Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Moriscos

The music is Morisco music, found on Iberian Garden, Vol. 1 by Altramar. The piece is Muwashshah: Mā li-l-muwallah, 1113-1198.

This music takes place at the beautiful gardens along the Guadalquiver, near Cordoba. This is during the "convivencia" under Alfonso X (El Sabio - The Wise), the time before Granda fell: when Christians, Moslems and Jews lived at peace with each other. Muwashshah are songs in poetic form, with instrumental interludes in the form of Ibn Bājja (Avempace): 1470-1520. This is Morisco art.
Whop1 Whop1

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Regions of Spain
Regions of Spain
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Rebelion de Las Alpujarras
Rebelión de Las Alpujarras
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The nomenclature for different "racial" mixes differed over time as well as geographic position. 1 Some of these differences appear here. Usually there were no problems. However, the term "Morisco" or "Morisca" was ambiguous in the early period. Sometimes this term refered to a "casta" racial mix. Sometimes to a "raza" religious mix. This ambiguity was cleared up when the Spanish crown decided to use "Morisco" to refer only to Muslims that converted to Catholicism. After the fall of Granada, "Moriscos" left Iberia, were emptied from "Morerías" (Ghettos for "Moriscos") just as "Conversos" (Jews were converted to Catholicism, many living in "Juderias"). Moriscos that escaped without being murdered by their Christian neighbors in Spain when Granada fell, as well the first Alpujarra rebellion (1502), The Revolt of the Brotherhoods or Morisco guilds (Revolta de les Germanies, Spanish: Rebelión de las Germanías) was a revolt by artisan guilds (Germanies) from 1519-1523. This was followed by the second Alpujarra rebellion (1569-1572) to places such as the Salé Republic in Morocco. Some North African baptized slaves, known as Berberiscos were also called Moriscos. Moriscos had dances (zambras) and music (leilas) of their own (related to Click to see Flamenco). Many Moriscos managed to get past the Spanish Holy Inquisition and travel to the New World. Thus Iberian Moriscos could be found in the New World, as well as in Morocco as well as the Canary Islands. Catholic religious autorities were quite concerned about such Moriscos. The authorities wanted a uniform society of Catholics without Jews, Lutheranos, Moriscos, Conversos, or Indianos. The authorities feared rebellions that might be influenced by impure Catholics, Indianos, Lutheranos, or worse! Dates are important. When the Moriscos were killed or expelled from Spain, an athmosphere of terror existed: would Ottoman armies invade? When Moriscos were found in the Spanish New World, would revolutions and attitudes that destabilized the Spanish New World Indianos be the result?

After the Moriscos were expelled brom Iberia (1609-1615), some settled in France. Some Moriscos even converted to Lutheranism. Some Moriscos accompanied the French on raids in the Yucatan. Morriscos as well as the Protestants held Iconoclasm in common: both rejecting saints, statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, etc. as idolatry (venerating graven images). Thus sometimes Protestants and Moriscos were confused in the New World. 2

At the time of the second Alpujarra Rebellion, an Ottoman fleet was raiding the Spanish coasts and it had captured the Balearic Islands in 1558. Simultaneously, in the Spanish Netherlands, the preaching of Calvinist leaders had led to riots in 1566 and to open warfare in 1568.

The Spanish troops killed all the Morisco men who did not escape and brought back fifteen hundred women and children who were divided among the soldiers as slaves. In October that year the king proclaimed "a war of fire and blood" (una guerra a fuego y a sangre) – no longer just a matter of punishing a rebellion. He also gave free rein (campo franco) to the soldiers to take whatever plunder they could find, whether slaves, cattle or property.

From April 1570 until the spring of 1571, Catholic forces were greatly reinforced with infantry and cavalry. Led by Don John and the Duke of Sessa they launched a new campaign, invading the Alpujarra, destroying houses and crops, putting men to the sword and taking as prisoner all the women, children and elderly people whom they found in their path.

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza made a bitter comment:

"Day by day we fought our enemies, in the cold or the heat, hungry, lacking munitions, suffering continual injuries and deaths until we could confront our enemies: a warlike tribe, well-armed and confident in terrain which favoured them. Finally they were driven from their houses and possessions; men and women were chained together; captured children were sold to the highest bidder or carried away to distant places… It was a dubious victory, with such consequences that one might doubt whether those whom God wished to punish were ourselves or the enemy."

