The History of Moriscos. Socio-cultural and Religious Aspects

Table of Contents

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION
SOURCES OF THE RESEARCH
TERMINOLOGY

CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY OF MORISCOS
1. ARRIVAL TO THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
2. ISLAMIZATION OF SPANIARDS
3. CHRISTIANIZATION OF MUSLIMS
4. THE EXPULSION

CHAPTER TWO: SOCIO-CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE IN THE LIGHT OF FETWAS
1. THE FATWAS
1.1 The Fatwa of Oran
1.2 The Fatwa of Venşerîsî
1.3. The Fatwa of Egypt
2. SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE
2.1 Social Life
2.2 RELIGIOUS LIFE

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PREFACE

Our study deals with a period in which the Andalusian Muslims began to descend rapidly from the summit. We intend to examine from socio-cultural and religious perspectives the history of the Moriscos, the Berber, Arab, Jewish or Spanish Muslims, who witnessed the fall of Gnrata after choosing Islam as a religion, then, exposed to deportations and repressions, but had to stay in Andalusia for various reasons, officially accepted Christianity but have sought to transfer the Islamic faith they have hidden to the next generations.

If the 16th and 17th century Europe is well studied, it can be seen that the Spanish struggle against the Moriscos is not only a religious war. The Protestant war which was fought inside against the Germans that began to strengthen in the north, the rivalry with the British beyond the ocean, and the Ottoman threat in the Mediterranean and Europe, which could extend to their vicinity at any time, pushed the Spaniards to cooperate with the Vatican, and they tried to establish Catholic Spanish union as a strong backbone against the threats outside. A Morisco was seen as an Ottoman spy, a Protestant as a German spy and a Jewish as a British, Ottoman or French spy. Spaniards could not have a problem with just a muslim Morisco. The Christianization and expulsion of Muslims, who work more, who are more educated, who have technical staff and paid more taxes, took too long because of the strategy instabilities of the Spanish Kings on the way to the Great Spain.

Morisco is the name given by the Spaniards to a nation that either was converted by will or by force from Islam to Christianity, in Spain or Portugal at the time when the Iberian peninsula was occupied by the Spaniards. This word was also used for people who did not adopt Christianity but had to profess Christian faith, and who secretly and operatively continued to be a Muslim. Similarly, in Spain, people who seemed to have accepted Christianity, but who maintained the belief in Judaism, were called “Marranos” or “Jews of Seferad”.

With the Reconquista and the recapture of the peninsula in just the beginning of the 1500s, Muslims began to be forced to become Catholics. Those who did not accept were sentenced to death, while some lucky ones managed to escape to Morocco. During this difficult period, a number of people preferred to accept the Catholic faith and save their lives. The extent to which this new religion, which was accepted through oppression, could be internalized was controversial. That is why the Spaniards have never left this population, which they call “Los Moriscos", in peace. The Spaniards named the true Christians as the Old Christian (Cristiano Viejo) and the Catholics of Muslim origin as the New Christians (Cristiano Nuevo).

In this study, we will try to examine the history of Moriscos in socio-cultural and religious terms. We will examine, starting from the Spanish conquest of the Peninsula until today, Moriscos' experiences before and after the war, their phases, their claim of rights and their rebellions, the cultural details in their lives, the turmoil in their religious lives, and their effects on the Spaniards. Our study consists of two parts. In the first part, the history of the Moriscos is presented from the arrival of the Arabs to the Iberian Peninsula until the Expulsion of 1699 and in the second part, the socio-cultural and religious life of the Moriscos is examined within the framework of the fatwas given.

History of Morisco is a subject that has been thoroughly investigated by many scientists. On this subject, it is possible to encounter many books and articles, research institutes, panels organized by these institutes and documentary and television series broadcasted with the incentive of these institutions. Written works are generally in Spanish. In our study, the early Spanish sources so far as possible were tried to be utilized.

Apart from the Spanish sources, we had the opportunity to study German, English and a limited number of Arabic works. Since regrettably there is no distinct work in our language, there are no references other than an encyclopedia article, a master's thesis, a bachelor's thesis, and a few books that indirectly mention the subject. I would like express my endless thanks to my professor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Turan Yüksel, who encouraged and heartened me for such a virgin and difficult subject and maintained his support continuously and to Prof. Dr. Luis F. Bernabé for source sharing and for his valuable suggestions.

