The Battle of Alcazar - Knowledge (XXG)

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thereby making his second-oldest uncle, Abdelmelec, the rightful ruler. As the play begins, Abdelemec returns to Morocco after a period of exile in Turkey, where he had been hiding since his eldest brother (Muly Mahamet’s father) became King. With the help of an army provided by the Ottoman sultan, Abdelmelec ejects Muly Mahamet from power and assumes the throne. Eager to reclaim power, Muly Mahamet applies to the Portuguese court for military assistance, promising the King of Portugal (Sebastien) that he will make Morocco a tributary state of Portugal if he is able to recapture the throne. Sebastien agrees to the proposal, thereby setting up a sort of proxy war between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire, with the Ottomans supporting Abdelemec and Portugal supporting Muly Mahamet. The first four acts consist primarily of scenes that switch back-and-forth between the two sides, gradually building toward a spectacular battle at Alcazar in Act Five. As the battle begins, Abdelemec dies (apparently of grief) after receiving news that his army will likely lose. In an effort to maintain the soldiers’ morale, his officers prop his corpse up in order to make it appear as though he is still alive. As the battle continues, Abdelemec’s army (now led by a dead body) gains the upper hand and wins—a turnabout due in large part to some very poor military decisions made by the Portuguese King. In the end, Muly Mahamet dies, Sebastien dies, and Muly Mahamet Seth (Muly Mahamet’s youngest uncle) becomes the new king. The battle thus claims the lives of three kings: (i) King Abdelemec (who died of grief), (ii) Muly Mahamet (the ousted tyrant), and (iii) King Sebastien of Portugal.

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burning themselves in order certify the sincerity of Muly Mahamet’s proposal. The King agrees to the deal. After the ambassadors exit, Sebastien summons Thomas Stukley and asks him if he would like to join the campaign against Abdelemec. Surprised by this offer, Stukley reminds the King that his aim was to secure Portugal’s support for a mission to Ireland. In response, Sebastien dismisses Stukley’s chances against the English as hopeless, and launches into a lengthy (and conspicuously jingoistic) speech in praise of England’s unquestionable moral and military superiority. Despite these arguments, Stukley and his followers continue to politely insist on pursuing a mission to Ireland, rather than Morocco. Unwilling to take 'no' for an answer, the King promptly ends the negotiation by declaring that the Stukley does not have a choice: he will be pressed into service by force. Realizing that his plans to become a King have vanished, Stukley bids farewell to Ireland and resigns himself to the Moroccan adventure.

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a dead body) begins to gain the upper hand. In another part of the battlefield, Muly Mahamet flees in fear, and a pair of disgruntled Italian soldiers attack Thomas Stukley, prompting a lengthy death speech wherein Stukley recounts his entire life story in piteous detail. Ultimately, Muly Mahamet Seth (Muly Mahamet’s youngest uncle) proclaims victory and becomes the new King of Morocco. Soldiers enter with the body of King Sebastien, who has died in battle, and Muly Mahamet, who has drowned while trying to escape. In a short closing speech, the new King gives orders to flay Muly Mahamet’s corpse and stuff the skin with straw, thereby fashioning a ghastly reminder of the consequences for iniquity.

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bring in ghosts representing King Sebastien of Portugal, Thomas Stukley, and Muly Mahamet (three figures who will eventually die as a result of their aggression against Abdelemec). The description of the dumbshow also calls for “three vials of blood” and “a sheep’s gather,” that is to say, the liver, heart, and lungs of a cow or sheep contained within a sheep’s bladder, as in a balloon. The inclusion of this prop suggests that the plan was for the Furies to disembowel at least one of the ghosts on stage (the gather could be concealed beneath a shirt and then sliced open so that the viscera contained therein spills forth).

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his son). To cement his grip on power, Muly Mahamet directs the smothering of his two younger brothers, a move that pre-empts the possibility that they might make a move against him in the future. When these murders are complete, he orders the strangulation of his oldest uncle (Abdelmunen), thus making his second-oldest uncle (Abdelmelec) the rightful inheritor of the crown. At the conclusion of the dumbshow, the Presenter explains that the murders have provoked a civil war, with Muly Mahamet on one side and Abdelmelec on the other.

