An Itinerary for Morisco Refugees from Sixteenth-Century Spain

FTER the fall of Granada, in 1492, the Moriscos in Spain were A a source of considerable anxiety to the Christian church and state. Efforts were made, especially by Fray Hernando de Talavera, Cisneros, and Juan de Ribera, to convert them to Christianity and absorb them into the Spanish people; but they were both too numerous and too firmly rooted in their own religion to be amenable to any such conversion. As it became ever more apparent during the sixteenth century that they would continue to be an alien people and a menace to Christianity, more and more extreme measures were adopted against them. Thousands were deported; and of those remaining, many who claimed to be converts were still secretly loyal to their own religion. The unfortunate converts, sincere or otherwise, were in constant danger of denunciation as renegades by personal enemies, by zealous Christians, or by individuals who coveted their possessions. As a consequence of the continued uncertainty, many of them fled across the boundary; but even then they were not safe, since they might be sent back to Spain as renegades by the long arm of the church. The text under discussion was written for these converts as a recommended itinerary for their journeys toward the east, with helpful advice along the route. The original of this itinerary is in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, consisting of folios 37v-39 of MS 774 fonds arabe, formerly known as number 290, St. Germain des Pres. It is bound with Mohammedan legends, prayers, prophecies, and other religious writings. The language is Spanish, but the characters are western Arabic, a combination that is called aljamia. Certain students of aljamiaPascual de Gayangos, Eugenio de Ochoa, F. Guillen Robles,' Eduardo Saavedra,2 and Sylvestre de Sacy3 have mentioned such an itinerary, but the only one to publish it, together with a French translation, was De Sacy. Because it is possible to correct some of his readings and to supply further light on some of his identifications, it seems worth while to study this text again. The following texts are a transcription and translation of the original

Ancient history · Archaeology · Geography · Refugee · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia · History