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Early Settlement.

Jews lived in Spain in very early times, although the legend that Solomon's treasurer Adoniram died there, as well as the story that the Jews of Toledo, in a letter addressed to the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, declared against the crucifixion of Jesus, can not be credited. Yet it is certain that the apostle Paul intended to visit Spain to proclaim his new teaching to the Jews living there, and that Vespasian, and especially Hadrian, who was himself a Spaniard, transported several Jewish prisoners to Spain. Several passages in the Talmud and in the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah) which treat of refer undoubtedly to Spain (Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 128; Kohut, "Aruch Completum," i. 188); and the Jewish coins unearthed in ancient Tarragona give evidence of an early settlement of the Jews in Spain, either voluntary or involuntary.

The earliest Jewish tombstone with a Latin inscription and discovered in Spain is that unearthed at Adra; it is of a Jewish girl, and dates back to the third century (Hübner, "Inscriptions Hispaniæ Latinæ," p. 268, Berlin, 1869; Rios, "Hist." i. 68). The Jews spread rapidly over the Pyrenean peninsula, and were well treated under the sovereignty of the Arian Visigoths; they lived on an equality with the other inhabitants, engaged in trade and agriculture, and were often entrusted with judicial offices. The first attempt to disturb the friendly relations that existed between Jews and Christians originated with the Council of Elvira (303-304), which consisted of nineteen bishops and twenty-four presbyters, the bishops being chosen from Cordova, Seville, Toledo, Saragossa, and other cities inhabited by Jews. This council under pain of excommunication prohibited the Christians from living with Jews or eating in their company; it forbade also the blessing of the produce of Jewish fields "in order that the ecclesiastical benediction might not appear fruitless and vain."

Under Recared.

The position of the Jews became even less favorable when King Recared (586-589), for political reasons, abjured the Arian faith before the third Council of Toledo and entered the Catholic Church. In order to confirm the converted Arians in the Catholic faith and to win the clergy over to his side, he endeavored to prevent the Christians from associating with the Jews, who, as the allies of those opposed to his conversion, might have proved dangerous opponents of his religious plans. At the Council of Toledo in 589 he issued an order to the effect that Jews might not acquire or own Christian slaves, nor fill public offices, nor have intercourse with Christian women; the circumcision of a slave or of a Christian was punished with confiscation of property. Recared did not, however, succeed in enforcing his laws. The Arians, recently converted to the Catholic faith, were true allies of the Jews, who were oppressed like themselves; and the Jews were therefore protected by the Arian bishops and by the independent Visigothic nobility. The successors of Recared were, as a rule, better disposed toward the Jews, King Sisebut being the first who endeavored to enforce fully the laws enacted by Recared. He ordered that the Jews, on pain of the loss of their property, should release all their Christian slaves within a short time, and that in the future they might not hold any slaves.

Under the Visigoths.

Sisebut decreed the first persecution of the Jews in Spain. Whether he was influenced by Emperor Heraclius, or whether the clergy brought it about, is unknown, but he ordered that within a year all Jews should either submit to baptism or leave the Visigothic kingdom forever. Many Jews fled; but the greater number, more than 90,000, saved their property and their homes by embracing Christianity, though at heart they remained Jews. On account of this forcible conversion the king was severely criticized by Isidor of Seville, the most learned Spaniard of the time. During the reign of Suintala the fugitives returned to their country and the baptized Jews openly professed Judaism again. Forced to abdicate his throne, Suintala was succeeded by Sisenand. The latter was the tool of the clergy, and at the fourth Toledan Council (633) he ordered that the children of baptized Jews should be taken from their parents and given to Christians or to the cloisters for education. He ordered also that all Jews who had been forcibly baptized and who practiced Jewish ceremonies should be given away as slaves. The council called at Toledo by Chintila not only confirmed all the previously enacted anti-Jewish laws, but it ordained that no Jew might remain in the country, and that in the future every king at his accession should promise on oath to proceed with the greatest severity against all relapsing baptized Jews. The pseudo-Christians presented to the king a written statement declaring that they would live as good Catholics; but under Chindaswind they openly returned to the fold of Judaism. King Receswind was more severe than any of his predecessors. He ordered that Jews who practiced the rites of their faith should be beheaded, burned, or stoned to death. The Jews of Toledo promised (653) to observe the Church regulations, including that ordering them not to abstain from eating pork. Nevertheless, they continued to observe the Jewish festivals and to ignore the Christian, so that the clergy at length insisted upon their celebrating the Christian holy days under the supervision of the Church authorities.

