by British (English) School
- Oil on canvas, 172.5 x 244 cm
- Collection: National Trust
The Moroccan city of Tangier was given to
Charles II in 1661 as part of the dowry of his Portuguese bride,
Catherine of Braganza. It was besieged by the Sultan of Morocco in 1679
and the English withdrew in 1684, destroying the city’s fortifications
before their departure.
This
bird’s-eye view of Tangier is thought to represent the deliberate
destruction of the city’s defences by the troops of Admiral Lord
Dartmouth, watched by Moorish troops in the foreground. It is not known
when it entered the collection at Dyrham Park, but it would have been an
appropriate picture for William Blathwayt I (1649?–1717), who was
appointed Secretary of State for War in 1683.
Tangier is a fascinating little campaign. there was a good bit of fighting in the later 1660s and again in the early 1680s, The JSAHR have copies of Halkets journal for the battles of the 1680s just before the English Withdrawal
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