How Did Jewish Communities Live in Medieval Spain?

They called it Sepharad, thus taking a concept that appears in the Old Testament. The Iberian Peninsula was called this and, consequently, the Hispanic Jews who were forced to leave their homeland in 1492, heading into another long exile, were called Sephardim.

Jewish communities are documented in what is now Spain at least since the 9th century, when Jews settled in Barcelona are mentioned. However, the presence of Hebrew communities on the Peninsula is very old, dating back to the Visigothic era and the first years of the Muslim conquest.

How did Jewish communities live in medieval Spain? Did they suffer the persecution that is often mentioned or, on the contrary, were they respected and even favored by the monarchs? Today we review the daily life of the Jews of Sepharad, Spain in the Middle Ages.

Jews in medieval Spain: between cordiality and violence

To trace the history of the Hebrew communities in medieval Spain we must keep in mind two very different realities. On the one hand, Muslim Al-Andalus, in which the Jews enjoyed a period of important wealth and stability; on the other, the Christian kingdoms, which little by little, and after the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba, will absorb the Jewish emigrants from the south through several population privileges that are very beneficial for their community.

The end of the Middle Ages is also the end of the more or less stable coexistence of Jews and Christians in Spain. Starting in the 14th century, with the rise of the mendicant orders, the growing pressure of the Church and, above all, the spread of the Black Death (for which the Jews were blamed), the persecutions of the Jews of Sepharad began.

The climax of this persecution was the official expulsion of the Jewish communities from the Iberian Peninsula. A time of intransigence began, at the gates of the Modern Age, which fostered hoaxes and false accusations towards the converts, Jews who had converted to Christianity in order to remain in their homeland.

The first Jewish communities in Hispania

If we delve into the historical annals, we find allusions to Jewish communities in Hispania since late ancient times. The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the troops of Emperor Titus caused a wave of emigration to different parts of the empire, and Hispania was no exception.

In the Visigothic kingdom of Toledo, a series of laws were enacted against the Jews, such as the order of forced conversion (under penalty of expulsion) that was drafted during the reign of Sisebuto (616), or the decree of slavery of the Hispanic Jewish communities. (694). Perhaps as a consequence of these visibly violent measures, the Jews themselves later and voluntarily participated in the Arab conquest of the peninsula. either as soldiers or as supporters of the newcomers who, from within the cities, facilitated their access to the squares.

The stability of Al-Andalus

The conquistadors were very aware of the military and political support they had received from Hispanic Jews. Furthermore, the Arabs who arrived in the peninsula were deeply respectful of the other two monotheistic religions, and never interfered in their creed and liturgy. The only condition imposed on Jews and Christians was the payment of a tribute, which ultimately increased the wealth of the newborn emirate.

With such a panorama of tolerance and freedom, Jews began to prosper under Muslim rule. There were many Jewish figures who reached high positions in administration and government, as well as a privileged position in the practice of medicine and culture. In this sense, the figure of Hasday Ben Shaprut (10th century) stands out especially, who became the family doctor of Caliph Abderrahman III and was a true cultural patron and promoter of Hebrew poetry.

The end of the Caliphate of Córdoba and diaspora to the north

In summary, the situation of the Jews under the Muslim aegis was, during the emirate and the first period of the caliphate (756-1008), one of true stability, protected not only by the religious tolerance of the emirs and caliphs, but also by its status as servi regis, that is, real property.

Everything was cut short with the disappearance of the independent caliphate of Córdoba in the year 1008. Internal struggles continued. The arrival of the Almoravids to the peninsula does not solve things; They are a people from the Sahara who practice a very radical Islamic faith and who do not show at all the tolerance (and even favoritism) of the ancient caliphs. Black clouds loom over the horizon of the Jewish communities of Al-Andalus.

The constant conflicts and, above all, the bloody massacre of Jews that occurred in Granada in 1066 led to the flight of the Hebrew communities to the north of the peninsula, where the Christian monarchs welcomed them with open arms. The golden age in Al-Andalus was ending. From then on, Jewish intellectuality will shine in the Christian kingdoms; especially in Castile.

We can ask ourselves what interest the kings of Castile and Aragon had in receiving the Jews fleeing the Almoravid persecution. If we stick to the fact that the Christian advance had left entire lands without population and, therefore, without cultivation, we will understand the eagerness that the Castilian and Aragonese kings showed in providing the exiled communities with beneficial privileges that motivated their permanence. Thus, charters such as Castrojeriz (974) or Nájera (1020) contained very beneficial privileges for newly arrived Jews.

