Editing History of Algeria (section)

==== Decline (late 14th and 15th centuries) ====
[[File:A_man_of_Tlemcen.jpg|thumb|A man of Tlemcen]]
In the late 14th century and the 15th century, the state was increasingly weak and became intermittently a vassal of [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid]] [[Ifriqiya]], Marinid [[Morocco]] or the [[Crown of Aragon]].{{sfn|Hrbek|1997|pp=41}} In 1386 Abu Hammu moved his capital to Algiers, which he judged less vulnerable, but a year later his son, Abu Tashufin, overthrew him and took him prisoner. Abu Hammu was sent on a ship towards Alexandria but he escaped along the way when the ship stopped in Tunis. In 1388 he recaptured Tlemcen, forcing his son to flee. Abu Tashufin sought refuge in Fez and enlisted the aid of the Marinids, who sent an army to occupy Tlemcen and reinstall him on the throne. As a result, Abu Tashufin and his successors recognized the suzerainty of the Marinids and paid them an annual tribute.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=141}}

During the reign of the Marinid sultan [[Abu Said Uthman III|Abu Sa'id]], the Zayyanids rebelled on several occasions and Abu Sa'id had to reassert his authority.<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919">{{Cite web |last=Société archéologique |first=historique et géographique du département de Constantine Auteur du texte |date=1919 |title=Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6139627s |access-date=2022-01-18 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=33–39}} After Abu Sa'id's death in 1420 the Marinids were plunged into political turmoil. The Zayyanid emir, Abu Malek, used this opportunity to throw off Marinid authority and [[Zayyanid Capture of Fez|captured Fez]] in 1423. Abu Malek installed Muhammad, a Marinid prince, as a Zayyanid vassal in Fez.<ref name="Garrot-1910"/>{{Rp|page=287}}<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919" />{{Rp|pages=47–49}} The [[Wattasid dynasty|Wattasids]], a family related to the Marinids, continued to govern from [[Salé]], where they proclaimed [[Abd al-Haqq II]], an infant, as the successor to the Marinid throne, with [[Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi|Abu Zakariyya al-Wattasi]] as [[regent]]. The Hafsid sultan, [[Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz II|Abd al-Aziz II]], reacted to Abu Malek's rising influence by sending military expeditions westward, installing his own Zayyanid client king (Abu Abdallah II) in Tlemcen and pursuing Abu Malek to Fez. Abu Malek's Marinid puppet, Muhammad, was deposed and the Wattasids returned with Abd al-Haqq II to Fez, acknowledging Hafsid suzerainty.<ref name="Garrot-1910" />{{Rp|page=287}}<ref name="Societe archeologique-1919" />{{Rp|pages=47–49}} The Zayyanids remained vassals of the Hafsids until the end of the 15th century, when the Spanish expansion along the coast weakened the rule of both dynasties.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=141}}

By the end of the 15th century the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] had gained effective political control, intervening in the dynastic disputes of the amirs of Tlemcen, whose authority had shrunk to the town and its immediate neighbourship.{{sfn|Niane|1984|p=95}} When the Spanish took the city of [[Oran]] from the kingdom in 1509, continuous pressure from the Berbers prompted the Spanish to attempt a counterattack against the city of Tlemcen (1543), which was deemed by the [[Papacy]] to be a crusade. The Spanish under Martin of Angulo had also suffered a prior [[Spanish Expedition to Tlemcen (1535)|defeat in 1535]] when they attempted to install a client ruler in Tlemcen. The Spanish failed to take the city in the first attack, but the strategic vulnerability of Tlemcen caused the kingdom's weight to shift toward the safer and more heavily fortified corsair base at [[Algiers]].

Tlemcen was [[Campaign of Tlemcen (1551)|captured in 1551]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] under [[Hasan Pasha (son of Barbarossa)|Hassan Pasha]]. The last Zayyanid sultan's son escaped to Oran, then a Spanish possession. He was baptized and lived a quiet life as Don Carlos at the court of [[Philip II of Spain]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Under the Ottoman Empire Tlemcen quickly lost its former importance, becoming a sleepy provincial town.{{sfn|Wingfield|1868|p=261}} The failure of the kingdom to become a powerful state can be explained by the lack of geographical or cultural unity, the constant internal disputes and the reliance on irregular [[Arab-Berber]] nomads for the military.<ref name="al-Wadid-2016"/>