ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

With the fall of Granada, many Andalusians fled to the Alpujarra. The region was the last refuge of the Moriscos, who remained in the area until long after the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom.

Throughout the 16th century, the installation of new settlers was progressive.

The new Castilian power brought changes in all aspects of society. As for the structuring of the territory, for example, lordships were created, which meant an accumulation of property in few hands. Many Moriscos, prior owners of smallholdings in rural areas, with the divisions became employees of the old Christians.

The Moriscos were skilled in farming and ranching and magnificent artisans. However, now they were in a lower social class than the Christians. Many lost their irrigated plots, once devoted to self-consumption. The Moorish farmers faced a powerful minority of old Christians, landowners of the best lands, which detected the local power, also exerting the ideological domain.

The Christian conquest made the Islam a forbidden religion, because after some time the conversion to Christianity was forced. This caused a rejection of the Moriscos against the Christians. They kept secretly their culture, traditions, rituals and organization.

The coexistence between Mudejars and Christians was very difficult from the beginning. Over time, both representatives of institutional power as the Christian population in general practiced a continuous and systematic repression against the Mudejars first, and then against the Moriscos.

The state, stimulated by the old Christians, pursued a radical policy until they fully condemn the customs and religious practices of the Moriscos. Philip II added to the growing repressive action of the Inquisition a series of socio-economic measures for the Moriscos and made effective the measures of the Royal Chapel of 1526 (which the Moriscos had managed to suspend for 40 years). For this purpose, he published a Pragmatic on January 1, 1567. By this, he forbade all the traditional Moorish practices: names, language both spoken and written, clothing, personal ornaments, festivals, rituals, celebrations, etc.

The prohibitions and growing restrictions caused several uprisings.

UPRISINGS

The Mudejar and Moorish population was very important in La Alpujarra, to the extent of being a focal point of resistance to the Castilian crown several times.

First Uprising (1499-1551)

The breach of contract that resulted from the conquest of Granada, by the crown, led to the first revolt of the Mudejars, Muslims in Christian territory.

Once defeated, they were given a choice between converting to Christianity or leave Spain. Most chose to be baptized, leading to the Moriscos, Mudejars converts or descendants of these.

Second uprising (1568-1571)

This is essentially the uprising of the Moriscos against Christians in the Alpujarra, in the Serrania de Ronda and the Sierra de Bentomiz. It occurs during the reign of Philip II and following the Pragmatic Sanction of 1567, for which the use of the Arabic language and the expression of Moorish customs and beliefs is prohibited.

In the so-called War of the Alpujarras, the Moriscos resisted by a guerrilla struggle the harassment of the Christian troops under the command of the Marquis de Mondéjar. They have the advantage of knowing the territory. Besides, they receive military aid from the Ottoman Empire.

Don Fernando de Córdoba y Válor, belonging to an old Muslim family, had taken command. He was proclaimed King by the name of Aben Humeya. He would, however, be betrayed and murdered by his cousin Aben Aboo, who becomes new leader before the total surrender of the Moriscos.

Internal rivalries among the leaders themselves were decisive for the war to be resolved in favour of Christians. The arrival of John of Austria, who is now leader of the Christian troops, forces the rebels to surrender in 1571.

After the defeat of the rebellion, the survivors were expelled from the region (a process that had begun during the war), proceeding to the repopulation with Christians from other parts of the Peninsula. The Moorish population was dispersed in various territories of the Crown of Castile (Western Andalusia and the two Castiles).

Philip III decreed the final expulsion in 1609. From then until 1614, when the process was considered finished, thousands of Moriscos went to the North of Africa. Some families remained in the area, hidden.

In those moments the Alpujarra was terrible. Devastated crops and houses, ditches or mills destroyed join together with a population that has a much lower number than in the preceding period.

REPOPULATION

Exile in the region caused a significant population decline and the collapse of the economy, once represented by a flourishing agriculture and industry. And the Moriscos were not to there any more to help to build it again. Besides, during the confrontations, many farmhouses, workshops and fields were destroyed.

Following the expulsion of the Moriscos and the subsequent repopulation, in the area it took place a big change, which affected cultural, economic and social aspects.

The Repopulation, with Christians from Western Andalusia or both Castiles or the kingdoms of Galicia, Murcia and Valencia was a failure, because the conditions for the new inhabitants, by the crown, were not good, as they were trying to get a great economic benefit from the process. Apart from this, we have to add the inability of newcomers to adapt themselves to the conditions of the physical environment and the ignorance of the farming methods of the area, such as irrigation and forestry, focusing them on dry land. Although, by order of the Crown, two Moorish families remained in each town to teach newcomers the secrets of their booming economy, things like farming systems were lost, replaced by elements of Castilian origin.