The expulsion of the Moors from Spain was an operation designed more for political purposes than with the consequences of this titanic operation in mind. The signing of a humiliating truce with the United Provinces forced the monarchy to save face, the Moorish question being a propitious opportunity. It seemed at last that the monarch was aware of the potential danger of this population (despite the fact that the Ottomans no longer had any appetite for the western Mediterranean as early as 1580). The expulsion was at the same time an opportunity for the Valencian lords, who for centuries had been receiving static rents that had not kept pace with the rise in prices resulting from the influx of precious metals from the Indies. The opportunity to put an end to the emphyteutic contracts and gain access to other more advantageous types of contracts such as leases were some of the reasons for the nobility’s collaboration in agreeing to the expulsion of their Moorish subjects. The idea was that the territories would be repopulated with Old Christians brought from other regions. However, the results were catastrophic. Only the great nobles were somehow able to make up for the Moorish loss. For the rest, not as many repopulators arrived, nor were they all interested in settling under the new conditions. Some of the nobility were ruined within a few years, because they had already had an unbridled standard of living with the Moorish presence and were carrying huge debts. With the expulsion of the Moors, not only were they unable to repay their debts, but they could no longer even support themselves due to the depopulation of their lands.
Collection: Texts
Chronology: XVII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/28462/1/RHM_27.pdf
Resource type: Historical source
Source: Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, Consejo de Aragón (Secretaría de Valencia): leg. 607, nº 3/1
Language: Spanish
Date: 21/12/1609
Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)
Identifier: Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, Consejo de Aragón (Secretaría de Valencia): leg. 607, nº 3/1
Abstract: Written statement by the Duke of Lerma presenting his uncertainties regarding the expulsion of the Moors
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