The Conquest of Mers-el-Kébir and the Return from Naples (July 1505 – June 1506)

Abstract

The account books of the royal secretary Hernando de Zafra facilitate a detailed study of the preparation, based in Malaga, and execution of the conquest of Mers-el-Kébir in September 1505, as a first step toward the conquest of Oran in 1509. The conquest signaled the renewal of the war in North Africa after the seizure of Melilla in 1497. On the other hand, between October 1505 and March 1506, Hernando de Zafra and his collaborators coordinated the return of more than four thousand infantry from the captaincies de ordenanza formed during the war in Naples, in the midst of great difficulties for their pay, housing, and demobilization. Both undertakings, the seizure of Mers-el-Kébir and the demobilization of captaincies, are important to understanding the conditions of the formation and maintenance of a royal army at the beginning of the sixteenth century.