The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case before 1900, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
List DateVictim(s)Abductor(s)LocationAge of victim(s)OutcomeNotes99 B.C.AntoniaCilician piratesMisenum, ItalyUnknownReleasedA daughter of orator Marcus Antonius, Antonia was kidnapped by Cilician pirates; she was released following the payment of a ransom.A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women p. 2475 B.C.Julius CaesarCilician piratesAegean Sea25ReleasedCaesar was kidnapped while traveling across the Aegean Sea to study in Rhodes in 75 B.C. His captors demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver for his release; a sum Caesar reportedly persuaded his captors to raise to 50. He was released upon payment of this ransom, and later ensured his abductors were apprehended and crucified.History of Julius Caesar p. 8752 B.C.Publius Claudius Pulcher (son of Clodius)PiratesAlbaUnknownRaised by Mark AntonyPublius Claudius Pulcher was a young male child who was the son of Clodius was kidnapped by pirates after his father died.mid-5th to early-6th centurySt. Patrickpirates from Dál RiataSub-Roman Britain16escapedSt. Patrick was a 16-year-old son of a decurion who was kidnapped at the age of 16 and was forced to become a shepherd. After 6 years of work he escaped by fleeing to a port two hundred miles away. St. Patrick escaped back to Britain but returned a few years later to convert the people of Ireland to Catholicism.880SolangeThe son of a noblemanFranceUnknownMurderedFrankish shepherdess who, according to legend, was abducted by the son of the count of Poitiers due to her beauty and popularity. Resisting his forceful abduction, her kidnapper grew enraged and then decapitated her. Myths claim that her severed head invoked the Holy Name of Jesus three times, before the body picked it up and walked towards a church in present-day Sainte-Solange, where it dropped dead. Solange has been locally canonized as a Saint to whom numerous miracles have been attributed.994Siegfried II, Count of StadeNorman piratesHarsefeld, Germany38EscapedCount of Stade kidnapped by Norman pirates. He was held in captivity at Harsefeld Castle in Lower Saxony, but escaped from his captors.Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg pp. 22-2313th centuryElisabeth of WrocławBolesław II the BoldUnknownUnknownMarried Przemysł I of Greater Poland and had five childrenElisabeth was kidnapped by her brother Bolesław II the Bold because her family wanted her to marry Przemysł I of Greater Poland for political reasons. The marriage helped the reincorporation of Kalisz into Greater Poland. In 1250, Elisabeth founded a monastery in Owińska. Elisabeth and Przemysł had five children before the latter's death in 1257. He left Elisabeth her dower, in which was an estate in Modrze, where Elisabeth died in 1265. She was buried in the Poznań Cathedral.H. Likowski, The beginnings of the Cistercian monastery in Owińska, Poznań 1922, p. 32.1357Prince Halil, the son of Orhan Bey and Theodora KantakouzeneMarmara Sea piratesIzmit11RansomedThe pirates holed up in the fortress at Phocaea and were besieged for months by one ship from Orhan, two ships from Emperor Andronicos (paid for by Orhan). Finally, Orhan himself arrived and paid the ransom of 30,000 ducats ($5.3M in today's money).Halil İnalcık: Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları, İsam, İstanbul, 2010, ISBN 978-605-55-8606-5 pp. 66–69 When Orhan died, Halil was killed by his brother Murad.1438–1440140+ victimsGilles de RaisPays de la Loire, FranceMurderedBetween 1438 and 1440, hundreds of children reportedly disappeared in the Nantes region. Many of the victims were last seen being taken away by servants of Gilles de Laval, the Marechal de Rais. An ecclesiastical court investigating accusations of murder against Rais found that the victims had been abducted on his orders and sexually abused by Rais and his servants before being murdered and disembowelled. Rais and several of his servants were executed for the alleged crimes. Modern historians are increasingly sceptical of the accusations against Rais, but most consider him guilty of at least some of the charges against him.15 May 1440Jean Le FerronGilles de RaisSaint-Étienne-de-Mer-Morte, FranceRescuedJean Le Ferron took custody of the castle at Saint-Étienne-de-Mer-Morte from his brother Geoffroy, who had purchased it from Marshal of France Gilles de Rais. Rais later attempted to reclaim his castle; when Jean Le Ferron refused to hand it over, Rais seized it by force with help from a retinue of soldiers before dragging Le Ferron out of the village church and throwing him in the dungeons. Rais was arrested in September and Le Ferron was liberated. The crime led to an investigation which revealed Rais' involvement in the abduction and murder of local children (see above), resulting in Rais' execution.7 December 1444Geoffroy Le FerronFrançois PrelatiLa Roche-sur-Yon, FranceReleasedThe brother of Jean Le Ferron, he was taken captive while passing through La Roche-sur-Yon at the order of François Prelati, an accomplice of Gilles de Rais who blamed the brothers for Rais' capture and his own imprisonment. Prelati held Le Ferron in his dungeon at La Roche-sur-Yon for two months, during which time he was tortured to try and extort a ransom from him, before the intervention of René of Anjou forced him to release Le Ferron. Prelati was condemned to death for his part in the affair.1455Ólöf LoftsdóttirScottish piratesOrkney, Scotlandc. 