The Anglo-Moroccan alliance''Britain and Morocco during the embassy of John Drummond Hay, 1845-1886'' Khalid Ben Srhir, Malcolm Williams, Gavin Waterson p.13-1

/ref>''Ships, money, and politics'' Kenneth R. Andrews, p. 167
/ref> was established at the end of the 16th century and the early 17th century between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Commercial agreements had been reached by Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

and the Moroccan Sultan

Ahmad al-Mansur Ahmad al-Mansur (; 1549 – 25 August 1603), also known by the nickname al-Dhahabī () was the Saadi Sultanate, Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. Ahmad al-Mansur was an ...

on the basis of a common enmity to

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. The arms trade dominated the exchange, and numerous attempts at direct military collaboration were also made. The alliance was maintained for some time by their successors.

Background

The alliance between the two states developed during the 16th century on the back of regular commercial exchanges, largely thanks to the work of the Amphlett family of merchants.Srhir, p.13 European trade with Morocco had been at the command of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

, but in 1541 the Portuguese suffered the loss of Safi and

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

, loosening their grip on the area. Following the sailing of ''The Lion'' of Thomas Wyndham in 1551, and the 1585 establishment of the English Barbary Company, trade developed between England and the

Barbary states The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

, and especially

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

feathers and

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

from Morocco were typically exchanged for English fabrics and

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

, in spite of the protests of

and

. Elizabeth I had numerous exchanges with Sultan Abd al-Malik to facilitate trade and obtain advantages for English traders.Srhir, p.13 The sultan could speak Spanish and Italian as well as Arabic. In 1577 he wrote to the queen in Spanish, signing himself ''AbdelMeleck'' in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

. That same year, the queen sent Edmund Hogan as ambassador to the Moroccan court.Abun-Nasr, p.218

Alliance

Elizabeth was initially reluctant to develop an arms trade with Morocco, for fear of criticism by other Christian powers, as was communicated by Hogan to the Sultan in 1577. Contacts however soon developed into a political alliance as a result of further diplomatic exchanges between Elizabeth I and Sultan

, after the defeat of

at the

Battle of Alcácer Quibir The Battle of Alcácer Quibir (also known as "Battle of Three Kings" () or "Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin" () in Morocco) was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir (variant spellings: ''Ksar El Kebir'', ''Alcácer-Quivir'', ...

in 1578.

Anglo–Spanish War

Relations intensified with the

acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

as King of Portugal in 1580, and the advent of the Anglo–Spanish War in 1585.Abun-Nasr, p.218 In 1581, Elizabeth authorized the exportation of naval-grade timber to Morocco in exchange for

, a necessary ingredient in

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

. The establishment of the Barbary Company in 1585 further gave England a monopoly on Morocco trade for 12 years.Srhir, p.13 In 1585–1588, through the embassy of Henry Roberts, Elizabeth tried to obtain the Sultan's help in backing Dom António.Abun-Nasr, p.218 In 1588, Al-Mansur granted special privileges to English traders. In her letters to Al-Mansur, Elizabeth, over a period of 25 years, continually described the relationship between the two countries as ''"La buena amistad y confederación que hay entre nuestras coronas"'' ("The great friendship and cooperation that exists between our Crowns"), and presented herself as ''"Vuestra hermana y pariente según ley de corona y ceptro"'' ("Your sister and relative according to the law of the Crown and the Scepter"). In January 1589, Al-Mansur through his ambassador to the Queen, Marzuq Rais (Mushac Reyz),''Shakespeare Studies'' by John Leeds Barroll, p.102
/ref> requested the supply of oars, carpenters and shipwrights, as well as transportation on English ships, in exchange for his contribution of 150,000 ducats and his military help for an Anglo-Moroccan expedition against Spain in favour of the Portuguese claimant. He also requested English military assistance in case of a conflict with neighbouring non-Christian countries. Elizabeth could not meet these demands completely, especially the transportation of Moroccan forces, and negotiation drew on until the death of Dom António in 1595. The 1589 English expedition to Portugal moved ahead nonetheless, and ended in failure with the English fleet hoping in vain for reinforcements from England or Morocco. Only the Moroccan ambassador Marzuq Rais was accompanying the expedition, on board the flagship of Dom António, disguised as a Portuguese nobleman, and stayed until summer 1589.

