Suspicions and tensions between the Moriscos and…

Suspicions and tensions between the Moriscos and the Christians have been high for some time.

While some Moriscos do hold influence and power, and they have some allies such as the nobility of Valencia and Aragon who depend on them as a cheap labor force, their overall political and economic heft in Spain is low.

The Christian population constantly suspects the Moriscos of not being sincere in their Christianity.

As the Moriscos had in 1492 been forced to choose between conversion and exile, many indeed hold little loyalty to either the crown or the church.

Several revolts had broken out, the most notable being the 1568–1573 revolt against an edict of Philip II's banning Arabic, Arabic names, and requiring Moriscos to give up their children to be educated by priests.

After the suppression of the revolt, Philip had ordered the dispersal of the Moriscos of Granada to other areas, expecting that this would break down the Morisco community and facilitate their assimilation into the Christian population.

This may have happened to a degree to Granada's Moriscos, but not in Valencia or Aragon, where genuine crypto-Muslim enclaves still exist.