When the rebellion began, the Kingdom of Granada counted barely 150,000 inhabitants, most of them Moriscos. After the suppression of the revolt, a significant portion of the Morisco population was expelled from the former Kingdom of Granada. First rounded up and held in churches, then in harsh winter conditions, with little food, they were taken on foot in groups, escorted by soldiers; many died on the way. Many went to Cordova, others to Toledo and as far as Leon. Those from the Almería region were taken in Click to see galleys to Seville. The total number expelled has been estimated at some 80,000, or roughly half of Granada's Moriscos. The Alpujarra region had been a very rich region before the rebellion but became a Spanish, Catholic desert. It becomes easy to understand that a major consequence of expelling the Moriscos was that Spain fell behind culturally, socially and politically for centuries. Thus a Golden Age of backwardness.

A legitimate fear did exist, however. The Spanish Crown (and the French) feared a spreading Ottoman influence in areas North of the Mediterranian, the North African Mediterranian, areas on the norhthern Atlantic African littoral. A partial list follows: Click to see
  1. Minorca (Port Mahon): 1535
  2. Battle of Preveza (Greece): 1538
  3. Ottoman
    1. Siege of Nice: 1543
    2. Toulon: 1544
  4. Libya: 1551
  5. Ottoman raid of the Balearic Islands: 1558
  6. Battle of Djerba (Tunisia): 1560
  7. Granada: 1566
  8. Eyalet (province) or beylerbeylik or pashaliks of Cyprus: 1571
  9. Tunisia: 1574
  10. Canary Islands: 1585
  11. Canary Islands (Porto Santo): 1613
  12. Madeira (Porto Santo): 1617
  13. Iceland: 1627
  14. Ottoman Lundy (England): c. 1630
  15. Ottoman Ireland (Sack of Baltimore) and Sweden: 1631
  16. Cornwall: 1645
  17. Ottoman Crimea: Cembalo, Soldia, Keffe
  18. Ottoman incursions into Southern Spain
The Battle of Lepanto wasn't until 1571, but the Moriscos had revolted several times, thus presenting a possible danger at home (Spain), along with possible alliances with the Salé Republics (the Barbary Coast). However, the Battle of Lepanto (1571) effectively ended Ottoman control of the Mediterranean, thus an Ottoman threat to Spain. Consider: the Gypsies were effectively removed as a threat to Spain but there was no Gypsy navy as a threat.

  1. Morisca in Street Dress, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  2. Morisca sweeping yard, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  3. Morisca spinning yarn on distaff, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  4. Morisco buñelero baker (shoes), Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  5. Morisco Family #1, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  6. Morisco Family #2, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  7. Morisco Women's Hats, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  8. Morisco Women's Shoes, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  9. Moriscos, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  10. Morisco Celebración: Music and Dance, Christoph Weiditz: 1529
  11. Moriscos
  12. Moriscos getting water in Grenada: 1576
  13. Los Moriscos de Granada: 1610, by Francisco Heylan (1584-1650)
  14. Expulsion of Moriscos
  15. La Expulsión de los Moriscos
  16. Embarcation (expulsion) of Moriscos at port el Grau de Valencia
  17. Expulsió dels Moriscos at Vinaros
  18. Disembarcation of the Moriscos at Oran port: 1613
  19. Salé Morisco Republic: Morocco
  20. Carcayone Aljamía Legend
  21. Jews (Conversos) and Moslems (Moriscos) in Iberia

Iberia had a long history of warfare (the reconquest), then a new history of religiously focused genocide (Jews, Moriscos, Gypsies were expected to be the next, the genocides in the New World). However, a glimpse of what Iberia looked like between 1450 and 1650 is possible if we look at the Iberian artisans: Click here to see.

The opinion of some people is that art serves society. Other views of art, such as art serves no one may be held by others, but are admittingly of no social consequence.

