Talk:Republic of Salé

Shouldn't Republic of Bou Regreg be merged with Republic of Salè?
Frankly, I don't see the point in separating theses two articles: the Republic of Bou Regreg was just another name of the Republic of Salè to include Rabat and the Kasbah. But both are really one and the same thing: having two articles just confuses the issues.

Actually, the Republic of Bou Regreg (including Rabat and the Kasbah) lasted till 1668. And the Republic of Salè article gives, in my view, too much importance to such people as Jan Janszoon, who left in 1627, that is, before the Republic of Salé became independant from the King of Morocco (by the way, I rather doubt this recurring mention of "first President of the Republic". Can anywone source it with a serious book, not just web sources?). --Azurfrog (talk) 22:32, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Moreover, checking whatever differences between Republic of Bouregreg and Republic of Salè, I have found out that at the time, the whole area was known under the name of "Salé", and recognised as such by European nations, since all their diplomatic staff was located actually in New Salé, hence Rabat, not Salé. See Coindreau (by far the most accurate source), 2006, p. 45, Footnote 1. So the name of Bouregreg must have been used at a much later date, possibly when Rabat retrieved its present name.
 * One last remark : Why "Salè", and not "Salé", as mentioned everywhere else? Wherever does this fancy spelling (erroneous spelling imho) come from? --Azurfrog (talk) 08:35, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I intend to shortly move this to Republic of Salé, as "Republic of Salè" is just an invention, unsubstantiated by anything source except this article. And then, merge with Republic of Bou Regreg, which is exactly the same thing under a different name. --Azurfrog (talk) 10:48, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅ I have tried to merge satisfactorily the two pages, without leaving any significant information aside. --Azurfrog (talk) 10:59, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Dis they speak Spanish in Salé?
I'm curious, Why did you (and others elsewhere) assume spanish? As I understand it there were renegado's there from all over Europe, plus others from North Africa & parts of the Ottoman Empire and the city existed before the pirates came so I doubt the local's spoke spanish. Is there some source that I'm unaware of that indicates that spanish served as a lingua-franca or sort of de-facto official language amongst the pirates? cheers, Gecko G (talk) 00:58, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * See for instance Coindreau, 48-44: the immense majority of all the South bank (= the actual pirates, as the more traditional and religious inhabitants of old Salé, on the Northern bank, just followed suit) came from Spain, from Hornachos in the Kasbah, from Andalusia in the lower town. While the Hornacheros spoke primarily Arabic, but understood Spanish (as they did live in Spain before), the more numerous Andalusians spoke primarily Spanish (and some Arabic for some of them). The 1630 conflict and ensueing new "constitution" was meant to reflect some transfer of political power to the Andalusians, much poorer, but more numerous. The renegados, while having an essential role aboard ships, were but a small minority among the some 13,000 people of the South bank. Also keep in mind that the Sallee Rovers raided the Spanish coasts much, much more than the British ones, as, because of the common language, they had a very effective "network of spies" in Spain (Coindreau, 125). And even after the end of the Republic, the basic language still was Spanish (see Moüette, who, as late as 1670, was addressed in Spanish by both his Moslem and Jewish "patrons" (Spanish padrones, who had purchased him as a slave). Indeed, Moüette did learn Spanish in Salé. --Azurfrog (talk) 07:42, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * One more key point about Spain and Spanish. I am sure you are aware of the starting point of the whole pirate business in Salé, actually of the starting point of present-day Rabat: it all started with the decision of King Philip III of Spain to expel all Moslems from his states. His edicts were signed in late 1609-early 1610, which is when all the Moriscos had to leave Spain. And because some Hornacheros had already moved to the Kasbah on the South bank of the Bu Regreg, quite a considerable number of Spanish Moriscos emigrated to Salé. While renegados came from all over Europe (well, not quite...), the population of New Salé (= South bank) was Spanish, viewed themselves as Spanish for quite some time, and even started their piratical operations under the Spanish flag. --Azurfrog (talk) 08:11, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Right, it's a very interesting history. A contact of mine used an interesting expression, something about "Unitarians persecuted by Trinitarians" or something (I don't recall exactly).  Plus there was another influx in 1614 when Spain took over Mamora (modern Mehdia).  Gecko G (talk) 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I wondered if it was something from one of the french references (Coindreau), I can't read french, so good to know now, thank you for settling my curiosity. As for Moüette, he was in Salé sometime after 1669, right? (which would be after the era I'm personally interested in).  I bet the two (three?) of us could work together to make an excellent article on the era/history.  I never really did so because a) I'm not sure I understand enough of it, b) I've never really kept good track of what piece of information came from where, & c) the sometimes confl/icting dates always stymmied any of my attempts to do so.  I can see about putting what I've got into a sandbox page to get started, if your interested?  Unfortunately I'm going to be kinda busy this weekend.  Gecko G (talk) 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

