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Jewish Life In Spain 8 / 5. 4 I would like to start by saying that according to the oldest traditions, the first Jews in Spain seem to have arrived in one of King Solomon's fleets, which, together with Hiram's Phoenicians, did business with Tarsus; these same boats of Tarsus which the prophet Jonah boarded and which must have arrived at the Tartessos of the Guadalquivir. Another tradition suggests they arrived as refugees after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B. C. E. , and found their compatriots, who had come during the Phoenician trading era. Though all this is possible, there is no documentation to prove it. It may be more logical to assume that the first Jewish settlements in the Iberian Peninsula took place after Tito's destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.
D. Speaking about the beginning of the discrimination, I should note that according to Catholic religion heresy is a sin. It is so declared in Jewish as well as Christian law. St.
Paul enumerates heresies among "works of the flesh" (Gal. 5: 20). A Catholic who denies one or more of the teachings of Christ is held by the Church to be a heretic. The Catholic Church teaches with absolute authority in matters of faith and morals, hence she is obligated to declare, as did St. Paul, "Even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you other than that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1: 8). This applies to the denial of a single basic Christian teaching, for to deny one of God's teachings is to deny God (Peters, 184). Hence a Catholic who proclaims belief in only nine of the Ten Commandments, for instance, is a heretic, as the denial of one of the Commandments is a denial of God, its Author.
The same thing applies to every article in the Apostles Creed, and other teachings of the Church (Thompson, 48). Heresy, properly understood, is worse than murder. Murder robs man of his physical life, which at best is limited to a short term of years; whereas heresy robs man of his spiritual inheritance; it murders the soul, with the result that the heretic is deprived of an eternity of happiness, in the event of dying unrepentant. Thus, unless every person is 100 % Catholic, he automatically becomes a heretic. Therefore, all religions or the absence of thereof in spain under Catholicism was considered heresy (Selmer, 231). The Inquisition this paper speaks about is the infamous Spanish Inquisition, authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478.
Pope Sixtus tried to establish harmony between the inquisitors and the ordinaries, but was unable to maintain control of the desires of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella. Sixtus agreed to recognize the independence of the Spanish Inquisition. This institution survived to the beginning of the 19 th century, and was permanently suppressed by a decree on July 15, 1834 (Thompson, 52). Speaking about the Spanish Jews I would like to note that it is assumed that Jews settled in Spain in Roman times, but we have little information about Jewish life in Spain until the time of the Visigothic Spanish kingdom, which outlawed Judaism at the end of the seventh century after the kings had become Catholics. Spain was conquered by the Muslims in 711. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, Spanish Judaism flourished under the Muslims, producing poets, scholars, and courtiers of the first order (Donahue, 19).
After the Christian Reconquista gained Toledo in 1085, when the Almoravids came to rule the Islamic side of the frontier, Jewish cultural achievements in Muslim Spain began to decline, disappearing under the Almohades in the mid-twelfth century (Crumb, 37). But Christian Spain meanwhile developed its remarkable convivencia in which Jews (and Muslims) were involved in cultural, intellectual, financial and even political life all over Christian Spain. By the mid-thirteenth century, the Christians controlled all of the Peninsula except for a small area from Granada to the Mediterranean (Thompson, 52). In many of the independent Spanish kingdoms, the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries still saw striking religious, cultural and literary achievements among the Jews, but Jews also faced increasing religious pressures and occasionally were forced to participate in religious "disputations" with Christians (Selmer, 233). I should also note that the Inquisition was a permanent institution in the Catholic Church in Spain charged with the eradication of heresies. Unlike many other religions (e.
g. , Buddhism, Judaism), the Catholic Church has a hierarchical structure with a central bureaucracy (Donahue, 21). In the early years of the church, there were several competing sects that called themselves Christian. But after the Emperor Constantine I (280? - 337 CE) made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire and the local administrative structures were pulled together into one hierarchy centered in Rome, doctrinal arguments were settled by Church Councils, beginning with the Council of Nice in 325 (which formulated the Nice Creed). Those whose beliefs or practices deviated sufficiently from the orthodoxy of the councils now became the objects of efforts to bring them into the fold. Resistance often led to persecution (Thompson, 55).
One should also remember that until the 13 th century, many Jews were wealthy landowners and many others based their economic life in the fields, though some legislation prevented them from owning land. Still, there were small landowners until the expulsion, standing out for their vineyards, and even teaching some techniques to the Christians. The majority, however, worked in commerce or as artisans, forming guilds and living in specific urban neighbourhoods. One of their main occupations, especially in Aragon, was dye-making; they also excelled as tailors, shoemakers, jewellers, saddle-makers and cloth merchants, leading to a comfortable lifestyle, though, of course not all Jews were wealthy.
They were also small businessmen, middlemen and shopkeepers. The kings granted or rescinded privileges to their communities, and the church and nobility edited taxes. Some Jews worked collecting royal taxes, which earned them the hatred of Christians. The legal situation changed: sometimes they collected royal taxes, and at other times they were forbidden any business with Christians. One of the professions in which they stood out was medicine. Yosef Ferruziel was Alphonso VI's physician, Don Meyer Alguades was physician to Henry III of Castile, and Avatar ben Crescas to John II of Aragon.
