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A baroque vision of the conquest of Tunis in 1535 477

reflecting the views of eighteenth-century Europe rather than what
was current from the sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries.
The Emperor then makes a very important declaration concerning
the ultimate reason why, after the seizure of Tunis by Barbarossa, he
had decided to confront him. The previous conquests by the Muslims
had been accomplished by a sovereign prince, albeit a barbarian, the
Ottoman sultan:

Todas estas osadías,
todos estos desacatos
del Príncipe de los Turcos,
capitanes y vasallos,
aunque mi saña ofendieron,
mi vanidad no irritaron;
pues, aunque un bárbaro sea,
basta verle coronado
de la Dignidad suprema
entre su rústico bando
para que me den sus triunfos
enojo, más no enfado (pp. 8-9) 26 .

But the attack on Tunis was carried out not by a sovereign but a
commoner, a man described as a mere potter – which is how
Barbarossa is presented to the audience – who became a corsair. This
was intolerable because it dishonoured the emperor to be defeated by
someone of such lowly status:

Más [h]oy, ni mi pundonor,
ni mi poder, ni mi garbo
puede tolerar ultraje
de un hombre que infame y bajo
se atreve a mi Dignidad,
sin que le cieguen sus rayos;
no ya como Emperador
de dos Mundos, como Carlos,
a darle castigo aspiro,
que es desdoro el que empleado
un César y un Rey de España
se mire contra un cosario,
que ayer un pobre Alfarero,
haciendo alhajas de barro,

26 «All those bold, contemptuous acts, / committed by the Prince of the Turks, /
along with his captains and vassals, / offended but didn’t enrage me / for although he
is a barbarian, / it suffices to see him among his rustic peoples / crowned and endowed
/ with supreme power / so that his victories irritate me / but do not anger me».

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