Barbarossa, “red beard” in Italian, was considered the king of Mediterranean pirates in the 16th century.
His real name was Hayreddin (Khayr ad-Din) and he was hired by the Turks when Suleiman the Magnificent, around 1540, tasked him with arming a powerful fleet of 150 ships to rescue the King of France, Francis I, with whom he had formed an alliance, to defeat the Emperor Charles V. When Barbarossa arrived in France, he did not continue his action because the political situation had changed, and on his return journey he engaged in raids along the Italian coasts, reaching Lipari which he besieged and sacked in July 1544.
