Epic Hares and Local Heroes: Vicente Pérez de Culla’s Expulsión de los moriscos rebeldes de la Sierra, y Muela de Cortes por Simeon Zapata Valenciano (1635)

Abstract

In the midst of heightened hostilities abroad, an agricultural slump, economic strain, and demographic decline, Vicente Pérez de Culla wrote an epic poem. Expulsión de los moriscos rebeldes de la Sierra, y Muela de Cortes por Simeon Zapata Valenciano (1635) offers insight into the realities of post-expulsion Valencia. The poem’s overlooked dedication to the Count Duke of Olivares and its exceptional portrayal of Moriscos illuminate the mechanisms through which inhabitants of the “garden of Spain” struggled to make sense of Philip III’s decision decades later. Though often lumped in with the apologetic historiography produced during and shortly after the Moriscos’ banishment (1609–1614), Pérez de Culla’s text transcends the official narrative of the past and reveals distinct preoccupations of a tumultuous present. This article reconsiders the poetic homage to the forgotten Zapata brothers and their significance to Valencians in 1635.