Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–1571): Difference between revisions

| combatant1 = {{flagcountryflagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Spanish Empire}}|Spain]]

| combatant2 = {{flagicon|Emirate of Granada}} Muslim Granadans<br />''with the support of:[[Morisco]]s'' rebels<br />{{flag|Ottoman Algeria}}<br /> Volunteers from the Kingdom of Fez

| commander1 = [[Philip II of {{flagicon|Spain|Philip1506}} II]]<br/>[[John of Austria|Don John of Austria]]<br/>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Iñigo López de Mendoza y Mendoza|Marquis of Mondéjar]]<br/>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Luis Fajardo, 2nd Marquis of los Vélez|Marquis of Los Vélez]]<br/>{{flagicon|Spain|1506}} [[Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1520–1578)|Duke of Sessa]]

| commander2 = [[Aben Humeya]]{{KIAAssassinated}} (1568–1569)<br/>[[Aben Aboo]]{{KIAAssassinated}} (1569–1571)<br/>{{flagicon|OttomanRegency Algeriaof Algiers}} [[Occhiali|Uluç Ali Paşa]]

| casualties1 = Unknown

When a rumor spread in 1568 that the Ottomans had finally come to liberate them, Muslims near Granada, “believing that the days under Christian rule were over, went berserk. Priests all over the countryside were attacked, mutilated, or murdered; some were burned alive; one was sewed inside a pig and barbequed; the pretty Christian girls were assiduously raped, some sent off to join the harems of Moroccan and Algerian potentates.”<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mhvOwAEACAAJ|title=Los moriscos del reino Granada: Ensayo de Historia Social|pages=177–86|isbn=9788420678603 |last1=Baroja |first1=Julio Caro |year=2003 |publisher=Alianza }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C0rYAAAAMAAJ|title=Jihad in the West: Muslim Conquests from the 7th to the 21st Centuries|page=314|isbn=9781573922470 |last1=Fregosi |first1=Paul |year=1998 |publisher=Prometheus Books }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3IyLEtQRIyoC|title=Historia de los moriscos: Vida y tragedia de una minoría|page=40|isbn=9788420624150 |last1=Ortiz |first1=Antonio Domínguez |last2=Vincent |first2=Bernard |year=1993|publisher=Alianza Editorial }}</ref>

At a meeting on 17 September 1568 it was proposed that they should elect a chieftain to lead the revolt. The rebellion started on Christmas Eve in the village of Béznar in the Lecrin valley, when [[Aben Humeya|Hernando de Córdoba y Valór]] was named King: in a solemn ceremony, they clothed him in purple according to the old ritual for the kings of Granada, and many rich Moriscos attended, wearing black garments.<ref>Caro Baroja, pp.173-4; Lea p.237</ref> He was chosen because he descended from the lineage of the caliphs of Córdoba, the Omeyas, and he therefore took the Moorish name Aben Humeya (or "Omeya"). Numerous other places in the ''tahas'' (districts) of Órgiva, Poqueira, Juviles, and other Morisco villages in the Alpujarra followed suit.

The first action by the rebels was in Granada city: it was led by Aben Humeya's "grand vizir", Farax Aben Farax, who on that same night of 24–25 December entered the Albaicín (the Moorish quarter) with a group of ''monfíes[[monfí]]es'' – outlaws who for one reason or another had left the villages and roamed in the mountains. His aim was to persuade the Morisco inhabitants to join the revolt, but he had little success – only a few hundred followed him. This failure in the capital had a decisive effect on the course of the campaign throughout the Kingdom of Granada.<ref>Caro Baroja, p.176</ref>

The rebellion took on a fanatic character, with the torturing and murder of priests and sacristans, the destruction and profanation of churches. In this the bands of ''monfíesmonfies'' played a large part.<ref>Domínguez & Vincent, p.40; Caro Baroja, p.177-86</ref>

Between 1609 and 1614, the Spanish Crown undertook the [[expulsion of the Moriscos]] from all over Spain. About half of Granada's Moriscos remained in the region after the dispersal; only 20002,000 were expelled from the city of Granada, many remaining mixed with and protected by old Christians who were less hostile towards them than in other regions of Spain (notably in the Kingdom of Valencia).<ref>Domínguez & Vincent, p. 188</ref><ref>García de Cortázar, maps pp.324-325</ref>