Spanish and Ottoman Conquest
By the 15th century Libya was a haven for pirates. Habsburg Spain occupied Tripoli in 1510. Because the Spaniards were concerned with controlling the port instead of administering a colony, Charles V took Tripoli and in 1528 gave it to the Knights of St John of Malta.
In 1538 Tripoli was reconquered by a pirate king called Khair ad-Din and the coast became renowned as the Barbary Coast. The Ottomans arrived to occupy Tripoli in 1551, they saw little reason to rein in the region. It would be more than two centuries before the pirates' control of the region was challenged.
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Libya
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