Arabic science influenced the study of astronomy, in which field Abraham ben Date, Abraham ben Ezra and Yehuda Cohen, among others, were remarkable. Interested in contacting Jewish Diaspora communities, Benjamin of Tudela travelled through Europe and the East, reaching Jerusalem; his travel writings, composed father his return to Spain, constitute a true compendium of history and geography. Many other Jews were remarkable in the field of science, for example Rabbi Away, who organized the irrigation system of Tudela, Abraham Anna, disseminator of Arabic and Hebrew science in Europe, Abraham Zacuto, author of the "Perpetual Almanac", and the Mallorca n scientists Yehuda h and Abraham Cresques, author of the first "Catalan Atlas." Jews rose to high positions in government, collecting taxes, acting as financiers and influencing politics. Samuel Ha-Levy was one noteworthy figure, as treasurer for Pedro I the Cruel, and Abraham Senior was the financier of the Catholic Monarchs.
The Jews paid special taxes and were considered Crown property. In some cases, the fine for wounding or killing a Jew was not paid to his family but to the king. The alabama was the Jewish municipal administrative centre. The day anim or judges held a position comparable to that of mayor and the Chief Rabbiexercised authority over all the Jews of the kingdom. The judea (Jewish quarter) was the neighbourhood of the city where the Jews lived, usually near the walls, the castle or the cathedral. The alamos enjoyed considerable autonomy.
Disputes among Jews were resolved by their own laws and tribunals. The judge, or inquisitor, could bring suit against anyone. The accused had to testify against himself / herself and not have the right to face and question his / her accuser. It was acceptable to take testimony from criminals, persons of bad reputation, excommunicated people, and heretics. The accused did not have right to counsel, and blood relationship did not exempt one from the duty to testify against the accused. Sentences could not be appealed Sometimes inquisitors interrogated entire populations in their jurisdiction.
The inquisitor questioned the accused in the presence of at least two witnesses. The accused was given a summary of the charges and had to take an oath to tell the truth (Peters, 190). Various means were used to get the cooperation of the accused. Although there was no tradition of torture in Christian canon law, this method came into use by the middle of the 13 th century. The findings of the Inquisition were read before a large audience; the penitents abjured on their knees with one hand on a bible held by the inquisitor. Penalties went from visits to churches, pilgrimages, and wearing the cross of infamy to imprisonment (usually for life but the sentences were often commuted) and (if the accused would not abjure) death.
Death was by burning at the stake, and it was carried out by the secular authorities. In some serious cases when the accused had died before proceedings could be instituted, his or her remains could be exhumed and burned. Death or life imprisonment was always accompanied by the confiscation of all the accused's property (Thompson, 57). Abuses by Spanish local Inquisitions early on led to reform and regulation by Rome, and in the 14 th century intervention by secular authorities became common. At the end of the 15 th century, under Ferdinand and Isabel, the Spanish inquisition became independent of Rome. In its dealings with converted Moslems and Jews and also illuminist's, the Spanish Inquisition with its notorious autos-da-fe represents a dark chapter in the history of the Inquisition.
In northern Europe the Inquisition was considerably more benign: in England it was never instituted, and in the Scandinavian countries it had hardly any impact (Donahue, 28). The Spanish Inquisition was the Congregation of the Holy Office, now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, part of the Roman Curia that became the supervisory body of local Inquisitions disseminated across the land (Donahue, 29). The Pope himself holds the title of prefect but never exercises this office. Instead, he appoints one of the cardinals to preside over the meetings. There are usually ten other cardinals on the Congregation, as well as a prelate and two assistants all chosen from the Dominican order. The Spanish Holy Office also has an international group of consultants, experienced scholars of theology and canon law, who advise it on specific questions.
In 1616 these consultants gave their assessment of the propositions that the Sun is immobile and at the center of the universe and that the Earth moves around it, judging both to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy, " and the first to be "formally heretical" and the second "at least erroneous in faith" in theology (Thompson, 60). Jewish culture in the 10 th through 12 th centuries ran parallel to Christian culture. There was a level of social stability during this time, and marriage was the base of the Jewish family; religious rites and traditional customs could be practiced freely. The birth of a boy is always an important event in a Jewish family. But circumcision constituted one of the major contradictions of "convivencia" (co-existence), for, while Christians celebrate the circumcision of Christ, they condemned this ritual in Judaism, as religious disobedience. For the Spanish Jews, the synagogue continued to be the centre of the community.
The rabbis' moral authority guided the people, while Torah precepts relating to kosher food meant that various laws prevented Jews and Christians from eating together (Peters, 191). In 1391 the cruel and input massacres of the Castilian, Catalonian and Valencian Jewish quarters erupted, with thousands of Jews perishing. Anti-Jewish sentiments took a concrete form in the 15 th century, obliging Jews to wear distinct clothes. The sermons of Saint Vincent Ferrer, the Tortosa Debate between Jews and Christians and the Bull of Benedict XIII, Pope Luna, against the Jews, accelerated the destruction of Spanish Jewry. The sermons of the Archdeacon of Ecija, Ferran Martinez, turned the mobs into fanatics, attacking the Jewish quarters and slaughtering thousands of Jews. In 1476 the Inquisition Tribunal was set up in Seville.
