- published: 03 Aug 2014
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Azemmour or Azamor (Arabic: أزمور; from Berber ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ azemmur, i.e. "The Olives"; Portuguese: Azamor) is a Moroccan city, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of Casablanca. Although it was a dependency of the King of Fez, Azemmour had great autonomy. In 1486 its inhabitants became vassals and tributaries of João II of Portugal. Manuel I of Portugal confirmed the treaty in 1497 and the city paid 10 000 savéis every year. Later, unrest started to grow and thus Manuel sent a small fleet commanded by João de Meneses to conquer the city in 1508.
In 1513 Azemmour's governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute and mustered a powerful, well-equipped army. Manuel responded to this challenge by sending a massive fleet of five hundred ships and fifteen thousand soldiers (Bergreen, 19). James, Duke of Braganza led this army and on 1 September he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants. Ferdinand Magellan, the man famed for leading the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth, was among the Portuguese soldiers there and lost his horse in skirmishes outside the city. However, Portuguese control of the city lasted for a short period as it was abandoned by João III of Portugal in 1541 due to economic difficulties.