Page 145 - sfogliabile 49

Juan De Rena and the financing of the Tunis campaign 411

fleet was either constructed or renovated, as well as fully equipped, for
the campaign, and where necessary the ships had their victuals
replenished so that they were all combat ready when they sailed in
1535. This meant that costs kept rising and quite substantially. The
imperial officials faced sudden and unexpected demands, such as the
order to provide another fifteen vessels with armaments, lead and
gunpowder. Two of the most expensive items they had to procure were
oakum and tar, which were necessary for caulking the ships. They
were forced to look far afield for caulkers as there were not enough of
them in Cataluña for the purpose. They also had to import such items
as compasses and clocks, hessian sacks from Genoa, as well as cotton
to make the sails in Barcelona. Other objects such as ships’ lanterns
and lamps were imported from Milan .
38
Details of the embargo and requisitioning of ships to transport men,
materials and horses to the embarcation points can be found in a
variety of inventories that have survived. These tended to be small- to
medium-sized vessels, between 150 and 300 tons. Besides those taken
from the northern Cantabrian coast, the majority of them came from
the area around the Straits of Gibraltar and were normally engaged in
commerce between Iberia and America, which was clearly adversely
affected as a result. Curiously, the extant documentation gives no
information as to whether shipping in Cataluña was also embargoed
for such purposes .
39
We turn now to another important aspect of the campaign: the provision
of artillery to arm the galleys and of heavy siege trains and weapons to
enable them to besiege the fortress of La Goleta and the city of Tunis. This
was increased in part as a response to the reports of spies which confirmed
the information coming from Italy, especially after Barbarossa’s most
recent attacks along the Italian coast, that his fleet was now equipped with
powerful artillery. It was suspected that his French allies had provided him
with these weapons. Their suspicions were confirmed first, when during
the siege of La Goleta they saw that some of the cannon balls were
decorated with the fleur-de-lis, and second, when they took the fortress
and found it protected by powerful siege canon emblazoned with the
French monarch’s initials and insignia .
40

38 Quatrefages states that between 2143 a 2243 ducats were allocated for each new
galley. R. Quatrefages, La Proveeduria des Armadas cit., p. 224.
39 Ivi, pp. 225-231.
40 «La artillería que se halló en La Goleta era hermosa, y así en piezas grandes como
medianas cuatrocientas piezas. Y, entre ellas, había una muy hermosa y grande que
tiraba una pelota de grandor de un sombrero. Y algunas de las grandes y principales
piezas estaban sembradas de flores de lis, y otras de FF, con la salamandra y la divisa
que decía nutrisco e extingo». A. Perrenin, Goleta de la ciudad de Túnez cit., p. 88.

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