Ottoman-Habsburg Wars (1521-1791)
Images from eight wars fought between 1570 and 1718
Tunis captured by Charles V, 1535 (Tūnis, Tunisia) 36°49ʹ08ʺN 10°09ʹ56ʺE; (Tūnis, Tunisia) 36°49ʹ05ʺN 10°18ʹ18ʺE
published 1566Etching with engraving; printed on paper; not mounted; no gilt edges | Not drawn to scale | RCIN 721007
A high oblique view of Charles V's sea-borne expedition to the Ottoman city of Tunis which he besieged 16 June-21 July 1535. The emperor's army was protected by the Ligurian General and Admiral Andrea Doria's (30 November 1466-25 November 1560) Genoese fleet; the Imperial Spanish army captured Tunis and reinstated Bey Mulai-Hassan; a Spanish protectorate then controlled Tunis from 1535-1574.The Ottoman Empire (1550-1606): Conflicts in the Mediterranean (1532-1565). Oriented with south (ostro) to top.
This view shows the soldiers of Charles V’s army, who had been landed to the west of La Goulette, encamped amid the ruins of ancient Carthage with the remnants of the old aqueduct. The kasbah or citadel of La Goulette is shown in the centre of the view, flying the imperial flag. Four wells, just to the west of La Goulette, are drawn as rectangular structures. According to the text, these supplied water to Tunis and were protected by the square tower in the middle. Another, large section of the imperial army is encamped west of Tunis itself, and Imperial troops are marching into the city while Barbarossa can be seen fleeing in the direction of Constantine (Qusantîna 36°21ʹ54ʺN 06°36ʹ53ʺE) in Algiers.
The text also explains that the scale of the map is drawn in miles (but does not specify which mile unit) and that Tunis is larger than it should be according to the scale. Descriptions of the fertile hills, stagnant and non-navigable waters, other infertile areas, the height of the weak walls (three arms) surrounding the villages, and the locations of the Arabs and Christians, are also given.
A variant state, lacking the Zaltieri imprint, and attributed by Woodward to Paolo Forlani, was included in a factice atlas, probably produced in Venice about 1575, and is in the Newberry Library (VAULT oversize Ayer 135 L2 1575 AI, plate [31]).
Bolognino Zaltieri (active 1560-80) (publisher) [top left, below title, in title cartouche:] Venetijs ex æneis formis Bolognini Zalterij / Anno.M.D.LXVI.
Subject(s)
Army-SpainNavy-SpainWatermark: Indistinct: a mermaid in a circle with six-pointed star above [similar to Briquet 13899]
Condition: flat, one fold line; some offsetting of a different map on verso. Not mounted; no gilt edges
Not drawn to scale
27.1 x 39.2 cm (image and neatline)
27.2 x 39.6 cm (platemark)
31.8 x 44.7 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
Benigni Lettori, per rappresentarui piu particulari della Città di / Tunési, holla tenuta alquanto piu larga di quello che importa la / pianta di essa Città secondo la mesura ò, scala delli miglia, laquale / solamente ui seruirà à sapere le distantie da un luogo all' altro: / Piu altra i monti che sono alla sinestra dello stagno per la loro asprez: / za nō si possono coltiuare, le Colline all destra sono tutte fruttifere, / lo stagno non è nauigabile se nō per lo canale, La Torre appreßo la Go: / letta è per la difesa de pozzi dà quali si ha l'acqua per uso della Citta: / Le Mura che abbracciano i borghi sono di'altezza di tre braccia, / et debolissime, et solo fatte per reparar all improuiso assalto de gli / Arabi; Bardo, Mescia, et Restabia sono serragli del Re: il Borgo / Rabat è habitato dà Soldati Christiani: il Borgo Nifet da gli Arabi: / il Mercato del bestiame si fa nell a piazza appresso la meschita: / La Piazza de Christiani è alli magazeni: il porto appresso le ruine / di Cartagine è quasi ripieno, et non si usa piu·: [top left, in cartouche decorated with strapwork]
Annotation:
George III heading: Tunis taken by Charles V in 1535.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [top left, red pencil:] 1/6; [bottom left, black pencil: a line].
George III catalogue entry:
Tunis Plan of Tunis taken by Charles V, in 1535: by B. Zaltieri, 1566.
Subject(s)
Tūnis, Tunisia (36°49ʹ08ʺN 10°09ʹ56ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
D. Woodward, ‘The maps and prints of Paolo Forlani, a descriptive bibliography’, The Hermon Dunlop Smith Centre for the History of Cartography Occasional Publication 4, Chicago 1990, no. 63
Franco Novaco Map Collection (Newberry Library) Novacco 2F 243
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2641
F.B. Salvadori, Carte, piante e stampe storiche delle raccolte Lafreriane della Bibliotea nazionale di Firenze, Indici e Cataloghi Nuova Serie XI, Rome 1980 p.105, no. 314
R.V. Tooley, ‘Maps in Italian atlases of the sixteenth century, being a comparative list of the Italian maps issued by Lafreri, Forlani, Duchetti, Bertelli and others, found in atlases’, Imago Mundi III, 1939, pp. 12-47, no. 558
Page revisions
25 May 2024
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