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the opposing army’s tepid allegiance to Abdelemec, claiming that they are likely to switch sides as soon as they see the great forces Sebastien has brought to meet them. Buoyed by this promise, the council resolves to move forward with the attack. As soon as Sebastien and the other characters exit, however, Muly Mahamet delivers a soliloquy that reveals his cynical disregard for Portuguese lives, and his willingness to bet everything on this final, decisive confrontation.

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the Portuguese King: if Sebastien will help Muly Mahamet to regain the Moroccan crown, Muly Mahamet will make Morocco a tributary state of Portugal. Shortly thereafter, Muly Mahamet returns with a piece of meat that he has stolen from a lioness. He offers to share the catch with Calipolis, who politely declines, protesting that her stomach is “too queasy to digest such bloody meat.”

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As the battle begins, Abdelemec dies (apparently of grief) after receiving news that his army will likely lose. In an effort to maintain the soldiers’ morale, his officers prop up his corpse in order to make it appear as though he is still alive. As the battle continues, Abdelemec’s army (now led by

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The account of the dumb show at the beginning of Act Three derives entirely from a damaged section of the play’s theatrical plot (a planning document used for production purposes). It entails an allegorical figure named Nemesis and the Three Furies (again), now bearing scales. One by one, the Furies

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The British adventurer, Thomas Stukley, petitions the governor of Lisbon for military assistance with a mission to Ireland. With Portugal’s help, he hopes to wrest the country from English control and bring it under control by Catholic countries. When he is left alone on stage, however, he reveals a

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Act Two begins with a dumbshow wherein the ghosts of Muly Mahamet’s slain victims (his uncle Abdelmunen and his two younger brothers) cry out for vengeance, a petition that summons three Furies: “Alecto with her brand and bloody torch,” “Megaera with her whip and snaky hair,” and “Tisiphone with her

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The King of Morocco has died and his son, the villainous Muly Mahmet, has assumed the throne, a development that contravenes the normal rules of succession (the kingship should have passed to the old king’s brother, not to his son). To cement his grip on power, Muly Mahamet murders his eldest uncle,

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determined that the plot requires a larger cast than the printed version of the play does; he argued that the printed text was cut down from its original length to accommodate a smaller-scale production. Other scholars agree that the 1594 text was shortened, though the reason for that shortening has

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Meanwhile, the situation in the Portuguese camp is becoming increasingly chaotic. King Sebastien admonishes the cowardice of his followers, who seem uncertain about his plans to rush forward into a battle at Alcazar. In an effort to inspire greater zeal, Muly Mahamet offers a misleading account of

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A Portuguese ambassador delivers a message from the Spanish King, who has offered to give King Sebastien lands and his daughter’s hand in marriage if Sebastien will provide military support for Muly Mahamet’s insurgency. In a private conversation with one of his followers, Thomas Stukley expresses

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King Sebastien of Portugal meets with Muly Mahamet’s ambassadors, who offer a deal: Muly Mahamet will make Morocco a Portuguese tributary if Sebastien will provide support for his insurgency. In a spectacular act of self-mutilation, the ambassadors take turns holding a hand over a torch, willfully

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In a conversation with his wife (Calipolis) and son (Muly Mahamet Jr.), Muly Mahamet expresses his frustration with the life of an exiled king, then exits to go hunting. When he is gone, Calipolis tells Muly Mahamet Jr. that ambassadors have been dispatched to Lisbon to make an offer to Sebastien,

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The Presenter narrates a dumb show depicting the crimes of Muly Mahamet (‘the Moor’), a tyrant who has wrongfully become the King of Morocco following the death of his father, the foregoing King. (According to the rules of succession, the crown should have passed to the old King’s brothers, not to

