Trudy Gold
Expulsion from Spain and Bayezid II
Trudy Gold - Expulsion from Spain and Bayezid II
- Good evening everyone from London. And you have in front of you a map of Spain in 1492. And of course, Hilary Pomeroy has been looking with you at what we call the Golden Age of Spain. And what I’m doing today is to look at the end of that great period and the expulsions and what happened to the Jews from there. And I also ought to point out that if you haven’t have a look at that map, those of you who love travelling, Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, that whole area, they’re absolutely magnificent and of course, they were once huge centres of Jewish life. Cordoba is actually my favourite city in Spain. And in it you have the wonderful Mezquita, which I think Hilary would’ve talked to you about it. It’s a mosque that later was converted into a church. But the architecture is absolutely sublime. And to me, it’s one of the great wonders of the architectural world. Absolutely amazing. So of course, we’ve looked at how the Muslims crossed over from Gibraltar into Spain, but with the reign of Alfonso X of Castile, his dates are 1065 to 1109 and the capture of Toledo, gradually the Christians are going to make inroads on the Muslims going obviously from the north. And what you’re going to see happening is the Christian states begin to dominate the Iberian Peninsula. At first, Jewish life and scholarship continued to flourish under Christianity. But in 1172, the whole of the Islamic Iberian Peninsula came under the control of the Almohades.
Now, they were a particularly fanatical branch of Islam. That branch of Islam came from the Berber tribes of South Morocco. They were totally purist in interpretation. And they actually introduced the wearing of a Jew badge. And they introduced putting the Jews into certain restricted areas in the towns. But they were defeated by the combined forces of Christendom at the famous Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, which was in the Sierra Mountain. That is the combined forces of Castile, Aragon and Navarre. Important to remember that before 1492, in fact, before 1478, it was made up. Spain was made up of various principalities. It’s not yet united under kingship. And it was really in the reign of James of Aragon that Christianity goes totally on the march. James of Aragon is a fascinating character. He was the king who, under his rule, there was a disputation where the great Nachmanides went into disputation with Christian clerics. And in fact, the disputation was easily won by Nachmanides. He was given freedom of speech by the king, but he wasn’t allowed to write anything down. And because the Dominicans went around saying that they’d won, he was forced to write. And as a result, he left for Jerusalem and he together with Rabbi Jehiel of Paris, they began really the renaissance of Jewish life in Jerusalem. And also the reconquest diminished the necessity of conciliating any minorities and that’s when the situation for Jews begin to deteriorate. And it coincides with changes in the Christian world.
Think the fall of the Third Crusade in 1199, a huge blow to Christianity when of course the forces of Christendom were defeated at the Battle of Acre and Jerusalem was lost. And also, as a result of this, you had the Lateran Councils. And what the Lateran Councils did, they laid down how Christianity should deal with heretics and nonbelievers. And that meant the Jews and the Muslims. And bearing in mind the Jews were far more vulnerable than the Muslims because the Muslims had their own countries. And you’ve got the Jews now being buffered between the two great monotheistic religions. What happens is in the Lateran Council, that is when Christianity institutes the wearing of the Jew badge. And the first country to institute this and of course I’ve told you this before in another presentation was in fact England at the Council of Oxford. And also, all sorts of measures to set the Jews apart. And it was implemented in Spain in the code of Alfonso the Wise in 1252. And also returning Crusaders began to attack the Jewish community in Toledo. And then again, upswing in fervour. In 1328, the community in Navarre, you can see Navarre on the map, that was almost exterminated. This coincides with the reign of Philip the Fair of France. Of course, the one who went against the Knight Templars and also went against the Jews. And then of course, the horrific story of the Black Death which engulfed Europe. And of course, nearly a third of the population of Europe died as a result of the bubonic plague and people were looking for answers.
