a quick income, "booty and ransom for captives", and also helped to keep alive the dream of returning to Andalusia. She was well respected by Christians as a queen who had power over the Mediterranean Sea, and over the release of Portuguese and Spanish captives. For example, in The Forgotten Queens of Islam Fatima Mernissi mentions Spanish historical documents of 1540, according to which there were negotiations "between the Spaniards and Sayyida al-Hurra" after a successful pirating operation in Gibraltar in which the pirates took "much booty and many prisoners". Later life After she had ruled as queen for 30 years, her son-in-law Muhammad al-Hassan al-Mandri overthrew her in October 1542. According to the Yemen Times, "she was stripped of her property and power". Accepting her fate, al Hurra retired to Chefchaouen, where she lived nearly 20 years more. Relationship to California Sayyida al-Hurra is a possible inspiration for the myth of Califia, and therefore may have indirectly inspired the name of California. References 1480s births 1561 deaths 16th-century Moroccan people 16th-century Moroccan women 16th-century women rulers African women in war Barbary pirates Moroccan female pirates Islam and women Moroccan pirates People from Chefchaouen People from Tétouan Spouses of sultans