The Conquest of Tripoli was a maritime campaign led by

Pedro Navarro Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto (c. 1460 – 28 August 1528) was a Navarrese military engineer and general who participated in the War of the League of Cambrai. At the Battle of Ravenna in 1512 he commanded the Spanish and Papal infantry, but w ...

which captured the city of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

in the name of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

in 1510. Navarro was a commander in the service of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and plans to capture Tripoli began after the King of Tlemcen agreed to pay a tribute to Aragon on 5 June 1510. The invasion force consisted of some 15,000 men, including 3000 soldiers from Sicily. Navarro's fleet set sail from Sicily and landed at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, where he was joined by five galleys and some Maltese guides and a pilot. The fleet departed Malta on 20 July and it arrived off the coast of Tripoli four days later. On the morning of 25 July 1510, St James's Day, the invasion force attacked the city and its castle. Approximately 6,000 marines came from Spanish ships, half of whom were employed in the siege of the city, while the others stayed in the camp to prevent an Ottoman attack from the hinterland. With the effective use of naval artillery, the Spanish quickly captured the Maghreb city. Tripoli surrendered after about three hours of heavy fighting in the city's streets. The Spanish conquest devastated Tripoli. Prior to the attack, the city was inhabited by about 15,000 to 20,000 people. Between 3000 and 5000 were killed during the attack, while 5000 to 6000 others were enslaved. A considerable number of Jews who were enslaved were sent to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, where some converted to Christianity. Some of the city's inhabitants managed to escape to the nearby settlements of

Janzur Janzur or Janzour ( ar, جَنْزُور ), also known as Zanzur, is a city in north-western Libya, situated on the Libyan coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, located in the west of the capital Tripoli, and East of Az-Zawiya. Residents of this c ...

and

Tajura Tajura ( ar, تاجوراء, translit=Tājūrā), also spelt ''Tajoura'', is a town in north-western Libya, and baladiyah in the Tripoli Muhafazah, on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli. From 2001 to 2007 Tajura was the capital of t ...

. Spanish casualties were low, with some 300 men losing their lives. About 170 Christians who had been slaves in Tripoli (most of whom were from Sicily or Malta) were freed after the attack. Tripoli remained under Spanish rule until 1530, when it was granted to the

Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

. The latter ruled the city until they were expelled by Ottoman captain

Dragut Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman Empire, Ottoman naval commander, governor, and Pasha, noble, of Turkic peoples, Turkish or Greek people, Greek descent. Under his comman ...

in a siege in 1551.

References

{{Tripoli Conflicts in 1510

History of Tripoli 1510 in Africa

See also

References