The Jewish Chronicle
On this day: The Alhambra Decree
March 31 1492: Jews expelled from Spain
March 31, 2011 09:08
March 31 1492: Jews expelled from Spain
March 31, 2011 09:08The Spanish Inquisition, when the Catholic ruling couple Ferdinand and Isabella waged their murderous campaign against the Jews of Spain and then Portugal, was one of the darkest periods in European history.
The edict of 1492 was by no means the start of the hostility towards Jews. In the 14th century as Christians reclaimed the Iberian Peninsula from its Muslim rulers, persecution of Jews increased.
It is believed that in the hundreds years before the edict up to 35,000 Jews were killed for refusing to become "conversos". Even those who did convert were viewed with suspicion and hostility, while many who did continued to practice Judaism in secret.
The Spanish Inquisition – to determine whether conversions were genuine – began in 1480 and the first "auto-da-fé" tribunal took place a year later in Seville, when six people were burned alive.
