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442 María José Rodríguez-Salgado

were unlikely to satisfy the Spanish people, who were aggrieved that
Barbarossa was unharmed and Algiers remained a serious threat 142 .
Charles V was determined not to allow the sack of Mahón to
impinge on his celebrations and he did his best to play it down. He
described Mahón disparagingly as «une petite ville» and the
inhabitants as cowards who had failed to defend it. He avoided giving
details of the losses, even to Ferdinand I. He insisted on the strength
of his defences, and taunted Barbarossa by claiming he had not been
strong enough to hold Mahón 143 . An official proclamation was
published accusing Mahón’s inhabitants of treason, along with a
denial that La Goleta had fallen, and a defence of Andrea Doria. The
emperor accused Vély once again of fabricating and disseminating
false news 144 . Historians are surprised «that the crown did not take
more seriously the sack of Mahón» 145 . It is surely a question of
presentation and propaganda rather than inability to appreciate the
damage.
The emperor’s detractors naturally made much of this defeat and
speculated on the damage he would suffer from a counter-attack by
Ottoman-Algerian forces. The pope reflected the growing fear of a
Muslim invasion, declaring in October 1535 that «the undertaking
against the Turk» was more important than anything else 146 . The warm
welcome given to Barbarossa in Istanbul reinforced Christian
concerns 147 . Most of all, Italian princes were afraid of the emperor and
the pope tried to divert his attention by calling for Christian princes to
act on his excommunication of Henry VIII 148 .
In early November news from Milan electrified Christian European
courts. The childless duke was dead and conflict over the duchy
between Francis I and Charles V was now unavoidable 149 . This was
why Henry VIII had finally agreed to see the imperial ambassador – to

142 M.C. Mazarío Coleto, Isabel de Portugal, CSIC, Madrid, 1951, p. 413, Isabel to
Charles V, Madrid, 30 September 1535.
143 KFI, V, p. 351, Charles V to Ferdinand I, 22 October 1535.
144 PEG, II, pp. 391-392, Charles V to Hannart, 23 October 1535.
145 M.J. Deyá Bauzá, Prolegómenos y ecos de la conquista de Túnez en Mallorca, in
E. García Hernán, D. Maffi (eds.), Estudios sobre guerra y sociedad en la Monarquía
Hispánica. Guerra marítima, estrategia, organización y cultura militar (1500-1700),
Albatros, Valencia, 2017, pp. 189-204, this at p. 200.
146 Csp Sp, 5(1), Cifuentes to Charles V, 13 October 1535.
147 P. Giovio, Lettere Volgari cit., Giovio to Carpi, Rome, 28 December 1535.
148 LP, viii, n. 1095, Papal brief, 26 July 1535; LP, ix, n. 601, Cifuentes to Charles
V, 13 October 1535. KFI, V, pp. 346-347, Ferdinand I to Charles V, 22 October 1535;
and 313-314 (3 September). The emperor’s reply, p. 350 (22 October 1535).
149 In Rome by 5 November 1535; Vienna on 8; Du Bellay, II, p. 129, 136 and 152.
KFI, V, Ferdinand I to Mary of Hungary, pp. 354-355 (8 November); p. 361, Charles V
to Ferdinand I (14 November); p. 362, Charles V to Mary of Hungary.

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