There was no place so convenient for the purposes of the
pirate as Bizerta: from here he could strike at Sicily, at the Balearic
Islands, at Rome, Naples, Tuscany, and Liguria, while at the same time he
held the trade slowly sailing along the North African littoral at his
mercy. Great were the depredations of Curtogali, and even Pope Leo X.
trembled on his throne, while Genoa, Venice, and Sicily seethed with
impotent fury.
In the meanwhile who so happy as Abu-Abd-Allah-Mahomed? We cannot do better
than to take the description of his position from the pages of the good
Padre Alberto Guglielmotti. The Franciscan says: "He [that is, Abd-Allah]
desired peace with all and prosperity for his own interests. Friendly to
the merchants in their commerce; friendly to the corsairs in their spoils.
Let all hold by the law: the former contentedly paying customs dues, the
latter cheerfully handing over a fifth part of their robberies, and
Abd-Allah--their common friend--would ever continue at peace with them all.
Outside his ports the merchants and the pirates might fall by the ears if
they would: that was no reason for him to trouble his head. On the
contrary, he would joyfully await them on their return either with customs
dues or tribute of the fifth as the case might be."
However well this state of affairs may have suited Abd-Allah, the Genoese
held that the situation was far from satisfactory. In consequence they sent
an army against Curtogali, and on August 4th, 1516, they captured Bizerta,
set free a number of Christian captives, and plundered the town.
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