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Xylograph on the baptism of the Moors in Granada in the year 1500

dated 1874, from the work of Mr. E. Long

(Spain, 19th c.)
Magos Foundation Collection

THE 1491 TREATY OF GRANADA BETWEEN BOABDIL AND ISABEL THE CATHOLIC, WHICH PROVIDED FOR FREEDOM OF WORSHIP FOR MUSLIMS, WAS SOON FORGOTTEN.

The forced conversion of Muslims in Spain was decided by a series of edicts prohibiting Islam in Spain from 1500. After the reconquest of Muslim Spain by the Christian kingdoms in 1492, the Muslim population of the peninsula rose to between 500,000 and 600,000. The Muslims living under Christian rule had the status of Mudejar, which allowed them to practice Islam freely. In 1499, the archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, began a conversion campaign. Torture and imprisonment in the city of Granada triggered the first Muslim revolt. The rebellion was finally suppressed and used to revoke the legal guarantees granted by the treaties protecting the Muslims. The conversions were duplicated. By 1501, there were officially no more Muslims in Granada. Encouraged by this initial success in Granada, Queen Isabel of Castile issued an edict in 1502 banning Islam from the Crown lands.