Hüseyin GÖKALP

KONYA-2010

ABBREVIATIONS

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

INTRODUCTION

SOURCES OF THE RESEARCH

Spanish historians have called the science or the part of the history of science that is interested in Morisco history, Moriscology (Moriscología).¹ It would be unfair to say that we have insufficient sources on the Moriscos, a community which influenced all classes and which all levels of the state closely concerned with, in the 16th and 17th century Spain. We can access the printed and electronic records on Moriscos, in the state, church, municipal and notary archives of Andalusia (today's Andalucía province), Belensiye (Valencia), Extremadura, Aragon, Castile and Catalonia principalities. Historians have benefited greatly from the records of the Inquisition. The details of the economic, social, military, cultural and religious life of the “New Christians" that could not be integrated into Christianity, are situated in these archives. As is known, these books are in Latin or Spanish. The work named “Bibliografía General de Moriscos" from Sharq al-Andalus's publications included in the Cervantes Institute compiles books and articles about Moriscos. While most of these are in Spanish, some English, French, German and Arabic sources are also included.² While some of the sources maintains a biased attitude and have a perspective supporting status quo, critical publications began to emerge especially after the 18th century.³

In the early period, the sensitivity and popularity of the subject at that time led historians to keep records, and their valuable works reached up to us. Diego Hurtado de Mendazo, one of the witnesses of the events of Expulsion, compiled a book called The Battle of Granada (La Guearra de Granada) (1626). Then, Ginas Peres de la Hita completed the first chapter of his book, the Civil Guards of Granada, in Zaragoza in 1596 and the second chapter of it in Cuenca in 1629. Rumors and stories about numerous events happened between Muslims, Mudéjars and Moriscos was narrated.⁴ Also, Luis de Marmol Carvajal wrote his book, Historia del Rebelion y Castigo de los Moriscos del Reyno de Granada, which have the characteristics of a document, in 1797. He examined Granada and its environs from the date of the fall to the days he wrote the book and gain an exceptional seat among the Spanish historians by conveying to us the Muslim, Mudéjar, Morisco and Christian periods of the city people. Jaime Bleda Cardona's book, "Expulsión Justificada de los Moriscos Españoles y Suma de las Excelencias de Felipe Tercero" (1612), and Antonio Corral y Rojas's book, "La Relación de la Rebelión y Expulsión de los Moriscos del Reyno de Valencia" (1613), should also be mentioned here.

When it comes to the 19th century, we come across English sources: Michel Geddes's work “The History of the Expulsion of the Moriscos out of Spain in the Reign of Philipp III" and new documents revealed by the historians of the same period, Pascual Boronat and Florencia Janer, turned the history of Moriscos into the center of attention, again. At that period, Philip III was started to be criticized for his decision of expulsion. However, we can understand from the lines that reveal the authors' feelings, that they do not treat the subject in a completely objective way. For example, Don Florencia Janer, in the introduction of "Condición Social de los Moriscos de España" which he presented to the Royal Academy of History, combines Reconquista events and its aftermath events with the Pelayo event that erupted during the conquest years of Andalusia and, attributes them to the Spanish struggle for freedom.⁵ Examining the event of Expulsion from this perspective, it would not be wrong to say that the Moriscos were sacrificed to the Kingdom of New Spain's enthusiasm for writing their own history in a national sense.

Henry Charles Lea's collecting of all the documents and publications, in his book "The Moriscos of Spain, Their Conversion and Expulsion" in 1901, certainly contributed to the history of Morisco; but reading this book, by keeping in mind that Lea's real interest was the history of the Inquisition, would be helpful in understanding the primacy/importance problems and classification problems of the book.