The severe measures taken by the Visigothic civil officers as well as by the councils were mainly directed against the secret Jews, whom the clergy considered more dangerous than the unbaptized ones; the latter were, therefore, left in peace. Erwig, however, attempted to force these to accept baptism, threatening them with the confiscation of their property or with expulsion if they refused; he pronounced the severest punishments for the reading of anti-Christian writings and for practicing the rite of circumcision. All the anti-Jewish laws proposed by this king were accepted by the twelfth Toledan Council, presided over by Archbishop Julian of Toledo, who had published several writings against the Jews, although he was himself of Jewish origin and kept a Jewish servant.

Egica, the son-in-law and successor of Erwig, in the beginning of his reign showed himself mild toward the Jews. When, however, they allied themselves with the Arabs, who threatened the kingdom (which already was suffering from internal disturbances), the king confiscated all their property, and, in order to render them harmless for all time, declared all Jews, baptized or not, to be slaves and distributed them as gifts among Christians. Jewish children over seven years of age were taken from their parents and similarly dealt with (end of 694).

The Arrival of the Moors.

Witiza, the son of Egica, is described sometimes as a paragon of virtue and sometimes as a veritable fiend; the latter description of him is the one generally given by ecclesiastical writers. Lucas de Tuy, Archbishop Rodrigo, Ambrosio de Morales, Juan do Mariana, and other Spanish historians hold that this king, to further heretical ends, misused the previous decisions of the councils, that he recalled the exiled Jews, granted them privileges, and even entrusted them with public offices. Whether this be true, or whether, as is more probable, he oppressed them as his predecessors had done, it remains a fact that the Jews, either directly or through their coreligionists in Africa, encouraged the Mohammedans to conquer Spain and that they greeted them as their deliverers. After the battle of Jerez (711), in which African Jews fought bravely under Kaula al-Yahudi, and in which the last Gothic king, Rodrigo, and his nobles were slain, the conquerors Musa and Ṭariḳ were everywhere victorious. The conquered cities Cordova, Malaga, Granada, Seville, and Toledo were placed in charge of the Jewish inhabitants, who had been armed by the Arabs. The victors removed the disabilities which had oppressed the Jews so heavily, and granted them full religious liberty, requiring them to pay only the tribute of one golden dinar per capita (Adolf do Castro, "Historia de los Judios en España," pp. 33 et seq.; Rios, "Hist." i. 106 et seq.; G. van Vlooten, "Recherches sur la Domination Arabe," Amsterdam, 1894).

A new era now dawned for the Jews of the Pyrenean peninsula, whose number had been considerably augmented by those who had followed the Arab conquerors, as well as by later immigrants from Africa. Hardly a decade after the conquest, however, many Jews left their new home in order to follow a man named Serenus (Zanora, Zonaria) who had appeared in Syria and had proclaimed himself the Messiah (721); the governor, Anbasa (Ambisa), who was collecting enormous sums for the fiscus, confiscated the property of the emigrating Jews for this purpose. Under the Ommiad 'Abd al-Raḥman I., whose greatness is said to have been foretold by a learned Jew who became his adviser, a flourishing kingdom was established, of which Cordova was the center. During 'Abd al-Raḥman's reign the Jews devoted themselves to the service of the califate, to the study of the sciences, and to commerce and industry, especially to trading in silk and slaves, in this way promoting the prosperity of the country. Southern Spain became an asylum for the oppressed Jews of other parts. Bodo-Eleazar, a convert to Judaism, went to Cordova, where he is said to have endeavored to win proselytes for Judaism from among the Spanish Christians; but that the mass of the Spanish Jews of the period in question hated the Christians and aimed at making proselytes is not correct.

