Muley-Hassan, king of Tunis, driven from his states by Barbarossa,
the terror of the Mediterranean, came to implore the aid of Charles
V. That prince, touched by the prayers of the Barbary monarch, swore
to replace him on his throne. He assembled a fleet of three hundred
ships, on board of which were twenty-five thousand foot and two
thousand horse, set sail from Cagliari, and arrived at Porto-Farina,
formerly Utica. As that port was not very secure, the fleet again
weighed anchor, and brought to within cannon-shot of the Gouletta. The
whole Christian army landed without the least opposition on the part
of the Mussulmans. The generals pitched their tents between Carthage
and the Water Tower, and surrounded it with wide deep lines, fortified
with redoubts. This was the exact spot on which Louis IX. had formerly
placed his camp. The trenches were opened, and three batteries were
raised against the fortress. Whilst the place was being cannonaded by
land, the galleys advanced by turns and delivered their broadsides;
the grand caique of Malta and a Portuguese galleon destroyed a part
of the fortifications and dismounted the batteries of the town. The
place being open in several places, it was determined to carry it by
the sword. The Christians mounted to the assault, forced the breaches,
gained the bulwarks and the top of the tower, and took possession of
them. Chasse-Diable, and Sinan the Jew, leaders of the defenders of
the Gouletta, being unable to resist the imperial conquerors, retired
into Tunis, where their arrival spread terror and despair. The emperor
entered this fortress, followed by Muley-Hassan, to whom he said, “This
is the door by which you will re-enter your states.”
Barbarossa was terrified at the successes of Charles V. With the
Gouletta he lost eighty-seven galleys, and more than three hundred
pieces of bronze ordnance, inclosed in that citadel. He held a council
with the Turks, and pointed out to them the dangers to which they were
exposed. They had two enemies equally to fear,--the inhabitants and
the Arabs, who detested their domination; the twenty-five thousand
Christian slaves in Tunis must necessarily be expected to revolt,
and open the gates to the Spaniards. With regard to these slaves,
he declared he was resolved to put them all to death. Sinan the Jew
represented to Barbarossa that he would render himself odious to all
nations; that he would lose the ransom of the most considerable of the
slaves, and that he must not have recourse to such a cruel measure
till the last extremity. Barbarossa consented to suspend the horrible
project he had formed; but he had the slaves loaded with fresh chains,
shut them up in the castle, and placed under them a number of barrels
of gunpowder. He passed the rest of the night in an agony of fear and
hope, and in expectation of the day which was to decide his fate. He
left Tunis the next morning, at the head of eighty thousand men, and
encamped in a plain a full league from the city. The two armies were
soon in face of each other. The Arabs at first attacked the Christians
with great spirit; but scarcely had they sustained the first discharge
of the artillery, than they broke their ranks, and drew with them the
Moors, and even the Turks. Barbarossa did his utmost to rally them,
but they were deaf to his voice, and only took counsel of the terror
with which they were seized. Barbarossa, trembling with rage, sounded a
retreat, rallied the fugitives, and passed the night under arms beneath
the walls of the city. Whilst he was deliberating if he should go again
and offer battle to the Christians, or shut himself up in Tunis, some
Turks came to inform him that the slaves had broken their chains, and
had made themselves masters of the castle. Barbarossa hastened thither,
and was met by musket-shots and a shower of stones. Transported with
fury, he cried out that all was lost, as the slaves were masters of the
castle and of his treasures. He immediately left Tunis at the head of a
body of Turks, and contrived to place himself in safety.
The emperor was ignorant of this revolution; on approaching Tunis,
he was informed of it by some Moors. In an instant the imperialists
dispersed themselves throughout the city, massacred all who came
in their way, carried off all the women and children that were
reserved for slavery, and abandoned themselves to all the excesses
which accompany cruelty, avarice, and lubricity. The booty was so
considerable, that there was not a single soldier who did not make
his fortune. It is said that more than two hundred thousand persons
perished in the sack of this unfortunate city; some expired under the
sword of the conqueror; others, thinking to avoid death by flight, met
with it in the burning sands of the deserts, where they died consumed
by heat and thirst.
The emperor, master of Tunis, re-established Muley-Hassan on his
throne; but that unfortunate prince did not enjoy it long. Muly
Hameda, his eldest son, tore the diadem from his head; Hameda himself
was deposed by his uncle Abdou-melek, afterwards recalled by his
subjects. After having gone through these various changes, he reigned
peaceably till the year 1570, when Ulachali, dey of Algiers, one of
the successors of Barbarossa, took possession of the kingdom of Tunis,
which became nothing but a nest of pirates.