Another source important for Morisco researchers, which we could not find the opportunity to use, is Fernando Baudel's book named “La Méditerranée et le Mond Méditranéen a la Epoque de Philippe II". The first part of this work was published in 1949 and the second part in 1953. Also, the works encountered are the book, “Geographic de Espagne Morisque” by one of Braudel's students, Henry Lapeyre, and the book “Recouvre Ments de Civilization: Los Morisque”, by the other student of Braudel, Tulio Halpherin. Juan Regla's work "Estudios de los Moriscos", and Pedro Longas's work "Vida Religiosa de los Moriscos" which focuses on the religious life of the Moriscos, are the sources that we benefited to the utmost. Nowadays, the productive Spanish historian Miguel de Epelza, who has contributed to the subject with many of his studies, directs the section named Sharq al-Andalus created under the roof of the Cervantes Institute. Epelza's articles on the subject and especially the bibliographic works of Abdülcelil et-Temimi are also worthy of examination.

When we examine the sources in terms of the languages in which they were written, the works written in Spanish, English, French, Arabic, and German stand out. As a matter of course, the early sources were in Spanish. The prohibition of Arabic in the 17th century also explains the reason for the insufficiency of Arabic sources. However, there is no excuse for the fact that there is still a limited number of Arabic sources about Moriscos, today. The situation is even more severe in terms of Turkish. For as much as, there is no distinct work written in Turkish about Moriscos. Chakib Benafri has a master thesis titled “Endülüs’te Son Müslüman Kalıntısı Moriskolar’ın Cezayir’e Göçü ve Osmanlı Yardımı" (The Migration of Moriscos, the Last Muslim Remnant in Andalusia, to Algeria and the Ottoman Aid). It is absolutely necessary to remind the article of Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özdemir, who has very important and valuable studies on the history of Andalusia, included in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam under the “Moriscos” title.

TERMINOLOGY

When investigating the history of the Muslims who lived in the Iberian Peninsula, we inevitably step into the problem of terminology. In what period did historians define Muslims by which names? What name did the Muslims give to the geography they live in, and where do the names we use today fit? In what senses the definitions, which discriminate peoples, were used before? It is possible to extend the questions like this. Moro (Moor), for example, is a specification, which was once used for the masses of people living in North Africa, with time, became a name given only to Muslims and later ascribed an offensive meaning. However, since this transfer is used in the form of ism-i tasğir (diminutive), it is considered in the sense of the little Muslim or the weak and inferior Muslim.⁶ The name Moro which is not widely used today is thought to be related to Morocco. The Spanish used the word Ιβηρία (Ibēría), which they learned from Greek geographers, for the geography they lived, during the establishment of the connection between Andalusia and Vandalus. This word is inspired by the Ebro (Ibēros in Greek, Ibērus in Latin or Hibērus) river which extends parallel to the Pyrenees, and which is located within the borders of Spain today. The Romans called this region Hispania. According to etymologist Eric Partridge, the word Hispania originates from Hispa, the pre-Roman name of the city of Seville..⁷

While Iberian is an ecumenical definition developed in modern times, Ceziratu'l-Endelüs reflects as a political tone that reminds Spanish people of Islamic civilization. The problems we will encounter in terminology are the subject of another research. We will confine ourselves to elaborate on the characterizations of Moriscos a little. At this point, the four characterizations will be sufficient. These are (a) Christians living under the rule of Muslims, (b) Christians converted to Islam, (c) Muslims converted to Christianity, (d) Muslims living under the rule of Christians. It should be noted that the terms (a) Muzarip, (b) Muladi, (c) Morisco, and (d) Mudéjar are not generally accepted.⁸

In very general terms, the expression of morisco is considered by historians as the name given to those who converted to Christianity during the deportation of Muslims who came to the Iberian Peninsula before the 16th century. According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, the term is used for the baptized Moros who remained from the period when Spain was newly structured.⁹ Moro means both North Africans and Muslims, here. Morisco is derived from Moro and has a pejorative meaning. Although in modern language, it means Moorish, Moroccan or the mixture of Arab-Berber, at that time, it was used to mean non-pagan, baptized dark-skinned people. On the other hand, the word "moro" originates from the Latin word "maurus" and have meanings like Mauritanian and African. At the time of the Roman Empire, this word was used for the inhabitants of Morocco and Algeria. Greek “mauros” means dark-skinned, brunette. Perhaps, at this point, a connection can be made with the swarthiness of North Africans. But we can say with certainty that Morisco is a reference to a religion rather than a race or color; and Morisco is the acronym of “cristiano nuevo de moro", which can be translated as the New Dark-Skinned Christians or African New Christians and which was used by the Christians of that day to distinguish themselves from those who do not share the same race and religion.¹⁰

