Peace Treaties with Morocco, the Ottoman Empire, and the North African Regencies

Abstract

At the end of the War of Spanish Succession the Bourbons consolidated their hold on the Spanish throne in exchange for several concessions, including the loss of their Italian domains. Philip v tried unsuccessfully to recover them, but from 1734 on his son, the future Charles iii, wore the crown of King of Naples and Sicily.1 The Bourbons’ North African policy produced better results: they strengthened their hold on the few territories Spain still held there and recovered some that had been lost.2 They managed to lift the siege of Ceuta initiated by Muley Ismail (1694– 1727)3 and to regain the presidio of Oran and its port at Mazalquivir, conquered by the Algerians in 1708.4 A Spanish fleet also helped to expel the Turks from Corfu in 1716.5 At this point it had become clear that Spain’s hegemony belonged to the past and that the nation had to accept the decline of its empire. Pressure from England and France forced the elites of the Bourbon state to adjust to the new times, and in the spirit of reform they refocused their attention on the Mediterranean. A new policy began to emerge visàvis the Muslim enemy, who no longer seemed so fearsome as before. To assure the defense of Spain’s southern flank, and navigation under the Spanish flag, the monarchy began to seek stable and permanent relations with Morocco, the Regencies, and the Ottoman Empire. The Bourbons took some time to develop their negotiations with Muslim countries; we know little about the North African and Levantine policies of