On the Social and Cultural History of the Moriscos

Abstract

Following the reconquest of Granada in 1492, the Muslim minority in Spain, known demgatorily as Moriscos, were subjected to harsh measures in the form of edicts and restrictions. Forced to live in a hostile environment, which happened to be their homeland, they developed their own attitude, accompanied by passive resistance and sporadic revolt. This attitude was expressed in an extensive, clandestine and mostly anonymous literature known as the Aljamiado literature, which was for the most part written in the Romance in Arabic script. Although the Moriscos preserved a sentimental attachment to Arabic as their own language, they were no longer able to use it. This literature was, for the most part, inspired by Arabic models that not only expressed defiance towards the oppressor, but also reiterated Islamic values. Written mostly during the XV and XVI centuries, the Aljamiado literature is significant for the study of cultural change, offering valuable data for the historian, religious scholar, sociologist, anthropologist, philologist, belle - lettrist, and civil and human rights advocate, who would gain insight into the fate of a deprived and persecuted minority living in a hostile environment. The work under review is intended according to its author “to survey and analyze the selfexpression of the Moriscos as contained in their own literature; it also assesses the status of a minority struggling for survival, with reference to ideological conflict, the clash of religions and cultures, and differing mutual perceptions.” Although the work is intended to be a general “cultural and social history,” as the sub-title indicates, it is in many ways a study of the mentulitae of a group of people who were forced to live on the defensive in their bid for survival ...