The name given to Muslim converts to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition was Moriscos. The term generally referred to Muslims who had been baptized as Christians, along with their descendants, especially in Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
After the conquest of Granada in 1492, pressure on Spain’s Muslim population increased. Muslims in Castile were ordered to convert or leave in 1502, and similar compulsory conversion policies followed in the Crown of Aragon in 1526. The resulting Christian converts were officially Catholic, but many retained Islamic customs or practiced their faith secretly. This made Morisco communities a major target of inquisitorial investigation.
Moriscos were not the same as Mudejars. Mudejars were Muslims living under Christian rule before compulsory conversion. Conversos usually referred to Jewish converts to Christianity, although “New Christian” could encompass both Jewish and Muslim converts. “Crypto-Muslim” is a modern descriptive term for someone secretly maintaining Islamic practices, not the principal historical label for the population.
The Moriscos were expelled from Spain mainly between 1609 and 1614, ending most organized Muslim presence in the country.