Fear of Islamic war, not its reality, drove the expulsion decision

Evidence

Where I would not follow this historian is when he says, “Ironically, the war with Islam had lost much of its urgency, and by 1609 was no longer a major preoccupation” (2: 43). It is true, we now know, that North African Islam was settling into decline, but fear of war with the Islamic world and what that might mean was still a powerful motivating force. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1425

Categorization

• XREF: Perceived threat outpacing actual threat — resonates with moral panic dynamics the reader has tracked elsewhere.