Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Salé Morisco Republic

The music is Morisco music, found on Iberian Garden, Vol. 1 by Altramar. The piece is Muwashshah: Mā li-l-muwallah, 1113-1198.

This music takes place at the beautiful gardens along the Guadalquiver, near Cordoba. This is during the "convivencia" under Alfonso X (El Sabio - The Wise), the time before Granda fell: when Christians, Moslems and Jews lived at peace with each other. Muwashshah are songs in poetic form, with instrumental interludes in the form of Ibn Bājja (Avempace): 1470-1520. This is Morisco art.
Whop1 Whop1 Whop1

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Sale Republic 1627-1668
Salé Morisco Republic #1
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Sale Republic
Salé Morisco Republic #2
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Sale Republic Flag
Salé Morisco Republic Flags
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The "Three Republics" refers to Old Salé, the Casbah (bordering on the Bou Regreg river, and New Salé, near the Ribat (military garrison or fortress). Obviously the "Ribat" is the origin of the name "Rabat" (the capitol of Morocco). The western area was less fertile and is referred to as the "Al-Gharb". Cotton was grown here, then used by the weaving establishments. Salé was the port (trade) for the empire centered at Fez.

Old Salé was the more religious area, more strongly Islamic.

The Casbah became the focus of the Hornachero Republic. The Hornacheros were fervent Moslems, spoke Arabic, and were wealthy, but were used to bribing Catholic officials to be allowed to carry arms. The arms were used in brigandage and counterfeiting.

The Mudéjares and Moriscos expelled from spain were referred to as the Andalusian Republic, and were focused in New Salé. These people appeared to be very Spanish to the Moslems in Salé, wore Spanish dress, spoke a version of Spanish (not Arabic), seemed to have a lack of shame and dignity, and had names like "Vargas", "Pelafres", "Blanco", "Rodriquez", "Carasco", "Santiago", "Galan", "Guzman".

Trade existed between England and Salé: 1
  1. England to Salé
    1. Raw Iron
    2. Manufactured Iron
      1. Fowling pieces
      2. Fire lockes
      3. Lance-heads
    3. Wooden Objects
      1. Lances
      2. Staves
    4. Cloth
      1. Lynens
      2. English Broad Cloths
      3. Jersies
  2. Salé to England
    1. Gold, transported by Cafell
      (Trans-Saharan Ghadames Road Camel caravans from Gago [Gao] Click to see).
    2. Slaves
    3. Wax
    4. Hides
    5. Almonds
    6. Dates
    7. Salte Peeter
A "pirate" engages in sea-going criminal acts. A "privateer" has "letters of marque" meaning that the privateer is a private representative naval force commissioned by a government to disrupt the shipping of another government. Privateers are not criminals as they are committing legitimate acts of war (not private criminal acts). Privateers acting between two Christian governments, are less complicated than when the two governments represent different religions such as Christians vs Ottoman Moslems. In such cases, sometimes the word "corsair" is used for such a privateer Click to see).

Views of Salé
  1. Sallee: 1670
  2. Sallee: #2
  3. Great Mosque and Merinid Madrassa
  4. Salé terraces: 1920
  5. Muhammad aṣ-Ṣubihi
  6. Hājj 'Ali 'Awwād
  7. Rabbi Raphaël Ankaoua
  8. Fez Morocco: Leather Tanneries
Glossary

Term Meaning
Fasis People of Fez
Makhzan In Fez or at Marakesh, the central administration of the Moroccan Sultanate, composed of the governor, judge, market inspector, administrator of pious endowments, customs officers, etc.
Salā Colonia Roman colony at Salā
Salāwis People of Salé