Under 'Abd al-Rahman I. and Al-Ḥakim.

The reigns of 'Abd al-Raḥman I. (called Al-Nasir; 912-961) and his son Al-Ḥakim were the golden era for the Spanish Jews and Jewish science. 'Abd al-Raḥman's court physician and minister was Ḥasdai ben Isaac ibn Shaprut, the patron of Menahem ben Saruḳ, Dunash ben Labraṭ, and other Jewish scholars and poets. During his term of power the scholar Moses ben Enoch was appointed rabbi of Cordova, and as a consequence Spain became the center of Talmudic study, and Cordova the meeting-place of Jewish savants. After the downfall of Al-Ḥakim, who likewise favored the Jews, a struggle for the throne broke out between Sulaiman ibn al-Ḥakim and Mohammed ibn Hisham. Sulaiman solicited the assistance of Count Sancho of Castile, while Mohammed, through the agency of wealthy Jewish merchants in Cordova, obtained the aid of Count Ramon of Barcelona. For this Sulaiman took fearful revenge upon the Jews, expelling them mercilessly from city and country (1013).

With the overthrow of the Banu Amir the power of the Mohammedan state in Spain came to an end, the mighty califate of Cordova being divided into twelve minor states under different califs. The Abbadites ruled in Seville, the Hammudites in Malaga, the Zayrids in Granada, the Beni-Hud in Saragossa, and others in Almeria, Toledo, Valencia, Niebla, etc. Several Jews left Cordova for Malaga, Granada, Toledo, Murcia, and Saragossa.

Samuel ibn Nagdela.

Among those who fled from Cordova was the Talmudist and linguist Samuel ha-Levi ibn Nagdela (Nagrela), who went to Malaga, which, together, with the towns of Jaen, Ronda, etc., belonged to the kingdom of Granada, founded by the Barbary tribe of Sinhagah. Samuel won the favor of the vizier of King Ḥabus of Granada; he appointed him his private secretary and recommended him to the king as counselor, and upon the death of the vizier the king made Samuel his minister and entrusted him with the administration of diplomatic affairs. Samuel, who resided in Granada, officiated as rabbi also, and took an active interest in the sciences and poetry. He retained his court position under King Ḥabus' son Badis, whom he aided against his elder brother Balkin. Samuel remained the protector of his coreligionists, who in Granada enjoyed full civic equality, being eligible for public offices and for service in the army.

A position similar to that of Samuel's was occupied, though only for a short time, by Jekuthiel ibn Ḥasan in Saragossa. Jekuthiel shared the fate of Samuel's son Abu Ḥusain Joseph ibn Nagdela, who succeeded his father as minister upon the latter's death (1055); Abu Ḥusain was accused by his enemies of treason after having held office for eleven years, and was crucified before the gate of Granada on Dec. 30, 1066. On this occasion all the Jews of Granada who had not sought salvation in flight, fifteen hundred families in number, fell victims to the rage of the populace. This was the first persecution of Jews on the Peninsula while under Islamic rule. All Jews were compelled to leave Granada, several finding refuge in Lucena. In the year of the persecution in Granada the talented philosopher Abu al-Faḍl ibn Ḥasdai was appointed vizier in Saragossa; he was the son of the poet Joseph ibn Ḥasdai, who had fled from Cordova in 1013, and he held the office of vizier until Abu Amir Yusuf al-Mu'tamir ascended the throne. The scholar Isaac ibn Albalia, who had escaped the butchery in Granada, was appointed astronomer to Mohammed al-Mu'tamid in Seville, who was a patron of science and poetry; Isaac was appointed also rabbi of all the congregations in that city. At the same time Al-Mu'tamid employed Joseph ibn Migas on diplomatic missions.

