Young Man of Arévalo

Young Man of Arévalo
Born	uncertain, late 15th/early 16th century Arévalo, Crown of Castile (in today's Spain)
Died	uncertain, possibly second half of 16th century uncertain, possibly Aragon
Pen name	Young Man of Arévalo Mancebo de Arévalo
Subject	Islam, Moriscos
Years active	16th century

The Young Man of Arévalo (Spanish: el Mancebo de Arévalo) is a Morisco crypto-Muslim author from Arévalo, Castile who was the most productive known Islamic author in Spain during the period after the forced conversion of Muslims there. He traveled widely across Spain to visit crypto-Muslim communities and wrote several works about Islam which includes accounts from his travels. His real identity and dates of birth and death are unknown, but most of his travels took place in the first half of the sixteenth century.

The Young Man was born in Arévalo to a mother who was converted to Christianity. His birth date is unknown, but his youth was estimated to be in the period following the end of Reconquista, marked by the Fall of Granada in 1492 and the forced conversion of Muslims in Castile, 1500–1502. When he was young, he traveled to virtually all parts of Spain except the seabord provinces, which was forbidden to him due to his status as Morisco. Places he visited include Alcántara, Almagro, Astorga, Ávila, Gandia, Granada, Jaén, Ocaña, Requena, Ronda, Segovia, and Zaragoza. He collaborated with Bray de Reminjo, the faqih of the village of Cadrete in Aragon, to write an Islamic religious manual called Brief compendium of our sacred law and sunna, in the 1530s. At this point he was presumed to have been a reputable writer. Bray de Reminjo described him as "intellectual", a Castilian from Arévalo, and described that in addition to speaking Spanish and being well-versed in aljamiado, he also read Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. His works show his familiarity with the Quran, the writings of Thomas à Kempis, especially The Imitation of Christ, as well as the medieval novel La Celestina. His familiarity with Christian works was likely the result of his being obligated to attend missionary sermons.

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