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Conquest of Tunis (1535)
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Conquest of Tunis (1535)
The Conquest of Tunis (called Jornada de Túnez in Spanish sources) in 1535 occurred when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his allies captured the city of Tunis from the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Catholic fleet, which included admirals Andrea Doria and Bazán the Elder, captured the fleet of grand Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, who had turned Tunis into his naval base for future invasions of Italy and Spain. Although Barbarossa managed to escape, the victory ensured Ottoman forces in North Africa remained limited to the usual actions of the Barbary corsairs. Tunis remained under Spanish control until its Ottoman recapture in 1569.
The conquest was one of the largest amphibious operations of the 16th century; historian Henry Kamen described it as "the most imposing ever mounted by Christian powers in the long history of the western Mediterranean". It was an unprecedented logistic achievement due to its proportions, complexity and relative quickness. It involved multiple types of ships, siege techniques and the intervention of the recently created tercios. Due to this and other successes, Charles founded officially the Spanish Marine Infantry, which remains the oldest still in existence.
With the advance of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, the conquest of Tunis would be obscured in historiography by other battles, including failures like the Algiers expedition and victories like the battle of Lepanto. It was still recorded in many period pieces of art, most notably a series of tapestry works by Willem de Pannemaker.
In 1533, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, to build a large war fleet for Constantinople. Altogether 70 galleys were built in the winter of 1533–1534, manned by slave oarsmen, including 2,000 Jews. With this fleet, Barbarossa conducted aggressive raids along the coast of Italy, then conquered Tunis on 16 August 1534, ousting the theretofore local ruler, Muley Hasan, who had been subservient to the Spanish Barbarossa established a strong naval base in Tunis, which could be used for raids in the region, and on nearby Malta.
Charles V was informed that should Barbarossa remain in power in Tunis, both Italy and Spain might be threatened by the Ottoman navy. He therefore assembled a large fleet to drive the Ottomans from the region. He recruited forces from the Republic of Genoa under his grand admiral Andrea Doria, the Spanish navy under Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, the Portuguese armada under his brother-in-law Infante Luís, the Papal fleet under Virginio Orsini and the Knights of Malta under Aurelio Botigela. The fleet would included some 30,000 soldiers, 74 galleys rowed by chained Protestants[dubious – discuss] shipped in from Antwerp.
The expense involved for Charles V was considerable, and at 1,000,000 ducats on par with the cost of Charles' campaign against Suleiman on the Danube. Unexpectedly, the funding of the conquest of Tunis came from the galleons sailing in from the New World, in the form of two million gold ducats extracted by Francisco Pizarro for releasing the Inca king Atahualpa, whom he nevertheless executed on 29 August 1533.
Despite a request by Charles V, Francis I denied French support to the expedition, explaining that he was under a three-year truce with Barbarossa following the 1533 Ottoman embassy to France. Francis I was also in negotiations with Suleiman for a combined attack on Charles V following the 1534 Ottoman embassy, and quickly advised Barbarossa of Charles' intention. Francis I only agreed to Pope Paul III's request that no fight between Christians occur during the time of the expedition. King Henry VIII of England and the Republic of Venice were also invited, but declined. Charles sent Genoese spy, Luigi de Presenda, to rendezvous with the exiled Muley Hasan, but he was betrayed by a morisco partner and captured. Barbarossa interrogated Presenda, who falsely assured him the emperor could not gather more than 150 ships against him.
The Catholic fleet would be commanded by Andrea Doria on the sea and by Alfonso d'Avalos while on land. Other commanders in the fleet were Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, captain of the Spanish ships, as well as Luis Hurtado de Mendoza, 2nd Marquess of Mondéjar, along with his brother Bernardino de Mendoza, and a young Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. The Italian contingent would be captained by Fadrique de Carreto, Agostino Spinola and Girolamo Tutavilla, Count of Sarno, while Germans landsknecht would be commanded by Maximilian Eberstain. The Spanish tercios included veterans Francisco de Sarmiento and maestre de campo Rodrigo de Ripalda.
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Conquest of Tunis (1535)
The Conquest of Tunis (called Jornada de Túnez in Spanish sources) in 1535 occurred when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his allies captured the city of Tunis from the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Catholic fleet, which included admirals Andrea Doria and Bazán the Elder, captured the fleet of grand Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, who had turned Tunis into his naval base for future invasions of Italy and Spain. Although Barbarossa managed to escape, the victory ensured Ottoman forces in North Africa remained limited to the usual actions of the Barbary corsairs. Tunis remained under Spanish control until its Ottoman recapture in 1569.
The conquest was one of the largest amphibious operations of the 16th century; historian Henry Kamen described it as "the most imposing ever mounted by Christian powers in the long history of the western Mediterranean". It was an unprecedented logistic achievement due to its proportions, complexity and relative quickness. It involved multiple types of ships, siege techniques and the intervention of the recently created tercios. Due to this and other successes, Charles founded officially the Spanish Marine Infantry, which remains the oldest still in existence.
With the advance of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, the conquest of Tunis would be obscured in historiography by other battles, including failures like the Algiers expedition and victories like the battle of Lepanto. It was still recorded in many period pieces of art, most notably a series of tapestry works by Willem de Pannemaker.
In 1533, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, to build a large war fleet for Constantinople. Altogether 70 galleys were built in the winter of 1533–1534, manned by slave oarsmen, including 2,000 Jews. With this fleet, Barbarossa conducted aggressive raids along the coast of Italy, then conquered Tunis on 16 August 1534, ousting the theretofore local ruler, Muley Hasan, who had been subservient to the Spanish Barbarossa established a strong naval base in Tunis, which could be used for raids in the region, and on nearby Malta.
Charles V was informed that should Barbarossa remain in power in Tunis, both Italy and Spain might be threatened by the Ottoman navy. He therefore assembled a large fleet to drive the Ottomans from the region. He recruited forces from the Republic of Genoa under his grand admiral Andrea Doria, the Spanish navy under Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, the Portuguese armada under his brother-in-law Infante Luís, the Papal fleet under Virginio Orsini and the Knights of Malta under Aurelio Botigela. The fleet would included some 30,000 soldiers, 74 galleys rowed by chained Protestants[dubious – discuss] shipped in from Antwerp.
The expense involved for Charles V was considerable, and at 1,000,000 ducats on par with the cost of Charles' campaign against Suleiman on the Danube. Unexpectedly, the funding of the conquest of Tunis came from the galleons sailing in from the New World, in the form of two million gold ducats extracted by Francisco Pizarro for releasing the Inca king Atahualpa, whom he nevertheless executed on 29 August 1533.
Despite a request by Charles V, Francis I denied French support to the expedition, explaining that he was under a three-year truce with Barbarossa following the 1533 Ottoman embassy to France. Francis I was also in negotiations with Suleiman for a combined attack on Charles V following the 1534 Ottoman embassy, and quickly advised Barbarossa of Charles' intention. Francis I only agreed to Pope Paul III's request that no fight between Christians occur during the time of the expedition. King Henry VIII of England and the Republic of Venice were also invited, but declined. Charles sent Genoese spy, Luigi de Presenda, to rendezvous with the exiled Muley Hasan, but he was betrayed by a morisco partner and captured. Barbarossa interrogated Presenda, who falsely assured him the emperor could not gather more than 150 ships against him.
The Catholic fleet would be commanded by Andrea Doria on the sea and by Alfonso d'Avalos while on land. Other commanders in the fleet were Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, captain of the Spanish ships, as well as Luis Hurtado de Mendoza, 2nd Marquess of Mondéjar, along with his brother Bernardino de Mendoza, and a young Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. The Italian contingent would be captained by Fadrique de Carreto, Agostino Spinola and Girolamo Tutavilla, Count of Sarno, while Germans landsknecht would be commanded by Maximilian Eberstain. The Spanish tercios included veterans Francisco de Sarmiento and maestre de campo Rodrigo de Ripalda.
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