Becoming Christian and Continue Paying Like a Muslim? Conversion, Taxation and Conflict in the Mudejar/Morisco Communities of the Military Orders at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century? Change of faith, taxation and conflict in the mudejar/morisco communities of the Military Orders at the beginning of the XVIth Century

Abstract

This study examines the fiscal implications of the conversion to the Christian faith of the Mudejars of Castile in 1501-1502, with special emphasis on the situation of the communities settled in the lordships of the Military Orders, as well as on the collective negotiating process of the new Morisco statute. Although baptism entailed the suppression of «differential taxation» perceived by the Christian powers on the Muslim communities, the persistence of tax collecting by, and requirement of services to the lords generated conflicts in the first years of the sixteenth century. The Morisco communities reacted by defending their new legal and fiscal status, supported by the Crown’s policy aimed at recognizing the exemption of this burden as a way to facilitate assimilation. The result observed in the lordships of the kingdom of Murcia, Campo de Calatrava and the community of Hornachos are analysed as representative case studies.