Stephanie M. Cavanaugh is a historian of early modern Europe with a focus on conversion, religious cultures, and the social and legal histories of sixteenth-century Spain. She earned her PhD at the University of Toronto in 2016 and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Early Modern Conversions project at McGill University (2016-2018). Stephanie is revising her first book manuscript, Moriscos, Legal Action, and the Politics of Conversion in Early Modern Spain. Based on her doctoral research, this work investigates how Moriscos (Spanish Muslims forcibly converted to Catholicism and their descendants) took legal action in response to assimilationist policies and Inquisitorial prosecution in the Castilian city of Valladolid. This work challenges the traditional narrative of the marginalization of the Moriscos: for all the prosecution and prohibitions they faced as suspected heretics and dissidents, these documents tell a tale of significant economic industry, civic integration, and legal agency.
For more information on Stephanie’s publications and conference presentations, please visit https://smcavanaugh.com/.