Persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal

Epistola de victoria contra infideles habita, 1507

On 5 December 1496, King Manuel I of Portugal signed the decree of expulsion of Jews and Muslims to take effect by the end of October of the next year.[1]

Background

Until the 15th century, some Jews occupied prominent places in Portuguese political and economic life. For example, Isaac Abrabanel was the treasurer of King Afonso V of Portugal. Many also had an active role in Portuguese culture, and they kept their reputation of diplomats and merchants. By this time, Lisbon and Évora were home to important Jewish communities.

Expulsion and Assimilation

Burning of Crypto-Jews in Lisbon, Portugal

On 5 December 1496, because a clause of the contract of marriage between himself and Isabella, Princess of Asturias stipulated he do so in order to win her hand, King ManueI of Portugal decreed that all Jews must convert to Catholicism or leave the country. One set of laws demonstrated the King's wish to completely and forever eradicate Judaism from Portugal.[1] The initial edict of expulsion was turned into an edict of forced conversion in 1497: Portuguese Jews were prevented from leaving the country and forcibly converted to Christianity. Hard times followed for the Portuguese conversos, with the massacre of 2000 individuals in Lisbon in 1506 and the later and even more relevant establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536.[2] The Portuguese inquisition was extinguished in 1821 by the "General Extraordinary and Constituent Courts of the Portuguese Nation".

When the King allowed conversos to leave after the Lisbon massacre of 1506, many went to the Ottoman Empire (notably Thessaloniki and Constantinople and to Morocco. Smaller numbers went to Amsterdam, France, Brazil, Curaçao and the Antilles. In some of these places their presence can still be witnessed, like the use of the Ladino language by some Jewish communities in Turkey, the Portuguese based dialects of the Antilles, or the multiple Synagogues built by what was to be known as the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (such as the Amsterdam Esnoga).

Jews who converted to Christianity were known as New Christians, and would always be under the constant surveillance of the Inquisition. Many of those Crypto-Jew who continued to secretly practice their faith would eventually leave the country in the centuries to come and again embrace openly their Jewish faith (such was the case, for example, of the family of Baruch Spinoza).

Some of the most famous descendants of Portuguese Jews who lived outside Portugal are the philosopher Baruch Spinoza (from Portuguese Bento de Espinosa), and the classical economist David Ricardo.

Crypto-Jews

Some Jews, very few, like the Belmonte Jews, went for a different and radical solution, practicing their faith in a strict secret isolated community. Known as the Marranos, some have survived until today (basically only the community from Belmonte, plus some more isolated families) by the practice of inmarriage and few cultural contact with the outside world. Only recently have they re-established contact with the international Jewish community and openly practice religion in a public synagogue with a formal Rabbi.

Some return to Portugal

In the 19th century, some affluent families of Sephardi Jewish Portuguese origin, namely from Morocco, returned to Portugal (such as the Ruah and Bensaude). The first synagogue to be built in Portugal since the 15th century was the Lisbon Synagogue, inaugurated in 1904.

In 2014, the Portuguese parliament changed the Portuguese nationality law in order to grant Portuguese nationality to descendants of Sephardi Jews expelled from Portugal. The law is a reaction to historical events that led to their expulsion from Portugal but also due to increased concerns over Jewish communities throughout Europe. In order to obtain Portuguese nationality, the person must have a family surname that attest being a direct descendant or with family relation in a collateral line from a Sephardi community of Portuguese origin. Use of expressions in Portuguese in Jewish rites or Judaeo-Portuguese or Ladino can also be considered proof.[3]

In recent years, several hundred Turkish Jews, who have been able to prove that they are descended from Portuguese Jews expelled in 1497, have emigrated to Portugal and acquired Portuguese citizenship.[4][5][6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 António José Saraiva: The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536-1765, BRILL, 2001, ISBN 9789004120808, p. 10-12.
  2. ↑ "Sao Tome & Principle". Jewish Virtual Library.
  3. ↑ Lusa. "Descendentes de judeus sefarditas já vão poder pedir a nacionalidade". PÚBLICO.
  4. ↑ http://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-rising-european-anti-semitism-portugal-sees-jewish-renaissance/
  5. ↑ http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-citizenship-law-has-jews-flocking-to-tiny-portugal-city/
  6. ↑ http://www.jta.org/2015/03/03/news-opinion/world/portugal-open-to-citizenship-applications-by-descendants-of-sephardic-jews

Further reading

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