Page 217 - sfogliabile 49

A baroque vision of the conquest of Tunis in 1535 483

Charles V continues criticizing Mulay for having personally
participated in the looting of La Goleta, a disgraceful act unbecoming
of royalty. In order for him to refrain from committing such an act
again, the Emperor gives him 25,000 ducats. The Emperor’s moral
superiority is not only emphasised by the money given, but because
he reprimands Mulay in private, as if a king could only be censured
by another monarch without his subjects being witnesses. He goes on
to reiterate that the wrath of a monarch must only be directed against
another sovereign . He then demands as tribute from the Muslim king
44
not the usual monetary payment, but the promise that Mulay will
respect his vassals and act mercifully towards them .
45
At the end of that scene an attack by Barbarossa is announced and,
despite the danger and against the advice of some of his advisers, the
Emperor refuses to withdraw, deciding instead to confront him in
order to achieve a goal that once more puts him in a morally elevated
position: rescuing Barbarossa’s twenty thousand Christian captives.
A sharp contrast, also of a moral nature, is made between the Emperor
and Barbarossa. Whereas the former appears in the play at the head
of his troops on various occasions, the latter insults and abuses his
men when the battle turns against him. When the Jewish corsair
Sinan tries to justify his defeat at La Goleta, the Spaniards are again
presented as lions, but otherwise, the arguments that Cañizares
attributes to him are similar to those included in the chronicle of
Illescas . At this point in the play, Barbarossa is presented in a more
46
sinister light, ordering that if he is taken prisoner, the dungeons where
the Christian captives are held should be set on fire .
47
During the battle that takes place as Barbarossa tries to retake La
Goleta, Marfilia – the witch-like figure in love with Mulay – uses her
magical powers to help the Spaniards:

las tropas de Carlos Quinto
deshacen y desbaratan
los turquesos escuadrones,
mas no con menos bizarra

44 «Nobody other than another king / deserves to be the recipient of a king’s enmity».
45 «Pay homage to me in that / you will be merciful, / kind, attentive and affable, /
towards your vassals / refraining from any blind passions» (p. 26).
46 Compare Illescas’s chronicle where Sinan declares: «I’m telling you, my Lord, that
if I had to fight men, I wouldn’t flee, but I was facing the devil and common sense told
me to reserve myself for a more appropriate occasion» (G. de Illescas, Jornada cit., p.
455), with the play (p. 30): «Had you ordered me / to fight men I would have had no
fear, / but confronting invincible devils; / and facing the furies of hell, / is an impossible
task for any man».
47 K. Brandi, Carlos V, Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1943, p. 306, believes this to be true.

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