In a world where there was no knowledge of science and how the plague was actually carried, they looked to the most hated minority, theologically hated the Jews, and it led to terrible, terrible massacres of the Jewish community. Having said that, there’s an upswing in prejudice, but individual Jews are still incredibly important in the administration of the various principalities in Spain. Now in October 1390, Juan I died to be succeeded in Castile, which is the biggest of the kingdoms, by his infant son, Henry III. His mother Eleanor was regent and she was totally under the sway of her confessor, Ferrand Martinez. And he becomes for 12 years the most powerful man in the state. He hated Jews. He culminated against them. And it culminated in 1391, Easter time, all was in upswing in Easter time when the mob very much whipped up by Martinez, they sacked Seville and murdered 4,000 people. I’ve actually been to Three Crosses Square in Seville. There’s only a tiny little plaque. It’s extraordinary. The Juderias in Carmona and Cordoba were reduced to ashes. Outbreaks actually spread to 70 towns. In Aragon, the king tried to suppress the disorders because he needed his Jews. In Valencia, the whole community was wiped out. There were around 50,000 victims in 1391. It’s a terrible period in Jewish history. And it was avoided only in Muslim Granada. Granada is still under Muslim control and Portugal, where the King of Portugal protected the Jews. In Aragon, those responsible were punished but not in Castile. What it led to was wholesale conversions. Even the aged Samuel Abravanel who was the king’s advisor, he converted to Christianity. It’s now reckoned, the figures vary, but it could be between 150,000 and 200,000 Jews converted because of the absolute horror.
Now, of the conversos, many returned to Judaism when the danger was passed or they fled to the Muslim world. But the majority renounced in their former, but they remain in their former residence as new Christians. Some of them were sincere, like Solomon Halevi, once a rabbi, he becomes the bishop of Burgos and a member of the Regency Council. He’s now known as Pablo de Santa Maria. The vast numbers though, had accepted Christianity only to escape death. They baptised their children in churches, and I’m going to be dealing with this in more detail on Sunday when I deal with the life of Donna Gracia and her extraordinary nephew, Joseph Nasi, who becomes the Duke of Naxos. In their ceremonies, they would marry in Christian ceremonies, they would have private Jewish ceremonies at home. They would have their children baptised, and then they would come home and wipe it off. And the majority wiped the water off the children and it was extraordinary because somehow they managed to transmit their Judaism and they married amongst themselves. Basically, they remained Jews at home in all but name and Christian in form. They would go to church, but they were living Jewish lives at home. Somehow they managed to transmit their Judaism to their children. But now of course, they’re new Christians. So all the social disabilities have been removed and the progress of these new converts was absolutely phenomenal. Law, administration, in the church itself, in the universities, in the army, and particularly in financial administration, they all but dominated Spanish life. The wealthiest actually intermarried into the Spanish aristocracy. Many of the court positions were held by new Christians. Amongst the Jews, they were known as the anusim, the forced ones.
And as the 15th century advanced, it was obvious to the Christians that this mass conversion had enhanced and not solved the religious problem. How on earth could they ever be trusted? The Council of Tortosa in 1529, this was the comment. “For divine mercy’s sake, the king of Aragon, the baron’s knights, prelates and universities should protect the Jews from violence from which they would otherwise have suffered.” On one level, we have to protect them. But the Church is beset by all sorts of divisions. Think about what’s happening in the Church. It’s the beginning. In the Council of Basel, there’s the Hussites. There’s a Hussite religion in Bohemia. Of course, we’ve already discussed in the past the Cathars in the south of France, the Dominican order in 1215 was established by the papacy to fight heresy. Now, let me be careful about this. The new Christians were heretics, the Jews were not. Anyone who practises Christianity but deviates from the Pope in Rome is therefore a heretic. And the sermons, more and more church sermons were calling to attention the misconduct of the new Christians. And over the next few decades, the mob is actually being whipped up. Then everything is going to change because in 1469, Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon and unified Spain. And in 1478, Pope Sixtus IV established a bull to establish the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Spain. The Spanish Inquisitor is to be Tomas de Torquemada, a Dominican who he is the advisor and the confessor to Isabella of Spain. And he is to become the Grand Inquisitor. In 1478, a number of Jewish conversos were caught performing a Seder service coinciding, of course, with Easter week. Powerful wealthy conversos tried to resist.
They were led by Diego de Suson. He was unfortunately betrayed by his daughter and her Christian lover. And in February 1481, there was an auto-da-fe, an act of faith, the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics or apostates. In fact, the first recorded one had been held in Paris under Louis the IX, better known as Saint Louis the Pious. I think St. Louis, of course, is named for him. And there is a statue of him in the hall in the House of Representatives because he was also a law giver. From the point of view of Jewish history, he was one of the great monsters. And in Paris, actually, six conversos were buried alive. And remember, the Church now will use torture. It’s actually sanctified by the Pope. So this is the atmosphere when Ferdinand and Isabella marry. Can we see the next slide? Here you see, this is King Ferdinand. Now Ferdinand of Aragon by marrying Isabella of Castile unites the crown of Spain. And together they are going to war against the last Muslim stronghold in Spain in Grenada. And that will complete the Conquistadore. And Ferdinand is going to be king, he’s king of the crown of Castile until his wife’s death in 1504. And so Aragon and Castile are now united. Can we have a look at Isabella, please? Queen Isabella, Saint Isabella. She was no saint to the Jews. She’d been born in a period of terrible political instability. And it was her marriage to Ferdinand that really stabilised and eventually unified Spain.
