Simon the Dancer
| Seimen Danziger | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dordrecht, Netherlands |
| Died | 1615 Algiers |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | Simon Re'is |
| Type | Barbary Corsair |
| Allegiance | Algiers |
| Years active | 1600s-1610s |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Base of operations | Barbary coast |
| Battles/wars | Eighty Years' War |
Siemen Danziger (c. 1579 – c. 1615), better known by his anglicized names Zymen Danseker and Simon de Danser, was a 17th-century Dutch privateer and corsair. His name is also written Danziker, Dansker, or Danser.
Danseker and the English pirate John Ward were the two most prominent renegades operating in the Barbary coast during the early 17th century, both of whom were said to command squadrons in Algiers and Tunis equal to their European counterparts, and represented a formidable naval power as allies (much like Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa the previous century). Later in his Barbary career, Danseker became known by the Turkish epithet Simon Re'is.
Commanding a vast squadron made up of English and Turks while in the service of Algiers, he captured over 40 ships in a two-year period after "turning Turk" and was stopped only after his capture and execution in 1611. Both men are featured prominently in Kitab al-Munis fi Akhbar Ifriqiya wa Tunis written by Tunisian writer and historian Ibn Abi Dinar.
A Dutchman, Danseker served as a privateer in the Eighty Years' War and afterwards settled in Marseilles, France, marrying the governor's daughter. In 1607 he stole a ship and sailed for Algiers. Finding himself in the service of Redwan, the Pasha of Algiers, he led a brief but infamous career as a Barbary corsair, where it is sometimes claimed that he introduced the round ship.
The exact circumstances are vague as to the reasons behind his becoming a corsair. However, he "was made welcome as an enemy of the Spaniards" and had become one of the taife reisi's leading captains within a year of his arrival. Often bringing Spanish prizes and prisoners to Algiers, he became known under the names Simon Re'is, Deli-Reis (Captain Crazy) and Deli Kapitan among the people on the Barbary coast and the Turks due to his exploits on the sea. His fleet quickly grew in power, as he incorporated captured ships into his fleet, and was supplied by Algiers with men and use of their shipyards. He was also the first to lead the Algiers out of the Straits of Gibraltar, the farthest distance any had ever successfully navigated, and traveled as far as Iceland. Iceland would later be attacked by Barbary corsairs in 1616. Simon took at least forty ships and sank many of them during the three years that followed. After three more years of pirating he had become quite rich and lived in an opulent palace. Simon The Dancer attacked ships of any nation and made trading in the Mediterranean Sea increasingly difficult for every nation. Many nations therefore looked for ways to stop his attacks (by counterattack, bribes for safe-passage or even employing him as a privateer in their navy).
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