Crown policy on the Moriscos was shaped by unsolicited expert proposals

Evidence

We must beware of taking all these pareceres seriously. “Projector” used to be the term in English for such self-appointed consultants and purveyors of projects—it is a pity that the word has unfortunately fallen out of use, as we need it in the twenty-first century as much as it was needed in the sixteenth. Such arbitristas (that was the Spanish word) might be mere cranks, or people pushing some sectional interest, or even well-informed specialists. Thus Pedro Ponce de Le´on, knowing from his long service to the Crown that galley slaves, the motive power of Mediterranean naval fleets, were always in short supply, put up the bright idea of pressing all Morisco males between 18 and 40 (Dom´ınguez and Vincent 1978, 70). — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1180