Álvaro de Bazán the Elder | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Álvaro de Bazán el Viejo (MUNCYT, Eulogia Merle) | |
| Born | 1506 |
| Died | 1558 (aged 51–52) |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Branch | Navy |
| Rank | General-Captain of the Galleys of Spain General-Captain of the Ocean Sea |
| Battles / wars | Conquest of Tunis (1535) Battle of Muros Bay |
Álvaro de Bazán y Solís, calledthe Elder (1506–1558), was a Spanishadmiral andshipbuilder, General-Captain of the Galleys of Spain forCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
He was a successful naval commander and ship designer, innovating in the design ofgalleons andgalleasses.[1] He worked extensively to expand and modernize the Spanish fleets to counter the threat of the dominantOttoman Navy, as well as the new threats in theAtlantic.[1][2] Along with the GenoeseAndrea Doria, he was the main shipbuilder of Charles V's reign.[3]
Bazán started his career in the royalist side of therevolt of the Comuneros, participating in theSiege of Fuenterrabía with distinguished services.[4][5] After the revolt, already in 1526, he became General-Captain of Galleys of Spain after the death of his predecessor Juan de Velasco. Gaining renown as a shipbuilder, he moved engineers and workers toBarcelona and built 50 new galleys for Rodrigo de Portuondo to take to the imperial fleet, in which Charles V traveled to Rome to beformally crowned byPope Clement VII.[6]
In 1529, Ottoman corsairHayreddin Barbarossa conquered thePeñón of Algiers, turning it into a base ofBarbary privateering. Months later, Portuondo, now General-Captain of Granada, fell unexpectedly against Barbarossa's liutenantAydın Reis, due to which Bazán was promoted to his captaincy.[7] In August 1532, with a fleet of 10 galleys and 2,000 soldiers, Bazán captured the city ofHonaine, another of Barbarossa's ports. Returning with much booty and 1,000 prisoners, he used them to increase the number of galleys under his command up to 15.[5][8] Bazán's presence dissuaded Aydin andSinan Reis from acting freely in Spanish waters, although their attacks on European coasts to feed the lucrativeBarbary slave trade continued being endemic.[9]
In May 1533, Ottoman SultanSuleiman the Magnificent issued a 110-ship fleet underLütfi Pasha to besiegeCorone, which grand imperial admiralAndrea Doria hadconquered the previous year while sacking theOttoman Peloponnese. Bazán contributed to Doria's relief fleet with 12 galleys of his own making, although they eventually did not join the fleet, staying inMessina possibly to watch for the movements of the French fleet ofMarseille. Doria still managed tolift the siege.[1] The same year, Bazán captured Turkish privateer Jaban Arraez, who came recklessly against him with two galleys and sixgaliots.[10]
Bazán also led the Spanish galleys during theconquest of Tunis in 1535, serving as Doria's lieutenant in the fleet.[11] However, when Barbarossa fled Tunis, Bazán was passed over by Doria for the mission to chase the Turk, which was instead handed to his relatives Giannettino Doria and Adamo Centurione. They reached Hayreddin inBonna, but upon finding him with a fleet in equal numbers to theirs, they turned tail without evenblockading the harbor. When Doria arrived with reinforcements, Barbarossa had already fled toAlgiers, which the fleet could not invade due to the autumn weather. Bazán was disappointed with the lost chance that he vowed to quit from his job as soon as it would be possible, being also embittered by his usual clashes with the grueling Spanish bureaucracy.[5]
In 1536 Spain entered a newItalian War against France and the Ottoman Empire due to the death ofFrancesco I Sforza, which let theDuchy of Milan land in the hands ofPhilip, Prince of Asturias. Doria and Bazán captured port cities throughout theFrench Riviera, includingAntibes,Toulon,Grasse andCastellane, stopping only at Marseille, too well defended.[12] In October, Bazán was leading 25 galleys, ten of them belonging to the Sicilian fleet of Berenguel de Olmos, when he came nearCollioure upon a Franco-Ottoman fleet of 28 galleys and galiots, commanded by Careor and theAlgerian corsair Ali in route to pillage the Spanish coasts. Careor and Ali fled as soon as they sighted him, although Bazán could reach and capture their flagship.[5]
The following year, not having grand orders to fulfill, and in spite of many pleas on Charles' part to stay, Bazán quit as he had planned and was replaced byBernardino de Mendoza, although he continued building and managing ships. He was conceded a contract to hunt Ottoman corsairs with 15 private galleys.[13][14] In 1539, Charles V sold him the villages ofViso del Marqués andSanta Cruz de Mudela, where his son would order the construction of alarge palace that he would make the residence of its descendants. It currently houses the Spanish Navy's general archive.
