Meanwhile the capture of Tunis had made patent to all Europe how deep
was the wound that the credit and power of the Ottoman Empire had
received at Lepanto. This great defeat was no doubt a disaster for the
Turks; but a glorious disaster, both on account of the deeds of valour
they had performed, and the titanic efforts it cost the victors to gain
the triumph. The flight from Tunis without firing a shot, at the mere
presence of D. John two years after this rude warning, showed how deeply
rooted was the terror in the souls of the infidels, and how the renown
of the Christian bravery had been enhanced, especially that of the
Spaniards. All this cruelly wounded the overweening pride of Selim, and
he was consumed with the desire of avenging himself by reconquering
Tunis and Goletta. He was urged, with malicious eagerness, to undertake
this enterprise by Aluch Ali and the renegade Mustafa, one of the
engineers who built Goletta in the time of Charles V. The name of this
traitor was Jacobo Zitolomini. Resenting the treatment he had received
from Philip II, he fled to Algiers to Aluch Ali, who took him to
Constantinople, where he revealed to Selim a sure and secret way of
taking Goletta.
At the beginning of May, 1574, D. John received an urgent message from
Gabrio Cervelloni, to say that the Turks were preparing a very powerful
fleet; that it was feared that they would fall suddenly upon Tunis, and
that, in consequence of this, funds should be sent as quickly as
possible to finish the new fort, which was not yet completed. D. John
was at Genoa, quieting the disturbances there, and he hastened to send
the Commissary of the Fleet Juan de Soto to Madrid, to warn Philip II of
the danger which threatened. The King was not much alarmed about this,
and, perhaps, saw a prompt and certain opportunity of ridding himself of
this _care and worry of Tunis_. At any rate, his answer makes it clear
that this new conquest was the least of his cares, and while writing to
Cardinal Granvelle, Viceroy of Naples, and to the Duque de Terranova,
Regent of Sicily, that they were to guard the ports and reinforce the
garrisons, especially in Messina, Augusta, Syracuse, Trapani and
Palermo, he contented himself with adding that they were not to forget
to help his brother, and to look after the coast of Barbary. He also
ordered D. García de Toledo and the Marqués de Santa Cruz to watch how
D. John was garrisoning Goletta, and to the latter the King wrote that
he was to do what he judged best in the matter, but that he was to
remember that he had said that 2000 foot soldiers were enough to defend
Goletta. D. John then sent D. Juan de Cardona with all the galleys under
his command to Tunis without loss of time, taking the help for which
Gabrio Cervelloni craved. This was not sufficient, and those in Tunis
reiterated their request. D. John then exhausted all his resources, and
sent D. Bernardino de Velasco with twenty Neapolitan galleys and four
companies of Italian infantry. With these comings and goings summer was
getting old, and on the 13th of August, at the Cape of Carthage,
appeared the dreaded Turkish fleet of 300 ships and 60,000 soldiers, the
fleet being commanded by Aluch Ali, and the troops by Selim's son-in-law
Sinan Pasha, the renegade.
A great outcry arose at the extreme peril of the Barbary Christians, and
by every means in their power they sent to ask help from Granvelle,
Terranova, and, above all, from D. John of Austria, in virtue of his
office and Christian piety. He wished to fly to their aid, abandoning
everything. He wrote first, however, to the Duque de Sesa, "To urge the
Cardinal to send people to help Goletta, as that province was in his
charge." But the imperturbable Granvelle replied coldly, "That he had
much to guard in the Kingdom, and that it did not suit him to divide his
forces." "This was," says Vander Hammen, commenting on the fact, "to
give colour to the excuse. The real reason was Granvelle's dislike to
support D. John, jealous of his favours with Mars and Venus, and because
he was a foreigner, and because his brothers conspired in the Flemish
rebellion;" and Luis Cabrera de Córdoba expresses himself in similar
words, equally severe, not forgetting Mars and Venus. And D. John
himself wrote to his sister Donna Margarita: "In short, Lady, everything
goes badly; and in truth it is not entirely the fault of His Majesty,
except for permitting those who govern his States to forget that those
in their vicinity, or those that are not, are as much His Majesty's as
those which each minister has charge of."
Meanwhile D. John, tired of waiting for orders, troops and money which
did not come, and making it a point of honour to go to Tunis, moved with
desperate activity from Genoa to Naples, Messina and Palermo, recruiting
soldiers everywhere, chartering ships, and pledging for all this his
plate, his jewels, and even his word, until he had collected at Messina
a moderate fleet with no lack of fighting men. He was all ready to sail
for Africa, when he met with another obstacle, more powerful than the
calculated coldness of Philip II, or the jealous hatred of the Cardinal.
