The Duchess of Trajetto
Page 14
CHAPTER XIV.
WHAT BEFEL BARBAROSSA.
The Emperor Charles the Fifth had been very indignant when he heard ofthe sack of Fondi, and the attempt to seize the Duchess. Some monthsafterwards, when Muley Hassan, whom Barbarossa had driven from Tunis,appealed to him for assistance, Charles, who was ambitious of militaryrenown, resolved at once to rid the coast of a dangerous invader, andavenge an injured prince, by heading an expedition against Hayraddin.
The united strength of his dominions was therefore called out upon thisenterprise, which he intended to increase his already brilliantreputation. As the redresser of wrongs, his cause was popular, and drewon him the applause of Christendom. A Flemish fleet conveyed his troopsfrom the Low Countries; the galleys of Naples were loaded with theItalian auxiliaries, and the Emperor himself embarked at Barcelona withthe flower of his Spanish nobility, and considerable reinforcements fromPortugal. Andrea Doria commanded the Genoese galleys, and the Knights ofMalta equipped a small but powerful squadron, and hastened to therendezvous at Cagliari.
All this mighty armament to hunt down a Lesbian pirate, the son of anobscure potter!
Hayraddin was, however, no contemptible foe. Ambitious and relentless, askilful and a generous chief, his lavish bounties among his partizansmade them his blind adherents: while his wondrous versatility hadenabled him to ingratiate himself with the Sultan and his Vizier. It wastherefore to be war to the knife between the Crescent and the Cross.
As soon as Barbarossa heard of the Emperor's formidable preparations,he called in all his corsairs from their different stations, drew fromAlgiers what forces could be spared, summoned Moors and Arabs from allquarters to his standard, and inflamed their fanaticism by assuring themhe was embarking in a holy war.
Twenty thousand horse and a considerable body of foot answered hissummons, and drew together before Tunis. Hayraddin knew, however, thathis greatest dependence must be on his Turkish troops, who were armedand disciplined in the European manner. He therefore threw six thousandof them, under Sinan, the renegade Jew, into the fortress of Golettacommanding the bay of Tunis; which the Emperor immediately invested.
Three separate storming parties attacked the fort; Sinan raged like alion at bay: frequent sallies were made by his garrison, while the Moorsand Arabs made diversions. But nothing could withstand the fury of theassailants; and a breach soon appeared in the walls of the fortress,which the Emperor pointed out to Muley Hassan.
"Behold," said he, "the gate through which you may re-enter yourkingdom!"
With the Goletta, Barbarossa's fleet fell into the Emperor's hands; andhe was driven to extremities. Having strongly entrenched himself withinthe city, he called his chiefs to a council of war, and proposed tothem, that before sallying out to decide their fate in battle, theyshould massacre ten thousand Christians whom he had shut up in thecitadel.
Even his pirate chiefs were staggered at this proposal; and Barbarossa,seeing they would not support him in it, yielded the point with agesture of disgust at their want of hardihood. Charles and his chivalrywere meanwhile painfully toiling, under a blazing African sun, acrossthe burning sands which encompass Tunis, without so much as a drop ofwater to cool their tongues:
"Non e gente Pagana insieme accolta, Non muro cinto di profonda fossa, Non gran torrente o monte alpestre e folta Selva, che 'l loro viaggio arrestar possa."
La Ger. Lib., _Canto I._
Hayraddin, sallying out upon them with his best troops, made a desperateonset, but was so vigorously repulsed that his forces surged back to thecity, and he himself was irresistibly borne along with them like a strawon the tide.
Meanwhile, a pale girl, a Christian slave, who had been within earshotof the council, carried the report of Barbarossa's ferocious proposal tothe keepers of the citadel. They were revolted at his cruelty, and herentreaties, backed by the clamours of the despairing wretches in theircharge, prevailed on them to release the Christian prisoners and strikeoff their fetters. Forth came Tebaldo Adimari, the pride of Fondi;forth came many a grey-haired senator, illustrious cavalier, andvenerable hidalgo, some in their full strength, others wasted with longcaptivity, but nerved at this moment to strike a blow for freedom.Unarmed as they were, they flung themselves on the surprised guard, andturned the artillery of the fort against Barbarossa himself as he andhis discomfited troops poured back in disorderly retreat. O, fell rageand despair of the defeated pirate, late the sovereign of two kingdoms,as he now heard Christian war-cries defying him from his ownbattlements! gnashing his teeth, and cursing the comrades whose humanitycompelled him to spare those who were now manning the walls, he soughtsafety in ignominious and precipitate flight.
Then what a cheer arose, as the Christians saw the turbans in retreat,and themselves masters of the city! The Emperor was first made aware ofthe turn affairs had taken, by the arrival of deputies from Tunis, whobrought him the keys, and piteously besought him to check the violenceof his troops. In vain! They were already sacking the city, killing andplundering without mercy; and thirty thousand defenceless people werethe victims of that day, while ten thousand more were carried away asslaves.
It is said that Charles lamented this dreadful slaughter, and that hedeclared the only result of his victory which gave him any satisfactionwas his reception by the ten thousand Christian captives, who fell athis feet, blessing him as their deliverer. In all, he freed twentythousand slaves, whom he sent, clothed at his own expense, to their ownhomes; and they, as may well be supposed, made Europe ring with theirpraises of his goodness and munificence. It was a bright day for Fondiwhen Tebaldo Adimari returned! Though the Duchess was at Naples, andthough Isaura was in her train, he had seen them both on his way home,and ratified his vows of love and constancy. The Duchess had promised tosmile on their espousals, which were shortly to take place; andmeanwhile his friends and relations got up a festa to welcome him, andthere was church-going and bell-ringing, and eating and drinking, anddancing and singing, without any drunkenness, stabbing, or evenquarrelling.
If such was the public joy in a little town of four thousand people atthe return of a young fellow of no mark or likelihood whatever, exceptthat he was comely, merry, brave, ingenuous, with a good word foreverybody and with everybody's good word,--it may be supposed what astir the Emperor's arrival at Naples made, and how that pleasure-lovingcapital nearly exhausted itself in demonstrations of welcome. The mole,when he landed, was so crowded, that you may be sure a grain of milletthrown upon it would not have found room to reach the ground. Nothingwas to be heard but bell-ringing, acclamations, and the thundering ofcannon; nothing to be seen but gold, velvet, silk, and brocade, festoonsof flowers, triumphal arches, processions, deputations, triumphal cars,prancing steeds, waving plumes, and bronzed cavaliers looking up at thebalconies of fair women waving their handkerchiefs, among whom, rely onit, were Vittoria Colonna and Giulia Gonzaga.
Charles, with his Spanish gravity ever uppermost, took it all verysoberly; heard what people had to say, enjoyed it in his way, said verylittle himself, and in the proverb style; went to the cathedral, heardFra Bernardino Ochino preach, and afterwards observed, composedly, "Thatman would make the stones weep!"--his own eyes being quite dry all thewhile. Also if anything inexpressibly funny were said, he remarked, "Howvery diverting!" but did not smile. He was best at business, and heentered upon Giulia's affairs.