TheConquest of Melilla occurred on the 17th of September 1497, when a fleet sent by theDuke of Medina Sidonia occupied the north African city ofMelilla.[1]
After theconquest of Granada by Spain and the fall of theEmirate of Granada the Mediterranean coast of theSultanate of Fez became very unsettled, often raided byBarbary pirates or pirates fromCádiz.
Melilla and other cities fell in decadence, unlike cities on the Atlantic coast with most of the economic activity.[2] Also, the port, fortress and walls of Melilla had been destroyed in disputes between the rulers of Fez andTlemcen.[3] TheCatholic monarchs saw Melilla as a way to expand along the African Mediterranean coast to secureAragonese,Castilian andGenoese sea trade. However, by the end of the Granada War, Melilla was in the Portuguese zone of influence under the terms of the 1479Treaty of Alcáçovas.[4]
After the 1494Treaty of Tordesillas the crown of Castile attempted to conquer of Melilla but still needed to end theConquest of the Canary Islands, not to mention the economic efforts set on thevoyages of Christopher Columbus.[4]
The prominentDuke of Medina Sidonia, one of the wealthiest men in the Crown of Castile, contributed soldiers to theBattle of Aguere during theConquest of the Canary Islands, and sentPedro Estopiñán [es] to Melilla with ships, soldiers and builders. They arrived on 17 September 1497, conquered the city virtually without a fight, and started to rebuild the city walls and fortress.[4] TheWattasid rulerMuhammad al-Shaykh sent a detachment of cavalry to retake the city, but they were repulsed by the guns of the Spanish ships.[4][5][6]
After the conquest of Melilla,Cazaza andMazalquivir fell in 1505,Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in 1508,Oran in 1509, and thePeñón of Algiers,Béjaïa andTripoli in 1510.Annaba,Bizerta,Tunis andLa Goulette fell in 1535, while the Portuguese focused on the Atlantic coast, conqueringCeuta (1415),Tangier (1471),Mazagan (1502),Agadir (1505),Mogador (1506), andCasablanca (1515).[7]
September 17 isMelilla Day.
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