Jump to content

Algiers expedition (1541): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Reverted 1 edit by 24.199.90.246 (talk): Why are you using an open proxy?
Tags: Twinkle Undo Reverted
Undid revision 1122050529 by M.Bitton (talk) Why do you always run crying to the admins for help?
Tags: Undo Reverted
Line 21: Line 21:
| strength1 = Total of 80 galleys<br>Total of 500 ships<ref name="Poole"/><br>12,000 sailors<ref name="Poole"/><br>24,000 soldiers<ref name="Poole"/><br>''Including:''<br>[[File:Charles V Arms-personal.svg|16px]] 100 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} 50 galleys<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} 100 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Republic of Genoa}} 14 galleys<br>{{flagicon|Papal States|old}} 8 galleys<br>{{flagicon|Kingdom of Naples|1516}} {{flagicon image|Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg}} 150 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|SMOM}} 700 knights<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Kuku (West of Kabylia).png}} 2,000 troops<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murray (Firm)|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lW4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38|title=Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, Etc|last2=Playfair|first2=Sir Robert Lambert|date=1887|publisher=J. Murray|language=en}}</ref>
| strength1 = Total of 80 galleys<br>Total of 500 ships<ref name="Poole"/><br>12,000 sailors<ref name="Poole"/><br>24,000 soldiers<ref name="Poole"/><br>''Including:''<br>[[File:Charles V Arms-personal.svg|16px]] 100 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} 50 galleys<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} 100 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|Republic of Genoa}} 14 galleys<br>{{flagicon|Papal States|old}} 8 galleys<br>{{flagicon|Kingdom of Naples|1516}} {{flagicon image|Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg}} 150 transports<ref name="Poole"/><br>{{flagicon|SMOM}} 700 knights<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Kuku (West of Kabylia).png}} 2,000 troops<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murray (Firm)|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lW4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38|title=Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, Etc|last2=Playfair|first2=Sir Robert Lambert|date=1887|publisher=J. Murray|language=en}}</ref>
| strength2 = 800 soldiers<br>5,000 Moors<ref name="Poole"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lW4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38 ''Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine ...'' by John Murray (Firm),Sir Robert Lambert Playfair p.38]</ref>
| strength2 = 800 soldiers<br>5,000 Moors<ref name="Poole"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lW4ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA38 ''Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine ...'' by John Murray (Firm),Sir Robert Lambert Playfair p.38]</ref>
| casualties1 = 300 officers killed<ref name="Poole"/><br>8,000<ref name="Poole"/> or 12000<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garcés|first1=María Antonia|title=Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale|date=2005|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|isbn=0826514707|page=24|edition=illustrated, revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h97ivaPeOx8C&q=1541+algiers&pg=PA23|access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> killed<br>150 ships sunk<ref name="Poole"/>
| casualties1 = 8,000<ref name="Poole"/> or 12000<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garcés|first1=María Antonia|title=Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale|date=2005|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|isbn=0826514707|page=24|edition=illustrated, revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h97ivaPeOx8C&q=1541+algiers&pg=PA23|access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> killed<br>150 ships wrecked in a storm<ref name="Poole"/>
| casualties2 = Light
| casualties2 = Light
}}
}}

Revision as of 17:14, 15 November 2022

For other battles in the same place, see Battle of Algiers.
Algiers expedition
Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars

Siege of Algiers in 1541. Engraving of 1555.
DateOctober – November 1541
Location
Algiers
Result Algerian victory[2]
Belligerents

Empire of Charles V:

Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of Saint John
 Republic of Genoa
 Papal States
Kingdom of Kuku[1]		 Regency of Algiers
Commanders and leaders
Charles V
Navy: Andrea Doria
Army: Duke of Alba[3]
Including:
Ferrante I Gonzaga
Spain Hernán Cortés
Republic of Genoa Giannettino Doria
Spain Bernardino de Mendoza
Sovereign Military Order of Malta Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon		 Hassan Agha
Strength
Total of 80 galleys
Total of 500 ships[3]
12,000 sailors[3]
24,000 soldiers[3]
Including:
100 transports[3]
Spain 50 galleys[3]
Spain 100 transports[3]
Republic of Genoa 14 galleys
Papal States 8 galleys
Kingdom of Naples 150 transports[3]
Sovereign Military Order of Malta 700 knights
2,000 troops[4]		 800 soldiers
5,000 Moors[3][5]
Casualties and losses
8,000[3] or 12000[6] killed
150 ships wrecked in a storm[3]		 Light

The 1541 Algiers expedition occurred when Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Spain attempted to lead an amphibious attack against regency of Algiers, in modern Algeria. Inadequate planning, particularly against unfavourable weather, led to the failure of the expedition.

