Morisco Demography and Society in Sevilla. The Census of 1589

Abstract

In 1589, the Diocesan authorities sent a census of the Moriscos of Seville to the Council of Castilla. Twenty years after the deportation from Granada, the Morisco community was mostly urban, specialised in commerce and crafts, even if poor living conditions and an elevated rate of unskilled professions strongly suggest that its socio-economic status was far from enviable. The proclaimed aims to accelerate and facilitate their integration into Christian society were largely unsuccessful, in particular because the means provided to enable their evangelisation were notoriously insufficient. The Moriscos had become a numerically important minority in Seville, with 6329 registered. They were disseminated throughout the peripheral neighbourhoods of the town, and for the Sevillan population living in the centre constituted an obsessive threat, fuelling constant rumours of rebellion.