was one of her many teachers. She was married at age 16 to a man 30 years her senior, Sidi al-Mandri II, a grandson or nephew of Ali al-Mandri who was a friend of her father and re-founder and governor of the city of Tétouan, himself an Andalusian Moorish refugee. She was promised to her husband when she was still a child. As Governor of Tétouan An intelligent woman, Al Hurra learned much whilst assisting her husband in his business affairs. She was a de facto vice-governor, with her husband entrusting the reins of power to her each time he made a trip outside the city. When he died in 1515, the population, who had become accustomed to seeing her exercise power, accepted her as a governor of Tétouan, giving her the title of al-Hurra. Spanish and Portuguese sources describe al-Hurra as "their partner in the diplomatic game". Some historians believe that the unusual "degree of acceptance of al Hurra as a ruler" could be attributed to "Andalusian familiarity with female inheriting power from monarch families in Spain such as Isabella I of Castile." Others believe that al Hurra succeeded as governor because she was "the undisputed leader of pirates of the western Mediterranean". In 1541, she accepted a marriage proposal from Ahmed al-Wattasi, a Sultan of the Moroccan Wattasid dynasty, who traveled from Fez to Tétouan to marry her. Her marriage with him was the only recorded instance of a Moroccan king marrying outside of his capital. This occurred because al-Hurra was not ready to give up her role as queen of Tétouan or even to leave the city for the marriage ceremony, forcing al-Wattasi to come to her. It is believed that Sayyida al-Hurra insisted on this to show everybody that she was not going to give up governing Tétouan despite being married to the Sultan. Sayyida al Hurra lived a life of adventure and romance. She appointed her brother Moulay Ibrahim as vizier to Ahmed al-Wattasi, Sultan of Fez, and this placed the Rashids as major players in the effort to unify Morocco against the fast-growing powers of Spain and Portugal. As a corsair Sayyida could neither forget nor forgive the humiliation of being forced to flee the Granada. In her wish to avenge herself on the "Christian enemy", she turned to piracy. She made contact with the legendary Ottoman admiral Hayrettin Barbarossa of Algiers. Piracy provided