Memorable expulsion y justissimo destierro de los Moriscos de España [...] • Dialogo de Consuelo por la expulsión de los Moriscos de Espana • Prodición y Destierro de los Moriscos [...]

Reunion of three highly sought-after first editions, most notably the last, printed in a very small number of copies, on the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain between 1609 and 1614, written by Marcos de Guadalajara y Javier and Juan Ripol. 

Volume bearing the royal and Jesuit arms, and woodcut initials with foliate and figural designs, after the macabre engravings of Hans Lützelburger. Woodcut-engraved border on the first and third title pages, elegant double black-ruled frame around the text. 

A superb copy bringing together three of the most important apologetic texts on the expulsion of the Moriscos, accused of driving Spain to ruin and decadence.  The banishment of a baptized people was unprecedented in the history of Christendom and constituted so abnormal an event that it was not included in civil nor religious law.  Virulent diatribes, such as those of Guadalajara and Ripol, appeared in order to justify this odious act.

Contemporary full white vellum binding with fore-edge flaps, smooth spine, manuscript ink title, visible ties, faded pen decoration on the covers, occasional foxing, marginal tears without loss, faint dampstaining, browning, and scattered stains; ff. 2 to 5 of Prodición y destierro with marginal restoration.

Unlike standard copies of Prodición y destierro, this copy appears to predate the printing of the “Aprobacion” and the “Tabla”, both of which are absent. In the other copies examined (Real Academia Española, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Universidad Pública de Navarra), the prologue leaf following these approvals is signed ¶5, whereas the present copy bears no such signature. This absence suggests that the prologue did not form part of a gathering whose preceding leaves are now missing. The same phenomenon is found with the table of contents, also absent here: the catchword on the leaf preceding the table in other copies does not appear in the present copy, indicating that the table had not yet been intended for inclusion at this stage of the printing.

“What fanaticism! What folly! To what impious consequences do religious passions lead, when charity neither inspires nor tempers them!” (Histoire des mores mudejares et des morisques ou des arabes d'Espagne sous la domination des chrétiens, Anne Marie Joseph Albert, comte de Circourt, 1846).

At the dawn of the seventeenth century, the Moriscos, one of the largest minorities living on Spanish soil, were driven from the kingdoms of Spain. Their fate was sealed by the royal decree of 4 August 1609, ordering their exile. The measure first came into force in Valencia, where the former Muslim community was largest, and continued the following year in Aragon and Castile. Reprieves were granted, notably for the villages of the Ricote valley, which were not affected by the sentence until 1613. The chronicles Memorable expulsion and Prodición y destierro by Marcos de Guadalajara y Javier are among the earliest on the subject, and cover the banishment of the Moriscos throughout its execution, from 1609 to 1614.  As a member of the order of religious tasked with disseminating royal ideology, Guadalajara witnessed their expulsion in Andalusia.

These two major primary sources by Guadalajara blend authentic historical content, such as contemporary military orders, with fictional material, including fabricated Morisco testimonies and prophecies — notably one attributed to Saint Isidore, according to which Philip III would “purge” the kingdom of its converted Muslim population, which he describes as a “clinging pestilence” (“pestilencia pegajosa”). In order to legitimize royal intervention against heretics who properly fell under the authority of the Church, he casts the Moriscos as veritable collective enemies of all Christendom. He no longer advocates a policy of evangelization or assimilation, still under debate even as the expulsion was already underway. According to his account, the expulsion of the Moriscos would even herald the general decline of Islam, and forms part of a providential view of history leading to the liberation of Jerusalem and Palestine.

Despite their authors' bias, these writings legitimizing the expulsion of the Moriscos also contributed greatly to estimating the number of “New Christians” banished during the five years of expulsion: around 600,000 souls according to the Comte de Circourt, who calculated this figure from data supplied by the Carmelite friar.  Among these thousands, some perished “by sword, fire, and famine,” both in Spain and in the North African countryside. The very rare title Prodición y destierro, present here, even includes lists of the names of families expelled from Old and New Castile, the Kingdom of Toledo, La Mancha, and Extremadura.

The work of the notary Juan Ripol, meanwhile, stands out for its originality and attests to how pervasive the debate over the Moriscos was among the population. In Diálogo de Consuelo, the author stages two fictional characters — Serapion, beset by doubts, and the learned Alberto, who reiterates without innovation the arguments already advanced by other apologists — debating the merits of the expulsion measures. From this dialogue arises a reflection, among other things, on jealousy and greed. The work serves as a perfect counterpart to Cervantes, who introduces this burning issue in Don Quixote through the character of Ricote, a Morisco exiled following the decree targeting the valley that bears his name, Ricote.

A precious copy bringing together rare writings on one of the darkest periods of Spanish history, strictly contemporary with the terrible decision to expel the Moriscos, taken by Philip III at the urging of the Duke of Lerma.

Provenance: pastedown bookplate of the lawyer V[ictor] Duchâtaux, a bibliophile of the second half of the nineteenth century. Contemporary ownership inscription on the verso of the title page.