The Reconquista: Ethnic cleansing or integration of 5 million?

The Reconquista was not ethnic cleansing: population data does not add up

Was the Reconquista history's most successful ethnic cleansing? The question, circulating in history forums, rests on a premise contradicted by demographic data. At Al-Andalus's peak, there were 5 to 6 million inhabitants. Of these, an estimated 500,000 emigrated shortly after the Reconquista and 300,000 were expelled in 1609. The rest, completing the total, converted to Christianity and integrated. The arithmetic does not support the extermination thesis.

What existed was a violent, unequal, and slow reorganization. The Christian population from the north gradually moved south, replacing Hispano-Gothic converts to Sarracin in reconquered areas. But this process was neither uniform nor instantaneous. Seville was reconquered 200 years before Granada, and internal migration flows did not behave as expected if the cleansing had been systematic.

The myth of genetic purity and the Visigoths

One recurring argument is that Spaniards were always white, even more so than Gauls, citing the Lady of Elche or Baza as evidence of Slavic antiestéticatures. However, genetics do not support this purity. Ancient DNA studies show that a resident of Baetica 1,500 years ago is not as similar to one today. The Roman Empire, with its slavery and cosmopolitanism, had already brought populations from various Mediterranean corners.

The figure for Visigoths is 200,000 Goths and 60,000 Suebi against a population of 5 million. This is not a small figure. And the Moors who entered in 711 are estimated at 17,000, though the trickle through the Strait over seven centuries may have far exceeded this initial number. The idea of a genetically homogeneous Spain before the Sarracinic invasion is a convenient fiction.

What peine to the Jovenlandeses who stayed?

Conditions for Jovenlandeses in reconquered cities were, according to some analyses, surprisingly favorable. They could continue practicing their religion, keep their property, speak Arabic, and be governed by their own civil laws. The aljamas were governed by Muslim mayors. The only burden was a special tax, the pecha or capitation, equivalent to the Muslim yizia but reversed.

Despite these conditions, there were Mudéjar uprisings. Voluntary conversions to Christianity before the 15th century were minor, perhaps 10% at most. The radical Sarracinic rejection of apostasy explains why many preferred emigration over conversion. In Andalusia, in the 13th century, emigration figures were higher. In Seville, the majority left.

The genetic trace that does not disappear

Current genetic models, such as those using the G25 tool, allow for component breakdown. A Baetica resident in the Republican era might show 38.2% ancient Basque-Iberian substrate, 17.2% Northern French Belgian, and 9.6% Tartessian. The extra-European component, comprising ancient Maghrebi, Western Maghrebi, and Israelite, would sum 11.4%. No one denies the presence. The magnitude and origin are debated.

The question is whether this 11% in a specific individual is representative of the entire population or an isolated case. Ancient DNA studies point to the genetic trace of invaders in the 16th century being minimal. The main reason was not ethnic cleansing, but the Sarracinic rejection of apostasy and the voluntary emigration of those unwilling to submit.

Murcia's exceptionality and the demographic puzzle

One detail that disrupts the systematic cleansing narrative is Murcia's exceptionality. In Murcia, northern and southern population groups mix, despite geographical distance. If the cleansing had been planned, it is unclear why the Castilian surplus waited 200 years to emigrate to Seville, nor why the Astur-Leonese surplus later refrained from migrating to Granada.

80-90% of the population lived in rural areas. Only 10-20% resided in urban nuclei, and if only towns with over 10,000 inhabitants are counted, the percentage drops to 5%. The urban network underwent strong reorganization with the Reconquista, but this affected a minority. The majority of peasants remained where they were, regardless of religious change.

Romans, Visigoths, and the myth of Empty Spain

Some analyses go further back, pointing to Romans as the true importers of population. They passed whole villages to the sword, enslaved the population, and established Maghrebi auxiliary camps. The Visigoths, conversely, were received as liberators according to some sources. The blackening of North Africa was not a consequence of the Sarracinic conquest, but of subsequent centuries of importing Sub-Saharan slaves.

The discussion on whether the Reconquista was a successful ethnic cleansing faces a definition problem. If ethnic cleansing implies physical elimination or total expulsion, the data does not support it. If understood as a violent reorganization that marginalized and eventually expelled part of the population, then there were episodes that fit, but they were not history's most successful nor comparable to modern genocides.

The figure of 300,000 expelled in 1609 is significant, but represents less than 10% of the estimated population of Al-Andalus at its peak. The majority of Jovenlandeses converted, integrated, and disappeared as a distinct group for other reasons: prohibition of apostasy, social pressure, voluntary emigration. The most successful ethnic cleansing in history, if it existed, was that which today makes no one remember there were once 5 million Jovenlandeses in the peninsula.