Lord Tariq, to find refuge in the Cantabrian Mountains after the Saracens try to blame him for their failures.

For a short period, Pamplona thrives as a city that tolerates all religions.

The names used in this story are often Basque [Vascone-Aquitani], Arabic or old Jewish names. The background for this story is loosely based on the real history of Europe in the eighth century, but this story is fiction. If you are offended by explicit descriptions of violence, sex or white slavery, delete this book right now. I hope you enjoy the story.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Recap of Book 1

Chapter 1: The Pirates

Chapter 2: Peace with the Franks

Chapter 3: The Pirates Den

Chapter 4: The Mercenaries

Chapter 5: Chaos

Chapter 6: The Resistance

Chapter 7: Eire (Ireland)

Chapter 8: The duke of Paderborn

Chapter 9: Sancho

Chapter 10: The god Suggar

Chapter 11: The duke of Castile

Chapter 12: The duchy of Leon

Chapter 13: Pamplona

Chapter 14: The Saracens

Chapter 15: Javier and Sancho

Chapter 16: Hawk Boat Attack

Chapter 17: The Hornet's Nest

Chapter 18: The Battle of Zaragoza

Chapter 19: The Franks and the Saracens

Epilogue

Chapter 1

The Pirates

ToC

Inigo gently brushed Catalin’s hair off of her face, as he watched her sleeping next to him. A light, cool breeze swept through the windows of their room on the third floor of the fortress of Pamplona. Dawn had broken, and he could hear their daughter Ane next door in Isabella’s room. She’s probably driving her crazy, he thought, but Isabella loved little Ane; and that mischievous little girl had brought Isabella back from her deep depression, after losing her husband Petrie, her father, and General Tariq in the same year. That was five years ago, and now Isabella was a second mother to Ane.

Catalin opened her eyes and smiled, what are you thinking about, my love? She asked with a yawn.

Oh, you, Ane, Isabella, our happy little family, replied Inigo contently.

We are a happy little family, aren’t we, she giggled. Tomorrow night you have to baby sit Ane, and I get Isabella. Then on Thursday, you get Isabella. What’s on the agenda for you today, your Highness?

A messenger came from the Kingdom of Asturias last night, and I meet with him this morning. Then a delegation from Bizkaia is coming to see me as well. It seems that the Barbary pirates are really causing us problems. And if that’s not enough; even the Franks are sending us a delegation next week.

You’re a busy boy, said Catalin, her face changing to a worried look. But we need to keep Isabella away from the Asturians. If they recognize her as their former princess that bitch Eleanor will try to have her killed. You do know that, don’t you, my love?

Yes dear, I know that they will see Isabella as a threat to their plan to take the throne of Asturias. Eleanor has already had the rest of the King Alphonso’s family killed, except for the boy-king. And it’s just a matter of time before the boy-king dies in a fake accident or something like that.

Why don’t you ask the delegation from the Franks, if Charlemagne still has a bounty on your head?

I will, but they’re politicians, and they will lie, of course.

Catalin got up and walked naked across the room to get her clothes, knowing that Inigo would be watching her. She glanced back to see if Inigo was watching, and he gave her a bashful smile.

Inigo loved Catalin's raven-black hair, shapely butt, ample breasts and the lush black triangle that covered her sex; all beautifully offset by her pale grey eyes.

And Catalin loved to see the lust in her man’s eyes. She still loved his slim, well-muscled body, and couldn't help but to feel a twinge of desire when she saw her man with hunger in his eyes for her body. On impulse, she playfully she stuck her tongue out at Inigo, and he grinned back.

The throne room in Pamplona

A tall, slender man, dressed in the colors of Asturias entered the Roman hall. He had brown eyes and brown hair and a long narrow nose.

The hall was a remnant of the original Roman fortress, and it had beautiful Greek columns on each side of the entryway.

The man from Asturias bowed elegantly, with one foot extended forward. The chancellor of Asturias and duke of Leon sends greetings on behalf of Alphonso the Second, the king of Asturias, said Sir Diego de Gijon.

Thank you, Sir Diego, and you come from Gijon, is that correct? Asked Inigo.

Yes, your Highness, it's a coastal town.

