Philip III ordered the expulsion of Spain's Moriscos, descendants of Muslims who had been compelled to convert to Christianity. Approximately 275,000 to 300,000 people were removed, especially from Valencia, Aragon and Castile, and many resettled in North Africa. Communities lost property, language and longstanding ties to Iberia.

Morisco manuscripts written in Aljamiado preserved Islamic stories, prayers and poems in Spanish using Arabic script. Their expulsion entered Spanish and North African memory, while Cervantes and later writers reflected the era's anxieties about conversion, identity and belonging.