Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/117

 TUNIS

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TUNIS

so the Arabic possessions in Sicily and Sardinia. The St of the Aghlabite dynasty made Tunis the capital of e countrj', and gave the name of the city to the entire (untry. In 908 the Aghhibite dynasty was over- irown by Obeid Allah, founder of the dynasty of the itimites, which in the course of the tenth century nquered the whole of North Africa. After the con- lest of Egj-pt the P^Uimitcs transferred the seat of leir power to Cairo and gave the regions in Western frica in fief to the Zirite family in 972. From the middle of the twelfth century Tunis was lied by the Almohade dynasty, which, weakened by s struggles with the Christian kingdoms of Spain, as driven out of Tunis in 1206 by a Berber, Abii af>, who founded the dynasty of the Hafsites that ill 1 1 until 1.574. In 1240 Eastern Algeria was united 1 Tiiiiis. Thus in the course of time the great cen-
 * ih/i d Arabic Empire was replaced in North Africa

V -I'vcral independent states, such as Morocco, l^i> i<. and Tunis. In this way the strength of Is- 111. a< contrasted with that of Christian Western iii'Iii'. was weakened, and the Christian countries I ! ■ now able to prepare to attack the Mohammedan Thus, King St. Louis of France undertook a against Tunis in 1270 which was unsuccessful; Himself died the same year during the siege of H I iiy of Tunis. During the last centuries of the Hill 'val era Tunis was the most flourishing of the 'crih African countries; the cities of Tunis and Kair-
 * iii were centres of Eastern civilization and learning.

Till' rule of the Arabic Emirs in Tunis was over- irnwii by the Turks. Turkish corsairs led b}' the ' n^negade Horuk Barbarossa appeared in the !i part of the Mediterranean about 1.510. By my won over the ruler of Tunis, Mulci Mo- a:. i-d, who permitted them to make the City of iiiii- ihe base for their piratical expeditions. In a 1' time Horuk Barbaros.sa gathered a large fleet I chiefly by Turks, and became master of the Algiers and several towns along the African His brother, Khair al-Din Barbarossa, in- !■ :-■ 1 the-se possessions on the coast and sought to i\ I Ins conquests permanence by placing them under III -Mzirainty of the Porte. When disputes over the Hi ' i s-iiin to the throne arose in the Hafsite dynasty, '>ai ' iiiissa skilfully used the opportunity to over- la i^ Mulei Ha-ssan and to make himself the ruler of Mulei Hassan appealed to the Emperor - V, who responded by landing near Carthage fleet, capturing Tunis and Goletta in July, .i.ii. and liberating nearly 20,000 Christian slaves.

ilulei Hassan was restored to power in Tunis as a panish vassal, but was obhged to promise to sup- ress Christian slavery in his domain, to grant re- gious liberty, and to close his ports to the pirates, s a pledge Spain retained the citadels of Tunis and roletta, which it garrisoned. On the way home the Spanish fleet completed the destruction of Carthage, »ut failed in an attack on Algiers. Mulei Hassan, vho was hated by his people, was overthrown in 1542 >y his own .son Mulei Hamid. When in 1.570 the furks entered Tunis from Algiers Mulei Hamid ap- )ealed to Spain for aid, and as a result Tunis was •ai)turod Vjy Don Juan of Austria in 1573. Jealous )f his half-brother, however. King Phihp recalled him ind offered no resistance when the Turks conquered he entire country in 1.574. Thus the military su- )remacy of the Turks was estabhshed in Tunis. The eal masters of the country were the Turkish garrisons, )eside whom the dey, appointed by the Sultan as the )os.sessor of the highest authority, was a mere ihadow. As early as the administration of the third ley, the bey, Murad, originally an officer to collect he tribute, gained the chief authority for him.self and na<le it hereditary in his family.

Like Algiers and Morocco, Tunis develo|)e<i in this icriod into a much dreaded pirate state. The Tunis-

ian galleys sailed along all the coasts of the Mediter- ranean, devastating and plundering. They stopped foreign ships on the open sea and dragged them as prizes to Tunis, where the cargo would be discharged and the crew and passengers sold as slaves. For a long time Christian Western Europe did nothing to put an end to this impudent piracy. Although the English Admiral Blake in 166.5 burned nine large Tunisian pirate ships in the harbour of Porto Farina, yet, as the struggle against the pirates was not con- tinued, no permanent improvement of conditions was attained. At a later date treaties were made between Tunis and the powers interested in commerce in the Mediterranean. Venice, Spain, Portugal, England, Holland, Denmark, and even the Ll^nited States paid an annual tribute to Tunis. In return Tunis bound itself not to attack the ships that sailed under the flag of the treaty-making ])owcrs. For two hundred years Europe endured this nest of pirates. For Tunis it was a brilliant period in which enormous treasures accumulated in the covmtry, and during which the supremacy of the Porte w;is almost nominal.

The nineteenth century completely altered the situ- ation. Sharp resolutions against piracy in the Mediter- ranean were passed by the Congress of Vienna and England was authorized by the powers to enforce these resolutions by sending a fleet against the pirati- cal countries. In 1816 Lord Exmouth, by the bom- bardment and partial destruction of the City of Al- giers, forced the ruler of Algiers to put an end to Christian slavery. The terrified Bey of Tunis also promised to do the same, yet. in spite of this, Christian ships were repeatedly attacked by Tunisian vessels. When in 1830 the French began the conquest of Al- giers, Tunis at first aided the Algerian leader Abd el Kader, but in retaliation the French forced Tunis to suppress piracy completely, to yield an island on the coast, and to pay a sum of money. Alarmed at the danger from France, the Porte now sought to form closer relations with Tunis and to make the country an immediate Turkish province. These efforts, which were successful at that date in Tripoli, failed in Tunis on account of the opposition of French diplo- macy. In order to be better able to maintain his position in regard to the Porte, the Bey Sidi Ahmed (1837-55) entered into closer relations with France, and even tried to introduce western reforms; in 1842 he abolished slavery, and in 1846 the slave-trade. Under French and English influence his cousin Sidi Mohammed (1855-59) introduced liberal legislation and reorganized the administration. His brother Mohammed es-Sadok (1859-82) even gave the country a liberal constitution in 1861, but had to withdraw it owing to the opposition of the Arabs and Moors. His extravagant tastes forced the bey to borrow money, thus bringing him into financial dependence on France, which showed more and more undisguisedly its desire to control Tunis. However, the Franco-German War (1870-71) forced France to restrain its hand.

In 1871 the sultan granted the hereditary right to rule according to primogeniture to the family of the bey and abandoned all claim to tribute, in return for which the bey promised not to go to war without the permis.sion of the Porte, and to enter into no diplo- matic negotiations with foreign powers. France pro- tested against this and would not recognize the suze- rainty of the Porte over Tunis, but could not enforce its protests. In the years succeeding the foreign element in Tunis constantly gained in importance, and the ItaUan Government, e.-specially, sought to acquire a strong economic' position in the country. France began to fear that .she might be outwitted by Italy in Tunis, so in 1881 she used the disturbances on the boundary of Algiers and Tunis as a pretext for mili- tary interference. In April, 1881, in spite of the pro- tests of the bey and the PortCj an army of 30,000