The conquest of the

peñón de Vélez de la Gomera () also known as Hajar Badis () is a Spanish exclave and rocky tidal island in the western Mediterranean Sea connected to the Moroccan shore by a sandy isthmus. It is also connected to a smaller islet to the east, La Isleta, by a rocky isthm ...

by the

Hispanic Monarchy Hispanic Monarchy and Spanish Monarchy may refer to: *the 1479-1716 period of the Spanish Empire ( Hispanic Monarchy (Political entity)) that is divided in: **Habsburg Spain **Iberian Union *the Monarchy of Spain The monarchy of Spain or S ...

happened in 1564. It succeeded a failed expedition the previous year, and resulted in Spain taking control of the place as a '' plaza fuerte'', which continued up to present day.''Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada'', pg. 693-696

Background

Spain

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

Vélez de la Gomera for the first time in 1509 during the reign of Ferdinand II, when an army captained by

Pedro Navarro Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto ( 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 wa ...

took it. Moor forces attempted to retake it multiple times, finally achieving it in 1522 from the hands of governor Juan de Villalobos. The Kingdom of Badis was so established, turning the peñón into a base of

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

and privateering for the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. New Spanish attempts to conquer it happened in 1522 and 1563, heavily burdened by Spain's involvement in the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, an ally of the Ottomans. In 1563, the same year as Sancho Martínez de Leiva Jr. failed to capture Vélez de la Gomera, King Philip II ordered to repeat the enterprise.''Historia general'', p. 22 The new expedition would include again Leiva and

Álvaro de Bazán Álvaro or Álvar (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname of Germanic Visigothic origin. The patronymic surname derived from this name is Álvarez. Given name Artists * Álvaro Carrillo, Afro-Mexican songwrit ...

the Younger, who had distinguished himself in the first despite his tactic advice went unheeded. Allied troops from the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

joined them, gathering 6000 soldiers from the ''

Tercio A ''tercio'' (), Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and Habsburg Spain in the early modern period. They were the elite military units of the Spanish monarchy and ...

de Nápoles'', 2000 German ''

landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was ...

'' and 1200 Italian soldiers. Through this large contingent Philip wanted to take no more risks. The expedition formed in Malaga, commanded by García de Toledo Osorio, and sailed off on August 29, reinforced by an additional Portuguese fleet on route.

Battle

On August 31 they landed and attacked the nearby Torres de Alcalá, which they fortified. Leyva took command of the disembarked land army and headed for Vélez de la Gomera. They were forced to carry their artillery on hand due to the rugged terrain, but managed to reach the location and place artillery pieces in the Cantil and Baba hills. For his part, Turk corsair Kara Mustafa (not to mistake with the posterior Kara Mustapha) had supplied the fortress in anticipation of the attack and left for Fez, where he gathered a relief army from the local Wattasid kingdom, while his lieutenant Ferret stayed to guard Vélez de la Gomera with 200 men, believing its defensive positions would compensate the forces. The Spaniards surrounded the fortress and started bombarding it while repealing guerrilla attack from local Muslim bandits. Deliberation was unnecessary, as Kara Mustafa didn't arrive in time, and judging impossible to resist, Ferret opted to abandon Vélez de la Gomera by night and in small bands in order not to be detected. Only 27 Turk soldiers refused to follow him, whose captain handed himself over to

Giovanni Andrea Doria Giovanni Andrea Doria (1539 – 1606), also known as Gianandrea Doria, was an Italian admiral from Genoa, the Marquis of Tursi and Prince of Melfi. Biography Doria was born to a noble family of the Republic of Genoa. He was the son of Giann ...

and told him the situation. The Spanish obtained their promise of surrender and the fortress was occupied shortly after, finishing the siege after six days of fighting. The Maltese and Portuguese fleets left, after which García de Toledo left 1600 men as a garrison while the fortress was repaired and prepared to leave himself. He delayed his departure to fight off Kara Mustafa and his relief army, who arrived at that moment only to be routed.

Aftermath

Vélez de la Gomera was added to the rest of Spanish strongholds in Africa, and Toledo was granted the Viceroyalty of Sicily for his services. Vélez de la Gomera would be attacked many times, with notable expeditions being Muley Amet with 10,000 men in 1680 and Muley Sidam with 14,000 in 1701, but they were all defeated. Indignation rose in the Ottoman Empire for the defeat, adding to Sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

's plans of a grand expedition against the Christian positions in the Western Mediterranean. After considering either Sicily or Malta, the latter was chosen, leading to the

Great Siege of Malta The Great Siege of Malta (Maltese language, Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May t ...

the following year, where Toledo and a freed

Álvaro de Sande Don Álvaro de Sande (1489 – 20 October 1573) was a Spanish nobleman and military leader. He was born in Cáceres, the son of Don Juan de Sande, second señor de Valhondo. Don Alvaro de Sande participated in numerous campaigns in the Span ...

commanded the Spanish relief army.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* ''Enciclopedia General del Mar''. Garriga, 1957. * ''Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada - tomo 67'',

Espasa __NOTOC__ The ''Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana'' (also called ''Enciclopedia Espasa'', or ''Enciclopedia Espasa-Calpe'', after its publisher, founded by José Espasa Anguera) is a Spanish encyclopedia. It comprises 72 volume ...

, 1929. * ''Historia general de España desde los tiempos primitivos hasta la muerte de Fernando VII''. 1883. *

Cesáreo Fernández Duro Cesáreo Fernández Duro (25 February 1830 – 5 June 1908) was a Spanish professional naval officer, writer, scholar and historian. Childhood and family background Fernández Duro was born into a good family in Zamora; that is to say, a noble ...

(1851), ''La Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón''. * Agustín R. Rodríguez González (2017), ''Álvaro de Bazán, Capitán general del Mar Océano''. Sieges involving Spain Sieges involving Portugal Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire Conflicts in 1564 Ottoman–Spanish conflicts 1564 in Spain 1564 in the Spanish Empire 16th century in the Ottoman Empire