Morocco's Last Stand The Siege of Larache 1689

In 1689, Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco set his sights on Larache, a small Atlantic port held by Spain since 1610. The siege that followed would become one of the most dramatic confrontations of the 17th century, pitting the Sultan's vast army of Black Guard soldiers and tribal levies against a determined Spanish garrison backed by the Armada. This episode zooms in on the eight-month campaign—the engineering of trenches and mines, the brutal assaults, the Spanish relief fleet under Admiral Francisco de Aguirre, and the final surrender in November 1689. We explore how the capture of Larache marked a turning point in Morocco's struggle to reclaim its coastline from European powers, and how Moulay Ismail used the victory to cement his reputation as a jihad leader and expand his 'Abid al-Bukhari army. Along the way, we meet figures like the Moroccan governor 'Ali ibn 'Abdallah, the Spanish commander Diego de Villalba, and the Catholic slaves forced to build siegeworks. The episode also touches on the broader context of the Spanish-Moroccan rivalry, including the earlier fall of Mamora and the uneasy truce that followed. No prior knowledge needed—just a taste for a gripping siege story that reveals the mechanics of early modern North African warfare.

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