Expulsion decrees mixed brutal enforcement clauses with unworkable humanitarian provisions

Evidence

The decree is a curious mixture of a number of brutally functional clauses (nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7), and others that can have had little or no practical effect (nos. 9, 10, 11, and 12), possibly inserted in the document to salve the conscience of Philip or his administrators. Other clauses propose quite impractical solutions (5 and 8) for problems that seemed likely to arise. As for clause 13, it is difficult to see how a Morisco family could have organized its own journey to some destination other than North Africa if it had only three days available to do so, especially bearing in mind that Moriscos were not told in the first place where they were being sent! — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1449

Categorization

• QUESTION: Clause 13’s three-day notice plus unspecified destination seems designed to fail — worth checking the actual decree text for clause 13’s wording.