Raid on La Goulette (1617)

In October 1617, in spite of continuous anti-piratic activities by the Spanish navy, Viceroy of Naples, Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna learned about new Ottoman and Barbary pirates, leading him to order a raid against the nearby state of the Ottoman Tunisia, an usual center of Muslim piracy. The attack fell on Ottavio d'Aragona, a veteran in Osuna's service who had already carried on a raid on Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Osuna ordered him to "burn and put to the sword all kinds of privateers he found" (abrasar y pasar a cuchillo todo género de corsarios que hallasen).^[1] Ottavio received command of six galleys, among them the flagship of Naples, La Negra, along with one galleon, one patache and three naos.^[1]

As in previous Spanish attacks to La Goulette, d'Aragona disembarked in the harbor of La Goulette, where he found the local armada in port, at the time composed by ten sailing ships. He attacked and burn the ships, one of them captained by Yusuf Dey, commander of Tunis, who promptly escaped the ship and took refuge in the fortress of La Goulette. d'Aragona sacked little as the fire destroyed most of the ships' goods, but he took a small amount of it and some gold sequins.^[1]