Exiled Moriscos sought an alliance with England to reconquer Spain

Evidence

One English agent, Harrison, reported back in 1625 that he had been approached by the almocadenes of Tetuan, presumably the Naqsis brothers, who had sounded him out on a projected alliance. In a land divided between contending factions, they explained, they recognized no king but God. Muley Zaidan, whom they had served so well up until that time, had become a cruel tyrant, and they now aspired to a free state such as the Netherlands or Venice. They offered to assemble 10,000 men to attack a Spanish presidio such as Ceuta, if only England would provide the powder and help with the recasting of their cannon. Harrison appended a note (SIHM 1 [II]: 573–82) written by the Moriscos: “With God’s favor, Moors and Englishmen will take Spain, and we will cook our food with their crosses and saints. We will all be brothers and God will assist those who followed his commandments. God before all else.” — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1660

Categorization

• SHARE: The Morisco note ‘we will cook our food with their crosses and saints’ is a vivid, narrow historical tidbit for anyone interested in Morisco or early modern piracy/intelligence.
• XREF: Connects to the reading on reputation-based extralegal polities (Venice/Netherlands as free-state models) and to the general theme of stateless corsair communities.