Estatua de Pedro de Estopiñán en Melilla

The Conquest of Melilla occurred on the 17th of September 1497, when a fleet sent by the

Duke of Medina Sidonia Duke of Medina Sidonia ( es, Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John II of Castile in 1380.Melilla. After the

fall of Granada The Granada War ( es, Guerra de Granada) was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It e ...

and the disappearance of the

Emirate of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language: Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion: Sunni IslamMinority religions: Ro ...

the mediterranean coast of the

Sultanate of Fez Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

became very unsettled, often raided by barbary pirates or pirates fron

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. Melilla among other cities, fell in decadence in opposition to cities located in the Atlantic facade, which concentrated most of the economic activity. Also, the port, fortress and walls of Melilla had been destroyed by the disputes between the rulers of Fez and

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...

. The

Catholic monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

saw Melilla as a way of expanding along the African mediterranean coast to secure Aragonese, Castilian and Genoese sea trade. However, by the end of the Granada War Melilla was in the Portuguese zone of influence under the terms of the 1479

Treaty of Alcáçovas The Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) was signed on 4 September 1479 between the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal, on the other sid ...

.''A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period'' by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p.146
/ref> After the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas the crown of Castile was able to attempt the conquer of Melilla but the kings had still to end the

Conquest of the Canary Islands The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castille took place between 1402 and 1496 and described as the first instance of European settler colonialism in Africa. It can be divided into two periods: the Conquista señorial, carried out ...

, not to mention the economic efforts set on the voyages of Christopher Columbus. It was the prominent

duke of Medina Sidonia Duke of Medina Sidonia ( es, Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John II of Castile in 1380.Battle of Aguere The Battle of Aguere, or Battle of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, was fought between forces of the Crown of Castile, led by the Adelantado (military governor) Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and the natives of Tenerife, called Guanches. The battle took pl ...

during

, who commanded with ships, soldiers and builders to Melilla. They arrived on 17 September 1497 and conquered the city virtually without a fight and started to rebuild the city walls and fortress. The Wattasid ruler Muhammad al-Shaykh sent a detachment of cavalrymen to retake control of the city, but they were repulsed by the guns of the Spanish ships. After the conquer of Melilla followed the cities of

Cazaza Cazaza was a Spanish enclave on the western coast of Cape Three Forks, in what is today Morocco, around 18 km from Melilla. It was here that the exiled Boabdil, last Emir of Granada, landed when he left the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. In 15 ...

and Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508), Oran (1509),

Peñón of Algiers Peñón of Algiers ( es, Peñón de Argel, ) was a small islet off the coast of Algiers, fortified by the Kingdom of Spain during the 16th century. The islet was connected to the African continent to form a seawall and the harbour of Algiers. Hist ...

Béjaïa Béjaïa (; ; ar, بجاية‎, Latn, ar, Bijāya, ; kab, Bgayet, Vgayet), formerly Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean port city and commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Béjaïa is ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

(1510),

Annaba Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...

Bizerta Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and

La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia. La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...

(1535) while the Portuguese set focus on the atlantic coast conquering

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

(1415),

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

(1471), Mazagan (1502),

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

(1505),

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

(1506) y Casablanca 1515. September 17 is Melilla Day.

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{Melilla 1497 in Spain History of Melilla Melilla Melilla Melilla

See also

Notes

Bibliography