Article III about the Enslavement of Christians by Muslims in Literature:Voltaire
Western Christians enslaved by the Muslims between 1500-1800
Between 1500-1800 at least one million and even 1.25 million were enslaved.That is the conclusion of Robert Davis.His scholarly book on the theme is “Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800 “(2004). It was the done by the Muslim Moroccans,Tunisians and Algerians.
About 90% of those enslaved were men, and the women were destined to be sex slaves in a harem.Only 5% of them, like Miguel de Cervantes and St. Vincent de Paul, were ransomed or escaped.
It is estimated about 600,000 Europeans in total were slaves in Algiers,Algeria in those centuries.
Here are articles about Davis’ book:
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/mar/11/highereducation.books
Voltaire (1694-1778)
He is the most distinguished French writer of the Enlightenment,which came before the French revolution.He had much more literary talent than Montesquieu, Diderot and Rousseau.His masterpiece is the satirical novel “Candide” (1759), very funny and brillant.One must also read his stories “Zadig” (1747), “L’Ingenu” (1767), “Micromegas” (1752) and “The Philosophical Dictionary” (1764)
Voltaire was a:
1.Deist:that is one who believes in God but a God who never intervenes,miracles are impossible
2.Against the enslavement of Africans.
3.And his views against Jews were so extreme that he was a judeophobe.Read:
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/30/books/l-voltaire-and-the-jews-590990.html
The real name of Voltaire
His real name is not Voltaire, Voltaire is an anagram, that is to say a combination of the letters of a certain word. His real name was Jean-Francois Arouet and “Voltaire” is an anagram of the words “Arouet L(Ieune) “,Arouet the Younger, which in Latin is:
“A-R-O-V-E-T-L-I”.
An anagram is a type of pseudonym, as in the case of Moliere, where “Moliere” was the facade name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin.
Candide, Voltaire’s masterpiece
Candide is a young man living in the castle of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh.His teacher is Pangloss, a philosopher who professed, like Leibniz, that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Candide is expelled from the castle because of his love for Cunegonde, the daughter of the baron. He is forced to join the Bulgarian army,and witnesses the slaughter of war. He runs away and finds Pangloss, who tells him of the death of Cunegonde,who was raped by Bulgarian soldiers.
Candide in the earthquake of Lisbon
They sail for Lisbon and they get there the day of the earthquake and are victims of the Inquisition, in which Pangloss is hanged. Candide finds Cunegonde, who is the mistress of the Grand Inquisitor and of a rich Jew called Don Issachar. They flee with Cunegonde and an old servant of Cunegonde to Cadiz in Spain.
Candide’s trip to the New World
He sails with his valet Cacambo, Cunegonde and the old servant for Paraguay. Forced to abandon Cunegonde in Buenos Aires, he flees with Cacambo to Paraguay,the land of the Jesuits. They find the brother of Cunegonde,who has become a Jesuit, and Candide is forced,to save his life,to stab him with a sword, escapes and discovers the land of Eldorado. They are happy, but prefer to leave with all their wealth to find Cunegonde.
Candide returns to Europe
He meets Martin, who is disgusted with life, and goes to Europe with him. They go to Paris, where Candide gets robbed by an abbot and narrowly escapes prison, then goes to Venice with Martin in search of Cunegonde. There they meet Paquette, the maid of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh.
Cunegonde made a slave by the Muslims
They then go to Constantinople to free Cunegonde, who is now ugly,and a slave. In a galley ship, among the convicts, they find Pangloss, who had escaped the gallows,he was not dead, and also Cunegonde’s brother, who had not died by Candide’s sword. Candide pays for their ransom.They go to Constantinople and there Candide buys a garden,which he cultivates, without worrying about the world.
Read the Two Former Articles on the Theme
“Article I about the Enslavement of Christians by the Muslims in Western Literature:Lord Byron”
“Article II about the Enslavement of Christians in Literature:Cervantes and Algeria”
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