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{{Short description|1555 siege of the city of Béjaïa (in present-day Algeria)}} |
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{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}} |
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{{Infobox military conflict |
{{Infobox military conflict |
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|conflict=Capture of |
|conflict=Capture of Béjaïa |
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|partof= |
|partof=the [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars]] |
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|image=[[Image:Algiers and Bejaia by Piri Reis.jpg|250px|border]] |
|image=[[Image:Algiers and Bejaia by Piri Reis.jpg|250px|border]] |
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|caption=Historic map of [[Algiers]] and [[Béjaïa |
|caption=Historic map of [[Algiers]] and [[Béjaïa]] by [[Piri Reis]] |
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|date=1555 |
|date=1555 |
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|place=[[Béjaïa |
|place=[[Béjaïa]] (in present-day [[Algeria]]) |
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|casus= |
|casus= |
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|territory=[[Béjaïa |
|territory=[[Béjaïa]] under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule |
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|result= |
|result=Algerian victory |
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|combatant1={{flagicon image|Flag of Algiers.jpg}} [[Ottoman Algeria|Regency of Algiers]] <br>[[File:Flag of Kuku (West of Kabylia).png|25px]] [[Kingdom of Kuku]]<ref name="Hugh Roberts 2014, p. 195">Hugh Roberts, Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria , IB Tauris , 2014, p. 195</ref> |
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|combatant1=[[File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1844).svg|25px|Ottoman Empire]] [[Regency of Algiers]] |
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|combatant2={{flagicon|Spain|1506 |
|combatant2={{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]] |
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|commander1=[[Salah Rais]] <br> Ou l-Qadi <ref name="Hugh Roberts 2014, p. 195">Hugh Roberts, Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria , IB Tauris , 2014, p. 195</ref> |
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|commander1=[[Salah Rais]] |
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|commander2={{flagicon|Spain|1506 |
|commander2={{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Luis Peralta (Spain)|Luis Peralta]]<br /> {{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Alonso Peralta]]<br />[[Andrea Doria]] (too late to help) |
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|strength1=6,000, including a contingent of 3,000 Kabyles <ref name=Grammont>p.81 Grammont, H. D. de (1887). [https://books.google.com/books?id=s54aAAAAYAAJ Histoire d'Alger sous la domination turque (1515-1830)] (in French). E. Leroux</ref> |
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|strength1=6,000 |
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|strength2= |
|strength2= 500–1,000 men |
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|casualties1= |
|casualties1= |
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|casualties2= |
|casualties2= |
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{{Campaignbox Ottoman-Habsburg Wars}} |
{{Campaignbox Ottoman-Habsburg Wars}} |
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{{Spanish colonial campaigns}} |
{{Spanish colonial campaigns}} |
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The '''Capture of Bougie''' occurred in 1555 when the Ottoman ruler of [[Algiers]] |
The '''Capture of Béjaïa''' or '''Capture of Bougie''' occurred in 1555 when [[Salah Rais]], the Ottoman ruler of [[Algiers]], took the city of [[Béjaïa]] from the [[Spaniards]]. The main fortification in Béjaïa was the Spanish ''[[presidio]]'', occupied by about 100 men under first under [[Luis Peralta]], and then his son Alonso Peralta.<ref name="Braudel">''The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II'' Fernand Braudel p.933- [https://books.google.com/books?id=LPp63EKb9moC&pg=PA933]</ref> The city was captured by Salah Rais from his base of Algiers, at the head of several thousand men and a small fleet consisting in two galleys, a barque, and a French ''saëte'' ("flèche" or "arrow") requisitioned in Algiers.<ref name="Braudel"/> Peralta had sent messages to Spain for help, and [[Andrea Doria]] prepared to leave with a fleet from [[Naples]], but it was too late.<ref name="Braudel"/> |
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== Background == |
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The Spanish force was defeated, but Alonso Peralta was allowed to leave unharmed with 40 men of his choice. He was severely criticized upon his return to Spain, and was beheaded in [[Valladolid]] on 4 May 1556.<ref name="Braudel"/> |
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[[File:Béjaïa nature.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Spanish Fort Barral, also known as bordj Moussa in Bejaia]] |
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Former capital of the dissident [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid]] emirs of Bougie, the city was [[Capture of Béjaïa (1510)|taken by the Spaniards in 1510]]. Emir Abderrahmane withdrew to the Kalâa of Beni Abbès and established a principality around the fortified city. The sultans of the Kalâa maintain the dream of taking over the city to reconstitute the ancient [[Hafsids of Béjaïa|kingdom of Bougie]]. In this context, the views of the regency of Algiers on Bougie are perceived, on the one hand as an obstacle for the sultans of the Kalâa and on the other hand as a necessity with a view to holy war and disputes between Christianity and Islam. |
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| ⚫ | The capture of |
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== Preparations == |
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According to Féraud, the troops of Salah Raïs consist of 4,000 soldiers on land and 22 galleys armed with cannons by sea. A weak Spanish garrison of 500 to 1,000 men was spread over the three main forts of the city,<ref name="Feraud 2011 p99-102">{{cite book |last1=Laurent-Charles Féraud |title=Histoire des villes de la province de Constantine Sétif, Bordj-Bou-Arréridj, Msila, Boussaâda(History of the cities of the province of Constantine Sétif, Bordj-Bou-Arréridj, Msila, Boussaâda) |date=2011 |publisher=L'Harmattan |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-296-54115-3 |page=99-102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BMGQK6iiYXkC |access-date=7 June 2023}}</ref> according to Braudel, the Spaniards had a total of 1,000 men and a few dozen horses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fernand Braudel |title=The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume II |date=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-520-20308-2 |page=933-934 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPp63EKb9moC&pg=PA933 |access-date=7 June 2023}}</ref> |