Glossary

Term Meaning
a'bd, abid Slaves (ALL men are God's slaves, or God is the highest slave-master: Religion is based upon slavery)
a'yān Notables, upper bourgeoisie, government officials, leading scholars, holy men, wealthy farmers, tanners, crftsmen, merchants
al-'āmma Commoners or masses, middle petty bourgeoisie
al-'arab Arab.
al-aṭrāf Personages.
al-a'yān Notables.
al-'āmma Urban society (not riff-raff).
al-'āmma al-aghmār,
ghawghā' l-ḥāḍira,
ghawghā' 'l-'arab, 'āmma
Ignorant masses,
urban rabble,
rural rabble, the illiterate
al-bādiya Rural way of life practiced by "Arabs" or "Bedouins". See al-ḥaḍāra.
al-barrāḥ Town crier.
al-barrāniyīn Outsiders, fishermen, hired workers, farm laborers, peddlers, domestics, slaves, lower proletariat
al-bawādī Bedouin.
al-bilād Townsmen, petty officials, shopkeepers, farmers, craftsmen, middle petty bourgeoisie
al-ḥaḍār Urban way of life. See al-bādiya
al-ḥajjāmīn Barbers
al-khāṣṣa, al-wujahā' Elite, upper bourgeoisie, government officials, leading scholars, holy men, wealthy farmers, tanners, craftsmen, merchants
al-mallāḥ, mellah,
al-mullāḥ, al-quadīm
Jewish quarter (ghetto)
al-qaiṣariyya dhāt as-sawārī Bazaar of Columns (retail sale of cloth and woollen goods)
al-qashshāshin Felt hat makers
al-qā'a An important Salé caravansary (Funduk), the "Courtyard".
Goods sold: butter (fresh and clarified), honey, wool (raw), beef (dried), cumin, olives, figs, dates, raisins, walnuts, almonds, henna, kat. Notaries kept records.
'arīqīn Old, deep-rooted, respectable Salé families.
as-sammārīn horseshoers
as-sifla Riff-raff, lower proletariat.
as-suwayqa Small market.
ash-shurafā' Descendants of the Prophet.
at-taqwīm al-hijrīy
(Salé Lunar Months)
  1. l-'āshōr
  2. shāye' l-'āshōr
  3. l-mūlūd
  4. shāye' l-mūlūd
  5. jumād el-luwwel
  6. jumād et-tānī
  7. rjeb
  8. sha 'bān
  9. ramḍān
  10. shhâr fṭōr
  11. bīn la-'ayād
  12. l-'īd le-kbīr
at-tujjār Merchants.
awlād an-nās,
ahl l-bled
Prominent families (the well born, literally sons of important people),
The (important) people of the city.
bāb fās, al-mullāḥ, al-quadīm,
bāb sibta, bāb al-jadīd
Gate of Fez,
Gate of Ceuta, New Gate
dabbāgha The suppliers of leather and of tanners in the late 19th century. Shoes were then made in Salé.
dār al-barūd Storehouse for ammunition.
dhawū'l-buyūt Men of known families.
Drūba Streets of a neighbourhood. See tanāfus.
Funduq Warehouse, hotel
Gharb North
ḥaddādīn Tinsmiths
ḥammāms Public ovens, public baths, Quranic schools, shops
ḥanbals Woollen rugs from Salé
Haouz South
ḥassārīn matmakers
ḥurma An inviolable sanctuary (of a lodge).
ḥūma, ḥūmāt Quarters or neighborhoods
Jnān Unirrigated gardens (extensive in Salé). See sāniya.
Jōṭiyya Flea Market.
kharrāza Shoemakers (By the late 19th century, the shoemaking industry replaced weaving.)
kherba A stable for riding animals or other animals (cows, sheep, goats).
l-qa'ida The code of politness, discretion, propriety, decency, clenliness, ways of cooking, table manners, and rules of proper dress.
Madīna Urban settlement or city: commercial sector as opposed to a residential sector and may contain a Jewish (bourgeois) gated ghetto, walled in, gate shut at night.
maḥāl al-ḥūt Fish market.
majlis Disciples of a religious teacher.
malḥūn A poetical form using stylised form of the spoken language.
m'allim, ṣunnā' Master craftsmen, apprenticed artisan journeymen (ahl al-ḥirāf): industry was organized as guilds (ḥnāṭ) in Salé during the 19th century. There were itinerant traders and shopkeepers (suwwāqa, sāḥāt al-aswāq wa-ahl al-ḥawānit). Guilds were led by a chief (l-amīn) with his assistant (khalīfa).
mitḥasib Market provost
mizrag Guarantee of safe passage for traders.
muḥtasib Administrator to ulama official.
mujāhid&umacrn Holy warriors.
qaiṣariyyat al-yahūd Bazaar of the Jews.
qaiṣariyyat dhāt as sawārī Bazaar of Columns (cloth and woolen goods)
qibla Qibla is the direction to the Ka'ba in Mecca, used to determine directions to construct a house or the direction to turn at the time of prayer.
raḥbat az-zra' Square for wheat.
riyāḍ A fruit tree garden connected to by a passage (mduwwiz) through the house.
sāniya Pivate irrigated gardens (or water scoops) in Salé where oranges, pomegranites, pears, apricots and lemons were grown. See jnān.
shahāda Declaration of the belief of Islam: "There is but one God and Muhammad is the messenger of God."
shaykh Leader of a religious order.
shurafā' Leaders of the "descendants of the Prophet.
sība Anarchy or opposition.
Siqqāya Public wells.
Sulaḥā' Pious men.
sūq Market place.
sūq al-gazzārīn Butcher market
sūq al-ghazl Thread market.
sūq al-kabīr Great Market Place.
tanāfus Neighbourhood rivalry (especially by children). See drūba
'ulamā' Learned men.
Ūlād l-ḥrām Those that cannot be married (illegitimates). Marriages between Muslims and Jews were inadmissible.
'udūl Notaries.
zāwiya Hajjī Sufi lodge (see ḥurma) Most lodges had a separate room for prayer, with a mausoleum of a saint, covered with a qubba (dome)
zīt bildī Warehouse for leather (fresh and dried tanners skins) and olive oil.

Bibliography

Brown, Kenneth; "People of Salé: Tradition and change in a Moroccan city 1830-1930"
Carteret, Sir George; "The Barbary Voyage of 1638"
Wilson, Peter; "Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes"

1   Carteret, Sir George; "The Barbary Voyage of 1638", pp. 24, 25

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