The Conquest of Tunis in 1573 was a Spanish campaign led by

John of Austria John of Austria (, ; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the illegitimate son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V recognized him in a codicil to his will. John became a military leader in the service of his half-brother, King Phi ...

to conquer

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Background

With the victory of the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

, John of Austria pushed for actions to capitalize on the Christian momentum. His first attempt to besiege Navarino in 1572 was fruitless, being forced to retire, although in its course his admiral Álvaro de Bazán captured an enemy galley commanded by a grandson of

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...

, after which they confirmed the Ottomans' mostly defensive attitude. A new grand campaign was cancelled with the disbanding of the Holy League and the negotiations between the Ottomans and the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, leading the Spanish Monarchy to ponder about a new conquest in Africa. Knowing the Spanish garrison in the La Goleta fort in Tunis was still besieged since the 1569 capture of the city by

Occhiali Occhiali (also Uluj Ali; born Giovanni Dionigi Galeni; – 21 June 1587), later known as Kılıç Ali Paşa, was an Italian privateer and admiral who served as the commander of the Regency of Algiers and Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) of ...

, this was the chosen target. Although most of the Spanish Empire's resources were focused in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, deeming the

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was a theater free of strategic dangers after the outcome of Lepanto, Don John gathered 152 galleys, many of them Ottoman vessels captured in the battle. This would be one of the main displays of Hispanic naval power up to the point. Don John would take 104 galleys and other support vessels while

Giovanni Andrea Doria Giovanni Andrea Doria (1539 – 1606), also known as Gianandrea Doria, was an Italian admiral from Genoa, the Marquis of Tursi and Prince of Melfi. Biography Doria was born to a noble family of the Republic of Genoa. He was the son of Giann ...

stayed in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

with 48 galleys, guarding against possible political turmoil in the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

The siege

The capture of the city was bloodless. As long as John of Austria's fleet arrived in Tunis, the local population mutinied against the Turk garrison, capturing many of them. A galley with 220 Christian slaves were handed over to Don John, who gave the city's throne to Muley Mohammed, brother and enemy to Muley Hamida, Tunis' Ottoman ruler.

Consequences

The battle was followed by a campaign by the Ottoman fleet led by Occhiali, who performed minor raids before returning. However, Occhiali would retake Tunis the following year due to the disbanding of the Spanish fleet.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conquest Of Tunis (1573) Sieges of Tunis

Tunis 1574 Tunis 1574

1574 in the Ottoman Empire 1574 in Africa 16th century in Tunisia