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476 Miguel José Deyá Bauzá

collaboration between the troops from different origin seems to have
been minimal .
22
Thereafter the action moves to Barcelona where fleet is being fitted,
specifically to the Emperor’s tent where the military leaders of the
expedition – the Duke of Alba, the Prince of Portugal, the Marquis of
Vasto, and the “Duke of Amalfi” come to discuss the expedition . The
23
Emperor immediately informs them that the Turk has greatly
expanded his domains in the preceding years, taking advantage of the
fact that Charles V was otherwise occupied

en las guerras interiores
y en los domésticos bandos,
que mis pueblos dividieron
y mi Imperio sublevaron,
junto a las invasiones
de los vecinos Estados (p. 8) 24 .

These verses clearly evoke the problems arising from the Lutheran
Reform but also to the different rebellions within his lands, and the
wars with France. The Emperor continues recalling how the Turks
took Rhodes from the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
but criticises the latter because they had «turned to France and the
Pope for help, more so than to Spain» , and thus tries to minimise the
25
opprobrium which Spain also deserved as no one helped the Knights.
He also mentions the Ottoman invasion of Hungary and the death of
his brother-in-law, king Luis, and notes that the rest of Europe did
nothing against the Ottomans despite them penetrating into the heart
of the continent. Here the author puts words into the Emperor’s mouth
which reflect eighteenth century notions of Europe. There are
references to Christianity in general in the play, as in the case of the
conversion of Muslim women, but Cañizares makes use of the concept
of Christianity as if it was synonymous with Catholicism, again,

22 R. González Cuerva, La aportación cit., p. 42.
23 By the Duke of Amalfi the author means Andrea Doria, one of the leaders of the
campaign along with the Duke of Alba, the Prince of Portugal and the Marquis of Vasto.
The confusion seems to arise from the fact that the author mixes up Andrea Doria’s real
title as Prince of Melfi and the Duchy of Amalfi.
24 «When civil wars / and noble conflicts / divided my people / and caused rebellion
in my empire / as neighbouring powers invaded».
25 This represents not just criticism of the other Christian nations, France and the
Pope but a genuine self-criticism of the Spanish Monarchy although the author
subsequently states that the Emperor granted to them (the Knights of St John) Malta
and the nearby isles of Gozo and Comino («three islands for one: Rhodes – the one they
lost to the Turk»).

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