Do you have problems with the Barbary pirates?

Yes, your Highness, they just raided a small fishing village north of Gijon last year, and they took the whole population captive, answered Sir Diego. The pirates attack Asturias at least twice a month every summer.

So, what does the duke want?

Taken a bit aback by the abruptness of the king, Diego replied, The Kingdom of Asturias wishes to establish a relationship with the Kingdom of Navarra.

Why? Inigo asked, looking grim.

Sir Diego frowned, the blunt response had unsettled him. We would like to send our merchants to trade with your kingdom, your Highness, and clergy to see to their higher needs, and perhaps some representatives of the Kingdom of Asturias to deal with the Kingdom of Navarra on political issues.

Inigo sat back in his chair, with his index finger lightly touching his lower lip, and replied, I frankly don’t see any political issues that need to be discussed with Asturias, but Pamplona tolerates all religions and merchants as well; if they don’t interfere with the other religions in our city. I will have our standard contract sent to you tomorrow, and when it’s signed by your king, you may send your diplomatic corps and merchants.

And clergy? Asked Diego, with a worried look in his eyes.

Yes, and clergy, if you must. But if they stir up trouble, you will all; merchants, diplomats, everyone, be asked to leave immediately. Is that clear?

Yes, your Highness.

Inigo waved his hand dismissively.

There are two more issues, said Diego.

Yes, replied Inigo, in a testy tone.

Could we rent a building for our consulate?

Yes, of course. I will have someone from the Bank of Pamplona pick you up from your rooms tomorrow, and he’ll escort you around to the open properties. And the second issue?

Sir Diego de Gijon gulped nervously, The Queen of Navarra requests that you acknowledge Princess Isabella of Navarra as your heir.

(A long pause, and an angry sigh) Tell that perverted bitch that there is no Queen of Navarra or Princess of Navarra, for that matter. She had the Pope annul our marriage! If she will allow Isabella to come live with me, I may consider the possibility of acknowledging her in four or five years. Actually, substitute Lady Eleanor for that perverted bitch in my reply, said Inigo, his face red with fury. Now go."

As Sir Diego bowed again and turned to depart Inigo said, send it the delegation from Bizkaia, to his guards.

A few minutes later the delegation from Bizkaia came into the Roman hall and briefly nodded their heads, as was the Basque custom.

Cousins, said Inigo, shall we have some wine together? Inigo clapped his hands, and a boy with wine and cups entered immediately. He knew that King Inigo would offer any visiting Basques wine, as soon as they entered, because he always did.

What’s the problem gentlemen? Inigo asked, in a brotherly tone.

Highness, the Barbary pirates attacked a little fishing village named Bermeo, and took all the men, women and children, captive. And then they sailed away before help could arrive, said the elder representative from Bizkaia. This is the biggest attack yet, but three other smaller attacks have happened in the last year. The fishing communities are so scared that they are moving inland, and our fishing industry is collapsing. It’s the same in Gipuzkoa.

Thinking of all of the ships described in the Greek scrolls, Inigo asked, What kind of ships did they have?

They were around a hundred feet long, and had triangular sails. The beam on their ships was narrower than our fishing boats of the same length.

Why couldn’t you catch them; you have ships?

Their ships can sail much closer to the wind. Our ships have square sails to propel our big loads of fish or cargo, and we cannot point as close to the wind as they can. So, the raiders just go to windward, and we cannot keep up.

Come back tomorrow, and we will meet with the librarian and Javier. Guard, Javier is in town, is he not?

Yes, your Highness.

Get him, and tell him that we will all meet at the library at eight. And also, ask Thesis to come.

Inigo always loved having dinner with his family. His daughter Ane was four, very cute, with the grey eyes of her mother, and her father’s black hair. She had started dinner sitting on Inigo’s lap, but soon got down and spent time on his mother Catalin’s lap, and then she had to try her godmother, Isabella’s lap, to see if the food was better there.

