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406 Miguel Ángel de Bunes Ibarra

Kebir, Algeria) and Oran in North Africa in 1509. As soon as he arrived
in North Africa, Rena had reconnoitred most of the ports of the region
and written a description of these, and also of the characteristics of
the local rulers, which probably accelerated his career in the service
of Ferdinand II of Aragon. He became an expert in the fitting out of
royal fleets, serving as the proveedor general (a naval Comptroller or
Clerk in charge of procurement) for the fleet destined for the joint
campaign with England in 1512 during the War of the League of
Cambrai for example. He played a similar role in the preparation of
the fleet that Charles V sent to Italy in 1526, and the ships that sailed
to Italy and the Low Countries during 1527 and 1528. In 1529 he was
also chosen by the emperor as one of the select group that would
accompany him from Barcelona to Bologna for his coronation as
Emperor by pope Clement VII (22 February 1530). Rena was again in
charge of fitting out the fleets sent to Coron and Patras in 1532 and
1533 respectively , and was on board the ships that fought against
28
the Ottoman fleet in the gulf of Lepanto. He returned with the emperor
to the Iberian Peninsula in 1533 . The construction and fitting out of
29
the ships that admiral Álvaro de Bazán commanded in the Tunis
campaign during 1534 and 1535 would be his last major contribution
to the Mediterranean fleet and the wars against the Muslims in the
region .
30
The fact that he was a clergyman, as much as the sheer number of
offices he accumulated, tell us a great deal about the way that Charles
V organised the fleets destined to fight the Ottomans. From 1508 until
1538 Rena also held the office of royal chaplain. His benefices included
parishes in the dioceses of Pamplona, Seville, Palencia, Calahorra,
Ciudad Rodrigo and Sigüenza. He was Vicar General of the diocese of
Pamplona from 1521 onwards, the year in which he also had charge
of the rents collected there. His growing importance was reflected in
the appointments he held in the bishopric of Pamplona as an apostolic
or papal protonotary from 1525 to 1534, and as deputy collector of

28 G. Varriale, Nápoles y el azar de Corón cit., pp. 1-32.
29 M. de Foronda y Aguilera, Estancias y viajes del emperador Carlos V, S.n., S.l.,
1914, remains a very useful source for tracing the many journeys undertaken by the
emperor.
30 These are all the references in Juan de Rena’s papers relating to Mediterranean
affairs in the 1530s: Argn, Ap Rena, 76, n. 13, Registro de Juan de Rena de instrucciones,
relaciones y cuentas de la construcción de 20 galeras para la armada a Túnez, 1534-
1537; Argn, Ap Rena, 76, n. 14, Charles V to the Viceroy of Navarre, count of Cañete,
La Goleta, 30 June 1535; Argn, Ap Rena, 76, n. 15, Gómez de Figueroa to Francisco de
los Cobos, Genoa, 5 August 1537; Argn, Ap Rena, 76, n. 16, Relación de la cuenta de
Francisco de Segura por los gastos en el camino a Valencia en la búsqueda de aserradores
y calafates para ir a Barcelona desde el 7 de diciembre de 1534 a 11 de enero de 1535.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Agosto 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)