Under the Almoravides.

Terrified by the conquests of King Alfonso VI. of Castile, Al-Mu'tamid, heedless of the remonstrances of his son, called to his aid the ambitious Yusuf ibn Tashfin of North Africa. In the terrific battle of Zallaḳa (Oct., 1086), in which Jews fought bravely both in the Christian and in the Moorish army, Yusuf won a victory and the sovereign power. The Almoravides, a warlike, fanatical religious sect, now became the rulers of southern Spain; they did nothing to improve the welfare of the Jews. Yusuf ibn Tashfin endeavored to force the large and wealthy community of Lucena to embrace Islam. Under the reign of his son Ali (1106-43) the position of the Jews was more favorable. Some were appointed "mushawirah" (collectors and custodians of the royal taxes). Others entered the service of the state, holding the title of "vizier" or "nasi"; among these may be mentioned the poet and physician Abu Ayyub Solomon ibn al-Mu'allam of Seville, Abraham ibn Meïr ibn Ḳamnial, Abu Isaac ibn Muhajar, and Solomon ibn Farusal (murdered May 2, 1108). The old communities of Seville, Granada, and Cordova prospered anew.

Under the Almohades.

The power of the Almoravides was of short duration. A fanatic of North Africa, Abdallah ibn Tumart, appeared about 1112 as the upholder of Mohammed's original teachings concerning the unity of God, and became the founder of a new party called the Almohades, or Muzmotas ("Shebeṭ Yehudah," p. 3, gives the correct date as 4872 [= 1112]). Upon the death of Abdallah, 'Abd al-Mu'min took the leadership and endeavored with sword and brand to exterminate the Almoravides as political and religious enemies. In North Africa he won victory after victory. In the same year in which the Second Crusade brought new distress to the German Jews, 'Abd al-'Mu'min passed over to southern Spain in order to wrest that country from the Almoravides. He conquered Cordova (1148), Seville, Lucena, Montilla, Aguilar, and Baena, and within a year the whole of Andalusia was in the possession of the Almohades. As in Africa, so in Spain, the Jews were forced to accept the Islamic faith; the conquerors confiscated their property and took their wives and children, many of whom were sold as slaves. The most famous Jewish educational institutions were closed, and the beautiful synagogues every where destroyed.

The terrible persecutions by the Almohades lasted for ten years. On account of these persecutions many Jews made a pretense of embracing Islam, but a great number fled to Castile, whose tolerant ruler, Alfonso VII., received them with hospitality, especially in Toledo. Others fled to northern Spain and to Provence, in which latter country the Ḳimḥis sought refuge. Various attempts on the part of the Jews to defend themselves against the Almohades were unsuccessful; the courageous Abu Ruiz ibn Dahri of Granada especially distinguished himself in such a conflict (1162; see "Al-Maḳḳari," ed. Gayangos, ii. 23). The part taken by the Jews in the struggle against the Almohades must not be underestimated; the latter's power was broken in the battle of Navas de Toledo on July 16, 1212.

In Castile and Leon.
(see image) Interior View of St. Maria la Blanca, Formerly a Synagogue, Toledo, Spain.The first Christian princes, the counts of Castile and the first kings of Leon, treated the Jews as mercilessly as did the Almohades. In their operations against the Moors they did not spare the Jews, destroying their synagogues and killing their teachers and scholars. Only gradually did the rulers come to realize that, surrounded as they were by powerful enemies, they could not afford to turn the Jews against them. Garcia Fernandez, Count of Castile, in the fuero of Castrojeriz (974), placed the Jews in many respects on an equality with Christians; and similar measures were adopted by the Council of Leon (1020), presided over by Alfonso V. In Leon, the metropolis of Christian Spain until the conquest of Toledo, many Jews owned real estate, and engaged in agriculture and viticulture as well as in the handicrafts; and here, as in other towns, they lived on friendly terms with the Christian population. The Council of Coyanza (1050) therefore found it necessary to revive the old-Visigothic law forbidding, under pain of punishment by the Church, Jews and Christians to live together in the same house, or to eat together.

