AHC: The English keep Tangier

Night Gaul

For part of the 17th century, the Moroccan city of Tangier was under the control of the English. It had been owned by the Portuguese, but Charles II of England acquired the city when he married the Portuguese infanta Catherine. They gave up on the city in 1684.

Here's your challenge: have the English keep Tangier, at least for a time.
 

cerebus

They gave it up because it cost money and was indefensible and both economically and strategically useless. To keep it we need to make it valuable.
No I got nothing.
 
Clandango

Clandango

Personally I would prefer the Portuguese keep it. Would be excellent for allowing the Kingdom of Algarves to have some sort of importance, if that and other areas were considered as part of it. As for the English, it seems rather out of the way for them. Calais was good as they were able to funnel stuff from France and Flanders through there, with the Snglish monarchy getting to collect taxes and duties on the stuff. Kind of like why so many trading companies tempt to single ports in East Asia. The Chinese and Japanese high lords found it convenient for everyone to be in a small area so they could take most of the profits for themselves, while the trading companies got to make profits of their own throught he scarily of the goods. Also part of why the Portuguese and Dutch apparently burned down islands, trying to make certain spices extinct outside of a few islands they owned. If the English were dealing with constant raids by Corsairs rather than occasional ones, they might like to keep it, but it still is s bit out of the way of the Straits of Gibraltar. Actually, looks like it is the best natural harbor in the area. Just need a way to keeping Morocco from fully uniting, which ratcheted up the costs of defense.
 

RogueTraderEnthusiast

The only way I can see it working is if the English can somehow repopulate the city. That isn't impossible, but you're talking thousands of people.

My recommendation would to have the English accept the Jews there, or, and this depends on how successful it can be, find any Berber Christians, and have them be responsible, in exchange for having a good cut of revenue. It's a great place to control the straits (as the English were trying to achieve). If England just stubbornly holds it to finish the Mole, then it becomes a great port for controlling and attacking trade (and nothing wrong with creating a privateer port to take out Mediterranean Piracy.

The trick is yeah, they need allies, and I think that involves not requiring conversion of the locals, but working with and encouraging conversion of Berbers to Anglican Christianity (perhaps that could be the prerequisite for leading a ship, if they were interested).

The idea of an Anglo-Berber Tangiers, half pirate, half trade port sounds fun, but would require those allies, but if the local leadership have the authority to organise diplomatic relationships (of a limited sort) in the area, then they could really engage with the politics of Morocco.

(Plus, I really like the idea of the city being the home of the King of the Crusader Sea Lords - Edward Teach, the Smouldering Prince of Africa)
 
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