She reorganised the government system. She managed to reduce the crime rate. She pulled the country out of debt and eventually secured peace with Portugal. Now, 1492 is a very, very important year. Of course, those of you listening in America will know that it was her who sponsored Christopher Columbus. He departed on the 3rd of August. Beg your pardon. He was sponsored in April 1492. And on the 3rd of August he arrived at Watling Isle on October the 12th in San Salvador. Named of course after Jesus the Saviour. So on one level, it’s a very important year in the conquest. Ironically, what is very, very interesting is that many of the characters who funded his mission were themselves conversos. And we know that the first man to step foot on the New World was his navigator who was a converso. And we’re going to see that many conversos are going to escape the Inquisition by fleeing on the great trading ships because 1492 is a cataclysmic year. The reasoning behind his voyage, of course, was to find the trade route to India. What they wanted was the jewels and the spices of the East and on the way he knocked into the Americas. But this opens up the world. It’s an incredibly important year. It’s also the year of the finishing of any Muslim stronghold in Spain. And it’s in that year that it’s the expulsion of the Jews. The 31st of March 1492, the edict of expulsion is given from the great Alhambra Paris, the Alhambra Decree. And this is a letter from Ferdinand to the Count of Aranda. “The Holy Office of the Inquisition, seeing how some Christians are endangered by contact and communication with the Jews have provided that Jews be expelled.”
The reasoning was, if you have Jews in our midst, it’s going to mean that new Christians will slide back. If we get rid of the Jews, then we can make sure that the new Christians stay Christians and stop their evil Judaizing. So let me repeat. “The Holy Office of the Inquisition, seeing how some Christians are endangered by contact and communication with the Jews have provided that Jews be expelled from all our realms and territories and has persuaded us to give our support and agreement to this, which we now do because of our debts and obligations to the said Holy Office and we do so despite the great harm to ourselves seeking and preferring the salvation of souls above our own profit and that of individuals.” That’s fascinating because the main financial advisor to Ferdinand, they were two Jews, and I’ll talk about them in a minute. This is the decree itself. “Because of the communication of Jews with Christians in the Cortes, we held in the city of Toledo, in 1480, we ordered the separation of Jews in all the cities and towns of our realm, giving them separate places wherein to live. Hoping that through this separation, the situation would improve. We also ordered an inquisition to be set up in these realms, which have been in operation now for 12 years and many guilty have been punished by it. But we are informed by the Inquisitors and many other people, religious churchmen and layman of the great harm suffered by Christians from the contact, intercourse, and communication which they have with the Jews who always attempt in various ways to seduce faithful Christians from our holy ways of life.”
Now, the man who was one of the great instigators of the Inquisition was of course the queen’s confessor, Tomas de Torquemada. Queen Isabella, by the way, to slot her into history for you, Ferdinand and Isabella had five children. The son John married the Arch Duchess Margaret of Austria, who was a Habsburg. He died and the infant son died. Isabella, the elder daughter, married Manuel of Portugal. She’s going to die in 1498. Joanna married the Habsburg Philip of Burgundy. Maria, after the death of her sister, Maria married Manuel of Portugal so he had two wives from Spain. Catherine of Aragon becomes the first wife of Henry VIII. That slots it into European history. So it’s interesting because of course, what that’s going to do, bearing in mind that the conquest of the New World, it means that when we come to the man who’s going to, remember, they’re marrying into the Habsburgs, the Habsburg family control much of central Europe. The Spanish and the Habsburg alliance is going to lead to the grandson of Ferdinand and the grandson of Philip of Burgundy, the Habsburg, becoming Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor. He was called Stupor Mundi because the sun never set on his empire. Now, Isabella was an incredibly pious woman. She is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. To Jews, she is not. When she was canonised, this was said, purity of heart, her big heart and grandness and greatness of soul. Her confessor, of course, is Tomas de Torquemada, who goes down in history as one of the greatest enemies of the Jewish people.