Ferdinand I. of Castile set aside a part of the Jewish taxes for the use of the Church, and even the not very religious-minded Alfonso VI. gave to the church of Leon the taxes paid by the Jews of Castro. Alfonso VI., the conqueror of Toledo (1085), was tolerant and benevolent in his attitude toward the Jews, for which he won the praise of Pope Alexander II. To estrange the wealthy and industrious Jews from the Moors he offered the former various privileges. In the fuero of Najara Sepulveda, issued and confirmed by him (1076), he not only granted the Jews full equality with the Christians, but he even accorded them the rights enjoyed by the nobility; this fuero was applied also in other cities, as Toledo (1085), Leon (1090), Miranda de Ebro (1099), etc. The example set by Alfonso was followed in Aragon and Navarre, as is evidenced by the fueros of Jaca (1100), Tudela (1115), Belforado (1116), Carcastello (1129), Calatayud (1131), and Daroca (1142). To show their gratitude to the king for the rights granted them, the Jews willingly placed themselves at his and the country's service. Alfonso employed Jews for diplomatic errands, as, for example, the scholar Amram ben Isaac ibn Shalbib, whom the king sent with a delegation to Mohammed al-Mu'tamid at Seville (1082; according to some sources, not before 1085). A prominent position at Alfonso's court was held probably by the otherwise unknown Samuel ben Shealtiel ha-Nasi, who died on the 16th of Elul (Aug. 27, 1097), or by his father, whose tombstone has but recently been discovered in Arevalo ("Boletin Acad. Hist." xxv. 489 et seq.).

The Battle of Zallaka.

Alfonso's army contained 40,000 Jews, who were distinguished from the other combatants by their black-and-yellow turbans; for the sake of this Jewish contingent the battle of Zallaḳa was not begun until after the Sabbath had passed. Before the battle the king sent not only to the bishops, but to the Jewish scholars and astrologers also, to hear their predictions for the future (Fernandez y Gonzalez, "Las Mudejares de Castilla," pp. 41 et seq.). The king's body-physician and confidant was the Jew Cidelo (Cidelus), who placed before the king a petition from the counts and grandees of the kingdom which neither of these ventured to address to his majesty. The king's favoritism toward the Jews, which became so pronounced that Pope Gregory VII. warned him not to permit Jews to rule over Christians, roused the hatred and envy of the latter. After the unfortunate battle of Ucles, at which the infante Sancho, together with 30,000 men, were killed, an anti-Jewish riot broke out in Toledo; many Jews were slain, and their houses and synagogues were burned (1108). Alfonso intended to punish the murderers and incendiaries, but died before he could carry out his intention (June, 1109). After his death the inhabitants of Carrion fell upon the Jews; many were slain, others were imprisoned, and their houses were pillaged.

Alfonso VII., who assumed the title of Emperor of Leon, Toledo, and Santiago, curtailed in the beginning of his reign the rights and liberties which his father had granted the Jews. He ordered that neither a Jew nor a convert might exercise legal authority over Christians, and he held the Jews responsible for the collection of the royal taxes. Soon, however, he became more friendly, confirming the Jews in all their former privileges and even granting them additional ones, by which they were placed on an equality with Christians. Considerable influence with the king was enjoyed by Judah ben Joseph ibn Ezra (Nasi). After the conquest of Calatrava (1147) the king placed Judah in command of the fortress, later making him his court chamberlain. Judah ben Joseph stood in such favor with the king that the latter, at his request, not only admitted into Toledo the Jews who had fled from the persecutions of the Almohades, but even assigned many fugitives dwellings in Flascala (near Toledo), Fromista, Carrion, Palencia, and other places, where new congregations were soon established. In recognition of his faithful services Judah received, a year after Alfonso's death (1157), from his son Sancho, five yokes of land in Azaña (Illescas) for himself and his children (Fidel Fita, "La España Hebrea," i. 20 et seq.).

