The Last Queen

It is the year 1516. Algiers is a small Arabian-Berber republic, suffocated by the Spaniards, who have had control of the harbour for six years. Algerian King Salim Toumi makes an alliance with the pirate Aroudj Barberousse (aka “Red Beard”) in order to free the city. After their victory, Salim is assassinated in his bathtub. Barberousse becomes the new ruler of Algiers, and is confronted with a rebellion. Both history and legend tell that Salim Toumi, the last King of Algiers, had a wife named Zaphira, and that Barberousse desired her. Barberousse is supposed to have said: “I will take his palace, and I will mount his horse and his wife.”