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In a spectacular dumbshow that involves fireworks, thunder, and lightning, an allegorical figure named Fame hangs the crowns of King Sebastien and Muly Mahamet on a tree and watches as each crown drops to the ground—a symbolic gesture that portends the rulers’ demise by figuring them as ripened

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Abdelmelec (the rightful ruler) returns to Morocco after a period of exile in Turkey, where he had been hiding since his eldest brother, Abdallas (Muly Mahamet’s father), became King. He is leading an army provided by the Ottoman sultan, Amurath. After proclaiming his gratitude for Amurath’s

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The account of the dumb show at the beginning of Act Four derives entirely from a damaged section of the play’s theatrical plot (as is also the case for the dumbshow at the beginning of Act Three). It seems to describe some sort of a pantomimed banquet wherein the Furies, accompanied by an

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Abdelmelec has gathered his army at Alcazar. In a conversation with his followers, he discusses the strength of the invading forces, who seem formidable, but not especially well-organized or well-supplied. He decides to march his forces forward, meeting the enemy head-on.

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fatal murdering iron.” The Presenter announces that, with the Furies’ assistance, Abdelemec’s army has triumphed, and Muly Mahamet has retreated to the wilderness. Eager to regain the crown, however, Muly Mahamet has applied to King Sebastien of Portugal for military aid.

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allegorical figure named Death, subject the leaders of the invasion to tortures portending their imminent doom. In the list of required props, the plot calls for “blood,” “dead men’s heads in dishes,” and “dead men’s bones.”

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for the bookseller Richard Bankworth. The play was published anonymously, though the attribution to Peele rests on both internal stylistic evidence and an assignment of authorship of a quoted passage in the anthology

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The Portuguese Governor of Tangier and two other Portuguese officers prepare for the battle against Abdelemec as they await the imminent arrival of armies commanded by Muly Mahamet and King Sebastien of Portugal.

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under an alternative title (no other play about "Muly Molucco" is known from this era, and one of the characters in the play refers to another as "Muly Molucco"). A later revival of the play was staged by the

177:(1600). The Parnassus attribution is questionable as the person making the attribution is known to have erred in the attribution of authorship elsewhere. The surviving edition is significantly truncated. 606:

The Works of George Peele: David and Bethsabe. Battle of Alcazar. Device of the pageant borne before Woolstone Dixi. Descensus Astrææ. A farewell to Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake

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King Sebastien of Portugal and Muly Mahamet meet each other in person for the first time. In order to guarantee his fidelity, Muly Mahamet transfers his son over to the King’s custody.

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Muly Mahamet and his son (Muly Mahamet Jr.) discuss the approach of Abdelemec’s invading army. After receiving a report of Abdelemec’s triumph, they decide to flee.

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The play's portrayal of the Moroccan leader has been singled out as "the first full dramatic treatment of a black Moor on the English Stage...."

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was published in 1587. The play may also have been an attempt to capitalise on popular interest in the Drake-Norris Expedition, the so-called

590: 249:(1631) was originally about Sebastian; Massinger shifted the play's setting to ancient Greece after the first version was suppressed. In the 640: 364:

In a conversation with his followers, Abdelemec expresses his confidence that Spain will double-cross Portugal and come to his aid.

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The "plot" or plan for the Admiral's Men's production still exists, as MS. Add. 10,449, fol. 3, in the collection of the

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The Famous History of the Life and Death of Captain Thomas Stukeley. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2005.

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In Elizabethan theatre, the "plot" was a chart that hung backstage in the theatre, to which the actors could refer.

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In a victory speech, Abdelemec names his brother, Muly Mahamet Seth (Muly Mahamet’s youngest uncle), as his heir.

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The Battell of Alcazar, fought in Barbarie, between Sebastian king of Portugal, and Abdelmelec king of Marocco.

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The Predecessors of Shakespeare: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama.

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is referred to as "an honourable and courageous prince", but is in fact shown to be foolish in invading

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Bernard Beckerman, "Theatrical Plots and Elizabethan Stage Practice," in Long and Elton, pp. 109–24.