Under Alfonso VIII.

After the brief reign of King Sancho III. a war broke out between Fernando II. of Leon (who granted the Jews special privileges) and the united kings of Aragon and Navarre. Jews fought in both armies, and after the declaration of peace they were placed in charge of the fortresses. Alfonso VIII. of Castile (1166-1214), who had succeeded to the throne, entrusted the Jews with guarding Or, Celorigo, and, later, Mayorga, while Sancho the Wise of Navarre placed them in charge of Estella, Funes, and Murañon. During the reign of Alfonso VIII. the Jews gained still greater influence, aided, doubtless, by the king's love of the beautiful Jewess Rachel (Fermosa) of Toledo. When the king was defeated at the battle of Alarcos by the Almohades under Yusuf Abu Ya'ḳub al-Manṣur, the defeat was attributed to the king's love-affair with Fermosa, and she and her relatives were murdered in Toledo by the nobility (Rios, "Hist." i. 336 et seq.; Grätz ["Gesch." vi. 228] does not accept the traditional belief concerning the murder of the king's paramour). After the victory at Alarcos the emir Mohammed al-Naṣir ravaged Castile with a powerful army and threatened to overrun the whole of Christian Spain. The Archbishop of Toledo summoned the Crusaders to the aid of Alfonso. In this war against the Moors the king was greatly aided by the wealthy Jews of Toledo, especially by his "almoxarife mayor," the learned and generous Nasi Joseph ben Solomon ibn Shoshan (Al-Ḥajib ibn Amar).The king's debt to the latter amounted in 1204, shortly before Joseph's death, to 18,000 golden maravedis ("Vida del Santa Rey D. Fernando," iii. 233). Joseph stood high in the king's favor, and his sons Solomon and Isaac benefited thereby after their father's death.

The Crusaders ("Ultrapuertos") were hailed with joy in Toledo, but this joy was soon changed to sorrow, as far as the Jews were concerned. The Crusaders began the "holy war" in Toledo (1212) by robbing and butchering the Jews, and if the knights had not checked them with armed forces all the Jews in Toledo would have been slain. When, after the sanguinary battle of Navas de Tolosa (1212), Alfonso victoriously entered Toledo, the Jews went to meet him in triumphal procession. Shortly before his death (Oct., 1214) the king issued the fuero de Cuenca, settling the legal position of the Jews in a manner favorable to them.

Under Ferdinand III. of Castile and James I. of Aragon.

A turning-point in the history of the Jews of Spain was reached under Ferdinand III. (who united permanently the kingdoms of Leon and Castile), and under James I., the contemporary ruler of Aragon. The clergy's endeavors directed against the Jews became more and more pronounced. The Spanish Jews of both sexes, like the Jews of France, were compelled to distinguish themselves from Christians by wearing a yellow badge on their clothing; this order was issued to keep them from associating with Christians, although the reason given was that it was ordered for their own safety. The Jews did all in their power to secure the repeal of this order. James I. of Aragon and Theobald I. of Navarre, however, compelled them to wear the badge, and Innocent IV. admonished Ferdinand III. to see that no Jew appeared in public without it.