In the European Chronicles, the word "Moros" was not used for Muslims until the Mujahideen and Murabites entering Andalusia. It has been used for all non-Christians ever since.¹¹ Today, arranging "Las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos" festivals in Alicante, Murcia and Valencia and calling the children who are not baptized as "moro" is enough to express the aggression of this word. One of the nicknames of Spain's saint James is “Matamoros" which means Morisco Killer.¹² In a sense, in Spanish terms, "Moriscos" represents the Islamic world and “Cristianos” represents the Modern Spain and Roman culture. In this context, it is essential to take a look at Don Florencio Janer's 1857 book Condicion Social de los Moriscos de Espaňa (the long title of which is The Social Situation of Moriscos in Spain: The Place of Expulsion and Its Economic and Political Consequences),which was prepared for the Spanish Royal Academy of History. The strong language used for the Moriscos, the insults and accusations made and the arguments about the necessity of the punishments that are deemed proper for them is a good example of the definition of Morisco shaped inside a prejudiced mind.

Today, the word morisco is used to distinguish a very limited social group from other Muslims. In summary, the word used by the Romans for the people of a region was first used for all Arab and Berber Muslims before the Muslims' entry into Spain from North Africa, and then the Latin people who left Christianity and became Muslims were defined in the same way. With the tragic events experienced, the word gained social depth, and the name Morisco given to a group of people, who were marginalized by bitter experiences regardless of their race and skin color, assumed the meaning of the mixture of "gavur" for Arab and Berber people and "zındık" for Spanish Muslims.

Today, Moro / Moor / Maure is still used for peoples living in Mali, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Senegal and Mauritania.¹³

Apart from Morisco, the term "Müdeccen" which is referred to as Mudéjares in Spanish should be understood well. It is claimed that this word distorted from the word Müdeccel which derives from the Dajjal in the sense of insult.¹⁴ On the other hand, it was also suggested that this word was derived from the word in Arabic and used for a group who accepted the domination of the Christians and for those who are domesticated and civilized. In very general terms, it is the name given to the new Muslim subjects by the Spaniards after the victory of Granada in 1492. On the other hand, according to some researchers, all Christian people under Muslim rule were known as mudéjares (müdeccen) by Muslims. This time, the same word was used for Muslim subjects in the 15th and 16th cent. The Mudéjars, after becoming Christians through being forced to be baptized, were named Moriscos.

Another concept to be understood is "Mozárabe" 19th cent. Spanish experts of Arabic language have suggested that the word Mozárabe resembles and derives from the word musta'rabe, which means etymologically the Arabized.¹⁵ According to some researchers, they were all of the Christians under Muslim rule and for some others, they were only the Arabized Christians.¹⁶ The confusion here is, in fact, related to the excitement and intemperance of the proud winner in classifying the ruined loser after the war. In a sense, Mozárabe is as diverse as the definition of "Loser" in the American Civil War.

Muslims used to give the name “mevali" to those who did not want to be Muslims, in the lands they had conquered in the previous periods, but who wanted to continue their lives as before by paying their taxes. Musta'rabe, that is the Arabized people, are the Christians who are eventually not Muslims but dress, speak, eat and drink as Muslims so culturally Arabized but not Islamized in terms of faith. We mainly come across the following groups:

- Muslims living under the rule of Muslims: Muslims.
- Muslims living under the rule of Christians: Müdeccen (Mudéjar).
- Christians who act as Muslims but are not Muslims: Muzarebe.
- Muslims living like Christians because they were forced to be Christians: Morisco

We would not like to use the word Morisco. This is because this word is not objective as in the specification of "Sephardic Jews". Sepharad originates from the Hebrew word Sfarat, that is the word Iberia. Therefore, the Sephardic Jews are the Jews of Spain. Morisco is now a settled concept. Making similar definitions to substitute would be possible only with the work of qualified historians. In this study, the word Morisco was used in the sense and form used by Western historians, rather than by the Spanish people.

CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY OF MORISCOS

1. ARRIVAL TO THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

Before the Muslims set foot on the Iberian Peninsula, where today's Spain and Portugal are located, the Visigoths conquered Toledo in 468 and declared their sovereignty in Spain. These conquerors, which were subject to the sect of Arius, became Catholics in 586 by submitting to the dominant culture.¹⁷ About a century later, the country would become a country experiencing internal turmoil. With an imperial order issued in 694, all Jews living in the territory of the country were turned into slaves. The Jewish misfortune was once again repeated, and the tradition of the Inquisition acquired new experiences for the coming centuries.

In the years when the division and integration of Iberian peninsula were carried out together, Amr b. el-Âs completed the conquest of Egypt in 642. In 643, again under the command of the same companion, Tripoli was conquered. While, in 648, Georgios Subeytılâ'da was defeated by Abdullah b. Sâd, the conquest of Libya, which was called the Near Maghreb was completed in 675. In the same year, the Central Maghreb opened the doors of Tunisia and Algeria to Muslims.

In 705, Moses b. Nusayr was assigned to the governorship of Ifriqiya by Sultan Velîd b. Abdülmelik.¹⁸ After having completed the conquest of Maghrib-i Aksa (Morocco and Mauritania), the old commander Musa b. Nusayr sent his freedman, Tariq b. Ziyad to Tangier. With the fall of Tangier, North Africa became completely under Muslim rule. In the same year, Moses sent the first expedition unit to the Peninsula, which was to the Cezirat'ul-Hadrâ in the emirate of Tarif b. Malik. The news reaching Moses was telling that the suitable environment for the conquest was established.

As such developments were happening in the South, in Spain, King Witiza died in 709 and was replaced by Achila at a young age. The major power that the new and inexperienced king had to deal with was the army. The expected came true, and with the coup staged by Commander Rodrigo, the inexperienced king was toppled from his throne. Now, the new king was Rodrigo. The uneasiness and disunity were predominant inside. Another factor influencing the conquest of Andalusia is the aid given to the Muslims by Julianus, the governor of Ceuta. There are rumors that Julianus made an offer to both Governor of Tangier, Tariq b. Ziyâd and the Governor of Africa, Musa b. Nusayr for the conquest of Spain.¹⁹ Julian's daughter Florinda's being raped and impregnated by Rodrigo was claimed to be the reason. Another offerer was the sons of the former Spanish King Witiza. However, what they hoped mainly was that Muslims would help them regain the throne and then would leave the country.²⁰

An army of 7000 people under the command of Tariq b. Ziyad ,711/92 set foot in Spain. The army moving inwards the country defeated Rodrigo in Vâdi Lekke (Guadalate) with the provisional forces. In this way, the Visigoth rule over Spain took a major blow. This situation influenced the locals deeply. Lamentations which have been sung for Rodrigo

The Lamentation of Don Rodrigo ²¹

Yesterday I was the king of Spain

Today I am not the lord of even a town

Yesterday the towns and castles were mine but now none of them are...

The sun shall set forever on my land

The dawn will find no trace of me throughout this vast domain.

Following the victory of Guadalate, Moses b. Nusayr moved to Spain in 712 with an army of 18,000 people. A year later Moses and his son Abdulaziz conquered Murcia, Granada and Sagunto. Sevilla and Toledo offered resistance but had to surrender to Abdulaziz. The armies commanded by Tariq b. Ziyad and Moses b. Nusayr conquered Spain in a two-pronged way. When Muslims dominated the region completely, Moses b. Nusayr left his son Abdulaziz as a Governor in Spain. With this assignment incidence, the period of Governors began in Andalusia. Abdulaziz made İşbiliye (Seville), which was a safe location, a center for himself. For two years, he has strengthened the foundations of the region with his determined and soft politics. In 714, the possession of Évora, Santarém and Coimbra was taken by Muslims. In 716, Lisbon was conquered and the first money was coined. In 717, Córdoba was made the capital. A court was established for the implementation of the Islamic provisions and the protection of the law of the people of the book. He encouraged marriages between Muslims and native Christian people, and he himself married Rodrigo's daughter, Juna.²² The period of Governors ended when Abdul Rahman b. Muawiyah from the Umayyad dynasty, who escaped from Abbasids in 756 and reached Andalusia, declared himself as the Umayyad Emir, here. The Andalusian Umayyad Period ended in 1031 with the death of Hisham III and the division of the country into many small principalities, and a transient period called Mülûk’ut-Tavâif began. These principalities, who fought each other, and even hired Christian knights to gain supremacy in the battle, renewed the self-confidence of the Christian Kingdoms who had not been happy since the Pelayo of Asturia. In 1090, the Murabites coming from North Africa tried to improve the situation by easily dominating Andalusia on one hand and strengthen their existence on the other. In 1147, however, their Andalusian adventure ended when they had to hand over power to the Mujahideen from North Africa. This last state structure, which no longer could withstand the attacks from inside and outside became history in 1248. It left independent, small and weak emirates behind . When the last of these principalities, which entered into the domination of the Christian Kingdoms one by one, the Sultanate of Gırnata delegated Gırnata to the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile in 1492, the 8-century long Islamic domination ended in Spain.