Esther Lederberg enjoyed opera very much, including operas of Mozart, Verdi, etc. One opera Esther Lederberg enjoyed was "Il Trovatore" ("The Troubadore"), by Verdi. In this opera, political rebels are represented by Gypsies (New Castilians). In fact, several groups of people were persecuted in Iberia and the "Gypsie" camp of rebels could represent any of these people:
  1. Moroscos (Moslems)
  2. Conversos (Jews)
  3. New Castilians (Gysies)
  4. Slaves (Black, White, Sythians/Cumans from the Black Sea area), New World slaves, etc.
  5. Luteranos (Protestants)
  6. Illuminati
  7. Homosexuals, Eunuchs, etc.
Thus these people persecuted by the Catholic Holy Inquisition in Iberia have left their historical imprint upon art.

Glossary

Term Meaning
abjuration During the Holy Inquisition, one might be asked to swear an "abjuration" or oath denying something (typically heresy). "Abjuration de levi" meant slight heresey. "Abjuration vehementi" meant strong suspicion of heresy.
abolengos Spaniards at all four corners (both sets of grandparents: proof of limpieza de sangre - racial or religous blood lines)
acequias A community constructed and operated gravity water channel. Some acequias are conveyed through pipes or aqueducts. These irrigation channels were constructed in Arabic style by Moriscos. 3
adīb A cultured man.
Alá Allah.
alacena, alahania A hollow made in the wall with doors and shelves to hide contents such as illegal or censored books.
Albarán A receipt.
alcabala A sales tax.
Alcaçería A fortified bazaar in a judería.
alcalde Magistrate
alcalde mayor chief magistrate or mayor
alcuzcuz couscous
al faquis,
alfaquines, alfaquinas
Religious teachers of Islam
Algarravia Arabic language
alguacil constable
'Ālimes A Morisco scholar, sabiyos, (ulama).
aljama Muslim or Jewish communities (ghettos) within a Christian township or area
Aljamiado Literature produced by Moriscos mixing Spanish and Arabic, in Arabic script
Almadén An infamous mine that employed forzados (convicts) as well as North African slave labor. The most important ore was mercury (cinnabar, used in the amalgamation process to extract or purify silver), but other ores were also mined, such as lead, copper, and zinc.
almalafas face veil
Al-Andalus Al-[V]andalus (land of the Visigoth Vandals)
Alarbes Muslim Berbers
Alárabe Arab
Algarravia Arabic
Archíes Chief sergants of the Algerian Janissaries.
Almojarífes Moorish tax farmer.
Almosna Board of charities in each synagogue in each Jewish aljama.
almudi Royally owned building used to measure grain, effectively a tax imposed upon Muslims and Jews.
alpargatas rope-soled sandals
alteraciones disturbances
Amancebado Living together without formal marriage
Ańoranza Spanish version of "saudade". A nostalgic melancholy due to the absence of something or someone, such as the vanished Portuguese empire.
antialcorán anti-Koran
antiguos, Moriscos antiguos Old Moriscos (considered themselves Catholics)
aslamis A Christian convert to Islam.
baños, [bagno, bagnio,
bagarino, banō],
fondouk, funduq
caravansérii
prisons in Algeria (prisoners held in what were formerly bath houses) for Spanish Catholic slaves, [slave quarters]. A fondouk was a warehouse or trading "factory" holding goods to be sold or bought, including slaves, and could also be a hotel Fondouks existed in the Genoese Black Sea empire at such sites as Keffe, as well as along the West African Atlantic coast, such as "The Mine" (El Mina). Due to the rise of the Ottoman Empire (1454AD), the Genoese Black Sea empire collapsed. These Genoese then became influential in the Spanish Empire that was just being born in Iberia. Recall, that between 1580 and 1640, Spain and Portugal were united. The fondouks of the Genoese Black Sea empire were then founded by the formerly Portuguese along the Western, Atlantic African littoral, under the power of the Casa de la Contratación de las Indias ("House of Trade of the Indies") established by the Crown of Castile, in 1503 at the port of Seville.
Slave prisons such as the "Grand Prison", known colloquially as the "bagñio" (bath house) existed at Valletta, Malta in the 16th century, as well as in Algiers (Argel). A prison for French galley slaves existed "Bagño of Toulon", including Devil's Island in Cayenne (French Guiane), prisoners referred to as "Bagnards".
