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Morisco
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==Name and etymology== The label ''morisco'' for Muslims who [[conversion to Christianity|converted to Christianity]] began to appear in texts in the first half of the sixteenth century, though the use of the term at this time was limited.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=5}} Usage became widespread in Christian sources during the second half of the century, but it was unclear whether Moriscos adopted the term.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=5}} In their texts, it was more common for them to speak of themselves simply as ''muslimes'' (Muslims); in later periods, they may have begun to accept the label.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=5}} In modern times, the label is in widespread use in Spanish literature and adopted by other languages, including {{langx|arb|الموريسكيون|al-Mūrīskiyyūn}}.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=5}} The word ''morisco'' appears in twelfth-century Castilian texts as an adjective for the noun ''moro''.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=2}} These two words are comparable to the English adjective "Moorish" and noun "Moor".{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=2}} Mediaeval Castilians used the words in the general senses of "Muslim" or an "Arabic-speaker" as in the case of Muslim converts;{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=2}} the words continued to be used in these older meanings even after the more specific meaning of ''morisco'' (which does not have a corresponding noun) became widespread. According to [[L. P. Harvey]], the two different meanings have resulted in modern scholars misinterpreting historical texts.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|p=4}} In the early years, the Christians called them "new Christians," "new converts", or "[[new Christians]], converted from Moors" (''nuevos christianos convertidos de moros''; to distinguish from those [[Converso|converted from Judaism]]) to refer to this group.{{sfn|Harvey|2005|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Catlos|2014|p=281}} In 1517, the word ''morisco'' became a "category" added to the array of cultural and religious identities that existed at the time, used to identify Muslim converts to Christianity in Granada and Castille. The term was a pejorative adaptation of the adjective ''morisco'' ("Moorish"). It soon became the standard term for referring to all former Spain Muslims.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carr|first1=Matthew|title=Blood & Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain 1492–1614|date=2017|publisher=Hurst & Company, London|page=91}}</ref> In Spanish America, ''morisco'' (or ''morisca'', in feminine form) was used to identify a racial category: a mixed-race ''[[casta]]'', the child of a Spaniard (''español'') and a [[mulatto]] (offspring of a Spaniard and a ''negro'', generally a lighter-complexioned person with some African ancestry). This was probably due to a perception that such individuals looked similar to North Africans, appearing mostly white but with a somewhat visible sub-Saharan African admixture. The term appears in colonial-era marriage registers identifying individuals and in eighteenth-century ''casta'' paintings.<ref>Vinson, Ben III. ''Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico''. New York: Cambridge University Press 2018, 133–137.</ref> The term [[quadroon]] was a similar term for quarter-black people in English colonies.
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