Ferdinand and Isabella Appoint the Man to Oversee the Collection of the “Crusade Tax,” Which Funded the Reconquest and Conversion of Muslims to Christianity

This is just the second document we have ever had that related to the reconquest and conversions of the Muslims and Jews.

The Emirate of Granada had been the last remaining Muslim state in Iberia (al-Andalus) for more than two centuries by the time of the Granada War. The other remnant al-Andalus states of the once powerful Caliphate of Córdoba had long been conquered by the Christians. Pessimism for Granada’s future existed before its ultimate fall; in 1400, Ibn Hudayl wrote “Is Granada not enclosed between a violent sea and an enemy terrible in arms, both of which press on its people day and night?”

The unified Catholic Kingdom of Ferdinand and Isabella took the war to the moorish Granadans. The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492, against the Nasrid dynasty’s Emirate of Granada. The ten-year war was not a continuous effort but a series of seasonal campaigns launched in spring and broken off in winter. The Granadans were crippled by internal conflict and civil war, while the Christians were generally unified. The war also saw the effective use of artillery by the Christians to rapidly conquer towns that would otherwise have required a long siege. On January 2, 1492, Muhammad XII of Granada (King Boabdil) surrendered the Emirate of Granada, the city of Granada, and the Alhambra palace to the Castilian forces. This ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending all Islamic rule on the Iberian peninsula.

Spanish monarchs, with the sanction of the Pope, levied a special tax to defray costs associated with the reconquest of Spain from Muslim rule. The “Crusade tax” continued past the unification, as Spanish and Italian forces joined to attack the Moors in Tripoli, as well as to finance other costs associated with the war, such as the expulsion of the Jews and the forced conversion of the remaining Muslims. This tax was administered by the Collectors of the Holy Crusade.

Dr. Alonso Ramires de Villaescusa served as both an advocate and magistrate in cases of property seizure during the Inquisition’s mass expulsion of Jews, and conversions associated with the Holy Crusade. He was one of the most important and influential administrators in the Kingdom. Juan de Figueroa was the Collector of the Holy Crusade for Palencia and adjacent regions, and was responsible for making sure the money was collected and distributed.

Document signed, by Ferdinand and Isabella, Granada, September 23, 1501 to Doctor Alfonso Ramires de Villaescusa, chief magistrate of the city of Valladolid.

“You have been informed that the reverend father in Christ, the Bishop of Jaen, of our Council, appointed named Juan de Figueroa, inhabitant of this city, as collector for the Holy Crusade in the Bishopric of Palencia, and how we ordered that doctor Alvaro de San Pedro, guard of our Royal Household, be dispatched in order to collect the maravedis [Spanish coin] payable that have accumulated, and that together with the collector he will collect and receive the maravedis. For the execution of this, we are appointing and sending you, as you will ascertain from our Royal letter, bearing our signatures and royal seal. Therefore, we order you to act according to these instructions. However, you will that take care, that, since at times, such tax collection has resulted in complaints of injustice, they should be handled in such a manner that there be no such claims of injustice, whereupon you will render us a great service.” The document is also signed by Gaspar de Gricio, scribe of the court.

This is just the second document we have ever had that related to the reconquest and conversions of the Muslims and Jews.