The Family of Henry VIII, c1545 shows the King seated with his third wife, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward, later Edward VI. The canopy of state is highly decorated with arabesques and geometric patterns. The carpet is in the Turkish Anatolian style found in many Renaissance paintings. The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
trade between East and West • Arabic loanwords, eg algebra, admiral, alcohol, began to appear in the English language, directly or via other European languages; guitar appeared as giterne in 14th century directly from Spanish guittara, from the Arabic qitar 1386 • Muslim scholars are mentioned in prologue of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 1581 • Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Turkey Company to trade with Ottoman Empire; in 1592 it merged with the Venice Company (founded in 1583) to form the Levant Company • England exported tin and lead for casting cannon to the Ottoman empire and imported silks, spices (especially nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, cloves) and precious metals; traders became known as pashas 1585 • Barbary Company established by Elizabeth I to trade with Morocco – English weapons, timber and metal in exchange for Moroccan sugar; the north African states west of Tripoli were called Barbary (from the indigneous Berber people) • in 1600 ambassador from Moroccan ruler Ahmad al-Mansur spent 6 months in the English court to negotiate an alliance to invade Spain 1588 • Elizabeth I offered treaty to Ottoman Sultan Murad III against Catholic Spain; Muslim traders given protection in England and English traders given free passage in Muslim territories 16–17th C • records show that many Muslims came to Britain as refugees (enslaved seamen released from captured Spanish ships), captured north African corsairs (pirates) who were imprisoned in coastal towns in the south west of England, merchants and ambassadors • attitudes to these visitors ranged from intolerance towards poor sailors to awe at the ambassadors who wore luxurious silk clothes and brought lions and Arabian horses as gifts; these horses were renowned for their intelligence, speed and endurance – characteristics that helped Muslim cavalry to defeat their enemies and encouraged breeders to introduce Arabian bloodlines into local stock for military use and racing • Britons also lived amongst Muslims as soldiers/seamen, pirates, traders and captive slaves • European Christians converted to Islam – ‘turned Turke’ – forcibly and voluntarily • in 1619 there were an estimated 5,000 English converts in Algiers alone and Absalom, a former butcher from Exeter, found a new vocation as the ‘Moorish King’s Executioner’
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