And let’s have a look at him. There he is, the head of the Spanish Inquisition, the confessor to Elizabeth. He was very much one of the main supporters of the edict of expulsion. In fact, Ferdinand, there is a story, it’s a legend, that Ferdinand didn’t really want to let the Jews go because his main advisors, Isaac Abravanel and Seneor were Jews. He didn’t want to lose because the Jews had such important positions in the administration. He didn’t want to lose them. And the story goes that they tried to bribe Ferdinand to allow them to stay and Torquemada bursts in and he throws down the Judas for 30 pieces of silver. He was an absolute fanatic. He himself was guilty of being responsible for over 2000 burnings of heretics. Not Jews. Jews have been expelled. And of course they have to be out by Tisha B'Av. It’s no wonder that Tisha B'Av is our day of mourning going back to the destruction of the Second Temple, the expulsion from England and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The enemies of the Jews knew about the Jews. Now, it’s been put about that he actually was of converso descent. There is absolutely no evidence for that at all. We know that he led a very austere life. He was very pious. He was close to Isabella when she was very young. He was present at her coronation and from 1474, he was very much her closest advisor. And he had an absolute loathing for the power of the conversos and the Moriscos. The Moriscos, of course, were the Muslims who had converted to Christianity to stay behind in Spain.
And it’s fascinating because the poet, Heinrich Heine, that wonderful quotation in his play, “Almansor,” any society that burns books will one day burn people. That is about the burning of the Quran at the hands of the Inquisition. Only the triple alienated Heinrich Heine could have used the Muslim experience to talk about the burning of the books and of course, it’s so resonant of what happened in Nazi Germany in 1933, when of course, Heine’s works were all burnt along with that of anyone whose ideas were repugnant of the Nazis. Now, he propagated 28 articles of faith to justify the Inquisition. And under his supervision, it grows into a huge network. It begins in Seville. It led from city to city, that practically every city in Spain had an inquisition. And you can imagine how frightening it was. Converso families were made to eat ham. If there was any sign that they had a, did they gather on a Shabbat, 10 men for the minyan? Did they gather at a Parshah? Now, what is also true is that many business rivals turned over conversos to the Inquisition. There was a huge amount of horrific injustice. But the Spanish chronicler Sebastian de Olmedo, he called Torquemada “the hammer of the heretic, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country, the honour of his order.” And of course, many Jews did convert as a result of the Alhambra Decree. This is the exodus described by an eyewitness. “Exiles had to pass the night more often than not in the fields. Some fell out on the way from fatigue, some from sickness.
Old men died. Children were born under open skies, far from the nearest town and remote from help.” And in fact, there were some Christians who were filled with compassion and they begged them to submit to baptism. But rabbis and scholars were always at the head straight away encouraging them to stay true to the true faith. Now, let’s have a look at a couple of incredible characters and I’ll be coming back to them again. Can we see Isaac Abravanel? Now, Isaac Abravanel was one of the leaders of the Jewish community. He had been born in Lisbon. He had an incredible education. He had a wide religious and secular education. He was one of the first Jewish scholars to be familiar with humanism of the Renaissance. With his father, his father Judah, was a very important statesman and one of the major figures in the commerce of Portugal. He was the treasurer to Alfonso V and Isaac Abravanel actually succeeded in that position. He was a very, very good man. For example, in 1471, 250 Jewish captives were brought to Portugal after their capture in Tangier and Abravanel headed the committee formed in Lisbon for their ransom. He called for help from Italian Jews to complete the financial deal. He had relations with and correspondence in very enlightened Christian circles. His contacts with the aristocracy were not just about business, but also about humanistic ideas. He sent a letter to the Count of Faro at the death of his father. It was a striking example of a man who was a great Hebrew scholar being part of a world where he could write a condolence letter. After Alfonso’s death, Portugal entered a period of huge instability, warring nobility. Abravanel was suspect because he was such an important figure.
And he actually decided he wasted too much of his time in worldly affairs so he actually switched to religious studies. He set himself the task. He’s an extraordinary wide individual. Remember, he’s a commercial whiz kid. He’s a diplomat. He sets himself the task of writing a commentary on the earlier prophets. He thought that his political experience would help him to interpret them. So in Portugal, he spends six months on Joshua, Judges, Samuel. But by 1484 he’s in Spain and he’s enrolled in the service of Isabella and Ferdinand. He had a wide range of interests for them. He actually loaned huge sums to the treasury, including one and a half million ducats to meet the cost of the war with Granada. And when the expulsion was mooted, he did try to stop it by relinquishing any claim on any money owed by Ferdinand. And because Ferdinand was fond of him, he was allowed to take a thousand ducats with him. In fact, his life is an incredible story. Just imagine the horror of Jews leading Spain. The majority went to Portugal, actually. But then in 1497, when Ferdinand and Isabella’s daughter married into the house of Portugal, believe it or not, written into the marriage contract was the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal. So again, forced conversion or go on your way, and I’ll be talking about this on Sunday. Meanwhile, he fled to Naples where he became the financial advisor to the King of Naples. He then went to Ferrara. Basically, he is the only man in history that I know of to be the chancellor exchequer to four different kingdoms.