I'm so lucky, Inigo thought, as he watched his beautiful mistress, Catalin, and his daughter, Ane, exchange kisses. And beautiful Isabella still considers herself Lord Tariq’s slave; and mine, I suppose, since she is under my protection at the request of General Tariq. Isabella had explained that when her husband and all of her new family had died at the battle of Bordeaux, she died. Then she was reborn in Lord Tariq’s arms, as his slave. Tariq and his wives were her master and mistresses, and her purpose in life was to give them pleasure. Tariq gave her to Inigo for her protection, so her purpose now was to give pleasure to her new master and mistress, Inigo and Catalin. In her mind, it was simple. She had been reborn to be a slave.

Tell us what happened with Sir Diego de Gijon of Asturias? Asked Catalin, wondering what her lover, Inigo, had been thinking of.

Well Catalin, the Kingdom of Asturias wants a consulate in Pamplona, and they will send merchants, diplomats and clergy. And that makes me nervous."

It should make you nervous. Eleanor is not beyond trying to undermine everything you’ve done to make Pamplona prosperous, replied Catalin with a scowl.

There’s even more. The Queen of Navarra wants me to acknowledge that the Princess of Navarra is my heir.

There’s no fucking Queen of Navarra or Princess of Navarra; that bitch annulled your marriage, Catalin replied, furiously.

Little Ane pouted, and looked at her mother, as her mother’s tone set her on the verge of crying. Catalin kissed her, and Ane smiled sweetly back at her mother.

Inigo smiled at his mistress and daughter, That’s pretty much what I said, but I think I added perverted bitch as well.

They both looked at Isabella, knowing that Eleanor and her father the duke of Leon had probably assassinated her father, and they also played a part in the death of her husband, Petri, on the battlefield south of Bordeaux.

Isabella had tears in her eyes, thinking of her first love, Prince Petri. A different lifetime, long ago, Isabella thought.

And what did the delegation from Bizkaia want? Catalin asked, desperately trying to change the subject to something happier.

Oh, Barbary pirates attacked Bermeo, and took all the men, women and children captive. We are meeting with them tomorrow, to find a solution.

They will sell them as slaves, said Isabella, a far off look in her eyes. Just as they sold Lord Tariq’s wives, servants and harem girls as slaves, when he was imprisoned by the Saracens. They will work them to death like cattle - not like humans, -like cattle.

The table went quiet until Ane started babbling happily, climbing down off of her mother’s lap, and going to Isabella, and giving her baby kisses to cheer her up.

She’s a clever little girl, said Inigo.

The next morning, Inigo, the two representatives from Bizkaia, the Librarian, Thesis, the Jew, Ibraham, and Javier, the former Banu Qasi scout and master of the mangonel catapult, met in the library.

Inigo started, The Barbary pirates have raided a small fishing port called Bermeo in Bizkaia. They sailed away with the entire population as their captives, in a ship with triangular sails. This ship can apparently sail very close to the wind, which means our ships cannot catch them. We’re here to come up with a solution. Ibraham, why are they doing this in the first place?

Ibraham looked up, he had grey hair, with traditional Jewish ringlets hanging in front of his ears, and he was not used to addressing so many Basques at one time. Riches, he said, with a strong voice. Under the Umayyad’s rule, North Africa and the East have grown rich. The riches were gained by talking most of Iberia, and controlling the Mediterranean Sea, and that has made them lazy. It’s much more lucrative for the young Moors to be warriors or pirates, than to tend to their own herds, or to farm their own fields. So, they need slaves. And Iberia, France and Italy are easy targets. They will hit your small coastal villages and take everyone. They will sell the pretty white girls to be harem slaves, or prostitutes, for a great deal of money. The Arabic slang for young slave girls translates into walking white gold. Then they sell the rest of the captives to farm their land and herd their animals. It's the same story as the Romans, repeated. But it’s worse, because you northerners cannot survive the sicknesses that ravage North Africa regularly. Most non-African slaves die in the first four to five years, so the Moor’s need for slaves is, and will be, never ending.

Then let’s figure out how to stop them, said Inigo, his eyebrows tensely scrunched together.

I know about the triangular sails, said Thesis, the librarian, as he brushed back a tangle of his silver hair. They are called lateen sails, and they were developed in Egypt several hundreds of years ago. The ship is probably a felucca, and I know how to make a faster version of this ship.

