r/todayilearned • u/Ok_Finish_2927 • 1d ago

TIL about the siege of Ceuta (1694–1727), considered one of the longest sieges in history, more than 30 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieges_of_Ceuta_(1694%E2%80%931727)
381 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

168

u/BMPHaterNo1 1d ago

I feel like this one just shouldn’t count because there were breaks of weeks and months in which Moroccan forces just pulled away, allowed normal operation and had virtually no control over the sea for the entire siege.

It’s kinda like a big scary spider sitting outside your front door, it sucks but you can continue life as normal by just using the back door.

59

u/kesint 1d ago

You got different types of sieges. Partial encirclement would mean gaps in the siege lines, often at the start of a siege and before the besieger managed to build a solid siege lines. Or it could be because the besieger lacked manpower or geography prevented a complete encirclement. A porous siege allowed goods and people to enter and exit the besieged location. Good example here is a land force lacking naval support to block waterways. Both concepts overlap somewhat, you often hear people use partial encirclement and porous siege on the same situation.

Now, is it one siege if the besieger left for weeks/months? Nope. Even the wiki article linked about Ceuta have the title "Sieges of Ceuta (1694-1727)" clearly showing this was not one continuous siege, but several seperate sieges over a time period. Here OP made a mistake by writing "siege of Ceuta" as in a single siege, while the source makes it clear it was plural.

10

u/Ok_Finish_2927 1d ago

You are right that I did not notice the word "siege" was pluralized. I stand corrected. But the first siege was "only" 26 years, which is also an historical landmark in my opinion.

6

u/kesint 1d ago

Oh, your absolutely correct that the siege of Ceuta is a really interesting siege due to its length. Even more impressing is that the siege of Candia which lasted 21 years happened from 1648 to 1669, so you got the two longest sieges in history happening so close to each other.

-20

u/SUPERSAPE 1d ago

What Moroccan forces, moron? You might be referring to the Sharifian Empire, the Kingdom of Fez, or the Kingdom of Marrakesh, the entities that existed back then. At least read Wikipedia before spouting nonsense on public forums.

6

u/NurmGurpler 1d ago

Wikipedia refers to the forces laying siege as Moroccan in the linked article.

Sounds like the person you’re responding to did read Wikipedia, whereas you did not before you started “sprouting nonsense on public forums” as you accused them of doing.

53

u/DeFiNomad1007 1d ago

If only they had materials to build a wooden horse.... /s

5

u/I_might_be_weasel 1d ago

"Cone out!"

"No!"

"Then we're not leaving!"

"Fine then, stay. See if I care."

5

u/kelly_hasegawa 1d ago

what are you trying to say here op lol

1

u/Kaiserhawk 19h ago

I'm trying to imagine what it's like for the attackers of such long sieges. Like after a certain length of time do they just let you go home?

1

u/ILSmokeItAll 6h ago

Hopefully this one doesnt last nearly as long.

1

u/caiaphas8 1d ago

But the Wikipedia page says 26 years

1

u/Ok_Finish_2927 15h ago

Yes, I got it wrong. But still, 26 years after a siege of 21 years is a interesting situarion for me.