Now, he pondered, he was a great scholar. One of the horrors of his life in Naples, his great library was destroyed in wars with the French. But he was this great scholar and he was very interested in the whole notion of Messianism because what could be worse than the destruction of the Jewish world, of the Iberian Peninsula? And he passionately believed in the salvation of his own people. And he looked at the Messianic prophecies in Daniel, from Isaiah and all refer to the final redemption. He discounts Christianity. He completely discounts Christianity as having any veracity because of course, the world has not been redeemed. So he was an extraordinary character. His family are also interesting, and one of his granddaughters becomes very close to the Medici. And of course the Medici were far more positive about the Jews than the Spanish. Now what is also interesting, can we see the next slide, please? Abraham Seneor. Now Abraham Seneor, his story is a little more tragic than that of Abravanel’s. He was a rabbi, he was a banker, he was a politician, and he was a great patriarch. He was the rabbi of Castile and at the same time, he is the senior royal administrator. In 1492, he was terribly old. Look, he was born in 1412, he decides to convert to Catholicism. He took the name of Fernando Perez Coronel. And he became, in fact, the noble lineage of Coronel comes from him. His family had been the largest tax farmers from Castile. They administered all the rents on the lands for the crown. They were an incredibly important family. He was also treasurer of the Holy Brotherhood, a military peacekeeping force. He was also the chief justice before he converted obviously of the Jewish community.
Rather than leave, he chose conversion at the age of 80, whereas Abravanel, age 55, chose to leave. His conversion, of course, was expected to have a huge impact on the Jews. It was carefully staged. It was publicised by Ferdinand and Isabella. And they stood godfather when he was baptised. And within a few days of the conversion, he becomes the ruler of Segovia and a member of the Royal Council. But at the same time, he played a key role in helping his co-religionists leave Spain. Ironically, his family, a grandson of his, was appointed Constable of the Indies and was godfather to the first converted Native American Indian in Spain in 1496. Some of his family really did embrace Catholicism. Duarte born in 1572 escaped to Holland. And then David Seneor Coronel went to Brazil and he became the richest man in Dutch Brazil. And to bring history full circle, Menasseh Ben Israel dictated an important book to him. But this is the kind of story. Now, ironically, Jews are being kicked out of Spain, but other places open up. Can we see, please? This is the migration. Now, as I said to you, some have fled to Portugal, but that wasn’t to last long because of that marriage contract. Some went to Rome. Now, some of course are going to go into the Ottoman Empire that I’m going to talk about in a minute. But let’s have a look at those who went to Rome. Let’s see the picture of the Pope. That is Alexander VI, better known as the Borgia Pope. The father of Cesare, to whom Machiavelli dedicated the prince, the father of Lucrezia. Under his papacy, Rome was a huge centre of renaissance art, decadence, extraordinary life. He was accused of being converso by his enemies. Was he, wasn’t he?
But the point about him is he invited 9,000 Jews into Rome. And I’m quoting now from Cecil Roth. “They were permitted to lead their own lives, free from interference from Christians to continue in their own rites, to gain wealth and enjoy many other privileges.” Of course, in response to them giving him an awful lot of money. And many of the Italian states, ironically, and though Rome is the home of the Papacy, many of the Italian states were relatively lenient to the Jews. Some fled to Ferrara, where ironically later on, Lucrezia Borgia married the Duke of Ferrara, became a great centre of humanistic thought. And where life was more tolerant, the Jews were welcomed because they were welcomed for their financial acumen. You know, ironically, many historians, bearing in mind 1492, much of the wealth of the New World is coming to Spain and Portugal. In fact, the Pope drew a very bad line through a very bad map of the New World and gave half to the Spanish and the rest of the Portuguese. And of course, later on, when other countries break away from the papacy like England, they also want a share of the spoils. And what I’m going to do, I want to have a fun lecture. I’m going to look at Elizabeth I, Roxelana the Sultana of the Ottoman Empire, and Catherine de Medici because they all had huge power at the same time. But basically, as far as the Jews are concerned, they’re invited into Rome, they paid a price, they’re allowed into Ferrara. I’ve already talked about Naples. And in the Italian cities for a while, they’re going to flourish. But there was a much better opportunity for them. And that, of course was the Ottoman Empire. Can we go on please? Now, of course, we’ve already covered this with William and other historians. In 1453, the very young Mehmed II conquered Constantinople. 23 different armies had tried to take the city. It was the link between the east and west. It was the largest city in the world.