The sea! The terrible sea which rose in a furious storm which threw him
to Trapani, much against his will, and kept him there days and days,
giving time for Christians to perish and for the Turks to become
victorious. Three times he tried to leave the port, defying the storm,
and as often had to retire before the surging waves. Then he sent four
galleys without quarter-decks and platforms on the forecastles to take
the mere hope of help to Goletta, but the implacable tempest prevented
this by destroying two of them. At last the weather improved; but before
D. John could put to sea, a French galley, without masts and knocked
about by the storm, was driven into the port of Trapani. On board of her
was D. Juan Zagonera, with fifty soldiers, all that remained at liberty
of the garrison that D. John had left in Barbary. From them he heard of
the terrible disaster. The Turks were in possession of Tunis; three
thousand soldiers were dead, and the rest wounded or captives; Pagano
Doria had been beheaded; Gabrio Cervelloni, D. Pedro Portocarrero and D.
Francisco de Avila were the slaves of Sinan; the new fort razed before
it was finished; and Goletta, the glorious legacy of Charles V, blown up
by mines, and erased from the African soil by Aluch Ali, as the wind of
the desert obliterates footprints.
Those who were jealous of D. John blamed him for this catastrophe, with
which he had had nothing to do; the sensible public opinion, at times so
right and sharp, blamed Granvelle, and songs, which have come down to
us, were sung on the subject in the streets. A few, but very few, said
in a whisper, as in those days it was necessary to do, that the Cardinal
was not responsible, since in refusing aid to Goletta he had obeyed
secret orders from Madrid. Of this, however, absolutely no proof exists.
The energetic nature of D. John was not depressed by this bad news; but
it awoke a thousand different sentiments in his mind, and under the
impression of disgust, sorrow and wounded dignity, and, above all, his
loyal frankness, which always urged him to treat questions openly and in
a straightforward manner, he resolved to go to Spain to confer with his
brother Philip II face to face about three different questions which
were connected with each other—as to his remaining permanently in Italy
as Lieutenant-Governor of those States, his recognition as Infante of
Castille, and the mysterious scheme that Gregory XIII had proposed to
him.
So it fell out, and by January, 1575, D. John was already in Madrid. On
the 15th of February he wrote to his sister Donna Margarita:
"Lady, I, praised be God, arrived a few days ago at this Court,
where I have received such kindness from His Majesty that only
to have gained this I consider that I have spent my life well.
Since my arrival I think that he understands Italian affairs
very differently from what he did before. I had thought, as I
had prayed His Majesty, to stay some time in Madrid; but in the
end he is resolved to order me to return to those parts, and is
in a great hurry to send me off. I think that I shall start in
the middle of the coming month, and I also think that I go to
begin a new sort of service according to what suits His Majesty.
Meanwhile one has to overcome difficulties and hasten on the
things required for this summer's campaign.
"To all this I pay so much attention that each day, in councils
and out of them, I do nothing else. It is already drawing so
near summer, that I am satisfied with nothing that I do not see.
Here, Lady, everything is councils; every day I hold two,
besides a thousand other occupations, which leave me no time
that I can call my own."
D. Philip was under the spell of the fascination that D. John always
exercised, and, notwithstanding the groundless suspicions of Antonio
Pérez, he received his brother with loving affection and the gratitude
and graciousness due to a leader who had added such lustre and glory to
the arms and name of Spain. He listened long, and with great interest,
to D. John's information about Italian affairs, changing his opinion
much about them. He agreed with D. John in blaming the Ministers and
Viceroys of those States, especially Granvelle and the Duque de
Terranova. He talked over and fixed the loans which should be made to
the various councils to enable them to guard themselves that summer
against the Turk, whose pride had to be humbled after the recent capture
of Tunis; and finally appointed him, with the approval of the whole
council, and to the secret horror of Antonio Pérez, his
Lieutenant-General of all Italy, with authority over all the Viceroys
and Ministers who governed those States. This, however, was to remain a
secret, to spare the reputations and prestige of these functionaries,
and was only to be manifested in case of abuse of authority or boast of
independence. "This for Y. Highness only, I beg for many reasons," wrote
D. John from Naples to Donna Margarita. "I also bring an order that
everyone has to act with obedience; but this is only to be used when
some Minister persuades himself to the contrary, which I do not think
will happen, as by letters they have learnt what concerns them."
D. John, encouraged by this, dared to present the second part of his
programme, which was that, in order to wound no one and to give an
outward sign of this supremacy over the Italian Ministers, the King
should concede to him the rank and title of Infante, which was
spontaneously given him by all, great and small. D. Philip did not like
to refuse this well-deserved favour, but with excuses made D. John
understand that the time was not ripe for this. He did not do this out
of ill-will, or from miserly stinginess, or still less from jealousy of
his fame and renown, as some say, but because it was one of the maxims
of this prudent King, inherited from his father Charles V, to stimulate
the services of the Grandees with a reward in proportion to their rank;
and without giving D. John a crown, which Philip did not wish to do,
there remained no other reward worthy of him but the title of Infante,
and it seemed premature to give him this now, considering the many and
important services Philip hoped to obtain from him in the future.
As to the project of Gregory XIII, D. John did not have to broach the
subject to his brother. D. Philip himself began it, having already
talked over and settled it with the Nuncio Ormanetto.