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What perceptions of the Romani people were held by the Moors who occupied Granada around the time of the Reconquista? What were the relationships like between the Moors, Romani and the Sephardic Jews who lived during the 14th-15th century?

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    Hi Robert and welcome to HistorySE,! What has your research shown so far? Where have you looked? Please help us to help you. Please review the site tour and help center. Dec 11, 2018 at 5:49
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    Romani didn't exist in Spain until the 15th century. Dec 11, 2018 at 11:39
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    @Robert It was impossible in the 8th century as you asked, but the Reconquista lasted until 1492. The first Romani people got into Spain in 1425 and until 1499 they were around 3,000. Dec 11, 2018 at 14:45
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    @Sam Russell. Edited. Thanks sir. Any feedback in regards to what relationships were like between the groups is greatly appreciated.
    – Robert
    Dec 12, 2018 at 5:08

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Alberto Yagos helpfully observed in a comment that Romani entered today's Spain in 1425. A map from 1360 is as close as I could easily find, but the Emirate of Granada is far south of the Pyrenean route over which the immigrants reached "Spain". Is there evidence that any Romani people were present in the Emirate?

I searched unsuccessfully in the Biblioteca de al-Andalus for contemporary mentions of Romani people, and likewise in "A Select Bibliography of Muslim Spain" for modern ones. Several papers on the interethnic relations of the time also fail to mention Romani people.

The site of the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte reports (without citation) that in medieval Spain, Romani and Jews had a special link based on their shared marginalization. Their situations changed with the Reconquest and Inquisition when all groups but the Christians became undesirables. Tomás Calvo Buezas in "España racista?: voces payas sobre los gitanos" dates Spanish social conflicts with Romani back to a notorious "anti-gypsy" rule of 1499, as did Ibtissem Cheriguii's thesis on Romani cultural influence in Andalucia. Apparently, any Romani-Moorish conflict was far outshadowed by later Romani-Christian conflict.

According to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Jews did fine in the last centuries of the Emirate of Granada, and the state even served as a refuge for Jews fleeing from the pogrom of 1391.

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  • Thank you so so so much! I'm eternally grateful @Aaron Brock
    – Robert
    Dec 18, 2018 at 13:49

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