Béarn Pyrenean Kingdom. Click for information.
bonete refers to cardinal's caps (red bonete), example: those that support the Holy Inquisition are "red bonetes".
Berberisco A person living in Berbería (North African Barbary coast)
bizcocho biscuits fed to starving Moriscos
bocado, tukal Something eaten to alleviate illness
Buñolero Maker of Buñuelos or buns (work typicalla done by Moriscos: thus those suspected of being "hidden" Moriscos)
Caballero Knight.
Cafizada A unit of land measurement.
Calificador One who assesses or the censor examining evidence of heresy during torture
Calzas Loose trousers worn by Moriscas.
campo franco soldiers free to loot and enslave
Candado A county.
Cañamo Hemp.
Carcayona The Morisco legend or folk tale of "Donicella Carcayona" Click for information.
carceles secretas The secret prison cells of the Holy Inquisition.
Carnicería Muslim butcher shop.
Carta de poder Power of attorney
Carga, cargo An amount of cod fish (used in business).
Casada Wife (Castellano).
Carte executoria Title of nobility
Carte de libertad Freedom papers
Cartillas Pamphlets
Cédula Crown or Royal decree
censalistas Those that used censos
censos loans taken out by Catholic nobles using Morisco rents as collateral
chador A large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head and upper body leaving only the face exposed.
chrism A mixture of oil and balsam, used during baptism. Moriscos washed away the chrism.
Cirujano Surgeon.
clamosa A denunciation to the Holy Inquisition.
Comando A legal agreement (contract) or a loan made for a commission.
Comisario Local clergyman as representative of the Inquisition
Consulta Recommendations made to the king.
Conversos Converts (usually forced) from Judaism to Catholicism (New Christians, morranos)
convivencia The period under Alfonso X (El Sabio - The Wise) the time before Granda fell, when Christians, Moslems and Jews lived at peace with each other.
Cornado An amount of cod.
corona A pointed hat, with fire and devil designs, required to be worn by Inquisition vistims.
Corregidor Governor
costellano The "best", "purest", "proper" or "original" form of spoken Spanish. Obviously, the people of different provinces of Spain, or South and Central America might have differing opinions, as might the Moriscos.
Crespo Curly hair (racial identification)
Criado Dependent
Cristianesca, Turquesco Morisco wasn't the only term used, See "The Bagnios of Argel" by Cervantes. "Argel" was the old name for Algiers.
cuadrillas columns (of soldiers)
dabají Leader of a Turkish Janissary squadron
dar al-harb zone of hostility (where Christians live)
dar al-Islam zone of Islam (safety)
definitivos definitions of what constitutes a morisco
Dhimma Protected status of religious minorities gained by paying a tax (under Muslim or Catholic rule)
Doctrina Mission parish
Doctrineros, catechizers Those, mostly uneducated, low level people that teach the principles of Catholic dogmas using question/answer choral learning (memorization).
doncella Maiden or young maid.
Efectiva Militia in Valencia
Elches renegades
empenyada A pawned item.
Encomienda Grant of indigenous tributaries (conquered people entities (may not be viewed as people, or animated beings that "appear" human. Encomiendas may be inherited by the issue of encomienda holders for one or several generations, or in perpetuity)
enfermedad Galicis Syphillis (Spanish illness)
ensalmo; ensalmadores Spell; charm seller
Esclavas blancas White slaves (Morisca or Genoese Roxolanan [Ukrainian/Crimean/Keffan/Black sea] slaves) Note: A slave may be recognized by having to perpetually wear fetters.
Escudero A squire or low level nobleman..
estancia plantation (finca)
Fadas Morisco ceremony to name a child
Fakihs/alfaquíes Muslim religious or scholarly elites, or priests
farda tax payment
faras, fāris horse, knight
fautor A person that favors or is biased towards supporting persons that holding specific views or is biased towards supporting people with a specific view point (such as heresey or heretics or an ideology).