Inigo looked at his old teacher, Thesis; long grey hair and beard, stooped shoulders, and watery eyes. He must be seventy, Inigo thought, very old for these times. How do you know that you can make a faster ship, and how do we get this new ship to point close to the wind?

The library, said Thesis. We have drawings of both feluccas and lateen sails in the library, and I will copy them. If we build a lighter boat of the felucca style, with the same sized lateen sail, it will go faster than their boats. And I also have a design for a keel, that will help our boat point very close into the wind.

But, why will our boat be faster? Asked Inigo, curious as ever.

They must sail with eighty or a hundred soldiers to take the villages captive. They must have the capacity to hold a hundred slaves as well. We will man our boats with only thirty men.

Then how will we defeat them with only thirty men, even if we catch them? Asked Inigo, a bit impatient.

Mangonels, said Javier, his deeply tanned skin covering his thickly muscled, warriors body. We will mount mangonel catapults on the bow of the boats and smash them from a distance.

That will take a lot of rocks, and they are not likely to stay still to be pounded to pieces, said one of the Bizkaia representatives.

What’s the biggest fear on any boat? Asked Inigo.

Fire, said the Bizkaians together.

Why can’t the mangonels hurl our fire pots, instead of rocks? Asked Inigo.

I love it, we’ll just burn the bastards, said Javier, his dark eyes betraying his love for a good battle.

And their lateen sails are made of cotton cloth. They are probably very dry cotton cloth, from the desert winds. So, they will burn like kindling, said Thesis, with revenge in his eyes.

Thesis, do you have an issue with these pirates? Asked Inigo.

Pirates such as these, took me from my home in Greece when I was a young man, and sold me into slavery in Tunis. Perhaps they are not the same pirates, but helping you stop these pirates will make me feel avenged. Burn them Inigo, burn them for me.

Inigo smiled at his old teacher, and said, yes, then our mission is to design a variant of the felucca, that can survive our western seas, and can carry thirty men, with a mangonel catapult on the bow. We will need to figure out how to hit the enemy boats at sea with the mangonel, when we are moving, and they are moving as well.

Inigo, do you remember our studies of Euclid, do you remember geometry? A milliradian subtends an arc of one foot at a thousand feet, or point four feet at four hundred feet. Just give me the width of the Barbary pirate ship’s bow or stern, and the length of their ships, and I will build you a sight that gives you the exact range. When the bow of the ship or the length of the ship fills the right length in the milliradian sight, you fire. I promise it will work, said Thesis.

I believe you, Thesis, you build the sight; and train Javier and his men how to use it. But let’s sketch out the boats, first, said Inigo. Oh, and let’s send riders to the boat builders of both Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, to get here right away, he said to his guard.

It took a week to design the boats, and two months to build six of them. Each boat was one hundred feet long, with a crew of thirty, and a mangonel catapult was mounted on a platform at the bow. A lateen main sail was stepped in the center of the ship, and a three-foot deep keel, extended almost the whole length of the boat. Three boats were built in Bizkaia, and three in Gipuzkoa, each clan trying very hard to build the best boat. The crew of the little fleet trained hard on the very fast boats. And Inigo named each boat after a type of belatz [hawk].

To verify the milliradian sights for mangonel, they set up both a mock bow and side view of a Barbary pirate ship on a small rock island off of Donostia. Javier divided up his eighteen remaining Banu Qasi scouts, so that there were three experienced catapult gunners on every boat. They sailed as close to the wind as they could go on approach to their target, and when the mockup of the stern or bow of a pirate boat filled the image in milliradian sight, they fired. The boats practiced every day, until they could set the island targets on fire, five times out of five. The clay pots they fired were round and about twelve inches in diameter. They were filled with lard-thickened turpentine, and the paraffin wick was lighted just before the mangonel was fired.

Then they were ready to go to war. Three of the boats were stationed on the coast of Bizkaia, and three more, were on the coast of Gipuzkoa.

Inigo had also set up a network of coast watchers all of the way to the border with the Kingdom of Asturias. Now it was a waiting game to see if they could catch the Barbary pirates. Signal fires were prepared on the hills to transmit a warning to the nearest hawk boat, as they