Conquest of Tunis
Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars and the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts
Attack on La Goletta, with Tunis in the background. Entry of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor into Tunis in 1535.
Date June 1535 Location Tunis (present-day Tunisia) Result Habsburg and allies' victory Territorial changes Muley Hassan of the Hafsid dynasty restored as client ruler of Tunis and Spanish-Imperial tributary.[1][2]
Belligerents
Habsburg Empire of Charles V:  Holy Roman Empire  Republic of Genoa County of Flanders Habsburg Spain  Kingdom of Naples Kingdom of Sicily Hafsid dynasty Kingdom of Portugal  Papal States  Knights of Malta	Ottoman Empire  Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Charles V Andrea Doria Álvaro de Bazán García de Toledo Duke of Alba Duke of Beja	Hayreddin Barbarossa
Strength
Total men: 30,000-60,000 10,000 Spaniards 8,000 Germans 8,000 Italians 700 Maltese Unknown number of Flemings and Portuguese Total ships: 398 207 ships[3] 10 galleys 6 galleys 19 galleys 1 galleon São João Baptista (galleon), 2 carracks, 20 round caravels, 8 galleys 8 galleys 1 carrack, 4 galleys 60 hulks	82 warships[4] 2 galleys[5]
Casualties and losses
Unknown: Many fell to dysentery	30,000 Muslim civilians killed 9,000 Christians freed

The Holy League of 1535 was as ad hoc coalition of catholic states arranged by Pope Paul III at the urging of Charles V.

In 1533, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, to build a large war fleet in the arsenal of Constantinople.^[6] Altogether 70 galleys were built during the winter of 1533–1534, manned by slave oarsmen, including 2,000 Jewish ones.^[7] With this fleet, Barbarossa conducted aggressive raids along the coast of Italy, until he conquered Tunis on 16 August 1534, ousting the local ruler, theretofore subservient to the Spanish, Muley Hasan.^[8][9]

Barbarossa thus established a strong naval base in Tunis, which could be used for raids in the region, and on nearby Malta.^[8] The implications were dramatic for Madrid. Tunis would have also provided a springboard for raids and invasions of Habsburg controlled Sicily and Naples, providing a permanent presence in the western Mediterranean, which could have threatened Rome itself. It was also feared in Madrid that Tunis might be exploited by a Franco-Ottoman coalition thus tilting the balance of power in Italy in favour of Paris

Charles V, one of the most powerful men in Europe at the time, assembled a large army of some 30,000 soldiers, 74 galleys (rowed by chained Protestants shipped in from Antwerp),^[10] and 300 sailing ships, including the carrack Santa Anna and the Portuguese galleon São João Baptista, also known as Botafogo (the most powerful ship in the world at the time, with 366 bronze cannons) to drive the Ottomans from the region.^[11] The expense involved for Charles V was considerable, and at 1,000,000 ducats was on par with the cost of Charles' campaign against Suleiman on the Danube.^[12] Unexpectedly, the funding of the conquest of Tunis came from the galleons sailing in from the New World, in the form of a 2 million gold ducats treasure extracted by Francisco Pizarro in exchange for his releasing of the Inca king Atahualpa (whom he nevertheless executed on 29 August 1533).^[12]

See also

• Ottoman–Venetian War (1537–1540)
• Siege of Castelnuovo
• Conquest of Tunis (1535)
• Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations

References

Further reading

• Wolf, John B., "The Barbary Coast: Algeria under the Turks," W. W. Norton, 1979; ISBN 978-0-393-01205-7
• Cook, M.A. (ed.), "A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730," Cambridge University Press, 1976; ISBN 978-0-521-20891-8
• Currey, E. Hamilton, "Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean," John Murrey, 1910.
• Norwich, John Julius, "A History of Venice," Vintage, 1982; ISBN 0-679-72197-5 (pbk.)