Expelled Moriscos included skilled innovators, not just medieval leftovers

Evidence

There is a natural tendency, certainly apparent at the present time, to look down on displaced persons and refugees as almost by definition underqualified. It is not incorrect in some respects to see the Moriscos as a survival of medieval structures into modern (post-1500) times. But the opposite is also true: some Moriscos were innovators and modernizers. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1645

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: how expelled minority populations — Moriscos, Marranos, refugees generally — carried disproportionate technical and entrepreneurial expertise to host economies.
• ADDENDUM: Directly echoes the skill-transfer theme of the trees-as-infrastructure piece, though on human not arboreal technical diffusion.