As a PhD candidate, my research concentrates on the fascinating religiosity of the Moriscos, the last Spanish Muslims to be forcibly converted to Catholicism in 16th century Spain. My dissertation explores the ways in which some crypto-Muslim scholars in the morisco community attempted to preserve and retain their Islamic identity using eclectic and sometimes innovative means. I am particularly interested in the writings of Mancebo de Arévalo and how his texts, written in Aljamiado (a writing system which employs Arabic script to represent Romance languages), both articulate and express a hybrid and syncretic approach to religious identity and expression unique to the peninsular context of moriscos while also affirming historical, religious and mystical continuity with traditional conceptions of Muslim identity, belonging, and praxis in the early modern era. My supervisor is Dr. Adnan Husain.
About
