Module 064 · Conquest & Exile
The Reconquista
& The Exodus
Where the expelled went when Spain chose purity over civilization
In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella completed the longest military campaign in European history — 770 years to reclaim a peninsula that was conquered in seven. Then, in the same year, they signed the Alhambra Decree: convert or leave. The Jews went first. The Muslims followed, in waves, over the next 122 years. By 1614, Spain had emptied itself of the communities that had built its libraries, its palaces, its irrigation systems, and its economy. They scattered across the Mediterranean — to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, the Ottoman Empire, Amsterdam, Livorno. They carried with them the DNA of al-Andalus. This module maps where they went, and what they brought.
770
years of Reconquista
1492
fall of Granada
~300K
Moriscos expelled
16
diaspora cities mapped
The Reconquista · 711–1614
The Exodus · Where They Went
Red dot = Granada (origin). Dashed lines = diaspora routes. Click any destination city.
Diaspora Destinations
North Africa (8)
Ottoman Empire (5)
Western Europe (6)
Reading Notes
The same year
January 2, 1492: Granada surrenders. March 31: the Alhambra Decree expels the Jews. August 3: Columbus sails. The completion of the Reconquista, the beginning of the Jewish diaspora, and the launch of the colonial project all happen in the same calendar year, ordered by the same monarchs. Columbus\'s crew included conversos. His voyage was partly motivated by a desire to find allies against Islam and fund a new crusade for Jerusalem. 1492 is not three separate stories. It is one.
Bayezid and Ferdinand
Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire reportedly said of Ferdinand: "You call Ferdinand a wise ruler — he who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine?" The Ottomans actively welcomed Sephardic Jews. Bayezid sent ships to bring refugees from Spain. They brought the printing press, commercial expertise, diplomatic languages, and medical knowledge. Thessaloniki became a majority-Jewish city — the only one in Europe — and remained so for 450 years.
The Sarajevo Haggadah
A 14th-century illuminated manuscript created in Barcelona. Carried out of Spain in 1492. Survived the Inquisition. Surfaced in Sarajevo. Hidden from the Nazis by a Muslim librarian who risked his life. Hidden again during the Bosnian War in a bank vault. Now Bosnia\'s most valuable cultural artifact — a Jewish text from Spain, saved twice by Muslims, in a city that was once Ottoman.
The numbers
Pre-1492 Muslim population of Castile: approximately 500,000. By 1492: 100,000 dead or enslaved, 200,000 emigrated, 200,000 remaining. Jews expelled by the Alhambra Decree: estimated 40,000–200,000 (figures remain debated). Moriscos expelled 1609–1614: 275,000–300,000. Of those, approximately 70,000–100,000 settled in Morocco. The economic devastation was immediate: Valencia lost a third of its population. Agricultural knowledge walked out the door.
Sources: Harvey, L.P. Muslims in Spain, 1500–1614. University of Chicago Press, 2005. Gerber, Jane S. The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. Free Press, 1992. García-Arenal, Mercedes and Gerard Wiegers (eds.). The Expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain: A Mediterranean Diaspora. Brill, 2014. Kennedy, Hugh. Muslim Spain and Portugal. Routledge, 1996. De Epalza, Míkel. Los moriscos antes y después de la expulsión. Mapfre, 1992. Wikipedia: "Reconquista," "Alhambra Decree," "Expulsion of Jews from Spain," "Expulsion of the Moriscos," "Sephardic Jews," "Thessaloniki," "Chefchaouen," "Tétouan." Eurasia Review: "Expulsion of Sephardic Jews from Spain in 1492 and Their Relocation and Success in Morocco." National Library of Israel: "The Jewish Expulsion From Spain and the Sephardic Diaspora." Sephardic U: "History of Sephardic Jews." Al-Andalus y la Historia: "The Expulsion of the Moriscos." Coordinates via Google Earth and OpenStreetMap.
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