The Power of the Quill: Espionage under Charles V during the Tunisian Campaign

Abstract

The Ottoman expansion into the Western Mediterranean in the sixteenth century created an intense rivalry with the Habsburgs. This article examines this conflict from a different perspective, that of espionage. While, on the one hand, analysing the political changes in the Mare Nostrum in the 1530s, on the other, it scrutinizes Neapolitan intelligence, the most important information-gathering service of Emperor Charles V. Furthermore, the article specifically concentrates on the contribution of espionage to the Emperor’s campaign in Tunis against Khayr al-din Barbarossa.