2. ISLAMIZATION OF SPANIARDS

The Christians, who lived in today's Spain and Portugal which was now called Andalusia by Muslims, were gradually Islamized in a way not easily noticeable.²³ As it is known, the number of Muslims at the time of the conquest of Andalusia was around 50 thousand. This crew of soldiers grew in time with migration and population increase. The main reason for the rapid increase of the Muslim rate until the 9th century was the Islamization of the local people. The rate of Islamization was high in Muslim-dominated cities, and though the fluent economic relations between the cities and the countryside did not alienate rural areas from their traditions, did Islamize them.²⁴ The reason for this was that the cities were the centers of commerce, art, and science. In the lives of the new Muslims, it was possible to prominently see Islam from clean clothes to family structure, from the law of inheritance to nutrition. By the 10th century, more than half of the local population, which was around 4 million, was Muslim, and Muslims were no longer a minority.²⁵ The Iberian Peninsula has never been 100% Islamized. The reason for this was that non-Muslims living in the region were not forced to do so. There were even the privileges of Jews and Christians (Aryanists) who were monotheists.²⁶ However, the children of the first generation Muslims (Musâleme), that is, the second generation Muslim Spaniards (Müvelledîn) outnumbered the Arabs and the Spaniards who were not yet Muslims.²⁷ Here, the monotheist Christians refers to the Aryanists who reject the Trinity, the old denomination of the Visigoths, and defend the monotheism. The period of Catholicization began with Leovigild, the King of Visigoth changing the denomination of his successor King Hermenegild.²⁸

The main reason for the rapid spread of Islam in Andalusia was that the conquerors acted as invitors rather than warriors. It is rumored that around 2 thousand prisoners chose Islam at the invitation of Ukbe b. Hajjaj.²⁹ Besides, in Spain, jizya was not taken from the new converts. The gradual introduction of Arabic into colloquial Latin and the fact that these two languages could be used together for centuries to such an extent that we could still not predict, had a direct impact on cultural life. In regions where Muslims are the majority and where the political power exists, Arabic was the only language spoken, except for the language spoken by minorities in the family. It was a privilege to use Arabic, and thus it was an honor to read and understand the Qur'an. This cultural influence and meeting with Kurân-ı Kerîm was the most important factor in the nobles' acquaintance with Islam. From the 12th to the 16th cent., even in later periods, they knew and spoke both Arabic and Spanish.³⁰

Christians were naturally influenced by Muslims, the new neighbors of the local people, by their clean dressing, zealousness and hard work, respectful and dignified stance, sincerity in their worship, devotion to their religion, and compassion and generosity. Family reunions, neighborhood relations, business partnerships, and travels allowed room for Christians to get to know Muslims better. Islamization started in appearance, language, attitude, manners, and behaviors and then moved to the dimension of belief.