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in the play appear to limit its earliest possible date. The primary historical source for the play,

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Peele was not the only English playwright to dramatise the story of Sebastian. A lost play,

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assistance, he makes plans with his followers to unseat Muly Mahamet and claim the throne.

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14 times between 21 February 1592 and 20 January 1593; this is generally thought to be

51: 39: 619: 612:. Miscellaneous poems. Peele's Merry conceited jests. Index to the notes, Volume 2 of 220:. Though damaged, the plot reveals most of the cast of the production, which included 634: 225: 221: 64:

Abdelmelec – also known as Muly Molocco, rightful King of Morocco, uncle to the Moor

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Two Elizabethan Stage Abridgements: "The Battle of Alcazar" and "Orlando Furioso,"

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who describes the action in terms far more heroic than it warrants: King

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is a five-act non-fiction play that tells the story of the battle. Like

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among other members of the company. In comparing the plot to the play,

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Calsepius Basssa – general of the Turkish troops supporting Abdelmelec

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Othello's Countrymen: The African in English Renaissance Drama,

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Critical edition of the play with a modernised text, part of

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The Second Part of the Book of Battles, Fought in Our Age,

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Act 1, Scene 1: The frontier between Morocco and Algeria

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Rubin Archis – widow of Abdelmelec's brother, Abdelmunen

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Act 3, Scene 3: The Portuguese-held fortress at Tangier

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Argerd Zareo – a Moor of Argier, follower of Abdelmelec

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of Charles Edelman's critical edition of the play at

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Ambassadors from Muly Mahamet to the King of Portugal

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Act 4, Scene 2: The Portuguese Camp North of Alcazar

