Conquest of Tunis | |||||||||
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Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||||
![]() The Ottoman fleet attacking Tunis at La Goulette in 1574. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
Total men: 7,000 | 250–300 warships Total men: 100,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
6,700 killed, 300 prisoners | 25,000 [2] (Spanish claim) |
The conquest of Tunis in 1574 marked the conquest of Tunis by the Ottoman Empire over the Spanish Empire, which had seized the place a year earlier. The event virtually determined the supremacy in North Africa vied between both empires in favour of the former, [3] sealing the Ottoman domination over eastern and central Maghreb, [4] with the Ottoman dependencies in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli ensuingly coming to experience a golden age as corsair states. [3]
Tunis had initially been conquered by the Ottomans under Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1534. In the next year, however, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V 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 Bey of Algiers 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, John of Austria re-conquered Tunis in October 1573. [3] [5]
In 1574, William of Orange and Charles IX of France, through his pro-Huguenot ambassador François de Noailles, 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. [6] 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. [7] Selim also sent a great fleet to attack Tunis in the Autumn of 1574, thus succeeding in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch. [7]
In the Battle of La Goleta, Selim II mustered a fleet of between 250 and 300 warships, with about 75,000 men. [8] The Ottoman fleet was commanded by Sinan Pacha and Alūj Ali. [9] The Ottoman fleet combined with troops sent by the governors of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, giving a combined strength of about 100,000. [9] 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. [9]
John of Austria attempted to relieve the siege with a fleet of galleys from Naples and Sicily but failed due to storms. [10] The Spanish crown, being heavily involved in the Netherlands and short of funds was unable to help significantly. [10]
Miguel de Cervantes, future author of Don Quixote , participated in these events as a soldier, and was among the troops of Don Juan of Austria which tried to rescue the city. [2] He claims that the Ottomans led 22 assaults against the fort of Tunis, losing 25,000 men, while only 300 Christians survived. [2] He wrote about the battle:
"If Goleta and the fort, put together, held barely 7,000 soldiers, how could such a small force, however resolute, come out and hold its own against so huge an enemy army. And how can you help losing a stronghold that is not relieved, and especially when it is surrounded by a stubborn and very numerous army, and on its own ground?"
— Cervantes, DQ I, 39. [2]
Abd al-Malik, the future Moroccan King, participated in the 1574 conquest of Tunis on the side of the Ottomans. [11]
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, but died on the way. [2] The captured soldiers were employed as slaves on galleys. [2]
The battle marked the final establishment of Ottoman rule in Tunis, putting an end to the Hafsid dynasty and the Spanish presence in Tunis. [5]
The success of the Turks under Occhiali [1] [12] in the battle of Goleta managed in reducing Spanish pressure on the Dutch, and leading to negotiations at the Conference of Breda. [7] 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). [13] The Ottomans eventually made a truce with Spain, and shifted their attention to their conflict with Persia in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590). [7] The Spanish crown fell into bankruptcy on 1 September 1575. [10]
After the truce, Ottoman-Spanish hostilities resumed in 1591, even if they would not reach the magnitude of yesteryear. [14]
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Occhiali was an Italian farmer, then Ottoman privateer and admiral, who later became beylerbey of the Regency of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral of the Ottoman fleet in the 16th century.
Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I, often simply Abd al-Malik or Mulay Abdelmalek, was the Saadian Sultan of Morocco from 1576 until his death right after the Battle of al-Kasr al-Kabir against Portugal in 1578.
Aruj Barbarossa, known as Oruç Reis to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen.
La Goulette, in Arabic Halq al-Wadi, is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia.
Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.
Piali Pasha was an Ottoman Grand Admiral between 1553 and 1567, and a Vizier (minister) after 1568. He is also known as Piale Pasha in English.
Salah Rais was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy.
The conquest of Tunis occurred in 1535 when the Habsburg Emperor Charles V and his allies wrestled the city away from the control of the Ottoman Empire.
François de Noailles, 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.
The siege of Tripoli occurred in 1551 when the Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates besieged and vanquished the Knights of Malta in the Red Castle of Tripoli, modern Libya. The Spanish had established an outpost in Tripoli in 1510, and Charles V remitted it to the Knights in 1530. The siege culminated in a six-day bombardment and the surrender of the city on 15 August.
The 1541 Algiers expedition occurred when Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Spain attempted to lead an amphibious attack against the Regency of Algiers. Inadequate planning, particularly against unfavourable weather, led to the failure of the expedition.
The Capture of Béjaïa or Capture of Bougie occurred in 1555 when Salah Rais, the Ottoman ruler of Algiers, took the city of Béjaïa from the Spaniards. The main fortification in Béjaïa was the Spanish presidio, occupied by about 100 men under first under Luis Peralta, and then his son Alonso Peralta. The city was captured by Salah Rais from his base of Algiers, at the head of several thousand men and a small fleet consisting in two galleys, a barque, and a French saëte requisitioned in Algiers. Peralta had sent messages to Spain for help, and Andrea Doria prepared to leave with a fleet from Naples, but it was too late.
The Expedition of Mostaganem occurred in 1558, when Spanish forces attempted to capture the city of Mostaganem. The expedition was supposed to be a decisive step in the conquest of the Ottoman base of Algiers, but it ended in failure, and has been called a "disaster".
Turkey–Morocco relations are the foreign relations between Morocco and Turkey, and spanned a period of several centuries, from the early 16th century when the Ottoman Empire neighbored Morocco to until modern times.
Ottoman Tunisia, also known as the Regency of Tunis, refers to the Ottoman presence in Ifriqiya from the 16th to 19th centuries, when Tunis was officially integrated into the Ottoman Empire as the Eyalet of Tunis. The Ottoman presence in the Maghreb began with the takeover of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman Turkish corsair and beylerbey Aruj, eventually expanding across the entire region except for Morocco. The first Ottoman conquest of Tunis occurred in 1534 under the command of Khayr al-Din Barbarossa, the younger brother of Aruj, who was the Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Fleet during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. However, it was not until the final Ottoman reconquest of Tunis from Spain in 1574 that the Turks permanently acquired the former territories of Hafsid Tunisia, retaining it until the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881.
Abu al-Abbas Ahmad III also known as “Moulay Ahmad” and “Moulay Hamida”, or “Mulay Amida” in some Italian sources, was the Hafsid ruler of Ifriqiya from 1543 to 1569.
Abu Abdallah Muhammad VI ibn al-Hasan sometimes referred to as “Moulay Muhammad”, was the last Hafsid ruler of Ifriqiya (1573–1574). His brother Moulay Ahmad had been driven out of power in 1569 by Uluç Ali and when the Spanish reconquered Tunis Ahmad was unwilling to accept their terms for supporting him, preferring instead to remain in exile in Sicily. Instead, the Spanish invasion force under Don John of Austria installed Moulay Muhammad in his place.
The Capture of Tunis in 1569 was a campaign led by Uluç Ali to conquer Tunis.
History of the Regency of Algiers includes political, economic and military events in the Regency of Algiers from its founding in 1516 to the French invasion of 1830. The Regency of Algiers was a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. Founded by the corsair brothers Aruj and Khayr ad-Din Barbarossa, it became involved in numerous armed conflicts with European powers, and was an important pirate base notorious for Barbary corsairs.
The Conquest of Tunis in 1573 was a Spanish campaign led by John of Austria to conquer Tunis.