Por Ser Hombre Platico: Francisco Gasparo and the 1568 Spanish Negotiations with the Ottoman Governors of Algiers

In the spring of 1568, Uluç Ali Pasha, a Christian convert to Islam born in the Spanish viceroyalty of Naples, became the new Ottoman governor of Algiers. Subsequently, Phillip II of Spain tried to establish a dialogue with him. To conquer the city without having to resort to a military expedition, the king of Spain sent Francesco Gasparo, a Corsican merchant, to Algiers. Th is article aims to shed light on the Spanish diplo-matic practice used in the dialogue with the Ottoman Governors of Algiers during the sixteenth century. To do so, we have had to move away from the traditional focus on the study of agreements and opt for a more holistic approach of the diplomatic event. Diplomacy is no longer seen as a simple political relationship capable of establishing an agreement between two parties during a specifi c time, but as a permanent practice defi ned by a complex structure. Th us, the article focuses on the agents and practices used during the Spanish negotiation with Uluç Ali to assess the tenets underpinning this type of diplomatic interaction. Gasparo’s mission enables us to refl ect on the structure of Spanish diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean. Th e Corsican merchant’s experience in Algiers reveals the presence of a specifi c dialogic pattern between the Iberian and Maghreb coasts and how it was consolidated during the sixteenth century. Th is article endeavours thus to analyse the characteristic elements and principles of what seems to be a specifi c diplomatic model.