One way of viewing the Spanish Inquisition is that there was a war going on between three ideologies: proponents of Catholicism and proponents of Islam (especially North African Algerian and the Ottomans), as well as Protestant groups such as the Béarn Pyrenean Huguenots. Often Islamic groups joined together with the Huguenots, and Dutch Lutherans in opposition to Spanish Catholicism. Thus the hysterical fears of the Spanish Inquisition was a fear of Catholicism being replaced by the Lutheranism of the Huguenots as well as English Protestantism, or even Islam. Such fears were further enflamed by raids upon the Mediterranian coast of Spain by North African Barbary pirates or even Mediterranian Ottoman fleets.
fiador Money guarantor (for innkeepers, fishmongres, etc.)
fazedor Steward
fisigos, medicos A person knowledgeable in medicine
Fondouk, Funduq A fondouk was a trading warehouse or "factory" holding goods to be sold or bought, including slaves, and could also be a hotelFondouks existed in the Genoese Black Sea empire at such sites as Keffe, as well as along the West African Atlantic coast, such as "The Mine" (El Mina) and at "Salé". See "baños".
fornage A tax that Jews paid to use royal ovens.
fraile friar
franqueza A tax that Muslims and Jews paid to avoid the almudi
fuego y sangre fire and blood (literally): soldiers not only free to loot and enslave (campo franco), but to murder, rape, torture, etc.
fueros, furs Fueros were a separate set of laws and courts that applied to specific bodies of people. In Spain, there was a fuero that applied to noblemen dealing with land (property) and vassals of these noblemen. In the Spanish New World, there was a fuero Indiano, fuero Militar (similar to Courts Martial in the U.S.), fuero Eclesiástica (applies to members of the church), fuero Mesta (applies to cattle drivers). Thus if a soldier robbed a priest while the priest was raping an Indiana, three fueros applied: fuero Militar, fuero Eclesiástica, and the fuero Indiana.
gacis Freed slaves or unbaptized Moors.
gandule A vagrant.
gilecuelco Deep blue jacket with no collar or a very low collar, with sleeves that did not extend below the elbows, used by captives [slaves] on the North African coast.
Godos Goths or Visigoths
grau Port (of expulsion): Valencia, Denia, Alicante, Viñaroz, Mancofa, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (France)
Green cross Used in Inquisition processions and at sites of auto de fés
Guadoc Ritual, Muslim full body ablutions
Gypsies "In order for Spain to stay clean, it remains to do do the same [as the Moriscos] with the Gypsies." (Salazar de Mendoza) Gypsies "described as libertines, brigands, thieves, kidnappers and eaters of children." "Islam and the West: The Moriscos: A Cultural and Social History", by Anwar Chejne, p. 179, note 71
Hábil Eligible to hold office or profession based upon abilities or racial/casta lineage
Habilitación Procedure that promotes an inhábil to hábil
Hechicería Witchcraft (Hecat or witch)
Henna Henna was used my Moslems to stain hair, nails, skin and clothing. It was also used by Catholics.
Hidalguía Noble status (In contemporary U.S., a worker is the lowest category or class of being: everyone is a "manager". Thus there are no hotel "doormen": There is a president doorman, a vice-president doorman, manager doorman, assistant doorman, doorman in training, etc. but god-forbid, no doorman! Who would want to go to a hotel with "doormen"? Thus in Spain, everyone who was anyone was a Hidalgo. Thus no one actually wanted to be associated with work! Everyone was a Hidalgo. Perhaps it is easy to understand why Spain fell behind the world: no one worked!) In fact, a parasitic class often evolves into useless people. Thus Ivan Goncherov's novel "Oblomov". "Oblomovshchina" is the name of Russian version of "Hidalguías". Click to see Hidalguías.
hijab female dress code consistent with Islamic restrictions
Hortelano A (Morisco) orchard worker.
huerta peri-urban agricultural landscape
ifranji French (French Moriscos)
Información Document of informacion or testimony (often about blood lineage)
Islamismo Islamazation or lapses of Cathlolicism of New Christians into Islam
Judeoconversos Jewish New Christians (as opposed to Islamic New Christians or Luterano New Christians)
Judería Jewish ghetto for Jews, Conversos or morranos. Surrounded by a wall, with only one portal composed of a door with a gate that must be closed at curfew.
Justiçia A magistrate.
Leila Granadan Morisco song. Drums, flutes, trumpets, lutes, mandolins, and zithers are commonly used.
Lela Marien Term used by Moors and Mariscoos meaning "Nuestra Señora la Vírgen María".
Lemosin, Occitan,
Langue d'oc
Language spoken in Langue d'oc by Huguenots. Called Dugou (Great Owl), or Duganel (little owl), and Duganel (Huguenots), "owl" meaning howlers. Also called Hussgenossen after John Huss, a believer in goodness to be shared by ALL people (peasants), not only nobles.
leterado: licentiate lettered or educated in law:degree in law above bachelor/master, but less than PhD