The Hispanic Christian world considered Jews servi regis, just like their Arab contemporaries. Thus, since Visigothic times, Jews were considered royal property, which in a certain way obliged the kings of the Christian kingdoms to put them under their protection. A protection that, it must be said, was not always seen well, especially in the case of the Church.

Alfonso X the Wise and his school of translators

During the central years of the Middle Ages (that is, from approximately the 11th to the 13th century) the Jewish communities lived in relative tranquility in the Christian kingdoms, in a similar way to what had happened in Al-Andalus during the Umayyad period. Their evident erudition and high political and diplomatic skills (acquired during their collaboration with the Arabs) impressed various monarchs, who called them to their side to advise them on government tasks.

At this point it is necessary to break a cliché that, for some reason, is still quite current among the general public: that which divides the medieval Iberian Peninsula between “Christians” and “Muslims” and denies any hint of collaboration and mutual sympathy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While it is true that there were very turbulent periods, in general Muslims and Christians did much more than fight each other. In fact, The mutual proximity contributed to an extraordinary cultural traffic, which resulted in such unique aspects as the presence of decorative Arab motifs in Christian houses, and also in clothing accessories and domestic trousseau. The transfer of knowledge and aesthetics was constant, which is why it is necessary to banish (once and for all) the deeply rooted idea of ​​a fierce Reconquista, in which both sides were absolutely isolated.

An example of this is the reign of Alfonso In fact, during the time of this monarch, Toledo flourished as a true melting pot of cultures, especially through the famous Toledo School of Translators, in which various scholars, both Jewish and Christian, collaborated to translate fundamental works of Western and Eastern knowledge.

The beginning of the end

We have already commented that, despite the generally benevolent climate that prevailed in the medieval Hispanic Christian world, not everyone viewed interreligious harmony favorably. The Church in particular placed many obstacles to the generosity that the kings used towards the Jews, obstacles that, as the 14th century approached, became more pronounced.

Already in the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII harshly reproached Alfonso VI of Castile for giving such a welcome to the Jews who had fled from Al-Andalus. And, thereafter, the various pontiffs urged the Christian monarchs to proclaim anti-Jewish edicts which, by the way, were rarely put into effect.

In the 14th century, a series of events occurred that were the starting point of bitter hatred towards Jewish communities, which intensified at the end of the Middle Ages. First, we have the rise of mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. The latter, spurred by the controversial figure of Vicente Ferrer, were especially cruel and violent in their harangues against the Hebrews.

On the other hand, the Black Death that arrived from the East and spread death and desolation throughout Europe did not help at all. And the pestilence was blamed on the Jews, who were accused of poisoning the water in the wells to spread the disease. Consequently, a series of popular riots occurred that aimed at the persecution of the Jews, the well-known pogroms. The year 1391 was especially fateful: the calls (Jewish neighborhoods) of Barcelona, ​​Seville and Toledo, among others, were brutally destroyed, and their inhabitants were massacred.

1492: the Sefarad diaspora

The beginning of the next century did not predict any improvement. Anti-Semitism was here to stay, and hatred towards Jewish communities only grew. The hoaxes, which spread incessantly and which accused the Hebrews of killing Christian children for their rituals, increased the fury of the people and the fear of the few Jewish communities that remained.

In Castile, specifically, the civil war between Enrique IV of Trastámara and his brother Alfonso further destabilized the precarious coexistence. When Isabel, their sister, acceded to the throne and married Ferdinand of Aragon, the foundations were prepared for the final blow: the Edict of Expulsion, signed by the monarchs in 1492 and which forced the Jews to convert to Christianity or abandon your home. The Sefarad diaspora began.

We should not think, however, that Castile and Aragon were the only two kingdoms from which the Jews were expelled. Two hundred years ago, In 1290, Edward I of England did the same in his territories; and, a century earlier, Philip Augustus of France decreed the expulsion of the Hebrews from France.

The climate of cordiality that survived in the peninsula until well into the 14th century helped ensure that the expulsion decrees of neighboring countries did not affect the Hispanic kingdoms, although they finally adhered to the general anti-Semitic current. Despite this, in few territories did interreligious coexistence as stable as in medieval Spain proliferate.