45ReleasedLoftsdóttir and her husband were robbed and abducted by Scottish pirates outside Orkney and imprisoned in Scotland;Ólöf ríka á Skarði. Sunnudagsblað Tímans, 28. júní 1964. the couple were released following the paying of a ransom by Christian I of Denmark, who assigned them the task of expelling all British traders from Iceland on his behalf.1509India CatalinaPedro de HerediaBolívar, Colombia14ReleasedThe daughter of a local chief was kidnapped by Pedro de Heredia to be an interpreter and intermediary, playing a role in the Spanish conquest of Colombia.Archivo General de Indias. Probanza de Álvaro de Torres, Alguacil del Cartagena. Santa Fe, 80, N. 10 A, fol. (41 r) 2.1509Catharina de GrebberGerrit van RaaphorstWassenaar, the Netherlands13Stayed with abductor for four months, then returned homeParents sued. Court case and sentence are well documented. Abductor was found guilty and sentenced to a walk of repentance. What became of her after that is unknown."Grebber, Catharina de (1495/1496-na 1515)". Resources.huygens1 October 1549Edward VIEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetBuckingham Palace11RescuedThe young King Edward was taken captive by the Duke of Somerset, who had been alerted of a threat to his power as Lord Protector, and brought to Windsor Castle where he was held prisoner. He was freed on 11 October when the Regency Council ordered Somerset's arrest and Somerset was later executed for treason.24 April 1567Mary, Queen of ScotsJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of BothwellLinlithgow, Scotland24Stayed with captorBothwell, who had been recommended as the third husband for Queen Mary by the Ainslie Tavern Bond, took her prisoner on the road to Edinburgh with a retinue of 800 men and removed her to his castle at Dunbar, where he allegedly raped her. After her release, she agreed to marry him and created him Duke of Orkney.Gordon Donaldson, The Memoirs of Sir James Melville of Halhill (London: Folio Society, 1969), p. 65: Grant G. Simpson, Scottish Handwriting (Tuckwell, 1998), no. 18 contract 14 May 1567.1568Philip William of Orange-NassauPhilip II of SpainLeuven13Kept by abductor for 30 years before being released.Father William the Silent was in disagreement with Philip II of Spain who decided to abduct his eldest son, kept him as a hostage for ensuring the good behavior of his father and raise him as a Catholic. Released 30 years later.September 1600Andronikos KantakouzenosOttoman EmpireGiurgiu, Romania47MurderedLeading politician in Wallachia during the Long Turkish War. He attempted to negotiate a peace with the Ottoman Empire after the war started to turn against Wallachia, but was taken hostage during negotiations and apparently beheaded the following year.Vergatti, p. 235. See also Stoicescu, p. 4113 December 1600Thomas CliftonBlackfriars companyLondon, England13ReleasedHenry Clifton sued the Blackfriars Company for abducting his son and the case became known as the Clifton Star Chamber Case1605Vincent de PaulBarbary piratesTunis, Tunisia24ReleasedAn Occitan French Catholic priest taken captive by Barbary pirates and sold as a slave. De Paul spent approximately two years in slavery—being resold on several occasions—before he was released by one of his masters in June 1607.1628Olivier Le JeuneDavid KirkeNew France7ReleasedMalagasy boy who was the first slave to New France, where he was sold to a French clerk in Quebec. After the settlement was returned to the French in 1632, Le Jeune was handed to a Jesuit priest who baptisized him and later declared him a free 'domestic servant'.March 1613PocahontasSamuel ArgallPassapatanzy, Virginiaapprox. 16Stayed with captorsPocahontas, the daughter of chief Powahatan, was taken captive during the Anglo-Powhatan War by Captain Samuel Argall, who enticed her onto his ship with help from Native allies before holding her for ransom. She was held prisoner for a year, during which time she converted to Christianity, before agreeing to remain with the white colonists around March 1614, later marrying an Englishman and returning to London with him.1644Jeffrey HudsonBarbary piratesNorth Africa25ReleasedOne of several court dwarves of Henrietta Maria. Hudson was captured by Barbary pirates in late 1644 at the age of 25 and spent the following 25 years as a slave in North Africa before a ransom was paid. He returned to England in the 1660s.26 May 1665Elizabeth Wilmot, Countess of RochesterJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of RochesterEngland14Stayed with captorEnglish heiress who refused to marry Wilmot, who then attempted to abduct her. She escaped, but later forgave and married him.Biographical information from the entry on Elizabeth Wilmot in Lord Rochester's Monkey, written by Graham Greene, c. 1697John BowenFrench piratesAtlantic OceanUnknownEscapedA petty officer whose ship was commandeered by French pirates. Bowen and others kidnapped later escaped upon the ship's longboat and sailed to St. Augustine. He later became a pirate himself. Bowen died in 1704.1698Thomas WhiteFrench piratesGuineaUnknownEscaped from captorsA former Royal Navy sailor. White subsequently became a pirate largely active in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. His vessel, the Marigold was captured by French pirates in 1698 off the coast of Guinea. He was later enslaved by George Booth and John Bowen before escaping in 1701. He later served as a quartermaster for notorious pirate Thomas Howard.Early 1700sGraman QuassiDutch protectorateSurinameUnknownStayed with captorGhanaian child who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.1719Bartholomew RobertsHowell Davis et al.Anomabu37Joined captors in piracyA second mate on the slave ship Princess under Captain Abraham Plumb. Roberts and others were kidnapped by pirates while anchored along the Gold Coast of West Africa. He rapidly embraced the lifestyle and ultimately became the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy.1721John PhillipsThomas Anstis et al.NewfoundlandUnknownJoined captors in piracyA ship's carpenter; Phillips was captured by Thomas Anstis and his crew in April 1721. Initially forced to join the pirates and serve as their carpenter, Phillips soon embraced the lifestyle. He later became a captain, and captured 34 ships before he was killed alongside several members of his crew on 18 April 1724 by several prisoners they had kidnapped.Conlin, p. 54June 1722Philip AshtonEdward LowShelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada20EscapedAsh