linajudo An expert in searching for Converso or Morisco or Mudéjar or even Luterano blood lines (pre-genetics)
literatura de cordel String literature (bound together by strings).
maestra de bodas The director at a Morisco wedding. The bride is bathed, dressed, henna is applied to face, hands, and feet, then is led in a procession to a new residence.
maghreb Gharb, Al-maghreb, means "west", or the western African land to the west African littoral.
majuelos Large or wealthy owners of land used for viticulture..
malouf malouf is the music of Tunisia. Musically, what happens is fascinating: the crown begins to take a harsher and harsher look at the Muslims and at Moorish culture. They begin to outlaw different aspects of Moorish and Morisco culture, such as the use of the Arabic language, Arab or Moorish style clothing, and they promote laws against the performance of Moorish music. The church [thought] that this music was somehow Islamic in nature and that it posed a threat to those Moriscos who were true converts to Christianity in the 1520s, from 1526 to 1532. An attempt is made to prohibit the use of Moorish musical instruments and prohibit the gatherings that are called samras or zambras and leilas, which are two Arabic words for "an evening gathering." The view is that Moriscos secretly get together and sing praise songs to the Prophet Mohammed. However, the view of the Crown is that Morisco music has already percolated upwards into the court culture and should not be prohibited (there were court ballroom dances that were considered to be of Morisco origin). Francisco Nunez Moulay points out that it is foolish to outlaw Morisco music: Morisco musical instruments are not uniquely Islamic, not the same as those used in Morocco (a bowed instrument played on the shoulder, and a square tambourine that might have been only used in southern Spain that might not have been used in North Africa, the guitarra Morisca or the kwitra of Algeria, tuned very differently).
Dwight Reynolds, Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, Chair of Islamic and Near Eastern Studies, University of California
malshin A Jewish slanderer, or a Jew that acted as an informer such as to the Inquisition.
Marién Mary (virgen).
Marlota A long robe worn by Moriscos.
merindad District.
mezquin A Morisco was usually described as stingy, dirty, miserable, lazy, and dishonest. One should recall that the Moriscos were the hardest workers, essential for the economy.
Mezquita A mosque (in Castellano).
monfíes Moriscos who lived during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, driven to the mountains around Granada as a result of the disorder and repression associated with the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. Their numbers grew as Castilian Inquisition authorities pressured the Muslims of Granada to convert to Christianity. The monfíes, were mostly rural and practiced Islam openly, while Moriscos were forced to convert to Catholicism, which many did. Self-exiles.
Moriscas (dance) "Moriscas" or the "saltarello" were Morisco dances. These dances became very popular with Europeans. For example, the "moriscas" evolved into "Moriss dances" in England. Click for information.
Moro, mora A Morisco or a Moor (male, female).
Morabitos; marabout Circa 1345AD, Ibn Battuta visited what later in Spain would be called the Philippine Islands (Nueva España). He found a Muslim presence already established. Morabitos were proseltytizing by distributing cartillas explaining Islamic principles, utilizing ghazis (armed guards), practicing circumcision, etc. and the Catholics and Muslims became involved in warfare. Morabitos means a teacher of Moslem ideas and culture. A hermit.
Morería A Islamic ghetto for Mudéjars or Moriscos, Surrounded by a wall, with only one portal composed of a door with a gate that must be closed at curfew. Also called "Mota". An Islamic Barrio.
moriscos antigos old moriscos
morisquillos little moriscos (morisco chidren: enslaved or murdered)
Mozarabs, musta’rab; mozárabes [Spanish]; moçárabes [Portuguese]; mossàrabs [Catalan] Iberian Catholics who lived under Moorish rule in Al-Andalus in dhimmi (ghettos for Christians and Jews)
Mudéjar Muslims living under Catholic rule in Iberia, mostly predating the reconquest fall of Grenada. Mudéjar is a Castilian word borrowed from the Arabic word Mudajjan, meaning "tamed". A corruption of Mudegelin, based upon "degel" the equivalent of Antichrist, thus an opprobrious term.
Naguatatos Nahuatl-speaking Nueva España Morisco interpreters
Negativo An individual who continued to deny his guilt in the face of what was felt to be overwhelming evidence against him, was considered an unrepentant heretic thus to be condemned to be executed.
New Castilians This term was used to refer to Gypsies to distinguish them from Conversos (Jews), Moriscos (Moslems), Lutherans, Illuminists, Old Christians, etc.
niqab veil
nizarani The term "nizarini" was used by Moiscos to refer to Christians or Nazarenes.