More about Jan Janz (whatever)
Why do you say Jan Janszoon left Salé in 1627? I thought there were two records of him being there in 1630? Supposedly a journal entry of the Dutch Commissioner Antonio Keyser from 23 April & a memoir of the English envoy to Morocco John Harrison dated 8 October. Rogoziński (Pirates! Brigands, Buccaneers, and Privateers in fact, fiction, and legend. 1995.  pg. 230) even claims he was in charge there until 1631, but I don't know what his source for that is. Gecko G (talk) 01:14, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, he did leave Salé for Algiers in 1627 (I can't remember what my source was, but I am pretty confident about it). Now, I am aware he came back later. I won't be too positive about Jan Janz anyway, as I know a lot more about Salé than about him; if Harrison said Janz was in Salé in 1630, it has to be true, as Harrison was central to the 1630 events. I had some doubts about the 1631 Baltimore raid, but then, Algiers pirates and Salé corsairs organised joint operations quite often. As for being in charge in 1631, I have some doubts, if only because of the deep political 1630 change (following the bloody clashes of that same year), leading to the election of caïds, and the transfer of some political power to the Andalusians. --Azurfrog (talk) 07:59, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * He came back? Interesting, I did not know that.  I know there were a lot of "troubles" in the 1627-1631 time frame (really continuing through the 1660s), both within the B.R. and within the larger moroccan sphere.  Gecko G (talk) 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * He did come back: I found a source indicating that when he raided Baltimore in 1631, he was leading a fleet from Salé, not from Algiers. So you are right, he was in Salé in 1631. But he was "born to Islam" in Algiers, anyway, before ever coming to Salé. --Azurfrog (talk) 07:42, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: page moved per discussion below. Discussion may certainly continue as to the best name for this article, but it is at least clear that the new title is an improvement over the old one, which was unsupported in sources, and which, as is noted below, everyone agrees was wrong. GTBacchus(talk) 20:56, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Republic of Salè →  — The proposed spelling is the one found in academic books on this subject (e.g., the Cambridge History of Islam). Current spelling is a misprint. Problem is, I can't do it myself because of the history of "Republic of Salé". --Azurfrog (talk) 19:38, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Current name is just a misprint, so that it has been possible to use later Republic of Salé as a redirect to Jan Janszoon, aka Jan Janz, one of Salé's Grand Admirals. Even then, this redirect was highly questionable, as Jan Janszoon was Grand Admiral of Salé before it became an independant Republic (i.e., in 1627). But all these articles (Republic of Salè, Republic of Salé, Jan Janszoon, Republic of Bou Regreg) are currently very messy and poorly connected. All are far from serious historical sources (that's the problem when using primarily Web sources rather than books). --Azurfrog (talk) 11:22, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Comment In the sources w/ links in the article page, one writes Sale, one Salē, two Salé, and one Sallee. This doesn't appear to be strong evidence for Salé, though it is evidence against Salè. --Atemperman (talk) 18:18, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * There again, this is the problem with web sources, or even guide books: once a mistake is afloat, everyone begins circulating it around. Now, when it comes to serious, academic sources, it is quite another story, as evidenced below:
 * (Coindreau's 1948 book is by far the most comprehensive source devoted to Salé, as all of its 243 pages are solely about the Republic of Salé, and has been re-used as the reference by all later authors).
 * . Note: Leïla Maziane's 362 page thesis on the Republic of Salé has been published in 2007, and takes over where Coindreau left it. By the way, Leïla Maziane is not French, but Moroccan, so she ought to know.
 * Now, Míkel de Epalza's study is in Spanish (let's remember that the Sallee Rovers were coming from Spain, and spoke Spanish), and he spells the place "Salé" just as well.
 * . And indeed, the Cambridge history of Islam is also spelling it "Salé".
