The conquest of Tunis in 1574 marked the conquest of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
over the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
, which had seized the place a year earlier. The event virtually determined the supremacy in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
vied between both empires in favour of the former,
[''The new Cambridge modern history'' R. B. Wernham, p.354](_blank)
/ref> sealing the Ottoman domination over eastern and central Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
, with the Ottoman dependencies in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli ensuingly coming to experience a golden age as corsair states.
Background
Tunis had initially been conquered by the Ottomans under Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...
in 1534. In the next year, however, Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
had launched a major expedition and captured it in turn. He established a garrison and a vassal ruler in the person of Lhacène of the Hafsid dynasty
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (wester ...
. The Bey of Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...
Uluj Ali
Occhiali (Giovanni Dionigi Galeni or ''Giovan Dionigi Galeni'', also ''Uluj Ali'', tr, Uluç Ali ''Reis'', later ''Uluç Ali Paşa'' and finally Kılıç Ali Paşa; 1519 – 21 June 1587) was an Italian farmer, then Ottoman privateer and ...
Pasha captured Tunis in 1569 for the Ottoman Empire, but in the aftermath of the 1571 Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
, John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
managed to take Tunis in October 1573.
/ref>
Capture of Tunis
In 1574, William of Orange and Charles IX of France
Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II in 1560, and as such was the penultimate monarch of the ...
, through his pro-Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
ambassador François de Noailles
François de Noailles, (2 July 1519 – 19 September 1585) Papal Prothonotary, made Bishop of Dax in 1556, was French ambassador in Venice in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX to the Ottoman Empire from 1571 to 1575.
François was ...
, Bishop of Dax
The Diocese of Dax or Acqs was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Gascony in south-west France. According to tradition it was established in the 5th century. It was suppressed after the French Revolution, by the Concordat of 1801 betw ...
, tried to obtain the support of the Ottoman ruler Selim II
Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire f ...
in order to open a new front against the Spanish king Philip II. Selim II sent his support through a messenger, who endeavoured to put the Dutch in contact with the rebellious Moriscos of Spain and the pirates of Algiers.[Parker, p.61] Selim also sent a great fleet to attack Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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in the Autumn of 1574, thus succeeding in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch.
In the Battle of La Goleta, Selim II mustered a fleet of between 250 and 300 warships, with about 75,000 men. The Ottoman fleet was commanded by Sinan Pacha and Alūj Ali.[Garcés, p.220] The Ottoman fleet combined with troops sent by the governors of Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...
, Tripoli, and Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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, giving a combined strength of about 100,000. The army attacked Tunis and La Goleta; the ''presidio'' of La Goleta, defended by 7,000 men, fell on 24 August 1574. The last Christian troops in a small fort opposite Tunis surrendered on 3 September 1574.
John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
attempted to relieve the siege with a fleet of galleys from Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
and Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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but failed due to storms.[Garcés, p.221] The Spanish crown, being heavily involved in the Netherlands and short of funds was unable to help significantly.
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...
, future author of ''Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...
'', participated in these events as a soldier, and was among the troops of Don Juan of Austria which tried to rescue the city.[Garcés, p.222] He claims that the Ottomans led 22 assaults against the fort of Tunis, losing 25,000 men, while only 300 Christians survived. He wrote about the battle:
Abd al-Malik, the future Moroccan King, participated in the 1574 conquest of Tunis on the side of the Ottomans.[''The last great Muslim empires: history of the Muslim world'' by Frank Ronald Charles Bagley, Hans Joachim Kissling p.103''ff''](_blank)
/ref>
Gabrio Serbelloni
Gabriele Serbelloni, better known as Gabrio Serbelloni (also Gabriel Cerbellón in Spanish), (1509 – January 1580) was an Italian condottiero and general. A noble by birth (his family was among the noblest in Milan), he achieved an even hi ...
was the commander of the fort of Tunis. The general of La Goleta, Don Pedro Portocarerro, was taken as a captive to Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, but died on the way. The captured soldiers were employed as slaves on galleys.
The battle marked the final establishment of Ottoman rule in Tunis, putting an end to the Hafsid dynasty
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (wester ...
and the Spanish presence in Tunis.
The success of the Turks under Occhiali in the battle of Goleta managed in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch, and leading to negotiations at the Conference of Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
. After the death of Charles IX in May 1574 however, contacts weakened, although the Ottomans are said to have supported the 1575–1576 revolt, and establish, in 1582, a consulate in Antwerp (''De Turks-Griekse Natie''). The Ottomans made a truce with Spain, and shifted their attention to their conflict with Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590). The Spanish crown fell into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
on 1 September 1575.
After the truce, Ottoman-Spanish hostilities resumed in 1591, even if they would not reach the magnitude of yesteryear.
See also
* Siege of Castelnuovo
The siege of Castelnuovo was an engagement during the Ottoman-Habsburg struggle for control of the Mediterranean, which took place in July 1539 at the walled town of Castelnuovo, present-day Herceg Novi, Montenegro. Castelnuovo had been conquer ...
* Islam and Protestantism
Protestantism and Islam entered into contact during the early-16th century when the Ottoman Empire, expanding in the Balkans, first encountered Calvinist Protestants in present-day Hungary and Transylvania. As both parties opposed the Austrian ...
* Franco-Ottoman alliance
Notes
References
* Geoffrey Parker, Lesley M. Smith ''The General crisis of the seventeenth century'' Routledge, 1978
* María Antonia Garcés ''Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale'' Vanderbilt University Press, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conquest Of Tunis (1574)
Military history of Tunisia
History of Tunis
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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Tunis 1574
Tunis 1574
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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1574 in the Ottoman Empire
1574 in Africa
16th century in Tunisia
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
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