Amen,Jim, and thanks for responding. Yes, I do hope someone can produce some illustrations from the era to enlighten us. I had forgotten about the slavery angle (other than the Midaeval slavery of the Corsairs taking Christians as slaves and the Maltese corsairs taking the Muslim pilgrims in kind). Land raids would have likely shown regular-sized swords as you stated. Ottoman swords make sense, and I see your point about the flyssa and Berber sabers. What would an Algerian pirate of the day carry, I wonder?
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