3. CHRISTIANIZATION OF MUSLIMS

When Christians occupied Tuleytula in 1085, al-Mu'temid, the ruler of Abbâdi, asked for help from the Murabites in North Africa. Murabites who came to help did not return to their country and opted for being powerful in Spain. Within the half-century period between the period of Murabites and the collapse, political divisions occurred. The period of Tâvaif-i Mülûk is also the period in which central authority disappeared and small kingdoms were established in Spain. During this period, Córdoba lost its old importance and the characteristics of being the center of the caliphate. In Andalusia without a leader, anyone who gained political importance locally was taking political initiative in his region and engaged in military equipment. The aim of each was to be the ruler of Spain one day. This scene has a resemblance to the situation of the Islamic armies, just before they set foot on this land. The rise of the Christian population in the 13th century and the unification policies of the Christian kings began to prepare the end of Andalusia.

In the year of 1212, Alfonso IX won the victory of Las Novas de Tolosa by heading an army of crusaders and moved towards Úbeda. Here, 70,000 Moors asked him for assurance (emân) and offered to pay a ransom of 1 million doblas. Although Alfonso accepted the terms, Rodrigo of Tuleytula, the church wing of the crusade, and Arnaud of Narbonna, forcibly dissuaded him for this decision. Everybody was massacred except for those who were chosen as slaves.

In the year of 1248, Innosent IV ordered Jayme I of Aragon not to give residence to any Moorish, except for the slaves on the Balearic islands he conquered in 1229. Jayme, despite promising to the papacy that he would fulfill the expulsion order on condition that he will not pay a year's tithe tax, broke his promise and further to that, he constructed settlements for the Maghreb, and issued the incentive of one-year exemption from tax, in 1275.³¹

In the Lateran Council in 1216, the Serazens and the Jews were banned from wearing distinctive clothes.³² In 1312, the Vienna council complained about the fact that reciting azan in the Christian provinces was allowed. In the 1329 Tarragona Council, it was decided to excommunicate those who did not implement the decisions of the Vienna Council.In 1371, Henry II, at the request of Cortes de Toro, imposed the obligation that the Jews and the Maghreb carry distinctive signs in Castile. In the 1388 Palencia Council, it was decided to set heavy penalties for all non-essential relations between the two communities, and to impose obligations for Jews and Muslims to kneel on the official parades of Christians, to not work publicly on religious feasts of Christians, to celebrate these feasts, to be prohibited from being employed as civil servants and tax collectors and to populate in secluded places.³³ In this legislation issued in 1412, it was ordered that Jews and Muslims live in ghettos surrounded by walls with a single gate, in all places. Those who did not comply with the 1412 notification and did not move to the regions within 8 days were threatened with losing all their property and with other punishments. Besides, heavy punishments were given to Christian women entering these areas. The 1391 Jewish massacre and the compelling provisions of the 1412 judgments led to the emergence of a mass called Marranos Conversos, who was converted to Christianity from Judaism but had all sorts of suspicions in their beliefs.³⁴

In the edict published in the city of Haro in 1453, Christians were banned from selling real estate to Jews and Muslims. The people's reaction was against usurer Jews rather than Muslims. They quickly ascended under the Christian identity and gained important official duties and religious ranks. Tuleytula in 1449 and 1467, the Valley of Ibnu'l Velîd (Valladolid) in 1470 and Córdoba in 1473 witnessed bloody uprisings targeting Jews, while no grassroots movement which would harm the Mudéjars was observed.³⁵

In 1474, the marriage of the King of Aragon, Ferdinand II and the Queen of Castilla, Isabella, brought together the scattered and shattered forces for the past 8 centuries and created an environment for expelling the vulnerable Muslims from the Peninsula. In 1480, Ferdinand and Isabella complained that the 1412 Notification had not been implemented, and they revived this order. The King and Queen were now called "Catholic Monarchs". Granada was seized as a result of 9 years of war between 1482-1492. Ferdinand made good use of the opportunities he obtained, and seized the city of al-Hamma in 1482 from the hands of the then ruler Ali Abu'l-Hasan.³⁶ Thus, the north-west entrance of Granada was taken under control. In the meantime, great unrest emerged in the palace. Abu Abdullah, who rebelled against his father, seized al-Hamra in 1482 with the support of the guard regiment. The new ruler first attacked the Kingdom of Castile and besieged the city of Lucena, but did not succeed and was taken captured. In the meantime, Abu'l-Hasan, who ascended the throne again, withdrew from the reign in favor of his brother and the governor of Malaga, Muhammad ez-Zagal. Ferdinand, who read the situation well, released the captive Abu Abdullah and equipped the rebel army, which would attack Granada with various aids. The first siege of Abu Abdullah succeeded and a part of the city was seized. A great civil war broke out and chaos began to reign in Granada with two rulers. In the meantime, Ferdinand had taken over Malaga, and the conditions for the siege of Granada began to mature. Ferdinand's first summons to surrender in 1490 was rejected by Abu Abdullah. By 1492, the supplies were exhausted and resistance was broken. Eventually, the city surrendered after 9 years of war between 1482-1492.³⁷