Nuevamente convertido New convert
nuevoscristianos de moros New Christians (Morish, as opposed to Jewish)
nunçio Legal functionary that summoned people to appear before Jewish tribunals in a Jewish aljama.
obligation A legal agreement (contract) or a loan, essentially a license to sell.
ostalero A (Jewish) innkeeper.
parecer Judicial opinion
pasar allende To switch sides (be a traitor)
pecado nefando A Christian term denoting sodomy.
pecha An annual tax (collected by royal collectors called recibidores).
Plega Council.
porteros Officers of the bailiff (seized property of tax delinquents).
pragmática royal decree
privaido, válido A favored advisor of the king. Example: Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, royal counsellor for Phillip III. Lerma was considered corrupt in the extreme.
privilegio A charter , rights.
procuradores Jewish agents appointed by other Jews to aid in the collection of Christian debts.
pronósticos religious prophecies
punishments/tortures
(Turkish, Polish, French)
Common punishments included cutting off ears, to Click to see Impalement.
qanat A qanat is a gently sloping underground channel to transport water from a water well to the surface for irrigation and drinking, acting as an underground aqueduct. 3
Quemadro Place where an individual is burned at the stake (either alive or dead), or flogged, tortured, sentenced to row at gallies (King's oars), sentenced to labor in mines, properties confiscated, facial branding, etc.
Reconciliado Someone sentenced by the Inquisition to be reconciled among Catholics after appearance in an auto-da-fé and "relaxed" (adjudged guilty), thus "turned over" to secular authorities to actually kill people (thus the Catholic church didn't do the actual killing, that was done by the secular authorities.
reta&jacute;ar Purification by circumcision.
Ribat A military garrison or fortress (example, Salé Republic, near Rabat, the capitol of Morocco).
Ricosomes Rich men, higher old nobility.
Roman Rota Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota (Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience. The highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church.
Salat Islamic ritual prayer
Salteadores (as in assalt) Highwaymen
Sea Beggars Dutch privateers
Shahada Profession of faith in Islam
Simpleza Ignorance
Slave markets Seville, Lisbon, etc.
soldan Sultan
suspicion A person might be held to be under suspicion of being a Morisco or even a Jew, if denounced. A denunciation (clamosa) could be a vandetta, a way to claim property, a simple mistake, or a way to enrich an Inquisition judge. Made no difference. Strong suspicion of being a Morisco included celebration of Ramadan, Zala (prayers), cleanliness (guadoc, taor), refusal to eat pork or drink wine, refusal to eat the meat of dead animals, burial of a corpse in clean linen, putting cakes on a bride's mattress upon marriage.
Tagarinos Morisco in Aragon (as opposed to Valencia, for example)
taifa Moslem al-Andalus was fragmented into weak, petty principalities known as the taifa states with weak taifa rulers, thus leading to the reconquest.
taor A kind of ablution or bath before reciting the Zala.
Taqiyya Imposed public expression of Islamic religion (the Inquisition used spies that tried to entrap Moriscos, thus imposed methods to hide anything that might incriminate. Thus Moriscos were subject to Catholic extortion).
tercio Spanish infantryman. A tercio also referred to a unit of 3,000 soldiers of ten or twelve compañios of pikemen, swordsmen, and arquebusiers (musketeers). A tercio might be in "Spanish square", checkerboard formation. Sometimes tercios also formed Roman phlanx-like subdivisions. Click to see Tercios.
Toca Moorish head covering
traginero A cart-driver.
Traza Nueva España town plan: grid around central plaza, with governmental buildings and common at the center, vecinos (Gauchipine or those born on the Iberian penninsula) and other Spaniards required to maintain houses near the town center. Such land was greatly overpriced, thus vecinos could barely have sufficient funds for their houses. Thus vecinos were kept under governmental control.
uluj A Christian slave in an Islamic environment.
vega Fertile plain or valley, lowland.
vergüenza publica Punishment of parading through the streets on an ass with an inscription setting forth her name and the offence.
vidmage A tax upon those that cultivated upon royal vinyards.
vinyos Small viticulture land owners.
Zala, azala The Salat or prayer carried out by Muslims five times daily
Zambras (Zamr) Grenadan Morisco, Sephardic and Gypsy dances and music are closely related to Flamenco. Drums, flutes, trumpets, lutes, mandolins, and zithers are commonly used.
Zarçamodonia A Mora Amazon, a woman warrior, strong, used a sword, able to gather disagreeing armies of Moriscos, Ottomans, and North African Berbers to work together as allies. A "manly woman" (not meaning a Saphist), exemplified in the battle of Galera. Click for Zarçamodonia.

