The Wattasid Dynasty: Morocco's Weary Regency

Between the fading Marinid sultans and the fiery Saadian rise, the Wattasid viziers held Morocco together for nearly a century. But they were never meant to rule. This episode traces the Wattasid story from their Zenata tribal roots in the Rif mountains, through their careful consolidation as regents in Fez, to their agonising final decades squeezed between Portuguese coastal forts, Spanish ambitions, and the growing spiritual fervour of the Saadian sharifs from the south. We explore how Yahya al-Wattasi and his successors tried to preserve a Makhzen system they didn't fully control, why they failed to dislodge the Portuguese from Ceuta, Tangier, and Asilah, and how internal family feuds and a reliance on foreign mercenaries slowly drained their legitimacy. We also touch on the intellectual life of Fez under their watch, the rise of the zawiya movement, and the moment in 1554 when the last Wattasid sultan, Abu al-Hasan, was executed by the Saadians in Marrakech — a quiet end to a dynasty that had always been a placeholder. Specific figures include: Yahya al-Wattasi, Abu Zakariya, Muhammad al-Shaykh, and the Saadian leader Abu Abdallah al-Qaim. #Wattasid #Morocco #Marinid #Zenata #Fez #Portuguese #Ceuta #Tangier #Asilah #Saadian #sharif #Makhzen #Rif #History #FexingoHistory #NorthAfrica #Medieval #Dynasty Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo