February 12, 1502

Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain

Ferdinand and Isabella order Castile's remaining Muslims to leave, making baptism the practical alternative

The monarchs' own text compared practising Muslims to the Jews expelled ten years earlier, claiming both could subvert recent converts.

12 February 1502, at Seville

At Seville on 12 February 1502, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile jointly issued a royal pragmatic ordering the remaining Muslims of Castile and León to leave their realms by the end of April.

It applied to Muslim males older than fourteen and females older than twelve — an age rule that could split a household. An estimated 17,000–20,000 people were affected.

It was issued by both monarchs, not by Isabella alone.

A choice that was not one

The formal wording ordered expulsion rather than commanding baptism. But departure was tightly constrained, and restrictions and the danger of losing homes and livelihoods made conversion the realistic option for most families.

The decree justified expulsion by alleging that practising Muslims might draw recently baptised Muslims back to Islam, explicitly analogising the supposed danger to earlier Jewish influence on conversos.

Mass baptisms after the Granada rebellions of 1499–1501 had left the monarchy fearing exactly that; by September 1501 it had decided that Castile's other Mudéjars must accept baptism or go.

What had happened by April

Implementation ran through local proclamations and baptisms. A Valladolid study finds that by April some converted voluntarily, but most did so against their will.

In Valladolid, baptism replaced Arabic personal names with Christian ones: Farax Alcalde became Diego Alcalde, while his brother Mahomad became Bernaldo de León.

The decree covered Castile and León only. The Crown of Aragon, where Ferdinand had promised not to force conversion, kept legally practising Muslim communities for another generation.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

The date and joint promulgation are secure. The common shorthand “outlawed Islam” describes the decree’s effect, but its formal wording ordered expulsion rather than directly commanding every Muslim to be baptized.
The decree applied to Castile and León. It did not yet abolish the protected Muslim communities of the Crown of Aragon, where Ferdinand had promised not to force conversion.