Background

Algiers had been in alliance with the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent since(1529).in 1529 by Barbarossa. Barbarossa had left Algiers in 1535 to be named High Admiral of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople, and was replaced as governor by Hassan Agha, a eunuch and Sardinian renegade.[3] Hassan had in his service the well-known Ottoman naval commanders Dragut, Sālih Reïs, and Sinān Pasha.[3]

Charles V made considerable preparations for the expedition, wishing to obtain revenge for the recent siege of Buda,[7] However the Spanish and Genoese fleets were severely damaged by a storm, forcing him to abandon the venture.[8][9]

Expedition

Charles V embarked very late in the season, on 28 September 1541, delayed by troubles in Germany and Flanders.[3][10] The fleet was assembled in the Bay of Palma, at Majorca.[3] It had more than 500 sails and 24,000 soldiers.[3]

After enduring difficult weather, the fleet only arrived in front of Algiers on 19 October.[11] The most distinguished Spanish commanders accompanied Charles V on this expedition, including Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico, though he was never invited to the War Council.[10]

Troops were disembarked on 23 October, and Charles established his headquarters on a land promontory surrounded by German troops.[10] German, Spanish, and Italian troops, accompanied by 150 Knights of Malta, began to land while repelling Algerine opposition, soon surrounding the city, except for the northern part.[3]

The fate of the city seemed to be sealed, however the following day the weather became severe with heavy rains. Many galleys lost their anchors and 15 were wrecked onshore. Another 33 carracks sank, while many more were dispersed.[12] As more troops were attempting to land, the Algerines started to make sorties, slaughtering the newly arrived. Charles V was surrounded, and was only saved by the resistance of the Knights of Malta.[13]

Andrea Doria managed to find a safer harbour for the remainder of the fleet at Cape Matifu, 5 miles east of Algiers. He enjoined Charles V to abandon his position and join him in Matifu, which Charles V did with great difficulty.[14] From there, still oppressed by the weather, the remaining troops sailed to Bougie, still a Spanish harbour at that time. Charles could only depart for the open sea on 23 November.[15] Throwing his horses and Crown overboard, Charles abandoned his army and sailed home.[16] He finally reached Cartagena, in southeast Spain, on 3 December.[17]

Losses amongst the invading force were heavy with 150 ships lost, plus large numbers of sailors and soldiers.[3] A Turkish chronicler confirming that the Berber tribes were massacring the 12,000 men of invading forces[18] So many of Charles' troops were taken captive that there was a glut of slaves on the market in Algiers, so that 1541 was said to be the year when Christians were sold for the price of an onion per head.[19]

Aftermath

The disaster considerably weakened the Spanish, and Hassan Agha took the opportunity to attack Mers-el-Kebir, the harbour of the Spanish base of Oran, in July 1542.[20]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria, p191
  2. ^ Phillip C. Naylor (5 September 2006). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Scarecrow Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8108-6480-1.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r The Story of the Barbary Corsairs by Stanley Lane-Poole p.114ff [1]
  4. ^ Murray (Firm), John; Playfair, Sir Robert Lambert (1887). Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, Etc. J. Murray.
  5. ^ Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine ... by John Murray (Firm),Sir Robert Lambert Playfair p.38
  6. ^ Garcés, María Antonia (2005). Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale (illustrated, revised ed.). Vanderbilt University Press. p. 24. ISBN 0826514707. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  7. ^ Garnier, p.201
  8. ^ European warfare, 1494–1660 by Jeremy Black p.177
  9. ^ E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936 by Martijn Theodoor Houtsma p.258 [2]
  10. ^ a b c Garnier, p.202
  11. ^ Garnier, p.203
  12. ^ Garnier, p.204ff
  13. ^ Garnier, p.204
  14. ^ Garnier, p.205
  15. ^ Garnier, p.207
  16. ^ Roger Crowley, Empires of the Sea, faber and faber 2008 p.73
  17. ^ Garnier, p.206
  18. ^ Garcés, María Antonia, p .24
  19. ^ Roger Crowley, Empires of the Sea, faber and faber 2008 p. 73
  20. ^ A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p.155 ff

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Algiers_expedition_(1541)&oldid=1122062830"