Siren’s song: the news of Tabarka and its impact on Spanish Mediterranean policy in the mid-sixteenth century

Abstract

The island of Tabarka, off the northwestern coast of modern Tunisia, was an active coral-fishing factory during the mid-sixteenth century. Its political status was unclear, straddling Tunisian sovereignty and Spanish military control, while being economically exploited by the Genoa-based Lomellini company. It also operated as a privileged hub of information for Maghrebi affairs, supplying fresh news to the Spanish authorities during the critical phase of Ottoman Mediterranean expansion throughout the 1550s. Particularly, this information’s flow fed into a wider web, and competed with alternative sources of news to influence decision-making processes in the Spanish monarchy. This article presents a micro-historical analysis of a place, a network, and specific political conditions to go beyond the mere reconstruction of information flows and reveal the real impact of the news coming from Tabarka on Spanish Mediterranean policy in the mid-sixteenth century.

Keywords:

• Spanish monarchy
• Ottoman Algiers
• news circulation
• political information
• Ottoman–Habsburg War
• Mediterranean strategy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Alonso Acero, “El norte de África”, 403–9.

2. Rodríguez-Salgado, Un imperio en transición, 310–11.

3. Sola and Varriale, eds., Detrás de las apariencias. For a parallel attempt to identify factional decision-making concerning Mexican issues in 1580s Spain, see Cunill, “Philip II and Indigenous Access”, 506.

4. Brendecke, Imperio e información, 34–7.

5. Rivero, La monarquía de los Austrias, 121–9; and Ruiz Ibáñez, Hispanofilia, vol. 1, 21.

6. Mariño, Tratados internacionales, vol. 2, XCVIII–CI.

7. Biedermann, “Three Ways of Locating the Global”, 119.

8. Podestà, “L’isola di Tabarca”, 1015–20; and Piccinno, Un’impresa, 44.

9. Gourdin, Tabarka, 153; and Bitossi, “Per una storia”, 219–220.

10. As pointed out by Piccinno, the sum demanded as tribute in exchange for protection rose significantly in the 1550s, following the conversion of Algeria into a fully fledged Ottoman province: Piccinno, Un’impresa, 63.

11. Boubaker, “Les Tabarkins”, 231–42.

12. Piccinno, Un’impresa, 40–2.

13. Haug, Ungleiche Außenbeziehungen, 451–65; and Benton and Clulow, “Empires and Protection”, 74–80.

14. Trivellato, Francesca. The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora, Livorno, and Cross-Cultural Trade in the Early Modern Period. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2009.

15. De Vivo, “Microhistories of Long-Distance”, 187–8.

16. Riggio, “Tabarca e il riscatto”, 257–70; and Pignon, “Gênes et Tabarka”, 25–7.

17. “Copy of a letter from Tabarka”, AGS, Estado 483, f. 260 (Tabarka, May 12, 1557); “Letter from the governor of La Goulette”, AGS, Estado 483, f. 211 (La Goulette, July 5, 1557).

18. Dedijer, “Ragusa Intelligence and Security”, 101–14.

19. Piccinno, Un’impresa, 63. For dragomans as cross-imperial go-betweens, see Rothman, The Dragoman Renaissance, 4–19.

20. Iodice and Piccinno, “Whatever the Cost”, 9–13.

21. “Blank instructions for those taking supplies to La Goulette”, AGS, GyM 72, doc. 170; “Report of Alonso de la Cueva’s writings”, AGS, Estado 483, f. 152 r and 151 r (La Goulette, July 7, 1557, and August 24, 1557); and “War Council Consultation”, AGS, GyM 72, doc. 25 (Madrid, October 8, 1567).

22. “Summary of the 1623 asiento concluded between the Spanish ambassador in Genoa and Gio. Battista and Giacomo Lomellini”, AGS, Estado 3832, doc. 266 (Genoa, April 20, 1633), published in Gourdin, Tabarka, 510.

23. Pulido Bueno, Guerra y riqueza, 134–5.

24. “Report on the grants requested by Julio Canova for services rendered and currently rendered to Spanish soldiers”, AGS, Estado 1385, doc. 134 (Genoa, 1556); and “Chapter of Julio Canova’s letter to Gómez Suárez de Figueroa”, AGS, Estado 1387, doc. 7 (Genoa, March 3, 1558). Canova did not report directly to King Philip II, but to the royal secretary Francisco de Eraso, with whom he developed a relationship of mutual trust: “Letter from Julio Canova to the secretary Francisco de Eraso”, AGS, Estado 1393, doc. 115 (Genoa, October 24, 1564); and “Letter from Julio Canova to the secretary Francisco de Eraso claiming the payment of a certain grant”, AGS, Estado 1394, doc. 382 (Genoa, December 13, 1565).

25. “Information on the capitulations made on coral fishing in Tabarca”, AGS, E, Estado 1419, doc. 153 (Genoa, 1556); Gómez Suárez de Figueroa to Philip II, AGS, Estado 1388, doc. 34 (Genoa, April 1, 1559). Gourdin, Tabarka, 517; and Terreni, “Sogliono tutti i forastieri”, 115, doc. 27 (privilege of Milanese citizenship in 1561).

