Mudéjar

Mudéjar (Spanish: [muˈðexar, muˈðehar], Portuguese: [muˈðɛʒaɾ], Catalan: Mudèjar [muˈðɛʒər], Arabic: مدجن‎ trans. Mudajjan, "tamed; domesticated") is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity. This term is used to contrast with both Muslims in Muslim-ruled areas (for example, Muslims of Granada before 1492), and also in contrast to Moriscos who were forcibly converted and may or may not secretly practice Islam.

Mudéjar also denotes a style of Iberian architecture and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship.

The Treaty of Granada (1491) protected religious and cultural freedoms for Muslims in the imminent transition from the Emirate of Granada to a Province of Castile. After the fall of the last Islamic kingdom after the Battle of Granada in January 1492, Mudéjars, unlike the Jews' Alhambra Decree (1492) expulsion, kept a protected religious status, although there were Catholic efforts to convert them. However, in the next several decades the religious freedom deteriorated. Islam was outlawed in Portugal by 1497, Crown of Castile by 1502, and Crown of Aragon by 1526, forcing the Mudéjars to convert or in some cases leave the country. Following the forced conversion, because of suspicions that they were not truly converted, or crypto-Muslims, they were known as Moriscos. The Moriscos, too, were eventually expelled in 1609-1614. The distinctive Mudéjar style is still evident in regional architecture, as well as in the music, art, and crafts, especially Hispano-Moresque ware, lustreware pottery which was widely exported across Europe.