ABSTRACT
Knight (1608-?) was captured by the Turks of Algiers in 1631, and spent a lot of time as a galley slave. 64 Although claiming he lacks the ability to impart what he went through, he actually gives a vivid impression of his miseries, for while he writes about the lot of galley slaves generally, his account of their sufferings and state of mind is clearly informed by his own experiences. Worse than the physical torments, Knight says, was the 'danger of falling from the Christian and most holy faith ... I have known many who through the extremity of their sufferings hath renounced their Saviour, and embraced the Muhammadan and diabolical imposture' (1640: sig. A3•). In 1638, Knight and 12 other prisoners escaped from a Turkish castle, somehow getting out of their leg-irons and scaling the walls; they then rowed for two nights and a day to reach Corfu. His book is an expression of his 'ardent affection for the enlargement of the multitude of my poor countrymen, groaning under the merciless yoke of Turkish thraldom' (1640: sig. AY).