In 1540, Bazán obtained a naval contract to guard the Atlantic coasts of Spain and the vital sea route to the Indies. He initiated the building ofgalleons andgalleasses of his own design with multiple upgrades, which became highly praised.[15][16] He explored particularly how to combine the different advantages between rowing ships and sailing ships,[17] as well as how to build vessels of high tonnage and speed at the same time, without falling in the usual shortage in maneuverability or speed shown by the age's biggestcarracks, such as those built in France,England orVenice.[18] His Atlantic galleasses, conceived as sailing ships secondarily assisted by rows, differed substantially from the Mediterranean galleasses built by Venice, based on rowing over sails.[19][20]
He formed his private fleet with vessels built by himself inBiscay, among which were the 800-ton galleassSanta María, the 1200-tonSanta María Magdalena and the galleonsSan Pedro andSan Pablo, of 600 and 700 tons respectively, along with several minorchalupas.[21][22] The four main ships, which substantially outsized the 200-500-ton carracks and naus typically found in the Atlantic,[18] also fielded around 100 guns each.[23] They obtained much success against foreignprivateering andpiracy.[24][25] Bazán returned momentarily to the Mediterranean in 1541 as reinforcements for Charles V and Andrea Doria, who had taken refuge in the African port ofBéjaïa with part of the imperial fleet after theAlgiers expedition, disrupted by storms.[26]
In 1543, with the outbreak of theItalian War of 1542–1546, Charles I found the chance to redress Bazán for his former conflicts and reward him for his recent work, appointing him Captain General of the Ocean, with bases inGipuzkoa, Biscay and theCuatro Villas. The northern ports were of utmost importance for Castile's warring effort, with Biscayan privateers having captured 25 French naus since the war's beginning.[27] Being ordered to transport thetercio of Pedro de Guzmán to theHabsburg Netherlands, and to gather an armada to counter the French Atlantic fleet, Bazán readied 40 ships of 200-500 tons, sending off Guzmán in 15 of them in June and leaving other 25 to his own command.[28]
Similar preparations were being made in northern France, where vessels from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts were being concentrated in order to face both Spain andEngland.[27] In July, French admiralJean de Clamorgan sailed offBayonne with 30 ships to raid Biscayan trade. The French fleet passedLaredo, where Bazán was getting ready his own, and as soon as the Spanish admiral finished in pursue of Clamorgan. He found him inFisterra, where Clamorgan was trying to get the surrender of the local lords after sacking around the coast ofGalicia. In spite of Bazán's disadvantage in numbers, his ships compensated it by their superior size and shipbuilding. In the subsequentBattle of Muros Bay, Bazán attacked the French fleet and rammed their flagships with his own, after which all of the French ships barring one were captured.[29]
By 1545, France had gathered an armada of over 250 ships inLe Havre to launch an invasion of England, although several of the ships were lost by mismanagement, among them the 600-ton flagshipPhilippe orCarraçon, burnt due a party onboard. The invasion ended in failure after being repulsed by the English in thebattle of the Solent.[30] By contrast, the Basque armadas organized by Bazán achieved high counts of captures against France, it being reported that in the following decade, the 300-350 privateering ships from Guipozkoa and Biscay took up to 1400 enemy ships from Europe toNewfoundland, both civilian and warships.[31]
In 1548 Bazán made a series of propositions to improve the system ofSpanish treasure fleets. He suggested to replace the existent fleet by 20 galleasses of 200 tons built by him, middle steps between galleys and galleons (bastardas de galera y galeón), which would perform five voyages per year on convoys of four.[32] He found no support, as there was skepticism towards the usage of galleasses to make the long travel to the Indies. TheCouncil of the Indies and theCasa de Contratación also feared the contract would give Bazán an overwhelming monopoly on commercial navigation.[33][34] He then presented a project improved by following on their criticism, featuring 12 galleasses of 400 tons, which he assured would sail as easily as 300-ton ships, but it was rejected. They also rejected a more conservative proposition on his part which replaced the galleasses by 12 galleons.[35][36]
His fourth and last proposition, in October 1549, was a system of three galleasses and six galleons withfrigate traits (afragatados) also designed by him, which would make three yearly voyages heading other cargo ships. This project was finally accepted and earned Bazán a 15 year contract,[37] but the Casa de Contratación opposed and caused a lawsuit. Although the court eventually favored Bazán, the contract was ultimately not realized.[38][39] Bazán was forced to relegate his galleasses to escort the treasure fleets, although soundly so, to the point they would be reputed to be among the finest ships of their age.[40]
In 1554, Bazán was part of the fleet tasked with taking PrincePhilip to England with his wifeMary I. Aside from hisSanta María andMagdalena, he readied a rich galleass to serve as the royal flagship, but Mary I had also send a royal carrack, and in order to affront neither the admiral nor the queen they decided to use a third ship, with Bazán accompanying Philip aboard.[41]
From that year and until his death in 1558, Bazán the Elder defended the Spanish and American coasts against attacks, capturing routinely enemy ships. His sonÁlvaro de Bazán the Younger, who started his own career, served him as his lieutenant.[42] Bazán's long desired renovation of the treasure fleets was finally undertaken in 1561 byPedro Menéndez de Avilés,[40] who built a successful escort fleet of 12 medium galleasses.[43]
Don Álvaro de Bazán came from an oldNavarrese noble family. He was the father ofÁlvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, who surpassed him in fame. At the age of eight his son was appointed Military Governor and captain of the fortress and city ofGibraltar. His command however was via his father. It has been speculated that this unusual appointment was intended to showCharles V's confidence, but Bazán the Elder did not share that confidence and he suggested to no effect that Gibraltar'sLine Wall Curtain be extended to thesouthern tip of the rock.[11] Bazán the Elder was also father ofAlonso de Bazán, a military commander who died during theconquest of the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and Juan Bazán.