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== Battle == |
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[[File:Bordj Moussa.jpeg|thumb|upright|Bordj Moussa]] |
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The attack was sudden, [[Galley|galleys]] bursted into the harbor and bombarded the city. Salah Rais took possession of the plain and the surrounding mountain of Yemma gouraya. The strategy of Salah Raïs aimed to successively beat the forts of the city with artillery: the imperial fort (bordj Moussa), the fort of the sea (bordj Abdelkader) then the Casbah were successively targeted.<ref name="Feraud 2011 p99-102"/> From the heights a battery first ruined bordj Moussa. It was almost deserted by the Spaniards who were concentrating their forces on the other two forts. Salah Raïs then directed his artillery towards Bordj Abdelkader, defended by around forty soldiers who surrendered after five days of fighting.<ref name="Feraud 2011 p99-102"/> |
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Governor Don Alfonso de Peralta, surrounded in the Kasbah with the rest of his troops, surrendered on September 27, after 25 days of siege without food or ammunition. The Spanish force was defeated, but Salah Rais promised that Alonso Peralta would be allowed to leave unharmed with 40 men of his choice. According to De Grammont, the promise was violated by the Turks and Kabyles, who captured the soldiers with the exception of don Alonso and Luis.<ref name=Grammont/> [[Luis del Mármol Carvajal]] recounts that the capitulation was given in return for the freedom of all the Spaniards of the place, but according to Minana, the governor only negotiated his freedom and that of his people. On the 28th of September the Algerians indefinitely occupied the city, took a rich booty and divided amongst themselves 600 slaves.<ref name=Grammont/> Salah Raïs taking prisoner all the Spaniards in the place with the exception of Governor Peralta and his retinue was therefore considered, according to Marmol's version, as having breached his word. Don Alfonso de Peralta returned to Spain aboard a French [[caravel]], he was severely criticized and was eventually arrested by order of Charles V for his failure and was executed in the main square of [[Valladolid]].<ref name="Feraud 2011 p99-102"/><ref name="Braudel"/> |
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== Consequences == |
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| ⚫ | The capture of Béjaïa permitted the Ottomans to encircle the Spanish position at [[Goletta]] and that of their ally [[Ahmad Sultan (Tunis)|Ahmad Sultan]] in [[Tunis]], as they now had strong bases in Béjaïa and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref>''The Last Great Muslim Empires'' H. J. Kissling,Bertold Spuler,F. R. C. Bagley p.128 [https://books.google.com/books?id=-AznJs58wtkC&pg=PA128]</ref> |
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The recovered city quickly became a point of disagreement between the kingdom of Beni Abbès (descendant of the local Hafsid emirs who reigned over the city before the Spanish conquest of 1509) and Salah Raïs who wanted to ensure its direct administration. This taking possession of the city of Bougie by the regency of Algiers ruined the hopes of the Sultan of Kalâa to restore the old medieval kingdom of Béjaïa. He also established an alliance with the Sultan of Koukou to counterbalance the hostility of Abdelaziz El Abbes. Salah Raïs entrusted Kuku with the immediate hinterland, including the strategic supply of wood (qarasta) for the city and shipbuilding.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hugh Roberts |title=Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-84511-251-6 |pages=224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0tlBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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{{coord missing|Algeria}} |
{{coord missing|Algeria}} |
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[[Category:Conflicts in 1555]] |
[[Category:Conflicts in 1555|Béjaïa]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Sieges involving the Regency of Algiers|Béjaïa]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Sieges involving Spain|Béjaïa]] |
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[[Category:16th century in Algeria]] |
[[Category:16th century in Algeria]] |
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[[Category:1555 in the Ottoman Empire]] |
[[Category:1555 in the Ottoman Empire]] |
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[[Category:1555 in Africa]] |
[[Category:1555 in Africa]] |
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[[Category:Ottoman–Spanish conflicts]] |
[[Category:Ottoman–Spanish conflicts|Béjaïa]] |
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[[Category:History of Béjaïa Province]] |
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[[Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Kuku]] |
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Latest revision as of 17:10, 31 May 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2015) |
| Capture of Béjaïa | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars | |||||||||
 Historic map of Algiers and Béjaïa by Piri Reis | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Regency of Algiers  Kingdom of Kuku[1] |
 Spain | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Salah Rais Ou l-Qadi [1] |
Luis Peralta Alonso Peralta Andrea Doria (too late to help) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 6,000, including a contingent of 3,000 Kabyles [2] | 500–1,000 men | ||||||||
The Capture of Béjaïa or Capture of Bougie occurred in 1555 when Salah Rais, the Ottoman ruler of Algiers, took the city of Béjaïa from the Spaniards. The main fortification in Béjaïa was the Spanish presidio, occupied by about 100 men under first under Luis Peralta, and then his son Alonso Peralta.[3] The city was captured by Salah Rais from his base of Algiers, at the head of several thousand men and a small fleet consisting in two galleys, a barque, and a French saëte ("flèche" or "arrow") requisitioned in Algiers.[3] Peralta had sent messages to Spain for help, and Andrea Doria prepared to leave with a fleet from Naples, but it was too late.[3]
Background[edit]
Former capital of the dissident Hafsid emirs of Bougie, the city was taken by the Spaniards in 1510. Emir Abderrahmane withdrew to the Kalâa of Beni Abbès and established a principality around the fortified city. The sultans of the Kalâa maintain the dream of taking over the city to reconstitute the ancient kingdom of Bougie. In this context, the views of the regency of Algiers on Bougie are perceived, on the one hand as an obstacle for the sultans of the Kalâa and on the other hand as a necessity with a view to holy war and disputes between Christianity and Islam.
