Por Ser Hombre Platico: Francisco Gasparo and the 1568 Spanish Negotiations with the Ottoman Governors of Algiers

Abstract

In the spring of 1568, Uluç Ali Pasha, a Christian convert to Islam born in the Spanish viceroyalty of Naples, became the new Ottoman governor of Algiers. Subsequently, Phillip II of Spain tried to establish a dialogue with him. To conquer the city without having to resort to a military expedition, the king of Spain sent Francesco Gasparo, a Corsican merchant, to Algiers. This article aims to shed light on the Spanish diplomatic practice used in the dialogue with the Ottoman Governors of Algiers during the sixteenth century. To do so, we have had to move away from the traditional focus on the study of agreements and opt for a more holistic approach of the diplomatic event. Diplomacy is no longer seen as a simple political relationship capable of establishing an agreement between two parties during a specific time, but as a permanent practice defined by a complex structure. Thus, the article focuses on the agents and practices used during the Spanish negotiation with Uluç Ali to assess the tenets underpinning this type of diplomatic interaction. Gasparo’s mission enables us to reflect on the structure of Spanish diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean. The Corsican merchant’s experience in Algiers reveals the presence of a specific dialogic pattern between the Iberian and Maghreb coasts and how it was consolidated during the sixteenth century. This article endeavours thus to analyse the characteristic elements and principles of what seems to be a specific diplomatic model.