‘Grieved in My Soul that I Suffered You to Depart from Me’

Abstract

Using a large, little-known collection of letters from the English consulate in Tunis, this paper examines the environmental pressures that shaped English communal life in the early modern Maghreb. Living together in single ‘English houses’ in the midst of Muslim-dominated cities, merchants, consuls and servants created surrogate families within their households. These ‘families’ provided companionship, guidance and financial success. Far from home, traders established dynamic local and international business networks, formed deep personal and business relationships with their housemates, and protected themselves and the more vulnerable members of their communities from perceived moral, religious and physical harm.