Morisco

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Morisco (Spanish "Moor-like") or mourisco (Portuguese) is a term referring to a kind of 'New Christian' in Spain and Portugal.

Contents 1 History 2 In literature 3 Extended meaning 4 Moriscos and Spanish citizenship 5 See also 6 External links 7 Further reading 8 Sources 9 References and notes

[edit] History

From the late 1400s to the early 1600s Moors (Iberian Muslims) were given the choice to either convert from Islam to Catholicism or leave Iberia. The Moriscos were expelled by the decree of 1610 from Spain to North Africa after being persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition.

Prior to their forced conversions, the Moriscos were known as Mudéjars, and were allowed to practice Islam among Christians with certain restrictions.

The exact status of Mudéjars depended on the capitulation pacts and the later decrees of the kings and Cortes. After the fall of Granada in 1492, the Muslim population was promised religious freedom by the Treaty of Granada, but that promise was short-lived. In 1502, Muslims were given an ultimatum to either convert or emigrate. The majority converted, but only superficially, continuing to dress and speak as they had before and to secretly practice Islam and use the aljamiado writing system. This led Cardinal Cisneros to use a more forceful approach, which resulted in an uprising in 1500 to 1502. This was suppressed, and the Spanish authorities took that as a pretext to void the rights and obligations in the surrender treaty. As early as 1508, authorities banned traditional fashion.

More restrictive legislation was introduced in 1526 and 1527.

Moriscos could buy a 40-year suspension of the laws, but in 1567, Philip II of Spain issued an edict requiring Moriscos to give up their Muslim names, their traditional Muslim dress, and even prohibited the speaking of Arabic. They were even told that they would have to give up their children to be educated by Christian priests. This led to another uprising in the Alpujarras in 1568 to 1571 and the forced resettlement of the Moriscos of Granada upon its defeat - especially to the kingdom of Valencia. Only a few Moriscos, who had collaborated with the royal forces, were permitted to remain in the city and territory of Granada.

Despite all that, the Moriscos continued to be industrious and prosperous, and were the subject of envy from the Christian peasants. Moriscos were suspected of being in contact with the Turkish Empire and the Barbary pirates, conspiring against Spain. Spanish nobles, who appreciated them as cheap, hard workers, tried to protect them from expulsion. They were especially important in the agriculture of Valencia and Murcia.

Towards the end of the 16th Century, Morisco writers sought to challenge the perception of their culture as alien to Spain, with literary works purporting to present a version of early Spanish history in which Arabic-speaking Spaniards played a positive role. Chief among these is Miguel de Luna's Verdadera historia del rey don Rodrigo (c. 1545-1615). De Luna (an official royal translator, one of the collaborationists at the time of the Alpujarras uprising), was also highly likely to have been involved in the falsification of texts (the lead books of Sacromonte) intended to demonstrate that the earliest Spanish Christians had, in fact, been Arabs.

The Moriscos were finally expelled from Spain between 1609 and 1614, by Philip III, at the instigation of the Duke of Lerma. Estimates have varied on the number of expelled although contemporary accounts set the number at around 300,000, a majority of which were expelled from the Crown of Aragon (modern day Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia). ^[2] Some historians have blamed the following crisis of the Spanish Mediterranean on the replacement of Morisco workers by Christian newcomers, who were fewer and less familiar with the local techniques.

Adult Moriscos were assumed to be covert Muslims (i.e. crypto-muslims), but the arrangements for expulsion of their children presented Catholic Spain with a dilemma, as they had all been compulsorily baptized, and consequently could not legally be transported to Muslim lands. Some authorities proposed that children would be forcibly separated from their parents, but sheer numbers showed this to be impractical. Consequently, the official destination of the expellees was generally stated to be France (more specifically Marseille); but, after the assassination of Henry IV in 1610 few or none actually settled there. Those Moriscos who wished to remain Catholic (about 3,000) were generally able to find new homes in Italy (especially Livorno) but the overwhelming majority settled in Muslim lands, either within the Ottoman Empire or Morocco. The Sultans of Morocco tried to find a place for these Spanish-speaking people who had been influenced by Christianity.

Some communities fought as corsairs, based at Salé, against Christian merchants, or used European-made guns to cross the Sahara and conquer Timbuktu and the Niger Curve.

An indeterminate number of Moriscos managed to remain in Spain, camouflaged among the Christian population, deciding to remain mainly for economic reasons. It is estimated that, in the kingdom of Granada alone, between 10,000 and 15,000 Moriscos remained after the general expulsion of 1609. ^[3] It has been suggested that the Mercheros (also Quinquis), a group of nomadic tinkerers traditionally based in the northern half of Spain, may have their origin from vagrant Moriscos.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 Spanish America, morisco was used for a certain combination of White and Negro blood.

[edit] Moriscos and Spanish citizenship

In October 2006, the Andalusian Parliament has decided to demand from the three parliamentary groups that form the majority to support a law that would grant moriscos an access to the Spanish citizenship. ^[4] The proposed law is expected to pass through the Cortes Generales.

This measurement could benefit about five million Moroccan citizens, who are the considered to be descendents of Andalusi population. It could also benifit another indetermine number of people in Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Mali and Turkey. ^[5]

The event was a consequence of a few calls which have been made by some Spanish and Moroccan historians and academics since 1992 demanding similar treatment for the moriscos as done with the Sephardi Jews. ^[6]

[edit] See also

• Aben Humeya
• Conversos
• Crypto-Jews
• Hornachos
• Marranos

[edit] 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

[edit] Further reading

• Chejne, Anwar G. (1983). Islam and the West: The Moriscos, a Cultural and Social History. SUNY Press, pp. 250. ISBN 0-8739-5603-6. (read the book)

[edit] Sources

• Moriscos of Spain: Their Conversion and Expulsion, by H. C. Lea, (London 1901)

[edit] References and notes