their religion with certain restrictions. However, soon after the last Muslim stronghold in the peninsula, the Granada, fell to the Christian Castile in 1492, Muslims were forced to choose between becoming Christians or to leave, first in Castile and soon after in Aragon. Those who chose to convert and stay were called Moriscos, and were often suspected of secretly practicing Islam, and were finally expelled from Spain after 1609. What allowed Mudejar culture to survive and flourish in the medieval Christian kingdoms depended upon whether the capture by Christians was accomplished through negotiated surrender or military defeat, the ratio of Muslim to Christian populations, the competing interests of the monarchy and the papacy, and economic exigencies. With a balance of these things, Mudejar art was born. As a result of this local variation, the Islamic influences that were absorbed into the Christian architectural practices of the different regions in the Christian kingdoms differed greatly, but all come under the general umbrella term of Mudejar art. Mudéjar style in architecture Mudejar style in architecture refers to the application of decorative Islamic art styled motifs and patterning to Christian styles of architecture. It is thought to have begun with Muslim craftsmen who applied traditional constructive, ornamental, and decorative elements derived from the Islamic arts to Christian styles of architecture. These methods became part of local Christian building traditions and were applied to Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architectural styles in the expanding Christian kingdoms of Iberia. These decorative techniques included calligraphy, intricate geometry, and vegetal forms derived from Islamic art and architecture. Mudejar constructive systems were very simple and extremely effective. The materials used included brick, along with other artificial stone materials, and wood, which were not only entrusted with a constructive function but which were also decorative. Brick held great importance as a material of construction, its maneuverability and resistance, aesthetic characteristics and inexpensive nature, made it suitable for architecture that needed to be built in a timely fashion. Mudejar decoration and ornamentation includes stylized calligraphy and intricate geometric and vegetal forms. The classic Mudéjar elements include the horseshoe and multi-lobed arch, muqarna vaults, alfiz (molding around an arch), wooden roofing, fired bricks, glazed ceramic tiles, and ornamental stucco work. Mudejar plasterwork, sometimes called Yeseria, includes all the Islamic motifs, such as epigraphic, “atauriques,” or arabesque ornament, and geometrical motifs, although motifs of Christian art are also included, such as Gothic vegetables