Bibliography

  1. Anonymous; "El Abencerraje" Click here for information
  2. Brown, Kenneth; "People of Salé: Tradition and change in a Moroccan city 1830-1930"
  3. Brun. Geronymo; (relator) "Mutiny off Algiers on the Galleys Capitana
    and Patrona of the Squadron of Yussuf Bey, Royal Pilot of the Grand Turk, 1590
    "
    Click here for information.
  4. Carr, Matthew; "Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain"
  5. Carteret, Sir George; "The Barbary Voyage of 1638"
  6. Castilla, Nuria de; "Uses and Written Practices in Aljamiado Manuscripts"
  7. Cervantes, Miguel de; "A Dialogue Between Scipio and Bergansa, two Dogs Belonging to the City of Toledo
    Giving an Account of Their Lives and Adventures. To Which is Annexed, the Comical History of Rincon and Cortado
    "
    Click here for information.
  8. Cervantes, Miguel de; "The Bagnios of Algiers [Argel] and The Great Sultana: Two Plays of Captivity"
    Click here for information.
  9. Chejne, Anwar G.; "Islam and the West, The Moriscos: A Cultural and Social History"
  10. Cook, Karoline; "Muslims and Moriscos in Colonial Spanish America"
  11. Dunton, John; "A True Journall of the Sally Fleet with the Proceedings of the Voyage, 1637"
  12. Gampel, Benjamin; "The Last Jews on Iberian Soil: Navarrese Jewry 1479/1498"
  13. Lea, Henry; "The Moriscos of Spain: Their Conversion and Expulsion"
  14. Leblon, Bernard; "Gypsies and Flamenco: The Emergence of the art of flamenco in Andalusia"
  15. Nabhan, Gary; MacDonald, Norman "The Canary Islands Connection" in AramcoWorld, July August 2019, pp. 6-13
  16. Perry, Mary Elizabeth; "The Handless Maiden: Moriscos and the Politics of Religion in Early Modern Spain"
  17. Pike, Ruth; "Linajudos and Conversos in Seville: Greed and Prejudice in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Spain"
  18. Pike, Ruth; "Penal Servitude in Early Modern Spain"
  19. Quinn, Mary; "Handless Maidens, Modern Texts: A New Reading of Cervantes's The Captive's Tale",
    Modern Language Notes, Vol. 123, No. 2, Hispanic Issue, 2008, pp. 213-229
  20. Vega, Lope de; "Fuenteovejuna" Click here for information, Translated: G. J. Racz; 2010
  21. Weiditz, Christoph; "Trachtenbuch"
  22. Wilson, Peter; "Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes"

1   "Forbidden Passages: Muslims and Moriscoes in Colonial Spanish America", by Karoline Cook
2   ibid., p. 94
3   "The sugar hacienda of the Marqueses del Valle", by Ward Barret
Hernan Cortez had Arabic irrigation channels constructed on his Haciendas, in Nueva España.

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