Editing John Smith (explorer) (section)

==First voyages==
Smith set off to sea at age 16 after his father died. He served as a mercenary in the army of [[Henry IV of France]] against the Spaniards, fighting for [[Dutch Revolt|Dutch independence]] from King [[Philip II of Spain]]. He then went to the [[Mediterranean Sea]], where he engaged in trade and piracy, and later fought against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] in the [[Long Turkish War]]. He was promoted to cavalry captain while fighting for the Austrian [[Habsburgs]] in Hungary in the campaign of [[Michael the Brave]] in 1600 and 1601.{{cn|date=April 2025}} 

After the death of Michael the Brave, he fought for [[Radu Șerban]] in [[Wallachia]] against Ottoman vassal [[Ieremia Movilă]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America |last=Firstbrook |first=Peter |publisher=Oneworld Publications |date=2014 |chapter=Chapter 4: Knight-Errant (1602) |isbn=978-1851689507}}</ref> Smith reputedly killed and beheaded three Ottoman challengers in single combat duels, for which he was knighted by the [[Sigismund Báthory|Prince of Transylvania]] and given a horse and a coat of arms showing three Turks' heads.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Bŭlgarii︠a︡ i neĭnii︠a︡t narod pod osmanska vlast : prez pogleda na anglosaksonskite pŭteshestvenit︠s︡i, 1586–1878 : otkrivaneto na edna narodnost|last=Michel.|first=Leo|date=2013|publisher=Tangra TanNakRa|others=Glukharova, Marieta|isbn=978-9543781065|location=Sofia︡, Bulgaria|pages=23|oclc=894636829}}</ref>

In 1602, he was wounded in a skirmish with the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatars]], captured, and, taken to a slave market, and then sold.<ref name=NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities>{{cite web|url=http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2007-01/John_Smith.htm|title=Soldier of Fortune: John Smith before Jamestown|work=neh.gov|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117160614/http://www.neh.gov///news/humanities/2007-01/John_Smith.htm|archive-date=17 January 2009|url-status=dead |quote=Smith had been a mercenary, a pirate, a slave […] Smith was taken to a slave market}}</ref> He was sent as an enslaved gift to a woman in [[Constantinople vilayet|Constantinople]] (Istanbul), Charatza Tragabigzanda, who sent him to perform agricultural work and to be converted to [[Islam]] in [[Rostov]]. During one of the regular beatings his slavemaster gave him, Smith killed the slavemaster and escaped from [[Ottoman Empire]] territory to [[Tsardom of Russia|Muscovy]]. Smith traveled through the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], Europe, and Africa, reaching England in 1604. <ref>{{cite web |title=Captain John Smith |url=https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/life-of-john-smith.htm |website=Historic Jamestowne |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=25 April 2024 |date=4 September 2024 |quote= the enslaved Smith was presented by his master as a gift to his fiancée, Charatza Tragbigzanda […] in an attempt to convert Smith to Islam, she sent him to work for her brother, Tymor Bashaw, who ran an agricultural station in present-day Russia, near Rostov […] often beating him. During one such beating, Smith overpowered Tymore, killing him and fleeing his enslavement […] travels across the remainder of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Spain, and Morocco before finally returning to England in 1604}}</ref>