Conference “The Morisco Diaspora and Morisco Networks across the Western and Eastern Mediterranean”

Zoom/ University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

16-17 September 2021

(Zoom link soon on this page)

This workshop, co-organized by IS-LE COST Action (CA18129) Islamic Legacy: Narratives East, West, South, North of the Mediterranean (1350-1750) and the ERC Synergy Project the European Qur’ān (EuQu) brings together scholars who work on the (forced) migrations of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula to other parts of Europe and the MENA Region between the fall of Granada (1492) and the first half of seventeenth century.

These migrations of groups and individuals took place in varying contexts and characteristics. Most migrations were induced by the repression of Islam and forced conversion and/or expulsion decrees between 1499 and 1609-1614, when the converted Muslims (Moriscos) were expelled from Spain. But there were also movements of Muslim refugees back to the Iberian Peninsula, especially between 1609 and 1640.

The focus is on the agency and leadership of the migratory movements, their networks, diplomatic efforts to influence the leadership of receiving societies (Morocco, the Ottoman Empire and its regions in Europe (e.g. Bosnia), the Middle East and the Maghrib) and the ways they used their spiritual, social, and economic capital to make a living in their Mediterranean Diaspora.

Thursday, 16 September 2021

14.30-15.00 Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers

Welcome and Introduction. Leadership and agency of the Moriscos in Iberia and beyond.

Panel 1: Morisco displacements during the 16th century and beyond

15.00-15.30 Barbara Ruiz Bejarano

The “Caudillo” of the moriscos in France and the Ottoman-sponsored morisco diaspora

15.30-16.00 Luis F. Bernabé Pons

Money that binds. Some internal ties of the Moriscos in their Diaspora

16.00-16.15 Break

16.15-16.45. Bruno Pomara

Air of freedom. The discreet Moorish presence in Venetian lands

Intermezzo: Book presentation

16.45-17.15. Rick Leeuwestein and Hicham Ghalbane

Children of Al-Andalus. A Lost Paradise in Morocco (Amsterdam 2021).

17.15-17.45 Break

Panel 2: Early Diasporas after the Expulsion

17.45-18.15 Farah Bazzi

The Bodily and Natural Borders of Morocco’s Early Modern Empire: Changing Perceptions on the Conquest of al-Andalus and Bilād al-Sudān

18.15-18.45 Mayte Green-Mercado

Mediterranean Displacements: The Case of the Izquierdo Family

Friday, 17 September

Panel 2 Early Diasporas after the Expulsion- continued

14.00-14.30 Kate Randazzo

“Whoever Has Been a Muslim Never Loses His Religion”: Language and Religious Authority in Muhammad Alguazir’s Apología contra los artículos de la ley cristiana

14.30-15.00 Catherine Infante

Images of Mary in the Moriscos’ Mediterranean Diaspora

15.00-15.30. Khadidja Ourezifi

Moriscos in Algiers (16th and 17th centuries): Identity and integration.

15.30-15.45 Break

15.45-16.15 Khouala Mighri

The integration of the Andalusians and Moriscos and their contribution to the architectural and urban planning field in Tunisia

16.15-16.45.

Jaafar ben El Haj Soulami

The Exodus of the Andalusians to Morocco and the Ottoman regencies during the defeat of the Alpujarras revolution of 1568-1571: Mythological premises and historical consequences

Panel 3: Later Diasporas

16.45-17.15 Break

17.15-17.45 Hossain Bouzineb

Los moriscos y el cambio dinástico marroquí de 1666

17.45-18.15 Houssem Eddine Chachia

“The powerful Moriscos” in Tunisia, during17th century.

18.15-18.45 Teresa Soto

Tracing Dissent: The circulation of Mohamad Rabadán’s writings in Europe

18.45-19.00 Afterword, thanks and discussion of next steps

Source: euqu.eu