In 1606 María Páez Limpati was a
19-year-old Morisca living in Alma-
gro.Documents from the time reveal
that pressure from the inquisitors
led her to make numerous accusa-
tions against those in her communi-
ty. Páez’s statements triggered cru-
el interrogations, torture, seizure of
property, and loss of life. Her claims
culminated in an auto-da-fé, the
ceremony in which the inquisitors
pronounced their judgments, in To-
ledo later that year. Her relatives and
neighbors would be burned at the
stake, while others were sentenced
to life imprisonment or to servitude
in the royal galleys.I
n 1606 an official of the Holy
Office convinced a 19-year-old
woman, María Páez Limpati, to
betray her friends, her neighbors,
and her family. Páez belonged to the
Morisco community who remained
in Spain after the Catholic Monarchs
conquered the Nasrid kingdom in
Granada, one of the last Muslim
strongholds in Spain, in 1492.
Muslim converts to Christianity
were forbidden by law from wearing
their traditional dress and speak-
ing Arabic. Despite converting to
Catholicism, the Moriscos contin-
ued to be persecuted and targeted by
the Inquisition.
In 1568 a violent uprising in
egion south of
used the mon-
unish the pop-
Moriscos were
ed to various
of central Spain,
e they formed
communities.
of them was in
agro, about 100
es south of To-
do. Almagro’s
ame means “red
clay” in Arabic, a
reference to the typical soil in the
region. In the 16th century, howev-
er, the city’s Christian identity was
being strongly asserted through the
building of churches and schools.Targeting Moriscos
In an atmosphere of paranoia and
continued zeal for religious purity,
inquisitors would often show up to
surprise towns with sizable Moris-
co populations. These raids would
quickly swoop in to investigate if Is-
lam was secretly being practiced. In
the early 1600s a raid befell Almagro,
and a wave of fear and betrayal broke
over the community.1606
María Páez
Limpati
Betrayer of
Her People
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PRISMA ARCHIVOA MUSLIM CONVERT, A DETAIL
OF AN ILLUSTRATION OF GRANADA,
PUBLISHED IN CIVITATES ORBIS
TERRARUM, A 1572 ATLAS OF
WORLD CITIES