There were so many layers of civilization. And when Mehmed was only 19 years old, he consolidated his own power and basically, he is the man, age 21, he actually takes the city. He conquers Constantinople. And under him, the Ottoman Empire really, really grows. By the way, he had a very interesting female advisor, the wife of his father Murad III. She was a Serbian princess. And she, the daughter of a Serbian king, betrothed to the Muslim. Because think maps of the world, think Serbia, how the Balkans very much they’re cheek to jowl with the Ottoman Empire. Later on in 1526, they’re going to take Hungary. They’re also going to take Egypt and Palestine and that whole region is going to come under their control. So it’s conquered then by Mehmed, let’s see him. Mehmed II conquers and he is succeeded by his son Bayezid. Let’s see Bayezid. Now, Bayezid was a fascinating character. He consolidates the empire. In his reign you have the battle of, no, sorry, in his grandson’s reign, it’s the Battle of the Mohacs when Hungary is taken. But Bayezid, he does something very, very fascinating. Think the expulsion in 1492 from Spain, then the forced conversions, think the expulsion from Portugal. It’s an unbelievably tragic and momentous period in Jewish history. And it’s the end of one of the most important Jewish settlements ever. It also is the culmination of the expulsions from England, France, the German lands. And it shifts, by the way, the centre of gravity of the Ashkenazi to Poland. And the majority of the Sephardi are going to go into the Ottoman Empire, which as I’ve just told you, had completely expanded.
Having conquered Byzantium, they ended the Mamluk rule. As I’ve told you, they take Egypt, they take Israel, and by the middle of the 16th century, they dominate the Middle East and North Africa. And Jewish communities were only one of the ethnic groups. There were Greek speaking Jews in the Balkans in Asia Minor, there were Arab speaking Jews in the Fertile Crescent, there were the Karaites in Egypt and in Constantinople. There was also small scale Ashkenazi settling in the Balkan towns under the Turks. There were already many Sephardi Jews in the empire. They fled after the massacres in 1391. Of course you had the Dhimmi Code, which Norman Stillman has talked about and he’s coming back to lecture further. But it’s fluid in a very secure empire. And it’s far less punitive than experienced under Christianity. The rule is when Islam felt itself to be secure, the Jews were brought relatively safe. Now, he is a fascinating man because in response to the Alhambra Decree, he’s quite friendly with the most important rabbi in the Ottoman Empire, a man called Moses Capsali. He had been born in Venetian held Crete, he’d studied in a German yeshiva, and he becomes the Rabbi of Constantinople around 1430. He’s already appointed chief rabbi of the Empire. He has a seat on the Divan and he is very important as a leader. Now, of the 300,000 Jews who flee Spain, 150,000 of them flee to the Ottoman Empire. In fact, Bayezid is going to send the Ottoman Navy under Kemal Reis to save Jews who were expelled. And this is from Jewish sources. The problem is, according to the Jewish sources, Moses Capsali, he went round to the wealthy Jews of the Empire and also to Italian Jews telling them to raise funds to make their co-religionists welcome.
And evidently Bayezid instructed all his governors to make Jews welcome. And a huge number went to Salonika. And later on, Hilary Pomeroy is going to tell the story of the Jews of Salonika because it’s an extraordinary story. Now, this is a letter that evidently was sent to one of his courtiers by Bayezid, but it comes from Jewish sources. “You venture to call Ferdinand a wise ruler. He who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine.” And basically, evidently though he threatened with death anyone who didn’t welcome the Jews. And in fact he was very well paid for it in terms of what they gave the empire. It was the Jews who introduced the first printing press in 1493 into the Ottoman Empire. And they became incredibly important in many of the cities. And I’m going to be talking about on Sunday about one of the most fascinating families, the Mendes family, Donna Gracia and her nephew, Joseph Nasi, who is a very, very close friend of the sultan of the time, who becomes the Duke of Naxos and really becomes a roving ambassador, one of the most important men in the world. I’m going to go that far. So basically out of that terrible period when Jews were forced to flee, they found new homes in Italy and above all in the Ottoman Empire. Portugal proved to be only a short respite. But also, as I said, it shifts the whole centre of the Ashkenazi world now to Poland, where ironically Poles had invited Jews in, various kings, as I’m sure you all know, enacted charters where basically the Jews lived as a people among another people provided they paid taxes and performed services for the lords, then they were allowed to run their own communities.
