Muslim and Jewish Minorities in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula After the Reconquista

The Reconquista was a series of wars Christian forces started in 718 to take back the Iberian Peninsula from Muslims. These wars lasted until the battle of Granada in 1492, which ended the Muslim rule in Spain and began a new chapter of Catholic rule. Almost nobody denies the intolerance the Jewish and Muslim minorities faced in the Iberian Peninsula after the Reconquista, which reached its height in the expulsion of both minorities starting with Jews and followed by Moriscos, who were originally Muslims but forced to convert to Christianity. In recent years, the Spanish government recognized the right of Sephardic Jews to return to Spain. This decision raised the debate about the same right for Moriscos. This paper will try to discuss the difference between the status of the two minorities to find out if they can be seen equals in regard to the right of return to Spain.