My mini-series on Anglo-Muslim diplomatics continues. In my previous blogpost I looked at how Elizabeth I is addressed by Sultan Murad III according to Ottoman courtly epistolary conventions. It transpires from the diplomatic letters that circa 1580, the queen was regarded at the same rank as the kings of France, Poland and Austria with a nod to her femininity.^[1] In today’s post I would like to look into how Elizabeth responded to the Ottoman sultan compared to how she responded to the Moroccan sultans of Saadi dynasty and vice-versa in terms of choice of language of diplomacy and epistolary titles.  

The way Elizabeth used an intitulatio, her own title and an inscriptio, the recipient’s title in her correspondence discloses how she saw the Ottoman sultan and wanted to be seen by him. Her answer to Murad III’s Latin-Turkish communication that promised safety for English merchants was also in Latin and opened with an intitulatio that matched the flowery Latin of Ottoman court’s translator Mustafa beg.

Elizabethan Dei ter maximi et vnici Coeli terraeque Conditoris gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberniae Regine fidei Christianae contra omner omnium inter Christianos degentium et Christi nomen falso profentium Idolatrias invictissima & potentissima defensatrix^[2]

Elizabeth by the grace of the most mighty God, the three part yet only Creator of heaven and earth of England, France and Ireland Queen the most invincible and most mighty defender of the Christian faith against all kind of idolatries of all those who live among the Christians and falsely profess the name of Christ

Two aspects of this opening stand out: Elizabeth adjusted the invocatio, that is, the invocation of God’s name, a preamble composed of religious and political significance as it mentions the source of the ruler’s power – namely, God – before proceeding with the intitulatio, the full name and legal status of the bearer of this power. In her letter to the Ottoman sultan her usual “Elizabeth by the grace of God, Queen of England France and Ireland, defender of the faith etc” is replaced by one that highlights Protestant iconoclasm and monotheism hence drawing out the similarities with Islam, the faith of her recipient. When addressing Sultan Murad she also composed an elaborate title as follows:

unto the most Imperiall and most invincible prince, Zuldan Murad Chan, the most mightie ruler of the kingdome of Turkie, sole and above all, and most sovereign monarch of the East Empyre, greeting, and many happy and fortunate yeeres, with abundance of the best things. Most Imperiall and most invincible Emperor

Her lengthy inscriptio for Murad is in contrast with her direct and brief one-liner with which she addressed Moroccan sovereigns. In her letters to Mulay Abdullah, Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I and Mulay Ahmed al-Mansour from 1569 until her death the queen used the brief title in Castilian Spanish which is as follows:

Al muy alto et muy poderoso principe Abdelmelech, Emperador de Marruecos Rey de Fez y de Sus etc. Salud^[3]

To the very high and very powerful prince Abdul Malek, Emperor of Morocco King of Fez, of Sus etc. salutations!

The Moroccan court used Castilian Spanish as the second language in their diplomatic correspondence with England, most likely out of convenience as they hosted a significant Muslim and Jewish diaspora from Andalucía, who worked in their capacity as translators and negotiators in the Moroccan court.^[4] And in her letters to the Moroccan court delineating over a joint attack against the Spaniards, Elizabeth I used Spanish as well. Their correspondence started a decade earlier than the commencement of Anglo-Ottoman diplomacy. One of the earliest letters in Arabic original from Mulay Abdullah addressed to Elizabeth I is dated 1569.^[5]

الى ملكة بلاد انجلطره وارلانظا المعظمة الشهيرة الأثيرة ايزبيلا بنت السلطان انرك ^[6]

To the queen of England and Ireland the most renown and celebrated great Isabella the daughter of Sultan Henry^[7]

From this brief address line, it appears that the Moroccan court had a less elaborate epistolary protocol compared to their Ottoman counterpart. Meanwhile they are much more informed about the geographical span of Elizabeth’s country, hence the reference to Ireland. In Ottoman royal letters there is no mention of English territories other than England itself although Elizabeth does mention them (see above). Moreover, the Moroccan court does not show an acute self-awareness of the linguistic properties of titles as much as Ottomans do. The letter calls King Henry VIII a sultan which Ottoman chancellery would never do, as they were highly aware of the ideological-religious connotations of titles across linguistic divides. According to Ottoman epistolary conventions ‘sultan’ is in the domain of Muslim rulers.^[8] Non-Muslim rulers could be called king or queen, (kral and kraliçe) but never the other way around. These linguistic details signify the Ottomans’ utmost diligence in creating a faith-based map of semantics in their epistolary protocol whereas the Moroccan court did not attach the same significance to linguistic protocol.

Picture A
An example of diplomatic correspondence between Morocco and England in Spanish dated 1599 TNA SP 102/2/22

Picture B
Rigobert Bonne’s map of the Mediterranean and the Maghreb and the Barbary Coast dated 1771

Can be accessed here:
https://www.historicpictoric.com/products/historic-map-bonne-mediterranean-maghreb-barbary-coast-1771?variant=35369654026403

[1] Austrians would press for a higher recognition two decades later in Zsitvatork.

[2] TNA SP 97/1 f.2-4, BL Cotton MS. Nero B XI f.178-179, Bodley Tanner MS. 169 f.6-7

[3] Henry de Castries, L’Histoire du Maroc, vol. i (1963)

[4] Nabil Matar, Queen Elizabeth I Through Moroccan Eyes, (2008) 12.1

[5] Henry de Castries, L’Histoire du Maroc, vol.i (1963)

[6] Henry de Castries, L’Histoire du Maroc, vol.i (1963)

[7] Translation by me

[8] See “القاب پادشاهان اسلام” (Titles for the Muslim Rulers) Feridun Bey, Münşeat-üs Selatin, Darüttıbattil'âmire, Istanbul (1583) p. 2 Harvard Library seq.36 https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/islamic-heritage-project/catalog/40-990078556280203941 (accessed 14 Jan 2022)