So Bayezid, who understood how crazy it was to expel the most productive citizens, and as I said, many historians did actually say the decline of the Spanish empire begins with the expulsion of the Jews and the Moors because they expelled their useful middle classes. What good is all this gold coming into Spain if you’ve got nobody to engender the wealth? That’s a theory. Anyway, so I’ll stop now and see, oh, by the way, no, let’s have one more picture. Let’s look at the Admiral Kemel Reis. He is the great admiral of Bayezid and he’s a great hero and he sends many ships. He goes actually as early as 1490, not just after the time of the expulsion, to take Jews who are already fleeing and to take conversos. And of course what’s going to happen after the expulsion, many conversos are going to become great traders. Many of the conversos, the new Christians, are going to create trading empires hoping to escape the Inquisition. Tragically, the Inquisition is going to follow them to the New World. And I think the last Jew to be burnt at the stake by the Inquisition was in Mexico in 1728. A terrible device. So let’s have a look at questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Thank you Hannah.
I’m not sure Sandy. She asked were males circumcised. I’m going to have to check that with you. It would have been very dangerous.
Yes, Peter’s saying the Hussites were the early Protestant. Yes, of course. They were considered heretics. And of course, the Catholics had Jan Hus burnt.
Monty is also, Monty is also asking did they circumcise their sons. Jews forced out move to what is now the state of Israel, the direct descendants of Israel today. Yes, of course Monty, some of them did, not a large number. Later on they’re going to. In fact, the Duke of Naxos tried to set up Tiberius. He and his aunt were granted land by the sultan in Tiberius. He tried to make it financially very viable.
Q: Are they still colonialist settlers?
A: I’m not going to get into that argument. You know what I think, Monty.
Q: Is it possible that Christopher Columbus was born Jewish?
A: Well, it’s interesting. He did leave from Genoa and I don’t think he ever set foot back in Spain. There is a rumour. I don’t know if it’s ever really been proven.
I’ve just finished reading a history by Edward Kritzler, “Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean” an ambitiously extensive history of a mostly unexamined aspect of the Jewish expulsion from Spain and Portugal. Quote from the Los Angeles Times, the chronicle is from 1492 until 1675, a very interesting read.
Yeah, there were Jewish pirates in the Caribbean. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Thank you for that tip on the book. Yes. Another country which welcomed the Jews was Holland. Yes, but you know why that happened and its fascinating. After Holland becomes part of the Spanish Empire, I’ve talked about the Habsburgs, et cetera. The Dutch are going to become Calvinists and they’re going to revolt against Spain. They’re going to revolt against Catholic Spain and that is when Jews begin to go to Holland, it becomes a great centre of humanistic learning. It’s a very, very interesting story. Menasseh Ben Israel was the great rabbi there. And of course he was the son of conversos. He and his brother were, when the father came to Holland, he called his sons Menasseh and Ephraim. Their names were changed. They became Jews. They were then circumcised. So probably they were not circumcised as conversos. Yeah, that’s interesting. So basically, yes.
And this is from Denise, “My paternal family Spain to Portugal and then to Amsterdam. Lots of families also in Rotterdam. My grandfather immigrated in the late 19th century to South Africa.” Yes, that’s a very interesting route. My family, we’ve traced them back to Holland in 1649. My mother’s family. We presume they were conversos and then to England, one branch of the family in the 1750s. Thank you Denise. Yes, it’s interesting if you can fit it into your own family history. I reckon it depends where you’re listening from. I know that in England and in America, I’d say three quarters of you who are listening who are Jewish or born Jewish, you will be mainly of Eastern European descent. In fact, my grandmother was a Sephardi and the rest of the family were horrified when she married my Ashkenazi grandfather from Germany. But that’s another story.
