Synopses & Reviews
A centuries-old story with remarkable contemporary resonance,
Blood and Faith is celebrated journalist Matthew Carrs riveting and richly detailed” (
Choice) chronicle of what was, by 1614, the largest act of ethnic cleansing in European history.
Months after King Philip III of Spain signed an edict in 1609 denouncing the Muslim inhabitants of Spain as heretics, traitors, and apostates, the entire Muslim population of Spain was given three days to leave Spanish territory, on threat of death. In the brutal and traumatic exodus that followed, entire families and communities were forced to abandon homes and villages where they had lived for generations, leaving their property in the hands of their Christian neighbors. By 1613, an estimated 300,000 Muslims had been removed from Spanish territory.
Blood and Faith presents a remarkable window onto a little known period of modern Europe—a complex tale of competing faiths and beliefs, cultural oppression, and resistance against over-whelming odds that sheds new light on national identity and Islam.
Review
Offers a grim lesson about religious and racial repression in our contemporary age of contested faiths.”
—David Levering Lewis, author of Gods Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215
Carr deftly narrates the complex events leading up to this little-known but horrific episode as a warning against religious intolerance and xenophobia.”
—Publishers Weekly
A fascinating account of perhaps the first major episode of European ethnic cleansing and, just as importantly, the story of the beginning of the conviction that blood matters more than belief; a conviction that led, in the end, to modern racism.”
—Kwame Anthony Appiah
Synopsis
Blood and Faith is a riveting chronicle of the expulsion of Muslims from Spain in the early 17th century. In April 1609, King Philip III of Spain signed an edict denouncing the Muslim inhabitants of Spain as heretics, traitors, and apostates. Later that year, the entire Muslim population of Spain was given three days to leave Spanish territory, on threat of death.
In the brutal and traumatic exodus that followed, entire families and communities were obliged to abandon homes and villages where they had lived for generations, leaving their property in the hands of their Christian neighbors. By 1613, an estimated 300,000 Muslims had been removed from Spanish territory.
About the Author
Matthew Carr is a writer, broadcaster, and journalist and the author of The Infernal Machine: A History of Terrorism and the acclaimed memoir My Fathers House. He lives in Derbyshire, England.