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This dissertation analyzes how the Catholic hierarchy of early modern Spain attempted to create Christians from its Morisco population and examines the possibility of their assimilation. The Morisco expulsion (1609-1614) provides the opportunity to see who was allowed to remain because they were good Christians and what criteria were used. It is plain that every level of command from parish priest to the royal councils defined "good" in many different ways for many reasons. In the five years of expulsion, the King and Council of State limited their definition to such a point that almost no Morisco was exempt in the end. But the process whereby the bishops, upon the King's original request, went about defining the good Christian Morisco illuminates the nature of religious behavior and belief in early modern Spain.
The sources for this project derive from the Council of State papers, Morisco appeals for exemptions, diocesan records and parish registers. I first situate the Catholic Church and Royal Administration in their management of the Moriscos and their attempt to eliminate Morisco differences. Assimilating the Moriscos was difficult to accomplish because, as Chapter Two demonstrates, there were many types of Moriscos with varying accommodations to the Habsburg state. Chapters Three and Four follow the many contemporary discussions on the Morisco problem, and especially how the debates in the King's councils led to the decree of expulsion. The many difficulties in defining and enforcing the King's expulsion orders are described in Chapter five. Chapter Six recounts how some Moriscos declared themselves "good and faithful" Christians and how they established that identity. A final chapter examines the dual results of a successful and failed expulsion.
My research explores how some Moriscos, who have been often labeled as the last Muslims of Spain, became good and faithful Christians, illuminating a local religion of Early Modern Spain that is much in discussion. The differences between Old Christians and Moriscos have always come to the fore. It is to the similarities between Spanish Moriscos and their neighbors that this dissertation turns.