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Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud

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Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud bin Mohammed Anun
عبد الواحد بن مسعود بن محمد عنون
Portrait, c. 1600
NationalityMoroccan
Known forMoroccan ambassador to the Court of Queen Elizabeth I in 1600.

Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud bin Mohammed Anun (Arabic: عبد الواحد بن مسعود بن محمد عنون) was the principal secretary to the Moroccan Emperor Mulay Ahmad al-Mansur and ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1600,[1] whose primary task was to promote the establishment of an Anglo-Moroccan alliance.

Career

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The visit of Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud followed the sailing of The Lion in 1551, and the 1585 establishment of the English Barbary Company, which had the objective of developing trade between England and Morocco.[2][3] Diplomatic relations and an alliance were established between Elizabeth and the Barbary states.[3]

The last years of the 16th century saw major English successes against Spain, with the English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the Capture of Cadiz by the Earl of Essex in 1597. As a result, Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur decided to send an embassy to propose a joint invasion of Spain.[3][4] Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud was accompanied by al Haji Messa and al Haji Bahanet, as well as an interpreter named Abd el-Dodar, an Andalusian by birth, under cover of a trade mission to Aleppo with a stopover in London.[5] Altogether, the embassy numbered 16 (including some prisoners being returned to England), and sailed on board The Eagle under Robert Kitchen.[6] Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud reached Dover on 8 August 1600.[6]

Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud spent 6 months at the court of Queen Elizabeth I during 1600 with the aim of negotiating an alliance against Spain.[2][7] Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud spoke some Spanish, but he communicated to the Queen through his interpreter who spoke in Italian.[5] They met with the Queen on 19 August[6] and again on 10 September.[6]

The Moroccan ruler wanted the help of an English fleet to invade Spain. While Elizabeth refused, she welcomed the embassy and accepted the establishment of commercial agreements involving the two countries.[2][3] Queen Elizabeth and Sultan Ahmad continued to discuss various plans for combined military operations, with Elizabeth requesting a payment of 100,000 pounds in advance from Sultan Ahmad for the supply of a fleet, with Ahmad asking for an English ship to be sent to get the money. Discussions however remained inconclusive, and both rulers died within two years of the embassy.[8]

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It has been suggested that Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud inspired the character of William Shakespeare's Moorish hero Othello, but others have argued that there is no connection.[9][10] In 2016, David Serero played Othello in a Moroccan adaptation inspired by Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud.[11][12]

The painting of Abd al-Wahid bin Mas'ud is held by the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon.[2]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Vaughan, p.57
  2. ^ a b c d Vaughan, p.57
  3. ^ a b c d Bernard Harris (1958). "A Portrait of a Moor". Shakespeare Survey With Index 1–10: Volume 11, The Last Plays. 11: 89–99, p. 90.
  4. ^ University of Birmingham Collections "The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the Lapworth Museum of Geology and the University of Birmingham Collections – Objects". Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  5. ^ a b Bernard Harris (1958). "A Portrait of a Moor". Shakespeare Survey With Index 1–10: Volume 11, The Last Plays. 11: 89–99, p. 91.
  6. ^ a b c d Bernard Harris (1958). "A Portrait of a Moor". Shakespeare Survey With Index 1–10: Volume 11, The Last Plays. 11: 89–99, p. 92.
  7. ^ Tate Gallery exhibition "East-West: Objects between cultures" "Tate Britain | Past Exhibitions | East-West: Objects Between Cultures". Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  8. ^ Bernard Harris (1958). "A Portrait of a Moor". Shakespeare Survey With Index 1–10: Volume 11, The Last Plays. 11: 89–99, p. 96.
  9. ^ Vaughan, Virginia Mason (12 May 2005). Performing Blackness on English Stages, 1500–1800. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84584-7.
  10. ^ Kate Maltby (19 March 2016). "Elizabethan England and the Islamic World by Jerry Brotton". The Times. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  11. ^ BWW News Desk. "Sephardic OTHELLO to Open in June at Center for Jewish History". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  12. ^ "News agency specialized in Arts and Entertainment | The Culture News". theculturenews. Retrieved 10 August 2020.

References

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  • Virginia Mason Vaughan, Performing Blackness on English Stages, 1500–1800 Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 0-521-84584-X
  • Bernard Harris (1958). "A Portrait of a Moor". Shakespeare Survey With Index 1–10: Volume 11, The Last Plays. 11: 89–99. ISBN 0-521-52347-8
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