Infidel Friends: Charles V, Mulay Hassan and the Theatre of Majesty
[EN] The famous conquest of Tunis by Charles V in 1535 has been frequently interpreted as one of the last Christian crusades, a European campaign commanded by the virtuous Emperor Charles, a new Saint Louis of France. However, the voluminous propaganda around the campaign tended to overshadow that C...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2020 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/236375 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/236375 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Inter-confessional diplomacy Hafsids Habsburgs Crusade Propaganda Diplomazia interconfessionale Hafside Asburgi Crociata |
| Sumario: | [EN] The famous conquest of Tunis by Charles V in 1535 has been frequently interpreted as one of the last Christian crusades, a European campaign commanded by the virtuous Emperor Charles, a new Saint Louis of France. However, the voluminous propaganda around the campaign tended to overshadow that Charles V actually fought as protector of the Hafsids (the local Muslim dynasty) against the menacing expansion of the Ottoman Empire. While alliances between Muslim and Christian princes were not exceptional in the early modern Mediterranean, the meeting of Emperor Charles V and Mulay Hassan (Sultan Abû `Abd Allâh Muhammad V al-Hasan, known in Christendom as King Mulay) represents a unique interconfessional encounter between two sovereigns who shared neither language nor religion. Consequently, the representation of their alliance (or more exactly, the Hafsid’s vassalage to the Emperor) acquired a very performative character. Both sides attempted to show their shared princely culture through different representations. European chroniclers described the ceremonies during their encounters as a mute theatre where majesty and rank had to be negotiated. There were differences in their treatment, however. Spanish chroniclers, with their greater experience and long coexistence Muslims, tended to present the encounters as part of a familiar exchange, while Central European observers offered detailed depictions of what appeared to them an exotic and amazing event. |
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