BLOOD AND FAITH: MUSLIM SPAIN

When we think of 1492, we often remember Christopher Columbus setting sail across the Atlantic — the “discovery” of the New World. But at the very same moment, another history-altering event was taking place

on the Iberian Peninsula: the fall of Granada, the last Muslim-ruled kingdom in Spain.

This marked the end of nearly eight centuries of Islamic presence in Spain, a period during which

Muslims, Christians, and Jews had lived together in varying degrees of coexistence, tension, and cultural exchange

Granada’s surrender was supposed to guarantee Muslims the right to practice their faith under the new Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella

Yet within just a few years, those promises unraveled.

spains’ rulers and church authorities believed that muslim and jews living in grenanda

poised as a threat to christian unity

muslims who converted to christianity (voluntarily or under distress)

were called moriscos

moriscos were publicaly christian but

in private tried to preserve islamic customs and practices

moriscos created deep suspicious in society

Were they “real” Christians or crypto-Muslims? This anxiety fueled constant surveillance, coercion, and repression.

the inquisition

tasked with rooting out heresy, it targeted Moriscos for “backsliding” into Islam.

Legal and cultural bans

prohibitions on Arabic language, Islamic dress, public baths, circumcision, even certain foods and music.

Forced assimilation campaigns:

children were often taken and raised by “Old Christians.”

Moriscos resisted

sometimes quietly (secret worship, passing traditions at home), sometimes violently.

Alpujarras Rebellion (1568–1571)

Moriscos in the mountains near Granada rose up against impossible restrictions. Brutally suppressed, this only hardened Spain’s resolve to eliminate Morisco identity.

The Expulsion (1609–1614)

King Philip III finally decrees the mass expulsion of Moriscos, hundreds of thousands were forced to leave Spain.

moriscos were shipped

across the Mediterranean to North Africa, often robbed, assaulted, or killed along the way.

after the expulsion of the moriscos

Spain suffered economically afterward, because Moriscos had been skilled farmers, artisans, and traders. But the Crown and Church celebrated it as a triumph of Christian purity.