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474 Miguel José Deyá Bauzá

Cañizares is remarkably loyal to the historical facts . Cachidiablo
17
then announces to Barbarossa that a fleet is being put together in
Barcelona and Barbarossa proclaims him General.
In the following scene the action moves to Barcelona, where Charles
V appears with his closest counsellors, among them, the Marquis of
Vasto whom we are informed will contribute 14,000 veteran soldiers
(including Italians and men from Saxony) to the campaign. The
Genoese admiral of the imperial fleet, Andrea Doria, is to transport
6000 Flemings on his ships, in addition to 10,000 Spanish soldiers .
18
The figures given are plausible, although it continues to be a matter
of debate. The author, not unnaturally, takes the opportunity to
comment on the Spanish soldiers, whom he refers to as Lions and
Goths. The lion was a symbol associated with Spain in the days of
Cañizares, although less so in the times of Charles V. They are also
called Goths because of the Germanic tribes known to have settled in
the Iberian Peninsula before Spain became a nation. He attributes to

17 The Rock or Peñón of Algiers had fallen into Barbarossa’s hands in 1529. J.F.
Pardo Molero, La defensa del Imperio. Carlos V, Valencia y el Mediterráneo, Sociedad
Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, Madrid, 2001,
pp. 239ff. This increased the danger for Spain as Barbarossa already had control over
Algiers since 1521. From there he launched a series of attacks on the Spanish Levant,
Sicily and Sardinia. M.Á. Bunes Ibarra, E. Sola Castaño, La vida y historia de Hayradin,
llamado Barbarroja, Universidad de Granada, Granada, 1997, p. 18). It is worth
mentioning the disaster of the Spanish squadron commanded by Portuondo which
confronted Cachidiablo in the waters of Formentera (J.F. Pardo Molero, La defensa cit.,
p. 242) and the event, towards the end of August and beginning of September 1531,
when Algerian vessels threatened the coast of Valencia and captured people from
Mallorca and sixty others from Menorca (Ivi, p. 266).
18 The figure of 14,000 men, comprising both German and Italian troops seems to
us plausible if we bear in mind that some 8000 lansquenets were sent over from German
lands alone. R. González Cuerva, La aportación centroeuropea a una empresa
mediterránea, in R. González Cuerva, M.Á. Bunes Ibarra, Túnez 1535: Voces de una
campaña europea, CSIC, Madrid, 2017, p. 29. There were 12,000 Spanish soldiers
(10,000 infantry and 2000 cavalrymen), 5000 Italians, 2000 Portuguese plus some
Flemings and Albanese. A. de Ceballos-Escalera, Guerra y nobleza en la jornada de
Túnez. Los capitanes del César, in A. Alvar Ezquerra, J.I. Ruiz Rodríguez (eds.), Túnez
1535: Halcones y halconeros en la diplomacia y la monarquía española, Gremio de
Halconeros del Reino de España, Madrid, 2010, pp. 123-153 estimates the total as
27,000: 25,000 infantry and 2000 horses with their riders; Davide Maffi, Las guerras de
los Austrias, in L. Ribot (ed.), Historia Militar de España. Edad Moderna. Escenario
Europeo, Ministerio de Defensa, Madrid, 2013, p. 105 puts it at 28,000. To these should
be added the crews from the ships, nobles and their retinues, adventurers and other
people not belonging to specific units. The fleet consisted of 82 galleys, 2 Flemish hulks,
40 galleons, 25 Andalusian and Portuguese caravels, 100 ships and an indefinite
number of minor vessels and or/auxiliary boats. To confront the Emperor’s troops, there
were 8000 Turkish soldiers (1000 of them engaged in the defence of La Goleta), 800
Janissaries, 7000 Muslim archers and 7000 lancers as well as 8000 Alabar horsemen.
A. de Ceballos-Escalera, Guerra y nobleza cit., pp. 134-135.

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