Page 189 - sfogliabile 49

Infidel friends: Charles V, Mulay Hassan and the theatre of majesty 455

a unique event and as a precedent. Mulay was received «honourably
as a king», escorted by three Spanish grandees (the duke of Alba, the
count of Benavente and the marquis of Valle Siciliana). The arrival of
the Muslim king was regarded as a major spectacle by the diverse
imperial forces, so that almost all the soldiers (excepts the sentinels)
crowded around to witness the scene . However, the actual per-
29
formance was limited to a selected courtly entourage and took place
in the imperial pavilion. In the salutation, Charles V was bareheaded
and eager to show his magnanimity with the dethroned king as well
as his superior status. The result was a confusing scene during which
Mulay tried to kneel before him and to kiss his hand, a gesture
commonly understood as an act of submission in both Christian and
Muslim cultures – including the Ottoman el öpmek . However,
30
Charles V refused to receive those compliments and instead put his
arms around Mulay’s shoulders, nearly embracing him. Mulay then
kissed Charles’s shoulders, a Muslim sign of homage, while the
imperial ministers feared that he would attempt to kiss Charles V’s
neck. The official version of the campaign drafted by the imperial
secretary Antoine Perrenin skipped this embarrassing moment, which
is recorded by other witnesses . Mulay seemed to feel humiliated by
31
the Emperor’s condescendence and physical contact, because he
claimed himself to be the Commander of the Faithful (Amir al-
Mu'minin) as the representative of the last old Arab dynasty, which
considered Mamelukes and Ottomans as parvenus .
32
The formal and polite conversation between both princes was
translated by Alvar Gómez Orozco, who was appointed as Mulay’s
companion and became his shadow throughout the campaign . Apart
33
from the confusion in the initial greeting, the scene was well-prepared

29 N. Guldin, Relato de la jornada del emperador Carlos V a Túnez, in R. González
Cuerva and M.A. Bunes Ibarra (eds.), Túnez 1535 cit., p. 123; P. de Sandoval, Historia
de la vida cit., pp. 245-247.
30 P. Brummett, A Kiss is Just a Kiss: Rituals of Submission along the East-West
Divide, in M. Birchwood, M. Dimmock (eds.), Cultural Encounters Between East and
West, 1453-1699, Cambridge Scholar Press, Amersham, 2005, pp. 112-114.
31 A. Perrenin, Goleta de la ciudad de Túnez cit., p. 80; A. de Santa Cruz, Crónica del
Emperador cit., p. 271; P. Girón, Crónica del emperador Carlos V, CSIC, Madrid, 1964,
p. 49-50.
32 P. Giovio, Segunda parte de la historia cit., f. 201r. For the humbling symbolism
of kissing shoulders to a superior in Persian tradition, P. Brummett, A Kiss is Just a
Kiss cit., p. 110.
33 A. de Santa Cruz, Crónica del Emperador cit., p. 271. Orozco was later appointed
governor of Bona (Annaba, Algeria). R. Gutiérrez Cruz, Crimen y corrupción en la frontera
africana: el alcaide Alvar Gómez de Orozco, el Zagal, in F. Toro Ceballos, J. Rodríguez
Molina (eds.), Fronteras multiculturales. Homenaje a Pedro Martínez Montávez,
Diputación de Jaén, Jaén, 2016, pp. 199-208.

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