Page 212 - sfogliabile 49

478 Miguel José Deyá Bauzá

míseramente vivía
del sudor de su trabajo,
ese Aradín Barbarroja (p. 9) 27 .

We should note here that there is a common element, a
fundamental agreement even between the oligarchy in Istanbul and
the Emperor: both sides show hatred and contempt for a man who is
not from the nobility, but from the lower classes, who aspires to the
highest status. The Ottoman oligarchy is opposed to proclaiming
Barbarossa a Pasha; the Emperor is insulted not by Barbarossa’s
conquest of Tunis but by the fact that the conquest was accomplished
by a man from a low social stratum. Disdain by the upper class
towards the poor unites two cultures that clash in almost all other
areas. It also creates another element in which the campaign is shown
to right wrongs.
The second argument outlined by the Emperor to justify military
intervention is the defence of Europe. Once again here he is referring
not to Christianity but to a concept: the notion of Europe, an idea
intelligible for the public of the 18th century, but far less so for the
Spaniards in 1535 for whom the key concept would be Christianity .
28
In that same scene Charles V describes Barbarossa as a second
Grand Turk threatening Europe, for which reason they should be able
to count on the support of the Pope and the King of France ,
29
something that actually did not happen in the case of the latter and
only on a very small scale in the case of the Holy Father .
30
Subsequently, the first comparison is made, though subtly at this
point, between Charles V and Scipio and also with Alexander the
Great, the humanist and renaissance hero par excellence , yet this
31
does not prevent the first reference being made to the campaign as a
holy war. At that juncture, the Emperor reveals the reason for

27 «But today neither my honour, / grace or power / can tolerate insults / from a
despicable and lowly man /who dares to attack my dignity, / untouched by its powerful
rays / I long to punish him / not as Emperor / of two Worlds, but as Charles / for it is
a dishonour for a Caesar and a King of Spain / to be attacked by a corsair / who only
yesterday was a poor potter, / making jewels out of clay / living miserably and sweating
from / his petty work, / that man called Aradín Barbarossa» (p. 9). The reference to
Barbarossa as a potter is historically correct, since that was his father’s profession. D.
Nordman, Tempête sur Alger. L’expédition de Charles Quint en 1541, Ed. Bouchene,
Condé- sur-Noireau, 2011, p. 74.
28 «I am afraid he will gobble up Europe / unless I contain him» (p. 9).
29 «…the Pope owes me his help, / as does France…» (p. 9).
30 The Pope contributed with six galleys. R. González Cuerva, M.Á. Bunes Ibarra,
Túnez 1535 cit., p. 67.
31 «I bring four hundred ships, / and the best possible captains, / better than those
that / Scipio or Alexander could gather» (p. 9).

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