On August 4, 1578, on the banks of the Oued Al-Makhazine in Morocco, the so-called Battle of the Three Kings ended with the death on the same day of its three main protagonists: King Sebastian I of Portugal, the deposed Moroccan Sultan Mohammed al-Moutaouakkil, and the reigning Sultan Abd al-Malik.
A Portuguese crusade doomed to failure
The young King Sebastian I, driven by crusading ambitions against Islam, landed in Morocco to reinstate Mohammed al-Mu'tawakkil to the throne, who had been ousted by his uncle Abd al-Malik. Despite warnings from his advisors about the risks of such an expedition, conducted far from Portuguese rear bases, the king engaged in battle against a vastly superior Moroccan army.
The Portuguese defeat was total: Sebastian I died in battle without leaving a direct heir, plunging Portugal into a succession crisis which would lead, two years later, to its annexation by the Spain of Philip II for six decades.
Three destinies sealed in a single day
Abd al-Malik, already gravely ill before the battle, died of natural causes in the heat of battle, a death concealed from his troops by his entourage so as not to break their momentum. Mohammed al-Mutaouakkil, the deposed former ruler who had instigated the Portuguese expedition, drowned while attempting to flee the battlefield.
This Moroccan victory marked the rise of Ahmed al-Mansour, brother of Abd al-Malik, who would then reign for a quarter of a century over a Moroccan kingdom strengthened by this brilliant demonstration of military power against a European monarchy.
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