come in the fleet from Constantinople, that Raschid had
been left behind in that city.

CHAPTER IX

BARCELONA, MAY 1535; THE GATHERING OF THE CHRISTIAN HOSTS

Some idea of the terror inspired by the actions of the Sea-wolves at this
date is contained in the following extract from "The Golden Age of the
Renaissance," by Lanciani:

"The Bastione del Belvedere, which towers in frowning greatness at the
north-east end of the Vatican Garden and commands the approach to the
Borgo from the upper-end valley of the Tiber, was begun by Antonio de
Sangullo the younger, and finished by Michel Angelo after the death of
Antonio, which took place on September 30th, 1546. This great piece of
military engineering must not be considered by itself, but as a part of
a great scheme of defence conceived by Paul III, to protect the city
against a hostile invasion from the sea. The Pope could not forget that,
in August 1534, the fleet of infidels commanded by Barbarossa had cast
anchor at the mouth of the Tiber to renew its supply of water, and that
if its leader had thought fit they could have stormed, sacked, and
plundered the city, and carried off the Pope himself into slavery
without any possibility of defence on the Christian side. This point has
not been taken into due consideration by modern writers; the
fortifications of Rome, designed or begun or finished at the time of
Paul III., have nothing to do with the sack of 1527, with the Connetable
de Bourbon, or with the Emperor Charles V. All the bastions, that of the
Belvedere excepted, point towards the sea-coast, which was perpetually
harried and terrified by Turkish or Barbary pirates. These would appear
with lightning-like rapidity in more than one place at a time, and carry
off as many unfortunate men, women, and children as they could
collect.... To prevent the recurrence of such disasters the sea-coast
was lined with watch-towers, the guns of which could warn the peasants
of the approach of suspicious vessels."

That Paul III. had good warrant for the precautions which he designed to
take is not only instanced by the fact of Barbarossa anchoring in the mouth
of the Tiber on the occasion of the raid with which we are at present
concerned, but from what had occurred to his predecessor on the Papal
throne in 1516. Pope Leo, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was accustomed to
leave Rome in the autumn for hunting, and fishing in