The expulsion of the Moriscos from the Catalan Countries: ideology and history

The expulsion of the Moriscos from the Catalan Countries, particularly from the Valencian Country, has been interpreted in various ways. Historians who have dealt with the subject have tended towards one or two main positions that can be termed Moriscophile and Moriscophobic. The former considered that the expulsion of a very active Islamic minority brought about a serious check to the process of capitalist development. The latter, taking for granted that the Morisco minority was not so economically important, believed their expulsion did not have such an influence, and even that if they did have an influence, it was in the opposite direction. Both interpretations were heavily charged with ideological presuppositions. The present article attempts to settle the question more objectively by analysing the changes that took place in the population structure in the wake of the expulsion, the evolution of agricultural production during the entire Modern Age, and the changes in the structure of land ownership. The results seem to endorse what we have called Moriscophobic interpretation. This is because the population structure, the evolution of agricultural production, and changes in the structure of ownership seem to point to an acceleration in growth of the capitalistic economy after the expulsion.