Stephanie Cavanaugh (graduated Fall 2016

Biography

My dissertation is about the legal agency of Moriscos in the Castilian city of Valladolid. Moriscos were Spanish Muslims forcibly converted to Catholicism in 1502, as well as their descendants, who were eventually expelled from Spain between 1609 and 1614. The “Morisco problem” — a contemporary concept and historiographical commonplace — was the failure of the Spanish state and Church to assimilate this group into Catholic society. I analyze how the Crown, the Church, and the courts identified and managed these populations, both local Moriscos and those deported to Castile from the Kingdom of Granada after 1570. My critical intervention in this historiography is to focus on the agency of the textual artifacts Moriscos generated through various forms of petitioning, negotiation, and litigation. This methodological and analytical shift allows me to challenge the traditional narrative of the marginalization of the Moriscos: for all the prosecution and prohibitions they faced as suspected heretics and dissidents, these documents tell a tale of significant economic industry, civic integration, and legal agency. My dissertation is about the legal agency of Moriscos in the Castilian city of Valladolid. Moriscos were Spanish Muslims forcibly converted to Catholicism in 1502, as well as their descendants, who were eventually expelled from Spain between 1609 and 1614. The “Morisco problem” — a contemporary concept and historiographical commonplace — was the failure of the Spanish state and Church to assimilate this group into Catholic society. I analyze how the Crown, the Church, and the courts identified and managed these populations, both local Moriscos and those deported to Castile from the Kingdom of Granada after 1570. My critical intervention in this historiography is to focus on the agency of the textual artifacts Moriscos generated through various forms of petitioning, negotiation, and litigation. This methodological and analytical shift allows me to challenge the traditional narrative of the marginalization of the Moriscos: for all the prosecution and prohibitions they faced as suspected heretics and dissidents, these documents tell a tale of significant economic industry, civic integration, and legal agency.

Research Interest

History