Samuel Pallache

Samuel Pallache

Samuel Pallache (Fez, ca. 1550 - The Hague, February 4, 1616) was a Jewish-Moroccan merchant, diplomat and pirate who was sent as an envoy to the Dutch Republic in 1608.

Pallache's family originated from Islamic Spain, where his father had served as rabbi in Córdoba. Sometime in the first half of the 16th Century, following the Christian conquest of Islamic Spain (the "Reconquista" ), the family fled to Morocco, where Jews, like Christians, were tolerated as long as they accepted Islam as the official religion. This allowed a vibrant Jewish community to emerge in Morocco, serving as a bridgehead between the Islamic, Christian and Jewish worlds.

After a delegation from the Dutch Republic visited Morocco to discuss a common alliance against Spain and the Barbary pirates, sultan Zidan Abu Maali in 1608 appointed the merchant Samuel Pallache to be his envoy to the Dutch government in The Hague. Officially, Pallache was his "agent", not ambassador.

On June 23, 1608, Pallache met stadholder Maurice of Nassau and the States-General in The Hague to negotiate an alliance of mutual assistance against Spain. On December 24th, 1610, the two nations signed a treaty recognising free commerce between the Netherlands and Morocco, and allowing the sultan to purchase ships, arms and munitions from the Dutch. This was the first-ever official treaty between a European country and a non-Christian nation.

The story goes that, one day, Pallache's horse-drawn carriage met the carriage of the Spanish ambassador in the Hague. The two carriages were unable to pass one another and, to cheers from onlookers, the Spanish ambassador's carriage had to make way for Pallache's carriage.

Research has shown that Pallache secretly acted as a double agent. He maintained close ties with the Spanish court and passed classified information about Dutch-Moroccan relations on to the Spanish. At the same time, he was passing information about Spain back to the Dutch and Moroccans. When this eventually came to light, he fell out of favor with the sultan.

In addition to his diplomatic affairs, Pallache also continued his activities as a merchant, actively trading between the Netherlands and Morocco. He also got permission from Prince Maurice for privateering activities. The goods obtained through these pirating activities were sold along the Moroccan coast.

In 1614 he captured a Portuguese ship and, unable to bring its cargo ashore in Morocco, sailed for the Netherlands. A heavy storm forced him to seek refuge in an English port where, by request of the Spanish ambassador, he was arrrested and imprisoned. Eventually prince Maurice came to his aid and managed to bring him back to the Netherlands. However, he had lost all his money by then and fell ill shortly thereafter. On February 4th, 1616, he died in The Hague, and was buried in the Sephardi-Jewish cemetery Beth Haim in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, near Amsterdam.

ources

* [http://www.anno.nl/anno/anno/i001630.html Anno: Joodse Marokkaan onder christenen] (Dutch)
* [http://www.studiumgenerale.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?c=35 Universiteit Leiden: Openingscollege 400 jaar Marokkaans - Nederlandse betrekkingen] (Dutch)
* [http://www.historischhuis.nl/recensies/recensie342.htm Review van Gerard Wiegers en Mercedes García-Arenal, "Man of three worlds. Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe"] (Dutch)
* [http://www.wereldomroep.nl/actua/nl/nederland/geschiedenis/nederlandmarokko/pallache050202 Wereldomroep: Diplomaat, handelaar, kaper en geleerde] (Dutch)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Samuel Pallache — (* um 1550 in Fès; † 4. Februar 1616 in Den Haag) war ein jüdisch marokkanischer Kaufmann, Diplomat, Spion, Doppelagent, Pirat und angeblich Mitbegründer der ersten jüdischen Gemeinde Amsterdams. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Literatur …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • MOROCCO — MOROCCO, westernmost country in North Africa. The first arrival of Jews in Morocco goes back to antiquity. There are numerous legends which claim that they settled in the country before the destruction of the First Temple. From the fifth to the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Islam in the Netherlands — HistoryTreaty with MoroccoIn the early 1600s a delegation from the Dutch Republic visited Morocco to discuss a common alliance against Spain and the Barbary pirates. Sultan Zidan Abu Maali appointed Samuel Pallache as his envoy, and in 1608… …   Wikipedia

  • Islam in den Niederlanden — Moschee in Den Haag Die Geschichte des Islam in den Niederlanden beginnt im frühen 17. Jahrhundert, als die Vereinigten Niederlande einen Freihandelsvertrag mit Marokko unterschrieben – dem ersten offiziellen Vertrag zwischen einem europäischen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands — NOTOC As a result of the Inquisition, many Sephardim (so called Spanish and Portuguese Jews) left the Iberian peninsula at the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, in search for religious freedom. Some of them found their way… …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Jews in the Netherlands — Part of a series of articles on Jews and Judaism …   Wikipedia

  • Beth Haim (Ouderkerk aan de Amstel) — Grabsteine auf dem jüdischen Friedhof Beth Haim, 2010 Auf dem jüdischen Friedhof Beth Haim im nordholländischen Dorf Ouderkerk aan de Amstel liegen etwa 28.000 sephardische Juden, vor allem aus dem nördlich gelegenen Amsterdam, begraben. Der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Zidan Abu Maali — Mawlay Zidan Abu Maali, sultan of Morocco of the Saadi Dynasty (r. 1603 – 1627), son of Ahmad al Mansur, residing in Marrakech. Contents 1 Civil war 2 Foreign relations 3 Notes 4 …   Wikipedia

  • Marranisme — Le marranisme est un terme utilisé à partir du XVe siècle en référence aux Juifs de la péninsule Ibérique (Portugal, Espagne) convertis au catholicisme, souvent de force, et qui continuaient à pratiquer le judaïsme en secret. Au Portugal,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Moroccan literature — List of writers Moroccan literature Moroccan Arabic Berber Moroccan authors Novelists Playwrights – Poets Essayist …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”