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Juan De Rena and the financing of the Tunis campaign 407

papal revenues in 1531-1532. In 1534 he was promoted to the
bishopric of Alghero in Sardinia, reaching the zenith of his eccle-
siastical career in 1538 when he was given the bishopric of Pamplona.
Charles V had sought to have him named as bishop of Alghero in order
to facilitate not just the organisation of the fleet against Barbarossa,
but in particular to ease the negotiations with the papacy, whose
military and financial contributions to «the campaign against the
Infidel» were considered vital .
31
As already mentioned, Juan de Rena was also an experienced
merchant, agent and expert adviser on all matters relating to North
Africa since the early years of the century. His knowledge of the
region combined with his long experience with various maritime
ventures under Charles V made him an ideal person to take charge
of fitting out the fleet in the campaign against Tunis. He had been
involved in the complex military world of the Mediterranean since
at least 1505 when Mazalquivir was occupied by the Spaniards.
That campaign had been undertaken with a combination of galleys
from Barcelona and round ships originating both in Andalucía and
the Cantabrian coast. It had involved the embarkation of over 7,000
men in the 170 ships that had been gathered in Malaga. As with
other fleets in this period, it was a multinational enterprise which
required extraordinary coordination, having to move and provide for
both maritime and military personnel as well as securing victuals
from many different points, and providing large quantities of
artillery, both in terms of the normal complement required for each
participating vessel, but also the siege and other artillery required
which was normally kept on land and had to be embarked for these
campaigns. The extraordinary complexity of organising large fleets
in this period led to the development of a permanent, professional
naval administration headed by a recognised expert (the Proveedor
General), assisted by a number of officials of different ranks. It was
the only way that fleets of this kind could be organised and ships

31 «Pour l´Espagne, il s´agissait généralement du Viceroi de Catalogne ou du
Capitaine général du Royaume de Grenade; parfois des deux comme ce fut le cas en
1535, l´Empereur ayant choisi Barcelone comme port de reunión de l´armada
proprement espagnole. Lorsque le projet était la conséquence d´une ligue internationale,
la partie espagnole était représentée par une seule personne. Le plus souvent un prélat
comme l´éveque de Pampelune en 1538. Cette qualité devait indubitablement faciliter
les négociations avec la Papauté dont les concours financier et militaire ne pouvaient
être négligés». R. Quatrefages, La Proveeduria des Armadas: de l´expédition de Tunis
(1535) a celle d´Alger (1541), «Mélanges de la Casa dde Velázquez», 14 (1978), p. 218. As
he had not consulted Juan de Rena’s papers, Quatrefages did not identify the Bishop of
Alguer (Alghero), this being the title with which he signed all the documents relating to
the building and fitting out of the galleys in the dockyards.

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