 * So that the only alternative to "Salé" would be "Sallee" (not Salè), because of the "Sallee Rovers"; but this is more of a traditional, lax phrase used for "Salé", rather than the proper one. And while one will read "Sallee Rovers" (never "Salé Rovers"), "the Republic of Sallee" is certainly not a common occurrence (actually, I can't remember reading it). --Azurfrog (talk) 20:03, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the sources Atemperman, unfortunately I don't read french but I've downloaded the spanish one and will try to muscle thorugh it when I next get some time (probably won't be for a while though). Azurfrog- I would say -é, -ee, or even just -e would all be acceptable (since -a seems to be the more archaic form), but I'm certaintly not a linguist. also, FWIW, the Cambridge History of Islam gives it as -é.  cheers, Gecko G (talk) 20:29, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Right: so all academic sources, whether English, Spanish, French or Moroccan are giving it as Salé, never Salè. --Azurfrog (talk) 17:01, 30 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Other discussions on requested move (moved from the "Merger" part) :
 * Just to make sure I understand correctly what you're suggesting- You're just talking about changing the direction of the accent mark, correct? If so, then I've got no personal preference one way or the other, but I would suggest finding out if there is a wikipedia standard for transliteration from the original arabic سلا (Sīn-lām-'alif I believe it reads) or from the berber version of the name (which ever was first).  Failing that I would try to find out if there is a recomended version in english from the Moroccan (or local) goverment.  cheers, Gecko G (talk) 19:00, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I looked around a bit and couldn't find a current guideline. There is WP:MOSAR but it is not current, and it doesn't even appear to address the ligature we have here of a [medial] lām + [final] 'alif (ﻼ).  Even the IPA examples seem unclear as to what that is (i.e. is it /la:/, /l:/, or a third one that wouldn't display right on my browser?).  Looking at various transliteration schemes I saw a wide variety (la, lā, la', l', laa, lA, etc.). I think the "e" part (with or without any accent) is either unwritten (not unusual for arabic) or it is a case of the pronunciation having shifted away from the strict written form over the centuries (again, not unusual based on my -admittedly limited- understanding of arabic).  And all of that is presuming that the version given in arabic on this page is even correct.  cheers,  Gecko G (talk) 20:03, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * But then, should we look for a translitteration of Arabic, or for the generally accepted spelling in roman type? Arabic, I believe, would lead to "Sla", but that you won't find anywhere. And the Salé pirates spoke Spanish, not Arabic! --Azurfrog (talk) 20:58, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * As I understand it (and I'm certaintly no expert) you always have to keep in mind that Arabic writting omits short vowels except in very formal situations (i.e. the Koran) or unless it would or could easily cause confusion. Therefore, while the strict transliteration would be "Sla" (as you correctly figured) you have to presume there's likely some more short vowels unless there is a Sukūn (which looks like a superscript lowercase "o"). hence you can easily arrive at "Sala" the archaic name of the place.  It seems clear that over the centuries the pronunciation shifted that last "a" into an e/é/ee.
 * I totally agree; but keep in mind that Moüette (who certainly was in the best situation to know all about it!) mentioned that the locals pronounced it "Sela" (which you won't find anywhere nowadays), which is why I suggested we forget about translitteration and move to the generally accepted Western spelling of Salé. --Azurfrog (talk) 07:35, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Perhaps I should not have used the word transliteration in my 1900 post but rather the more general term Romanization thus including both transliteration & transcription - be it phonemic or phonetic. When combined with our little side trip discussion above, I hope you didn't misunderstand and think I was suggesting in favor of changing it to "Sala".  I was suggesting that we should try to determine if there is a standard for the english wikipedia, be it either for conversion from arabic (which there does not seem to be) or a standard on article titles including accent marks i.e. since "é" is not considered a full letter in English should it be Sale or Salee rather than Salé in the article title?  Ultimately I don't know (and personally don't care one way or the other, all three seem fine to me), but If your going to the hassle of getting rid of the è (which I believe we are all in agreement that there is no basis for) we should try to find out what would be wikipedia standard now rather than having someone come along later and have to start it over again.  If there is no such standard (or we just can't find one) then I don't care which of the three it ends up being- Sale, Salee, or Salé (or even Salē).  That's my thoughts, cheers.  Gecko G (talk) 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Agreed that we should aim that the new title can't be challenged on any ground, but as you mentioned it yourself above, the Cambridge History of Islam is giving it as Salé, not Sale, nor anything else. Full citation:. So that Salé, with this accent, is the proper English spelling anyway; but I'll try and make sure about what Wikipedia might say about it. --Azurfrog (talk) 07:57, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Just for fun: Salee wouldn't not be the right spelling anyway, as I don't think you'll find a lot of evidence for it; the usual such spelling being Sallee. But we might want to consider alternative spellings that have credentials in English, such as Salli or Sally: indeed, if I am not mistaken, Sally was the spelling used by Samuel Pepys when he mentioned the Republic of Salé; some must have thought he was talking about one of his mistresses... --Azurfrog (talk) 08:45, 1 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Support I won't pretend to be informed on the article topic or on the intricacies of the issues discussed above, but from skimming it, it appears there's some basis for the proposed new title, and no basis for the current title. So might as well move it, and move it again in the future if it's resolved that another title would be even better. Just don't leave it at a title everyone agrees is wrong. Propaniac (talk) 16:51, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Mistake in this article
I don't know what French source is used here (using French authors for this topic is strange, and source of many errors) but the Moriscos from Hornachos who founded Salé did not leave "anticipating an expulsion". The "Hornacheros" were the main target of the expulsion order in Castile which specifically mentioned them. However, they were treated gently by Spanish authorities, who allowed them to keep their weapons during their march down from Hornachos to Seville and travel to Morocco. I would assume that all left, not just the rich ones, since the entire town of Hornachos was Muslim and aggressively independent of outside authority.Asilah1981 (talk) 14:07, 16 March 2015 (UTC)