Early Modern Muslim Women of Spain

Throughout the sixteenth century, following the Catholic conquests of the Iberian Peninsula that culminated in the conquest of Granada in 1492, several edicts forced Muslims to choose between baptism or expulsion (for example, Castile 1502, Aragon 1526). Muslims who remained in Christian lands after their forced baptism were referred to as “Moriscos,” a pejorative term coined by the Old Christian community to distinguish themselves from New Christian converts. Since Moriscos converted to Catholicism under duress, most of them remained clandestine Muslims. They were eventually expelled from Iberia following a series of edicts by Philip III between 1609 and 1614. This entry focuses on the role of women in the book culture of the persecuted minority group of crypto-Muslim Moriscos. Many cultural practices that were associated with Islam, including the use of the Arabic language and the possession of Arabic books, were banned in an effort to force the Moriscos to assimilate into the Old Christian society. As a marginalized community, Moriscos were compelled to negotiate their place within the Old Christian community, and women played an integral part in holding the Morisco community together. These Moriscas resisted the status quo and found ways, despite their double marginalization as Moriscos and women, not only to contribute to their communities, but also to become active agents in the preservation of Islam through clandestine practices. This entry uncovers these practices in two main sources, Inquisition records and Aljamiado texts.