A Christian Turn'd Turk

A Christian Turn'd Turk
John Ward's ship engages a British vessel
Written by	Robert Daborne
Characters	25
Original language	English
Subject	Religious conversion / Piracy / Islam / Protestantism
Setting	Tunis

A Christian Turn'd Turk (1612) is a play by the English dramatist Robert Daborne. It concerns the conversion of the pirate John Ward to Islam.

The list of dramatis personae printed in the 1612 quarto is incomplete and inaccurate. I have revised the list, adding missing characters' names, removing "ghost characters", correcting inconsistencies, and eliminating confusion.

A Christian Turn'd Turk was entered into the Stationers' Register on 1 February 1612 (new style) and was published in quarto format later that year by the bookseller William Barrenger.

A Christian Turn'd Turk's protagonist John Ward is based on the historical figure of the same name. A notorious pirate, he operated along the Barbary coast in the early 17th century and was also known by the name Jack Ward. Tales of Ward's piracy heavily influenced A Christian Turn'd Turk. Dabourne based his depiction of Ward on two pamphlets which recounted tales of Ward's piracy. The pamphlets portrayed him as an engaging antihero and a risk-taker who rose from poverty to riches. Ward's capturing of foreign ships was lauded in several popular ballads but there was still concern in England regarding 'his crimes against God'. Ward would later make an agreement with the Turks to use Tunis as a base for his piratical operations and would attack Christian ships in an attempt to steal their lucrative cargo. Despite Ward's attacks on Christian ships, he remained a popular figure during the early years of James I's reign. James I's proclamation against piracy in 1608-9 added to the almost mythical status Ward had cultivated, derived from his capture of a rich Venetian in 1607. However, his conversion to Islam and assumption of the name Yusuf Reis was considered scandalous, and his relentless and indiscriminate attacks on sailing vessels caused concerns about the amount of money England was losing as a result of his piracy.