26. Alonso de la Cueva to Charles V, AGS, Estado 478, f. 209 (La Goulette, November 11, 1554).

27. “Copy of a letter from a friend of Benedicto Lomelin”, AGS, Estado 1398, doc. 173 (Tabarka, September 27, 1569).

28. “Chapter of a letter from Pietro Battista Padona”, AGS, Estado 1389, doc. 171 (Tabarka, June 20, 1560).

29. Benedetto Lomellini to Francesco Grimaldi and Francesco Lomellini, AGS, Estado 1398, doc. 182 (Tabarka, November 2, 1569).

30. “Copy of a letter by the official who is in Tabarka to Julio Canova”, AGS, Estado 1400, doc. 30 (Tabarka, August 23, 1570).

31. Juana of Austria to Jerónimo de Aragall, Viceroy of Sardinia (Valladolid, October 1, 1556), published in Buyreu Juan, La Corona de Aragón, 155.

32. Alonso de la Cueva to Francisco de Eraso, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 168 (La Goulette, January 25, 1557). For the prestige of Tabarkine news see Alonso de la Cueva to Charles V, in Les sources inédites, vol. 2, 181–182 (La Goulette, September 1, 1554); and Alonso de la Cueva to Philip II, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 194 (La Goulette, May 18, 1557).

33. “News from Alghero’s Councillors”, AGS, Estado 321, f. 202 (Alghero, June 26, 1556).

34. News from Cagliari, AGS, Estado 321, f. 256 (Cagliari, July 27, 1556); and Jerónimo de Aragall, Viceroy of Sardinia, to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 19 (Cagliari, October 24, 1556).

35. Alonso Acero, Orán y Mazalquivir, XVI and 421–4.

36. Reports from Oran, AGS, Estado 483, docs. 15–8, 38–41 (Oran, 1555–56); and Alonso de Gurrea to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 483, f. 103 r (Melilla, February 7, 1557).

37. Hanß, “Lepanto in the Americas”, 33.

38. Dursteler, “Describing or Distorting”, 233; and de Vivo, “How to Read Venetian Relazioni”, 27–30.

39. Brendecke, Imperio e información, 155–6 and 456–78.

40. News from Tabarka, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 157 (Tabarka, October 28, 1557).

41. Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib, 157–8.

42. News from La Goulette, AGS, Estado 468 (La Goulette, May 18, 1561); and Juan de Idiáquez to Philip II, AGS, Estado 1404, doc. 68 (Genoa, November 18, 1574).

43. Gómez Suárez de Figueroa to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 1385, doc. 66 (Genoa, November 21, 1556).

44. Khadir, Mühimme defterlerine. Usually, the Ottoman imperial orders (hüküm) asked North African governors to collect information about the Spanish fleet, strengthen the city defences, and prepare stocks of grain to be sent to Istanbul: Gürkan, “The Centre and the Frontier”, 134–7.

45. Gourdin, Tabarka, 163–4, and 170–1.

46. The governor of Ibiza to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 320, f. 242 (Ibiza, March 23, 1556).

47. Carpentier, “The Necessary Enemy”, 246–9.

48. Formica, Lo specchio turco, 65–101.

49. For Oran, “Report of what was said by a captive who came from Algiers”, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 17 (February 17, 1557); for La Goulette, Alonso de la Cueva to Philip II, AGS, Estado 481, doc. 30 (La Goulette, November 25); for Kairouan, Alonso de la Cueva to Philip II, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 175 (La Goulette, November 27, 1557); and for Melilla, Alonso de Gurrea to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 483, f. 124 r (Melilla, October 25, 1557). For the actual orders issued to Salah Reis by the Sublime Porte, see Merouche, Recherches sur l’Algérie, 89–100.

50. Pettegree, The Invention of News, 2–3.

51. “Memoir of the news received from Algiers”, AGS, Estado 324, f. 14 (1558).

52. The governor of Tabarka to Alonso de la Cueva, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 190 (Tabarka, May 12, 1557).

53. Ibid.

54. News from La Goulette by Alonso de la Cueva, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 208 (La Goulette, May 12, 1557).

55. Martín de Córdoba to Juana of Austria, AGS, GyM 66, doc. 114 (post, June 15, 1557).

56. Escribano Páez, “Escribir y mandar nuevas”, 117–19.

57. “Copy of the letter that the Count of Alcaudete wrote to Muley Yuçef, who killed the King of Algiers and took power”, AGS, GyM 66, doc. 111 (Oran, November 7, 1557).

58. Rodríguez-Salgado, “El león animoso entre las balas”, 14.

59. The Duke of Alba to the Duke of Florence, in Epistolario del III Duque de Alba, vol. 1, 419 (Naples, June 18, 1556).

60. The warden of Tabarka to Alonso de la Cueva, AGS, Estado 481, doc. 25 (Tabarka, July 28, 1556); and Alonso de la Cueva to Philip II, AGS, Estado 481, doc. 19 (La Goulette, August 6, 1556).

