Geopolitical leverage, not religion, drove Spain’s differential treatment of Jews and Muslims

Evidence

This Machiavellian line of reasoning should not be forgotten when in chapter 9 we come to look at the ways in which the expulsion of the Moriscos was put into effect in the period 1609–14 under the different conditions of that later age. In terms of global strategy the Christian nations of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the fifteenth century felt, vis-a-vis the Islamic world, that they were potentially vulnerable, but by the time the Edicts of Expulsion were eventually put into effect the combined kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were immeasurably wealthier and more powerful than any of the Islamic powers of the early seventeenth century. Fear of reprisals no longer held Christian policymakers back in the way that it had done 112 years earlier. — <cite>L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 128</cite> (#corroborates`, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Geopolitical leverage and economic value delayed Muslim persecution in Spain. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 120; The Spanish Inquisition was economic control, and Ottomans sheltered its Jewish refugees — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 353; Geopolitical ties to Muslim states shielded Spanish Muslims from Jews’ harsher treatment. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 132 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Geopolitical fear of Muslim powers protected Iberian Moors from Jewish-style persecution #corroborates (0.96)
• Christian policy toward Muslims shifted once Iberian monarchs no longer feared Islamic reprisals #corroborates (0.92) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 128