The Capture of Algiers was accomplished when the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa took the Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

n city of Algiers

Algiers

' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

 from the Kabyles as well as the Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in 1529.

Background

In 1510, the Spaniards had established themselves on a small island in front of Algiers, and forced the local ruler Sālim al-Tūmī (Selim-bin-Teumi) to accept their presence through a treaty and pay tribute. Fortifications were built on the islet, and a garrison of 200 men was established. Sālim al-Tūmī had to go to Spain to take an oath of obedience to Ferdinand of Aragon

Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

.

In 1516 however, the amir of Algiers Sālim al-Tūmī invited the corsair brothers Aruj

Aruj

Aruj or Arouj was the elder brother of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Ottoman Bey of Algiers and Beylerbey of the West Mediterranean...

 and Khair ad-Din Barbarossa to expel the Spaniards. Aruj, with the help of Ottoman troops, came to Algiers, ordered the assassination of Sālim, and seized the town. Spanish expeditions were sent to take over the city, first in 1516 under Don Diego de Vera, and then in 1519 under Don Ugo de Moncada, but both expeditions ended in failure.

Khair ad-Din, succeeding Arouj after the latter was killed in battle against the Spaniards at the Fall of Tlemcen (1517)

Fall of Tlemcen (1517)

The Fall of Tlemcen occurred in 1517, when the Ottoman corsair Uruj Barbarossa captured the city of Tlemcen from its Sultan, Abu Zayan, the last member of the Beni-Zian lineage....

. The capture of Algiers in 1516 had been made possible with the support of the Ottoman Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

 Selim I

Selim I

Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...

. This support was discontinued with Sultan Selim's death in 1520, causing Barbarossa to lose the city to a local kabyle

Kabyle people

The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...

 chieftain in 1524, and to retreat to his fief of Djidjelli.

Reconquest

When Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...

 declared war on Ferdinand of Habsburg

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...

 in January 1529, he also wished to go on the offensive in the western Mediterranean, and therefore chose to renew Ottoman support to Barbarossa.

Barbarossa received from the Ottoman Empire 2,000 janissaries, artillery, and an important financial support. Through bribery Barbarossa first obtained a change in the allegiance of the supporters of the Algiers Sheikh

Sheikh

Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

. After taking power in the city, Barbarossa then started to lay siege to El Peñón de Argel

Peñón

A Peñón is a term for certain offshore island forts established by the Spanish Empire . Several are still part of the plazas de soberanía of Spain in Northern Africa.-History:...

, the Spanish fortress at the entrance of the harbour. After 22 days enduring artillery fire, the Spanish under Governor Don Martin de Vargas finally surrendered on 29 May 1529, with only 25 men left and without having received help from the Spanish mainland. Vargas was cudgelled to death, the fortress was dismantled, and the stonework used to build a seawall

Seawall

A seawall is a form of coastal defence constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides and waves...

 using Christian slaves as manpower.

Aftermath

Over the following years, Barbarossa would use Algiers as a major base to launch raids from the Barbary Coast

Barbary Coast

The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...

. The huge Algiers expedition

Algiers expedition (1541)

The Algiers expedition of 1541 occurred when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor attempted to lead a fleet against the Ottoman Empire stronghold of Algiers in modern Algeria...

 was undertaken by Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 in 1541 to retake Algiers, but this also ended in failure. Algiers remained for three centuries under Ottoman rule, until the French Invasion of Algiers in 1830

Invasion of Algiers in 1830

The Invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Ottoman Regency of Algiers...

.