1600 embassy

Diplomatic relations continued to intensify between Elizabeth and the Barbary states.Nicoll, p.90 England entered in a trading relationship with Morocco detrimental to Spain, selling armour, ammunition, timber, metal in exchange for Moroccan sugar, in spite of a

Papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

ban, prompting the Papal

Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

in Spain to say of Elizabeth: ''"there is no evil that is not devised by that woman, who, it is perfectly plain, succoured Mulocco ( Abd-el-Malek) with arms, and especially with artillery"''. In 1600, Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, the principal secretary to the Moroccan ruler Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur, visited England as an ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud spent 6 months at the court of Elizabeth, in order to negotiate an alliance against

.Vaughan, p.57 The Moroccan ruler wanted the help of an English fleet to invade Spain, Elizabeth refused, but welcomed the embassy as a sign of insurance, and instead accepted to establish commercial agreements. Queen Elizabeth and king Ahmad continued to discuss various plans for combined military operations, with Elizabeth requesting a payment of 100,000 pounds in advance to king Ahmad for the supply of a fleet, and Ahmad asking for a tall ship to be sent to get the money. Elizabeth "agreed to sell munitions supplies to Morocco, and she and Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur talked on and off about mounting a joint operation against the Spanish". Discussions however remained inconclusive, and both rulers died within two years of the embassy.

James I and Charles I

Morocco had been falling into a state of anarchy following the death of Ahmed al-Mansur in 1603, and local warlords had been on the rise, making the alliance with the Sultanate less and less meaningful.

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

also made peace with Spain upon his accession in 1603, with the Treaty of London. Relations continued under James I however, who sent his ambassador John Harrisson to Muley Zaydan in 1610 and again in 1613 and 1615 in order to obtain the release of English captives in Morocco.''Britain and Morocco during the embassy of John Drummond Hay, 1845-1886'' by Khalid Ben Srhir, p.1

/ref> English privateers such as

Jack Ward John Ward or Jack Ward ( 1553 – 1622), also known as Birdy, Sparrow or later as Yusuf Reis, was an English people, English pirate who later became a Barbary pirates, Corsair for the Ottoman Empire operating out of Ottoman Tunisia, Tunis ...

continued to prosper in collaboration with the Barbary states, including Morocco. Ambassador Jawdar 1637

During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

under the rule of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, England sought Moroccan military help against Spain in Tetouan and

Salé Salé (, ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Along with some smaller nearby towns, Rabat and Salé form together a single m ...

. England had hoped to obtain Moroccan cooperation after the 1625 English attack on Cadíz, but the campaign proved disastrous and ruined the prestige of England. On 10 May 1627, England passed an agreement with one of these local warlords, the Mujahidin leader Sidi Al-Ayyashi to obtain his help in releasing English captives, in exchanges for the supply of provisions and arms. England and Al-Ayyashi collaborated for a period of about 10 years, as in the attempted coordinated liberation of Al Ma'mura. In 1632, the city of

, a major harbour to piracy, was jointly taken by an English squadron and Moroccan forces, permitting the pacification of the city and the release of Christian prisoners. On May 13, 1637, a Convention was signed between Charles I and Sidi Mohammed el-Ayachi, master of

, allowing for the supply of military armament to the Sultan.

Embassies of Mulay Ismail

Mohammed bin Hadou Moroccan ambassador to Great Britain 1682

Relations continued under the Moroccan ruler Mulay Ismail. In 1682, he sent Mohammed bin Hadou as Moroccan ambassador sent to the English court of Charles II.''Wild enlightenment: the borders of human identity in the eighteenth century'' by Richard Nash p.54

/ref> Mohammed spent six months in England, in a highly commented visit. He visited

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

among many other places. These exchanges forty years of shifting alliances between England and Morocco, related to European conflicts, trade issues,

Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

pirates and the exchange of captives. Ambassador Admiral Abelkader Perez 1723 1737

One of the high points of these contacts occurred in 1720–21, when English ambassadors John Windus and Commodore Hon. Charles Stewart visited Morocco. They succeeded in signing a diplomatic treaty with Morocco for the first time, and returned home with 296 released British slaves. Moroccan ambassadors were again sent to England in 1726 ("Mahomet" and "Bo-ally"), and in 1727 a new treaty was signed by John Russel with Mulay Ismail's successor. A further treaty was signed by John Drummond-Hay in 1865.

Impact on literature

These intense relations between England and Morocco are thought to have had a direct impact on the literary productions of the age in England, especially the works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, or '' The Battle of Alcazar'' by

George Peele George Peele (baptised 25 July 1556 – buried 9 November 1596) was an English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed, but not universally accepted, collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Titus Andronic ...

. These contacts possibly influenced the creation of the characters of

Shylock Shylock () is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Merchant of Venice'' ( 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal villain. His defeat and forced conversion to Christianity form the climax ...

, or the Prince of Morocco in ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. It has even been suggested that the figure of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud may have inspired the character of

's Moorish hero ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

''.Vaughan, p.59
/ref>

Notes

References

* Khalid Ben Srhir, Malcolm Williams, Gavin Waterson ''Britain and Morocco during the embassy of John Drummond Hay, 1845-1886''

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 2005 * Jamil M. Abun-Nasr ''A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1987 * Gustav Ungerer ''Portia and the Prince of Morocco'', in ''Shakespeare Studies Vol XXXI'' Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1983 {{Morocco topics Elizabethan era Morocco–United Kingdom relations 16th century in England 17th century in England 16th century in Morocco 17th century in Morocco Elizabeth I Philip II of Spain