This is from Gerald. I was told that about 20% of Portuguese can trace their heritage today to being converted Jews. Now Gerald, it’s probably higher than that, actually. When I sat on the IHRA, the international task force, a very close colleague of mine went to Portugal because they were considering being part of IHRA. And he gave a lecture at the university and he was told by the rector it’s something like 50, 60%. And of course you know about that in certain families, particularly in the Balearic Islands, they light the candles in secret in the cellars. And this goes back obviously to converso roots. They don’t know their Jewish roots. And of course, in Cordoba there’s a Jewish centre that’s just opened up. There’s a very interesting state statue in Cordoba to Maimonides, but it’s called Ben Maimonides so anyway. But if you have the ability to travel and you haven’t been to Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, they’re fascinating areas to visit. And the Juderia, of course was very near the royal castle of the vizier’s palace. I’m sure Hillary covered this with you when she looked at the Jews, the Golden Age because so many of the great rabbis were also advisors to the various sultans. Hisdai Ibn Shaprut to Abd al-Rahman III who built the Mezquita.
Yes Carl, Lyn Julius is a very close friend of mine and actually does lecture a lot on the Jews of the Arab world for us. And I know she’s got a couple of lectures coming up. Yes, of course. She loves this period.
Thank you Margaret. Thank you Michael very much.
Yes, I lectured on, obviously my specialty unfortunately is modern history and the Shoa. But I’ve been teaching Jewish history for 45 years and for me it’s a pleasure to go back into mediaeval history. And it’s not just the darkness. You see, I see through it, there’s this great thread of survival against the odds whatever the destiny of the Jewish people. There is a destiny. I’m convinced of it. And that’s not necessarily a religious statement. There’s just something in our story that I think is, it’s indefinable. And that’s why although we are going through a very dark period, I do see light and I hope you all do too. And of course we are with all our brothers and sisters throughout the Jewish world, we’re going through a terrible period. And my heart goes out particularly to those of you in Israel who I know are still listening. Because I get emails and what can we do? We can only hope and pray that the world comes to its senses. But we will go on. I believe that.
This is from Barbara, “My Sephardi mother from Hungary spoke Medina. We went on holiday to Argentina and people asked how she spoke Spanish. She answered because Queen Isabella converted her.” That’s lovely. You know, of course, after Hungary was conquered by the Muslims, Jews were much better treated than they were under the Christians. It’s a fascinating story.
Selena, “My maiden name is Rodriguez Pereira, my family went from Spain to Portugal to Holland. My great-grandfather, Rev Ben Rodigus Pereira came to Holland to the UK.” Wow. That is a very interesting, very interesting story. I do hope you write your stories down for your families because my beloved mother and grandmother, they never wrote anything down and I can’t remember enough. Okay, you can look at the records, but it’s the memories that are so important. And I’m really advising all my friends of a certain age, including myself, we’ve got to start writing it all down. I’ve had a very lucky life because of my strange work. I’ve known so many incredible people and they’ve never written their stories down so I’m trying to remember what they’ve told me so that at least I can write it down for the record. But Selena, you have an extraordinary story and I hope you have written it down.
This is Anna. “My husband’s paternal grandmother was originally Isaacs from Spain who came to England during Cromwell via Holland.” Yes, of course. Under Menasseh Ben Israel, Oliver Cromwell allowed the Jews back into England. And I’d lectured on it. You’ll find it in our archive. But it’s a fascinating story.
This is from PJC. “I’m a Sephardi Jew who’s recently obtained Spanish citizenship. I believe my family is one of those who left directly for Turkey and then at the end of the 19th century to Egypt.” Now you see, don’t forget that the Turkish Empire controlled Egypt right up really until the First World War although by the time you get to the 19th century, the khedive of Egypt is more or less, he’s more or less independent. Therefore kicked out and resettled in several other countries, yes. I read that the family of Columbus converted after the massacres in Spain. I do not believe he made a mistake and went in the wrong direction when he found America. He wasn’t stupid. When he returned to Spain, he asked the king and queen for the island of Jamaica that he discovered as a legacy for his family. After then, many Jews made their way there. Coincidence? Who knows Mary? Who knows? Who knows? There are so many different accounts. There’s not a definable history on this one.
Selena says, “Thank you for the advice. My father told us about history as his Grandpa Ben RP told him,” yes, these are family memories. I think today, kids are more interested in their roots. I know the Ashkenazi side of my family, when they left Eastern Europe, there was nothing, they had nothing pleasant to say about it at all and it was very difficult to get them to talk about it. But the Sephardi side, some of them did, but not enough. So I find I have to go to the books to try and work out patterns for our own families.
Anyway, may I wish you all a great night. We’ve got some fabulous lectures coming up. So I wish you all well and take care of yourself and thank you very much, Hannah. God bless.