But in spite of papal bulls and royal decrees the Jews were often freed from this degradation. Pedro III. of Aragon granted some Jews in Valencia, Tarragona, Barcelona, and other cities exemption from wearing the badge, this privilege being especially extended to physicians ("R. E. J." vi. 91 et seq.). Ferdinand III. of Castile and James I. of Aragon (each called "the Conqueror," the former with reference to Cordova and Seville, the latter with reference to the Balearic Isles, Valencia, and Murcia) were religiously inclined, and did not feel particularly friendly toward the Jews, whose conversion they favored. Nevertheless, they made use of the Jews in time of war, and rewarded them for the important services they rendered as secretaries and dragomans, tax-collectors, and tax-farmers. In the cities conquered by him Ferdinand confirmed the Jews in their existing rights and privileges, and after the conquest of Seville he distributed land among them; moreover, in spite of the objections of the clergy he allowed the Jews of Cordova to erect a new and magnificent synagogue. James acted similarly after his conquest of Valencia.

Disputations and Translations.

That Ferdinand's death was mourned by the Jews is evidenced by the Hebrew epitaph which appears on his tombstone, together with inscriptions in Latin, Castilian, and Arabic (the Hebrew epitaph is reprinted in Kayserling's "Ein Feiertag in Madrid," p. 12). The death, also, of James I. (1276), who had arranged a religious disputation between Moses ben Naḥman (the "Rab de España") and the neophyte Pablo Christiano, and who had compelled the Jews to listen to conversionist sermons, was publicly mourned by the Jews. Ferdinand's son, Alfonso X. (the Wise), who was a lover of the sciences, maintained relations with the Jews even before his accession to the throne (1252). He had astronomical and astrological writings translated from Arabic into Spanish by Judah ben Moses (Mosca) Kohen, a physician of Toledo, and by the physicians Abraham and Samuel Levi. Zag (Isaac) ibn Sid, the ḥazzan of Toledo, was the editor of the famous astronomical tables called, after the king, the Alfonsine Tables (regarding the astronomical congress see Steinschneider in "Magazin für die Literatur des Auslandes," 1848, No. 58; idem, "Cat. Bodl." cols. 1356 et seq.; idem, "Hebr. Uebers." pp. 979 et seq.; Grätz, "Gesch." vii. 467). According to his nephew Juan Manuel, Alfonso did not have the Talmud translated (Rios, "Hist." i. 450); but, probably, he had a translation made of "Toda la Ley de los Judios," as he had the Koran rendered into Spanish. The version of the Bible in that language, the subsequent "Ferrarian Bible," was made probably in the thirteenth century (see Bible Translations).

Alfonso, who employed Meïr de Malea and his sons Isaac (Zag) and Joseph as treasurers, and Todros ha-Levi, Solomon ibn Albagal, and other Jews as tax-collectors, granted to the Jews of his domains several privileges and other favors. He permitted the Aljama in Toledo to build a magnificent synagogue, the largest and most beautiful one in Spain; he gave all Jews permission to visit the yearly market in Seville; and in 1264 he assigned houses, vineyards, and lands to the Jews who settled in St. Maria del Puerto (Rios, "Hist." i. 451 et seq.). Notwithstanding this he subjected the Jews to the strictest limitations, especially in his Fuero Real or Fuero Juzgo, as well as in other laws, contained in the large collection "Siete Partidas," which was issued in the Castilian language and in which the influence of the Lateran Council is unmistakable.

Bull of Innocent IV., 1250.

The bull issued by Innocent IV. in April, 1250, to the effect that Jews might not build a new synagogue without special permission, was placed on the statute-books by this king (reprinted in Rios, "Hist." i. 557). To make proselytes was forbidden to the Jews under pain of death and confiscation of property. They might not associate with the Christians, live under the same roof with them, eat and drink with them, or use the same bath; neither might a Christian partake of wine which had been prepared by a Jew. The Jews might not employ Christian nurses or servants, and Christians might use only medicinal remedies which had been prepared by competent Christian apothecaries. Every Jew should wear the badge, though the king reserved to himself the right to exempt any one from this obligation; any Jew apprehended without the badge was liable to a fine of ten gold maravedis or tothe infliction of ten stripes. The Jews were forbidden to appear in public on Good Friday. Alfonso, called "the Wise," was so deluded that he not only used as a theme for his "Libro de las Cantigas" the false legend that the Jews every year on Good Friday crucified a Christian child, but he ordered that every Jew accused of such a crime should be brought before him and, if convicted, slain. Alfonso requested the Jews to live peacefully in their Juderia and to observe conscientiously their religious laws; he ordered that they should not be disturbed in their religious ceremonies or summoned before courts on Sabbaths or festivals; that their synagogues and their sacred furniture should be in every way respected; and that they should be neither forced nor bribed into embracing Christianity.