Preparations[edit]
According to Féraud, the troops of Salah Raïs consist of 4,000 soldiers on land and 22 galleys armed with cannons by sea. A weak Spanish garrison of 500 to 1,000 men was spread over the three main forts of the city,[4] according to Braudel, the Spaniards had a total of 1,000 men and a few dozen horses.[5]
Battle[edit]
The attack was sudden, galleys bursted into the harbor and bombarded the city. Salah Rais took possession of the plain and the surrounding mountain of Yemma gouraya. The strategy of Salah Raïs aimed to successively beat the forts of the city with artillery: the imperial fort (bordj Moussa), the fort of the sea (bordj Abdelkader) then the Casbah were successively targeted.[4] From the heights a battery first ruined bordj Moussa. It was almost deserted by the Spaniards who were concentrating their forces on the other two forts. Salah Raïs then directed his artillery towards Bordj Abdelkader, defended by around forty soldiers who surrendered after five days of fighting.[4] Governor Don Alfonso de Peralta, surrounded in the Kasbah with the rest of his troops, surrendered on September 27, after 25 days of siege without food or ammunition. The Spanish force was defeated, but Salah Rais promised that Alonso Peralta would be allowed to leave unharmed with 40 men of his choice. According to De Grammont, the promise was violated by the Turks and Kabyles, who captured the soldiers with the exception of don Alonso and Luis.[2] Luis del Mármol Carvajal recounts that the capitulation was given in return for the freedom of all the Spaniards of the place, but according to Minana, the governor only negotiated his freedom and that of his people. On the 28th of September the Algerians indefinitely occupied the city, took a rich booty and divided amongst themselves 600 slaves.[2] Salah Raïs taking prisoner all the Spaniards in the place with the exception of Governor Peralta and his retinue was therefore considered, according to Marmol's version, as having breached his word. Don Alfonso de Peralta returned to Spain aboard a French caravel, he was severely criticized and was eventually arrested by order of Charles V for his failure and was executed in the main square of Valladolid.[4][3]
Consequences[edit]
The capture of Béjaïa permitted the Ottomans to encircle the Spanish position at Goletta and that of their ally Ahmad Sultan in Tunis, as they now had strong bases in Béjaïa and Tripoli.[6] The recovered city quickly became a point of disagreement between the kingdom of Beni Abbès (descendant of the local Hafsid emirs who reigned over the city before the Spanish conquest of 1509) and Salah Raïs who wanted to ensure its direct administration. This taking possession of the city of Bougie by the regency of Algiers ruined the hopes of the Sultan of Kalâa to restore the old medieval kingdom of Béjaïa. He also established an alliance with the Sultan of Koukou to counterbalance the hostility of Abdelaziz El Abbes. Salah Raïs entrusted Kuku with the immediate hinterland, including the strategic supply of wood (qarasta) for the city and shipbuilding.[7]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b Hugh Roberts, Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria , IB Tauris , 2014, p. 195
- ^ a b c p.81 Grammont, H. D. de (1887). Histoire d'Alger sous la domination turque (1515-1830) (in French). E. Leroux
- ^ a b c d The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II Fernand Braudel p.933- [1]
- ^ a b c d Laurent-Charles Féraud (2011). Histoire des villes de la province de Constantine Sétif, Bordj-Bou-Arréridj, Msila, Boussaâda(History of the cities of the province of Constantine Sétif, Bordj-Bou-Arréridj, Msila, Boussaâda). Paris: L'Harmattan. p. 99-102. ISBN 978-2-296-54115-3. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Fernand Braudel (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume II. London: University of California Press. p. 933-934. ISBN 978-0-520-20308-2. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ The Last Great Muslim Empires H. J. Kissling,Bertold Spuler,F. R. C. Bagley p.128 [2]
- ^ Hugh Roberts (2014). Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-84511-251-6.