325:secret ambition to become the new King of Ireland. 610:Tale of Troy. Polyhymnia. The honour of the Garter 469:. ed. John Yoklavich. Yale University Press, 1961. 478:Logan and Smith, p. 146. See also: Eldred Jones, 329:Act 2, Scene 3: The mountains of Northern Morocco 92:Jonas and Hercules, captains in Stukely's service 573:Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1973. 580:Newark, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1989. 435:The quarto gives the full title of the play as 569:Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. 240:, was performed by the Admiral's Men in 1601. 80:Muly Mahamet – the Moor, nephew to Abdelmelec 8: 84:Muly Mahamet's son (also named Muly Mahamet) 415:Act 5, Scene 1: The battlefield at Alcazar 566:4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. 361:Act 3, Scene 2: Fez, the Moroccan capital 74:Muly Mahamet Seth – brother to Abdelmelec 576:Long, William B., and William R. Elton. 353:Act 3, Scene 1: Lisbon, the Royal Palace 337:Act 2, Scene 4: Lisbon, the Royal Palace 72:Celybin – a captain in Abdelmelec's army 428: 210:, having been duped by Mulai Mohammed. 482:London, Oxford University Press, 1965. 314:Act 2, Scene 1: A Battlefield near Fez 164:, either in 1598 or 1600–02. The 1594 297:Act 1, Scene 2: A valley north of Fez 7: 578:Shakespeare and Dramatic Tradition. 106:Don de Menysis, governor of Tangier 553:The Revels Plays Companion Library 357:his distrust of the Spanish King. 14: 411:fruit, falling from the branch. 391:Act 4, Scene 1: Town of Alcazar 88:Diego Lopis, governor of Lisbon 82:Calypolis – Muly Mahamet's wife 126:Two young brothers of the Moor 86:Pisano, Muly Mahamet's Captain 58:Characters (dramatis personae) 1: 447:Chambers, Vol. 3, pp. 459–60. 130:Abdelmunen, uncle to the Moor 263:(1689) on the same subject. 198:(1599), it is narrated by a 238:Sebastian, King of Portugal 96:Sebastian, king of Portugal 667: 114:A boy serving Muly Mahamet 641:English Renaissance plays 614:The Works of George Peele 500:Chambers, Vol. 2, p. 175. 38:Likely allusions to the 33:battle of Alcácer Quibir 23:is a play attributed to 376:Act 3, Scene 4: Tangier 66:Abdil Rayes – his Queen 62:The Presenter, a Chorus 564:The Elizabethan Stage. 538:Edelman, Charles, ed. 321:Act 2, Scene 2: Lisbon 646:Plays by George Peele 621:The Battle of Alcazar 601:The Battle of Alcazar 542:The Battle of Alcazar 467:The Battle of Alcazar 204:Sebastian of Portugal 186:The Battle of Alcazar 157:The Battle of Alcazar 108:Lord Lodowicke Caesar 104:Christopher de Tavera 20:The Battle of Alcazar 540:The Stukeley Plays: 151:acted a play called 100:The Duke of Barceles 246:Believe as You List 175:England's Parnassus 144:History of the play 149:Lord Strange's Men 608:, &c., and a 544:by George Peele, 124:Rubin's young son 98:The Duke of Avero 78:Rubin's Young Son 658: 591:Previsualization 526: 523: 517: 507: 501: 498: 492: 489: 483: 476: 470: 463: 457: 454: 448: 445: 439: 433: 666: 665: 661: 660: 659: 657: 656: 655: 631: 630: 587: 561:Chambers. 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K. 535: 530: 529: 524: 520: 508: 504: 499: 495: 490: 486: 477: 473: 464: 460: 456:Edelman, p. 16. 455: 451: 446: 442: 434: 430: 425: 417: 409: 407:Act 5, Prologue 401: 393: 385: 383:Act 4, Prologue 378: 370: 363: 355: 347: 345:Act 3, Prologue 339: 331: 323: 316: 305:Act 2, Prologue 282: 280:Act 1, Prologue 274: 269: 233:been disputed. 183: 168:was printed by 146: 139: 137: 135: 133: 131: 129: 127: 125: 123: 121: 119: 117: 115: 113: 111: 109: 107: 105: 103: 101: 99: 97: 95: 94:An Irish Bishop 93: 91: 89: 87: 85: 83: 81: 79: 77: 75: 73: 71: 69: 67: 65: 63: 60: 12: 11: 5: 664: 662: 654: 653: 648: 643: 633: 632: 629: 628: 617: 597: 586: 585:External links 583: 582: 581: 574: 567: 557: 556: 548: 547: 534: 531: 528: 527: 518: 514:Malone Society 502: 493: 484: 471: 465:George Peele. 458: 449: 440: 427: 426: 424: 421: 268: 265: 218:British Museum 182: 179: 145: 142: 110:County Vinioso 102:Lewes de Sylva 59: 56: 52:English Armada 40:Spanish Armada 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 663: 652: 649: 647: 644: 642: 639: 638: 636: 627: 623: 622: 618: 615: 611: 607: 603: 602: 598: 596: 592: 589: 588: 584: 579: 575: 572: 568: 565: 562: 559: 558: 554: 550: 549: 545: 541: 537: 536: 532: 522: 519: 515: 512: 506: 503: 497: 494: 488: 485: 481: 475: 472: 468: 462: 459: 453: 450: 444: 441: 438: 432: 429: 422: 420: 416: 412: 408: 404: 400: 396: 392: 388: 384: 380: 377: 373: 369: 365: 362: 358: 354: 350: 346: 342: 338: 334: 330: 326: 322: 318: 315: 311: 307: 306: 302: 299: 298: 294: 290: 289: 285: 281: 277: 273: 266: 264: 262: 261: 260:Don Sebastian 256: 252: 248: 247: 243: 239: 234: 231: 227: 226:Samuel Rowley 223: 222:Edward Alleyn 219: 214: 211: 209: 205: 201: 197: 196: 191: 187: 180: 178: 176: 171: 167: 163: 162:Admiral's Men 158: 154: 150: 143: 141: 128:Two murderers 57: 55: 53: 49: 45: 41: 36: 34: 30: 26: 22: 21: 16: 620: 613: 609: 605: 600: 595:google books 577: 570: 563: 552: 543: 539: 521: 510: 509:W. 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