Seven years later, Tomas de Torquemada was named inquisitor General. The persecutions had produced a wave of forced conversions. The Inquisition acted harshly against the converted and stepped up the pressure on the Jews: they were forced to hear anti-Semitic sermons in the synagogues themselves, after which the conversions took place. The Catholic Monarchs, busy with the war with Granada, had accept the financing offered by Don Isaac Abravanel and Don Abraham Senior, Senior Comptroller of Castile and Chief Rabbi of the kingdom, to underwrite the costs of the war - which did not stop them from signing the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492. The supplications of Don Isaac Abravanel for mercy to his brothers were turned down by the Monarchs. Political power based on a unified dynasty, royal power and religious unity leaned on the Inquisition and Torquemada to advance the conversion of the Jews.
All those who would not accept baptism had to leave Spain within four months, leaving all their wealth behind. Some 100, 000 Jews left Spain. They spread out mostly through Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa. Their descendants are the Sephardi m, who still use the language of Castile. In their diaspora throughout the Mediterranean they carried to names in their hearts: Sepharad and Jerusalem (Peters, 192). As for the Inquisition, I should note that Jewish-Spanish conversos would be arrested and accused of not being true Christians.
They wouldn't even know who was accusing them; evidence would be presented against them in secret. Then they would be tortured until they confessed to being heretics. Then, once they confessed, they would be killed. The usual form was burning at the stake, though if they were willing to kiss the cross, they would be spared the horrible pain of burning and would be strangled instead.
The key point is that it really didn't matter if they repented - they died either way. What if some people refused to confess even under torture? Or worse, what if some people admitted right away to practicing Judaism secretly, but even when tortured refused to concede the truth of Christianity? If they survived the horrendous tortures, they would be burned at the stake in a ceremony called auto-da-fe meaning "act of faith. " The year 1492 marked the fall of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, bringing to an end the Muslim domination of Spain which had lasted nearly 800 years. Spain returned to being a completely Christian country.
Shortly thereafter, Ferdinand and Isabella, decided to throw all the Jews out of Spain. This time, in the expulsion edict, the monarchs were not targeting Jewish converts to Christianity, rather they were targeting Jews who had never converted. Why? One factor that certainly played a big role (besides anti-Semitism) was that Jewish money was now needed to rebuild the kingdom after the costly war against the Muslims. Rather than slowly squeezing the money out of the Jews through taxation, it was easier to expel them all at once and confiscate the wealth and property they would leave behind (Selmer, 237). The Jews tried to get the edict reversed, of course.
The key player in the drama was Don Isaac Abravanel -- who was a great Torah scholar and rabbi. He was one of the great Jewish personalities of this period of time, and had served as the treasurer of Spain, thus being the most powerful Jew in Spain. He tried very hard to rescind the expulsion order, at one point offering the monarchs 300, 000 ducats for a reprieve. He actually won a delay, but his success only ignited the ire of the Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada. Torquemada - who had an enormous amount of influence over the Queen Isabella, being her confessor - walked in while Abravanel was pleading his cause. Incensed, he threw the cross at the Queen, hitting her in the head and yelled: "Judas sold his master (Jesus) for 30 pieces of silver.
Now you would sell him anew!" And so Don Isaac Abravanel lost. But he was so important to the monarchs that they gave him a special dispensation to stay; they even agreed that another nine Jews could stay with him so he could pray with a minyan. He refused. In fact, he became the leader of the Jews of Spain as they went into exile. In conclusion I would like to say that the Spanish inquisition made many Spanish Jews convert to Catholicism in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, especially in the aftermath of the Edict of Expulsion in 1492 (Selmer, 235). These "conversos, " often called "New Christians, " included many who became devout, believing Catholics, or at any rate educated their children to be.
Others, however, preserved Jewish practices and did their utmost to retain some sort of Jewish identity. Most knew little or nothing about the Jewish religion and beliefs of their ancestors; some may have developed an interest in Judaism only after threatened by or actually charged by the Inquisition. Scholars debate the percentage of New Christians who were loyal to Judaism; some believe it was very low. Nevertheless, a steady stream of conversos and their descendants returned to the open practice of Judaism throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and even afterward; often their communities were called "Spanish-Portuguese. " Conversos or their descendants who were believed to continue Jewish practices or to hold Jewish beliefs were called "Marranos, " a derogatory term meaning "swine" (Selmer, 236) Bibliography: Thompson, Richard, The Spanish inquisition, McGraw Hill, 2002.
Donahue, Andrew, The history of inquisition, Prentice Hall, 2001. Peters, Ray, The jewish European history, Penguin Books, 2002. Crumb, Don, the Jews in Spain, Oxford University Press, 2001. Selmer, Diana, The History of European Jews, Harvard University Press, 2001.
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Research essay sample on Jewish Life In Spain 8 5 4
