The conquest of Tunis in 1574 marked the conquest of

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 ...

by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

over the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, which had seized the place a year earlier. The event virtually determined the supremacy in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

vied between both empires in favour of the former,''The new Cambridge modern history'' R. B. Wernham, p.354
/ref> sealing the Ottoman domination over eastern and central

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

, with the Ottoman dependencies in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli ensuingly coming to experience a golden age as corsair states.

Background

The Ottoman Army Marching On The City Of Tunis In 1569 Ce

Tunis had initially been conquered by the Ottomans under

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 ...

in 1534. In the next year, however,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * 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 Others * Charles V, Duke ...

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 Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berbers, Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tu ...

. The

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Uluj Ali 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 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 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 ...

re-conquered Tunis in October 1573.
/ref>

Capture of Tunis

In 1574, William the Silent, William of Orange and

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

, through his pro-

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

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 of France, Charles IX to the Ottoman Empire from 1571 to 1 ...

, Bishop of Dax, tried to obtain the support of the Ottoman ruler Selim II 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 ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

of Spain and the pirates of Algiers.Parker, p.61 Selim also sent a great fleet to attack

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.Ibn abi dinar, p.174 The Ottoman fleet combined with troops sent by the governors of

, Tripoli, and

, giving a combined strength of about 100,000.Garcés, p.220 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 13 September 1574. Don Juan D Austria

attempted to relieve the siege with a fleet of galleys from

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

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. ...

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 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

, future author of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', 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''
/ref> Gabrio Serbelloni was the commander of the fort of Tunis. The general of La Goleta, Don Pedro Portocarerro, was taken as a captive to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, but died on the way. The captured soldiers were employed as slaves on galleys. Hafsid1400

The battle marked the final establishment of Ottoman rule in Tunis, putting an end to the

and the Spanish presence in Tunis.

Aftermath

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 List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. 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 eventually made a truce with Spain, and shifted their attention to their conflict with

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in the

Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590 was one of the many wars between the neighboring arch rivals of Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Starting with several years prior to the war and up to including most of the war itself, the Safavi ...

. 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 deb ...

on 1 September 1575. After the truce, Ottoman-Spanish hostilities resumed in 1591, even if they would not reach the magnitude of yesteryear.

Gallery

File:Map of Tunis and La Goulette in Tunisia, 1570.jpg, Anonymous and untitled map showing Turkish capture of Tunis and its port city of La Goulette (also known as Goletta and Halq al-Wadi), in 1570 File:La Vera descrittione del sito della citta di Tunisi et della Goleta sua fortezza, con il novo forte fatto dalli Turchi nell'assedio di essa nel mese d'Agosto 1574.jpg, Anonymous map showing Turkish capture of Tunis and its port city of La Goulette (also known as Goletta and Halq al-Wadi), in 1574. Fortress at La Goulette, city of Tunis, ships, and armed forces shown pictorially.

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) Sieges of Tunis

Tunis 1574 Tunis 1574