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418 María José Rodríguez-Salgado

Charles V’s conquest of Tunis in 1535 was greeted by his
supporters with words such as «glorious», «magnificent» and
«miraculous». It remains a major event in his reign and is often given
heroic treatment, earning him the accolade of The Last Crusader .
1
Imperial propaganda and the control of information have often been
credited with the creation of this successful image. Duchhardt dubbed
it the first systematic propaganda campaign of modern times, and the
beginning of political modernity . The multi-media production of
2
chroniclers, poets and artists still exerts a powerful attraction . Not so
3
well known but crucial in this process, was the contribution of the
imperial secretariat who accompanied Charles V, issuing letters and
official reports even from the battlefields to disseminate the emperor’s
version of events. Although historians have occasionally issued
injunctions not to confuse propaganda with reality, the message is
frequently overwhelmed by the volume and aesthetic value of the

spain/vol5/no1/); Du Bellay (R. Scheurer [ed.], Correspondance du Cardinal Jean du
Bellay, vols. I and II, Librairie C. Klincksieckt, Paris, 1969 and 1973); KFI V (B. Hofinger
et al. [eds.], Die Korrespondenz Ferdinands I. Familienkorrespondenz, vol. V: 1535 und
1536, Böhlau, Wien, 2015); LP (J. Gardiner [ed.], Letters & Papers, Foreign and Domestic,
Henry VIII, Her Majesty’s stationery Office, London, vol. VII, 1883; vol. VIII, 1885, vol. IX,
1886, in http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen); PEG (Ch. Weiss [ed.],
Papiers d’État du cardinal de Granvelle, vol. II, Imprimerie royale, Paris, 1841).
1 A classic example of this is M. Fernández Álvarez, El último cruzado: Túnez, in his
Carlos V, el César y el Hombre, Fundación Academia Europea de Yuste and Espasa
Calpe, Madrid, 1999, pp. 487-513, an idea he took from H. Duchhardt, Das
Tunisunternehmen Karls V. 1535, «Mitteilungen des österreichischen Staatsarchivs», 37
(1984), pp. 35-72. Duchhardt argued (p. 63) that the campaign had briefly revived the
medieval ideal. My thanks to Miguel Ángel Bunes Ibarra for inviting me to join this
fascinating project and to Rubén González Cuerva for securing a number of important
secondary works for me.
2 H. Duchhardt, Das Tunisunternehmen cit., esp. pp. 64-67 – «während des
Tuniszuges erstmals eine wirklich systematische Informationspolitik betrieben wurde»
(p. 67). He dismisses Francis I’s propaganda efforts as inferior (p. 68).
3 H. Duchhardt, Das Tunisunternehmen cit., esp. pp. 66-68; R. González Cuerva,
M.Á. de Bunes Ibarra, Túnez 1535. Voces de una campaña europea, Polifemo, Madrid,
2017; Carlos V. Las Armas y Las Letras, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de
los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, Madrid, 2000, pp. 28-30. The tapestries became
iconic symbols of royalty and legitimacy. H.J. Horn, Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, painter of
Charles V and his conquest of Tunis, Davaco, Doornspijk, 1989, 2 vols. M.A. de Bunes,
M. Falomir, Carlos V, Vermeyen y la conquista de Túnez, in J.L. Castellanos, F. Sánchez-
Montes (eds.), Carlos V. Europeísmo y Universalidad. Religión, cultura y mentalidad,
Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V,
Madrid, 2001, pp. 243-257.

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