Morisco diplomatic lobbying continued after their expulsion and statelessness

Evidence

The representation abroad of the interests of the Muslims of Spain was, of course, an activity that had been going on before the surrender of Granada in 1492 and before the forcible conversions. This continued after those conversions and through the sixteenth century, which is hardly surprising, since the need was greater. It was an activity that even continued after the last Spanish Muslim had been deported and the last vestige of al-Andalus had ceased to exist (indeed, it became more urgently important at that stage). Representations relating to the interests of Moriscos never ceased although they had no state. There was certainly no centralized institutional continuity, no equivalent of a “Morisco Bureau,” but that did not prevent a series of diplomatic maneuvers that endeavored to enlist the help of foreign states. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1544

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the general literature on stateless peoples maintaining diplomatic representation abroad — parallels Jewish or Armenian diaspora diplomacy after expulsion.