61. Rodríguez-Salgado, Un imperio en transición, 407–9.

62. De Vivo, Patrizi, informatori, barbieri, Introduction.

63. Julio Canova to Philip II, AGS, Estado 1404, doc. 123 (Genoa, November 18, 1574).

64. Philip II to Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, AGS, Estado, book 73 (Valladolid, November 11, 1553); the Duke of Alba to Juana of Austria, in Epistolario del III Duque de Alba, vol. 1, 390, 406–407 (Naples, March 29, 1556 and June 10, 1556). Rodríguez-Salgado, Un imperio en transición, 398–402. In 1541 John III of Portugal had abandoned most of his North African strongholds on the Atlantic, as they were too costly to maintain: Elbl, “Portuguese Urban Fortifications in Morocco”, 352–72.

65. Fernández Conti, “Los Consejos de Estado y Guerra”, 63–8, and 77–8.

66. Alonso de la Cueva to Cardinal Granvelle, Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNE), MSS/7907/181 and MSS/20210/47 (La Goulette, May 28, 1554, and June 11, 1554); and the Duke of Alba to Philip II, in Epistolario del III Duque de Alba, vol. 1, 369 (Naples, February 15, 1556).

67. Alonso de la Cueva to Philip II, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 196 (La Goulette, June 20, 1557); Alonso de la Cueva to Francisco de Ledesma, AGS, Estado 483, docs. 243 and 189 (La Goulette, July 7, 1557, and November 27, 1557); and Juana of Austria to Philip II, AGS, Estado 120, doc. 254 (Valladolid, November 7, 1557). Regent Juana presented de la Cueva’s proposals to the Viceroy of Sicily, who also rejected his initiatives: Juan de Vega to Juana of Austria, AGS, Estado 1124, doc. 11 (Messina, April 28, 1556).

68. Martín de Córdoba to Juana of Austria, AGS, GyM 66, doc. 114 (post, June 15, 1557?); Diego de Sandoval to Philip II, AGS, GyM 66, doc. 147 (Mazalquivir, July 8, 1557); Charles V to the Count of Alcaudete, AGS, GyM 65, doc. 56 (Yuste, September 6, 1557); and Alonso de la Cueva to Charles V, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 214 (La Goulette, August 20, 1557). Liang, Family and Empire, 139–40.

69. Piccinno, Un’impresa, 59–64.

70. Ruff, La domination espagnole; La Véronne, “Política de España”; and Rodríguez-Salgado, Un imperio en transición, 404–6 and 413–14.

71. Reports from La Goulette by Alonso de la Cueva, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 194 (La Goulette, May 18, 1557).

72. The Count of Alcaudete, AGS, GyM 1318, doc. 92 (Valladolid, July 17, 1556 or 1557); and the Count of Alcaudete to Muley Yuçef, AGS, GyM 66, doc. 111 (Oran, July 11, 1557).

73. Reports from Algiers, AGS, GyM 58, doc. 176 (Algiers, 1557); reports from Algiers, AGS, Estado 483, docs. 273–274 (Algiers, 1557); draft letter from Philip II to Cayl Mustafa Arnaut, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 258 (London, 1558); draft letter from Philip II to Dragut, AGS, Estado 483, doc. 259 (London, 1558); and Philip II to the Duke of Medinaceli, AGS, Estado 1124, doc. 306 (Brussels, April 20, 1559). The royal initiative looked audacious but was low-risk, as his father Charles V had also offered Hayreddin Barbarossa – ruler of Algiers and Ottoman Grand Admiral – the opportunity to change sides twenty years earlier: see Caprioli, “The ‘Sheep’ and the ‘Lion’”, 392–421.

74. González Castrillo, “La derrota del conde de Alcaudete”, 194–7.

75. Braudel, El Mediterráneo y el mundo mediterráneo, vol. 2, 397–8.

76. Gómez Suárez de Figueroa to Philip II, AGS, Estado 1390, doc. 58 (Genoa, June 5, 1561).

77. Sola, Los que van y vienen; Varriale, Arrivano li turchi.

78. Escribano Páez, Juan Rena, 71–98.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [PGC2018-099152-B-I00].

Notes on contributors

Francesco Caprioli

Francesco Caprioli received his Joint PhD in Early Modern History from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Madrid) and the Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan) in 2020. Currently, he is postdoctoral researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid where he is carrying out a project on Christian diplomatic strategies in Ottoman Constantinople. His research topics range from the study of religious conversions to the political-diplomatic relations between Christian and Muslim powers, including the analysis of information networks in the early modern Mediterranean.

Rubén González Cuerva

Rubén González Cuerva is Tenured Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in Madrid. He completed his PhD at the Autonomous University of Madrid (2010) and thereafter has been postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Salta (Argentina), Marie Curie Fellow at the German Historical Institute of Rome, Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral Researcher in the CSIC, and associate lecturer at the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Complutense University. Currently, he is working on cross-confessional and global diplomacy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.