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¹ Pons, Luis Fernando Bernabé, “Bibliografía de Leonard P. Harvey”, Sharq al-Andalus, (1999-2002), v.16-17, p. 16.

² Mata, Jesús Rubiera, Bibliografía General de Moriscos, http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/79194918323586619754491/017561.pdf, Date Accessed: 05.02.2010

³ Özdemir, Mehmet, “Moriskos”, DIA, Istanbul, 2005, XXX, 288.

⁴ Cemaleddin, Abdullah Muhammad, El-Muslim û n'el-MunassarFame ve'l-Moriskiyyûn'el-Endelusiyyûn: Safha Muhmele min Tarîk’il-MüslimIn fi'l-Endelus, Dar'us-Sahve l'in-Neşr, 1991. p. 5.

⁵ Janer, Condicion Social de los Moriscos, p. 6-8.

⁶ Cemaleddin, p. 3.

⁷ Partridge, Eric, Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, p.3147.

⁸ Harvey, Leonard Patrick, Islamic Spain , p.2.

⁹ Harvey, Leonard Patrick, Muslims in Spain, p 3.

¹⁰ de Epalza, Míkel, Los Moriscos de la Expulsión, Madrid: Mapfre, 1992, p. 18.

¹¹ de Epalza, p. 21.

¹² Harvey , Muslims in Spain, p. 7.

¹³ Özdemir, “Moriskolar”, DIA, XXX, 288.

¹⁴ del Marmol Carbajal, Luis, Historia de la Rebelion y Castigo de los Moriscos de Granada, p. 158.

¹⁵ García-Arenal, Mercedes, “La diaspora de los andalusíes ”, Enciclopedia de Mediterrane, Barcelona, 2003 , p.21.

¹⁶ Harvey, Muslims in Spain, p.2.

¹⁷ Al-i Ali, Nureddin, Endülüs Tarihi, (tr: Hakkı Uygur), Ensar Neşriyat, Istanbul, 2010, p. 23.

¹⁸ Atçeken, İsmail Hakkı, Endülüs’ün Fethi ve Mûsâ b. Nusayr, Araştırma Yayınları, Ankara, 2002, p. 25-26.

¹⁹ Atçeken, p. 51.

²⁰ Atçeken, p. 53.

²¹ Crow, John Armstrong, An Anthology of Spanish poetry, Los Angeles, 1979, p. 33.

²² Âl-i Ali, p. 58.

²³ De Epalza, p. 42.

²⁴ De Epalza, p. 43.

²⁵ Ozdemir, Mehmet, Endülüs Müslümanları Medeniyet Tarihi, Ankara: TDV, 1997, p. 15.

²⁶ De Epalza, p. 43.

²⁷ Âl-i Ali, p. 250.

²⁸ Milman, Henry Hart, History of Latin Christianity, II, 65.

²⁹ Özdemir, p. 16.

³⁰ de Epelza, p. 45

³¹ Lea, Henry Charles, İspanya Müslümanları: Hıristiyanlaştırılmaları ve Sürülmeleri. Translated by Abdullah Davudoglu, İstanbul: İnklâb, 2006. p.18

³² Lea, p. 20

³³ Lea, p. 21

³⁴ Lea p.26

³⁵ Lea, Henry Charles, The Moriscos of Spain; Their Conversion and Expulsion, Lea Brothers, 1901, p. 14.

³⁶ Doğuştan Günümüze Büyük İslam Tarihi, Komisyon, İstanbul: 1992, 5/77.

³⁷ Lee, The Moriscos of Spain, p. 16.