The first decade of the seventeenth century was a turbulent period for the Spanish monarchy. Recent military defeats in Flanders dealt a heavy blow at the national level, and in the eyes of the world. After reaching a truce with Protestants in the Low Countries, Spain needed to achieve a victory, if only a symbolic one, and it chose a common enemy of Christianity: Islam.

During 1609, more than 300,000 people were expelled from Spain, The reason: the simple fact of being identified as Moriscos, that is, Spaniards descended from Muslims who had been forced to convert to Christianity.

The Moriscos were mostly artisans and farmers in the service of big feudal landowners. Their expulsion produced the impoverishment of many regions of Spain, the collapse of non-irrigated agriculture, and other economic losses. There was also an enlightened and rich Morisco society, but their members were expelled just the same, and were forced to pay the expenses of poor Moriscos.

The expulsion order was signed by King Philip III, on the proposal of his chief minister the Duke of Lerma, and the measure was applied gradually throughout the various kingdoms of the Spanish peninsula. Its intention was nothing less than to extirpate every trace of anything that was not the Christian faith, despite the fact that the Moriscos or “New Christians” were as native to Spain as those who expelled them. Society was divided over the matter, but the use of anti-Morisco propaganda penetrated deeply. Even so, there were Moriscos who succeeded in eluding expulsion, and those who returned to Spain years later.