Morisco

Embarkation of moriscos in Valencia by Pere Oromig

Moriscos (Spanish "Moor-like") or Mourisco (Portuguese) were Spainish or [[Portugal}Portuguese]] Muslims who converted to Catholicism during and the reconquista of Spain. The term later became a pejorative one applied those who had converted but were suspected of secretly practicing Islam. The later Moriscos, like their Jewish counterparts known as Marranos faces serious persecution and explusion.

History

The reconquest of formerly Christian Spain and Portugal from the Muslims was accomplished over several centuries, with the last Muslim stronghold, Granada, falling in 1492. From the Middle Ages to the early 1600s many Spanish Muslims, knows as Moors, were forced to adopt Catholicism as the reconquista progressed and consolidated its gains. Muslim converts to Christianity were known as Moriscos. Muslim who submitted to Christian rule but retained the Muslim faith faith were called Mudéjars. However, many Moriscos continued to remain crypto-Muslims, just as many Jewish conversos during this period secretly continued to practice Judaism in secret.

The exact status of the Moroscos depended on various capitulation pacts and later royal decrees. After the fall of the city of Granada in 1492, the Muslim population was granted religious freedom by the Treaty of Granada, but that promise was short-lived. When peaceful conversion efforts on the part of Granada's first archbishop, Hernando de Talavera, brought subversive opposition, Cardinal Cisneros took more forceful measures: forced conversions, burning Islamic texts, and the prosecution of some of Granada's leading Muslims. In response to these and other violations of the treaty, Granada's Muslim population rebelled in 1499. The revolt, which lasted until early 1501, gave the Spanish authorities an excuse to void the remaining terms in the treaty of surrender. In 1501, Granada's Muslims were given the ultimatum of either converting to Christianity or leaving. Most did convert, but usually only superficially, continuing to dress, write, and speak as they had before, and to practice Islam in secret. In 1502, however, the ultimatums were extended to the Muslims of Castile and Leon. In 1508, authorities in these territories banned traditional Islamic fashion of dress. The Muslims of Navarre had to convert or leave by 1515 and those of Aragon by 1525.

File:Aljamiado.png

Aljamiado text by Mancebo de Arévalo. c. 16th century

More restrictive legislation was introduced at the national level in 1526 and 1527 under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. However, wealthy Moriscos could buy a 40-year suspension of the laws.

In 1567, Philip II of Spain issued an order requiring Moriscos throughout the kingdom to give up their Muslim names, their traditional Muslim dress, and prohibited the speaking of Arabic. And edict requiring Morisco parents to surrender the education of their children to Christian priests led to an uprising in the Alpujarras from 1568 to 1571, resulting in the forced resettlement of the Moriscos of Granada, often to the kingdom of Valencia. Only a few Moriscos, those who had collaborated with the royal forces during this revolt, were permitted to remain in the city and territory of Granada. The relocation affected the Moriscos of Castile, who were quite assimilated by that time.

The Moriscos, whose Christianity was often dubious, were also suspected of being in contact with the Turkish Empire and the Barbary pirates, conspiring against Spain. Spies reported that the Ottoman Emperor Selim II was planning to attack Malta and later Spain, inciting an uprising among Spanish Muslims and Moriscos. King Philip thus enacted additional restrictive measures against them. However, many of the Muslims had risen to positions of wealth and prominence, and wielded considerable counteracting influence. Aragonese and Valencian nobles in particular appreciated their work ethic and tried to protect them from expulsion, advocating a line of patience and religious instruction.

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, Morisco writers sought to challenge the perception of their culture as alien to Spain, with literary works presenting a version of early Spanish history in which Arabic-speaking Spaniards played a positive and major role.

La Expulsión de los Moriscos. A painting by Vicente Carducho. Museo del Prado, Madrid

However, the crown ultimately decided that the Moriscos were too troublesome. The Moriscos were thus forcibly expelled from Spain between 1609 (Castile) and 1614 (the rest of Spain), by Philip III, at the instigation of the Duke of Lerma. Estimates for this second wave of expulsion have varied with some contemporary accounts setting the number at around 300,000 (about 4 percent of the Spanish population), a majority of which were expelled what is today Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia.

The arrangements for the expulsion of Morisco children presented Catholic Spain with a dilemma, as they had all been baptized, and consequently could not be legally transported to Muslim lands. Some authorities proposed that children should be forcibly separated from their parents, but this proved to be impractical, not to mention its moral implications. Consequently, families generally remained together, with the official destination of the deportees generally stated to be France, more specifically Marseille. Most of these reportedly left from for Africa with about 40,000 settling permanently in France permanently. Those Moriscos who sincerely wished to remain Catholic were generally able to find new homes in Italy (especially Livorno) but the overwhelming majority settled in Muslim held lands, either within the Ottoman Empire or Morocco.

Some Moriscos indeed fought against Christians as corsairs based at Algiers,Cherchell, and Salé. Others became mercenaries in the service of the Moroccan sultan, crossing the Sahara and conquering Timbuktu and the Niger Curve in 1591.

A large number of Moriscos, meanwhile, were able to remain in Spain, camouflaged among the Christian population. Some, whose conversion to Christianity was genuine, stayed on for religious reasons, others mainly some for economic reasons or as a matter of convenience. It is estimated that, in the kingdom of Granada alone, between 10,000 and 15,000 Moriscos remained after the general expulsion of 1609-10.

In literature

Miguel de Cervantes' writings, such as Don Quixote and Conversation of the Two Dogs, offer interesting views of Moriscos and put them in a favorable light. In the first part of Don Quixote (before the expulsion), a Morisco translates a found document containing the Arabic "history" that Cervantes is merely "publishing." In the second part, after the expulsion, Ricote is a Morisco and a good mate of Sancho Panza. He cares more about money than religion, and left for Germany, from where he returned as a false pilgrim to unbury his treasure. He however admits the righteousness of their expulsion. His daughter María Félix is brought to Berbery but suffers since she is a sincere Christian.

Extended meaning

In historical studies of minoritisation, Morisco is sometimes applied to other historical crypto-Muslims, in places such as Norman Sicily, 9th century Crete, and other areas along the medieval Christian-Muslim frontier.

In the racial classification of colonial Spanish America, morisco was used for a certain combination of European and African ancestry.

Morisco descendants and Spanish citizenship

In October 2006, the Andalusian Parliament asked the three parliamentary groups that form the majority to support an amendment that would grant Morisco descendants facilities to access Spanish citizenship. The proposal was originally made by IULV-CA, the Andalusian branch of the United Left. Spanish Civil Code Art. 22.1, in its current form, provides facilities to nationals of several countries historically linked with Spain and Sephardic Jews.

This measure could benefit about five million Moroccan citizens, who are considered to be descendants of Moriscos. It could also benefit an indeterminate number of people in Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania,Libya, Egypt and Turkey.

This decision was a consequence of calls by some Spanish and Moroccan historians and academics since 1992 demanding similar treatment for Moriscos and Sephardic Jews. The bid was welcomed by Mansur Escudero, the chairman of Islamic Council of Spain.

See also

• Aben Humeya
• Al-Andalus
• Aljamiado
• Almogavars
• Andalusian Arabic
• Conversos
• Crypto-Islam
• Crypto-Jews
• Hispano-Moresque ware
• Marranos
• Moors
• Morisco Revolt
• Mozarabs
• Mozarabic language
• Mudéjar
• Muladi
• Philip III of Spain
• Reconquista
• Renegade

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Chejne, Anwar G. Islam and the West: The Moriscos, a Cultural and Social History,SUNY Press, 1983.ISBN 0-87395-603-6 ([1])
• Harvey, L. P. Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
• Lea, H.C. Moriscos of Spain: Their Conversion and Expulsion, (London 1901)
• Perry, M. E. The Handless Maiden: Moriscos and the Politics of Religion in Early Modern Spain. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

External links

• A web site is dedicated to the research and study of the Moriscos - Moriscos.org
• Detailed article by Professor Vincent Barletta
• 1911 Encyclopedia
• The expulsion of Muslims from Spain by Professor Roger Boase
• Columbia Encyclopedia
• Aljamiado-morisco manuscripts
• Treaty of Granada
• Moriscos culture influence in Morocco. Study in Spanish with Arabic translation

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