THE DEATH OF ARUCH BARBAROSSA – Corsairs & Captives

This week, we’re going to revisit the story of the death of Aruch Barbarossa, the elder of the Barbarossa brothers.

Those of you who have read the series of posts on the Barbarossa brothers (posted in May and June of this year) will remember that Aruch Barbarossa was killed near Tremesen (Tlemcen) by Spanish forces. Here is the description of his death, taken from the last of the Barbarossa posts, the one that dealt with the death of Aruch:

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Aruch Barbarossa fled Tlemcen to escape a large Spanish force, but his flight was discovered, and Gomarez [the Spanish commander] ordered an immediate pursuit. Barbarossa, finding himself so closely pursued, caused a considerable quantity of money, plate, jewels, &c. to be scattered along the route he had taken, in order to amuse the enemy and to retard their pursuit in gathering it up, while he effected the passage of the river Fluexda.

But this stratagem, through the vigilance of the Spanish commander, did not succeed, for Gomarez ordered his men to march on without waiting to gather up the spoils, and they soon overtook the fugitive on the banks of the river, about eight leagues from Tremesen.

Barbarossa had just crossed the river with his vanguard. The Spanish army furiously attacked his rear on the other side, and cut them all to pieces. Gomarez then crossed the river, and a bloody engagement ensued, in which Barbarossa’s Turks fought with the greatest fury. But being overpowered by numbers, the tyrant fell, and 1500 Turks were left dead upon the field of battle.

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The above description is excerpted from An Historical and Geographical Account of Algiers; Comprehending a Novel and Interesting Detail of Events Relative to the American Captives, written by James Wilson Stevens, originally published in 1797, pp. 30-31.

There is another, very different version of Aruch Barbarossa’s death that derives from an entirely different source: a letter sent to the Spanish soldier who killed Aruch Barbarossa.

This Spanish soldier is not named “Gomarez”. He is named Garcia Fernandez de la Plaza.

The letter begins with the following:

“Privilege of the Emperor [i.e., Charles I, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain] granting Ensign Garcia Fernandez de la Plaza the right to bear as his arms a shield with the head and crown of Barbarossa.”

Here is the full text of the letter:

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Since it is proper and fitting for Kings and Princes to honor and exalt their subjects and natives, especially those who serve well and loyally and love their service, and considering the good and loyal services that you, Garcia Fernandez de la Plaza, second lieutenant of the company of Diego de Andrada, a native of the town of Tineo, which is in the Principality of Asturias, have rendered Us while serving in the Armada that at the beginning of this year We sent to the Kingdom of Tremecen against Barbarossa, the Turkish King who called himself King of Tremecen and Tunis and of the city of Algiers and who tyrannically possessed them by expelling the Moorish Kings of the said Kingdoms, our vassals and allies whom we have now restored to their thrones, We hereby send you a shield with the head and crown of the said Barbarossa and with his banner and scimitar in natural, on a red field, and five other Turkish heads as a border of said shield, as a sign and memory that you won the said arms in service to God and to Us in the following manner.

It had been six months, more or less, since our fleet had besieged Barbarossa in the city of Tremecen. Seeing that he was in danger of being captured or killed by our people, given the battles they had fought against him, the mines they had laid, and the walls and repairs they had torn down, the said Barbarossa left the fortress one night and fled with some of his Turks and Moors.

You and some soldiers of the said fleet, with zeal for our service and with good spirit and determination, followed him, with great effort and at great risk to yourselves, catching up with him twenty-three leagues from the said city of Tremecen, in the Kingdom of Dugudu, in the mountain range called Mecenete. There, seeing you and forty-five other Christians arriving, Barbarossa locked himself in a cattle pen that was in the said mountain range with thirty Turkish musketeers and some Moors and repaired it.

You, wanting to put an end to the misdeeds he had wrought and the tyrannies he had perpetrated in the said kingdoms, went to fight him at the said pen. Although many Moors and Arabs were aligned against him, and more than fifteen thousand of them, allies of our cause, were then confronting him, they dared not fight him for fear of the damage he had done, and could do, to them with the said muskets.

But you and the said forty-five Christians attacked him, You entered the corral without the aid of the said Moors, and you were the first to attack. You encountered Barbarossa, with whom you fought man to man, and you killed him, along with some of his Turks who came to his aid.

All this is public and well-known, and we also know it from authentic testimonies presented to Us in Our Council of War.

It is Our royal wish that you and your children and grandchildren and descendants forever and ever be able to carry and display the design We award you on your mantelpieces, houses, and doors, and on your coats of arms and in any the other places that you and they, and any of you, may wish, be it painted, or carved on a shield like the one We give you.

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So there you have it. Very different versions of the same event.

Which version is the most accurate? Hard to say.

If I had to make a bet on this, I’d go with the official letter from Charles I. Although the letter bears no date, it was clearly written while Garcia Fernandez de la Plaza was still alive and memory of his heroic feat still fresh in everybody’s mind.

But that’s still not a guarantee of 100% accuracy.

So… there’s no simple way to resolve this.

Like so many events in the past, the details of Aruch Barbarossa’s death will likely remain unclear. That’s just the way things work. Historical documents, after all, are the product of people—and people have notoriously unreliable memories and (and hidden agendas).

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For those who may be interested…

The letter from King Chares I to Garcia Fernandez de la Plaza can be found in Francisco Lopez de Gómara, Cronica de los Barbarrojas (Chronicle of the Barbarossas), in Memorial historico español (Annals of Spanish History), tome VI, p. 369. The Cronica is derived from a manuscript by Gómara titled Choronica de los muy nombrados Omiche y Haradin Barbarrojas, (Chronicle of the famous Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa) written around 1545.

Gómara is better known for his history of the Spanish conquest of Mexico: Historia General de las Indias hasta el ano de 1551 (General History of the Indies until the year 1551).