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454 Rubén González Cuerva

Thus, while Charles V had dispatched Luigi Presenda with official
letters, Tunisian emissaries did not comply European diplomatic
traditions because they did not show accreditations and their royal letters
were not sealed. On 24 June 1535 a “Moor” was received by Charles V
after assurances that he was a secret envoy of Mulay Hassan, and was
said «to have lost his letters of credence along the way» . The next day,
25
«three large Moors on horseback» delivered to Charles V «a letter that they
certified and assured him was from the King of Tunis […] and the letters
of the signature were written according to the King’s normal usage, and
sent unsealed, according, as they said, to their customs» . Trust was
26
gradually built. A Spanish interpreter (most probably Alvar Gómez de
Orozco “El Zagal”, the Granada-born imperial translator) confirmed that
the Tunisian envoys were acting according to their local traditions. In
reciprocity, imperial presents were given to these emissaries showing the
good will and munificence of Charles V: The first Tunisian emissary
received «one hundred doubloons as a gift, with many rich cloths of gold
and silk to show His Majesty’s liberality», while the second mission was
rewarded «with gifts of garments» . At the same time, some precautions
27
were taken: a Tunisian noble was kept as hostage while Orozco was sent
to the Tunisian camp as Charles V’s envoy .
28
With the preliminary exchanges over, the meeting of Charles V and
Mulay Hassan on 29 June 1535 was carefully arranged. It was described
in considerable detail in contemporary sources and chronicles, both as

25 «Que había perdido en el camino las cartas de creencia». A. Perrenin, Goleta de la
ciudad de Túnez, 1535. Jornada de Túnez, in R. González Cuerva, M.Á. Bunes Ibarra
(eds.), Túnez 1535: Voces de una campaña europea, CSIC, Madrid, 2017, p. 76.
26 «Tres moros grandes a caballo [delivered to Charles V] una carta que ellos certificaron
y afirmaron ser del rey de Túnez […] Y estarán escritas las dichas letras de la firma
acostumbrada del rey, sin sellos, que ellos dicen que ellos tienen esta costumbre». A.
Perrenin, Goleta de la ciudad de Túnez cit., p. 77. This encounter is also detailed in the
letter of Charles V to his brother Ferdinand I, camp before Tunis, 24 June 1535, in B.
Hofinger et al. (eds.), Die Korrespondenz Ferdinands I. Familienkorrespondenz, V, 1535
und 1536, Böhlau, Wien, 2015, p. 266.
27 The first received «cien doblones en don, con muchos atavíos ricos de oro y de
seda para mostrar la liberalidad de Su Majestad»], and the second departed «con
presentes de vestidos». A. Perrenin, Goleta de la ciudad de Túnez cit., pp. 77-78.
28 Mulay Hassan kept to this style of diplomatic communication – so uncomfortable
to European Christians – in which trust was guaranteed by the delivery of gifts and not
by the exchange of formal documents. In 1536, the King of Tunis wrote to the imperial
secretary, Francisco de los Cobos, that he sent «faqui Mahoma cabeza de nuestros
oficiales» to ask for further imperial support against the Ottomans. This Mahoma carried
as gift «un caballo overo de crines largas». Bernardino de Mendoza, then governor of La
Goleta, remarked that this envoy carried no proxy to negotiate, but that Mulay Hassan
had asked that Mahoma be entirely trusted. Mulay Hassan to Francisco de los Cobos,
1536 (with addenda by Bernardino de Mendoza), in É. De La Primaudaie, Documents
inédits cit., pp. 238-239.

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