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Alpujarras Morisco Revolt

Type Event Region Europe Time 1568–1571

In December 1568, Moriscos (converted Muslims) in the Alpujarras mountains of Granada province, Spain, launched a large-scale revolt against forced a…

Timeline

  1. 1568–1569Alpujarras · AndalusiaProvoked by hardline assimilation measures under Bishop Pedro de Deza y Guzmán, the Morisco communities of the Alpujarras rose up, capturing several towns and villages, receiving limited support from North African Muslims, and quickly spreading across the mountains of Granada.
  2. 1569–1570Granada province · AndalusiaPhilip II dispatched generals such as Don John of Austria to lead regular troops and Italian mercenaries into the mountains to suppress the revolt. Both sides suffered casualties in mountain guerrilla warfare and scorched-earth tactics, and the rebels at one point established local governing institutions.
  3. 1571Granada · AndalusiaThe revolt was fully quelled in 1571, after which the crown ordered the Moriscos of Granada scattered and resettled in Castile and elsewhere, destroying their community structures. This war marked Spain's final reckoning with the Muslim legacy and paved the way for the complete expulsion of the Moriscos in the early 17th century.

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