The last years of Alfonso's reign were sad ones, as well for himself as for the Jews in his dominion. The king condemned to death his faithful "almoxarife" Zag de Malea, because the latter had given to the infante Sancho, who had quarreled with his father, a large sum of money which the king had intended to use in the subjugation of Algeciras (see Malea). Incensed by the act of Malea, the king, in direct opposition to his previous enactments, ordered that on a certain Sabbath all Castilian Jews should be taken prisoners while in their synagogues; he levied upon them a tribute of 12,000 gold maravedis, imposing an additional fine of the same amount for every day the tribute remained unpaid (Rios, "Hist." i. 494). Four years later (1281) the king was dethroned by his son Sancho, with the sanction of the Cortes. Alfonso died in 1284, forsaken by his children, and even by the clergy to which he had made liberal concessions.

Social Position.

The Jews in Spain were Spaniards, both as regards their customs and their language. They owned real estate, and they cultivated their land with their own hands; they filled public offices, and on account of their industry they became wealthy, while their knowledge and ability won them respect and influence. But this prosperity roused the jealousy of the people and provoked the hatred of the clergy; the Jews had to suffer much through these causes. The kings, especially those of Aragon, regarded the Jews as their property; they spoke of "their" Jews, "their" Juderias, and in their own interest they protected the Jews against violence, making good use of them in every way possible. The aljamas of Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia, for example, were in 1281 ordered by King Pedro III. to furnish 185,000 sueldos in subsidies, and, three years later, a further sum of 130,000 sueldos (order reprinted in Rios, "Hist." ii. 530). In addition to these extraordinary disbursements, the Jews of Aragon and Castile had to pay very large taxes, the money thus obtained being often expended by the kings in gifts to queens, infantes, knights, and bishops, as well as to churches and cloisters.

Sancho IV., the son and successor of Alfonso X., was the first king who, with the aid of his Jewish tax-collectors, levied and regulated the taxes payable by the aljamas to the crown of Castile, under which belonged the provinces of Old and of New Castile, Leon, Galicia (sparsely inhabited by Jews), Estremadura, Murcia, and Andalusia. All Jews of twenty—according to other sources, sixteen or fourteen was the age limit—were required to pay a tax of thirty dineros to remind them of the "thirty pieces of silver" alleged to have been paid by their ancestors to bring about the death of Jesus. This tax, called the "servicio," was not imposed upon the Jews of the archbishopric of Toledo, the bishoprics of Cuenca and Plasencia, the provinces of Murcia and Leon, and the frontier district of Andalusia. The Jews paid also the "encabezamiento," or poll-tax. The apportionment of the taxes among the various communities was entrusted by the king to a committee consisting of Jacob ben Yaḥya (not Jahjon) of Niebla, Isaac ben Azor of Jerez, and Abraham Abenfar of Cordova (the representative from Jaen did not appear), which met in Huete in 1290. If these failed to agree upon the apportionment, David Abudarham the Elder and the aljama of Toledo were to decide.

Population and Dispersion.

The total yearly taxes paid by the Jews of Castile amounted to 2,801,345 maravedis. To base upon this amount any calculation as to the number of Jews then living in the kingdom is not possible; the total of 854,951 given by Rios, or that of 850,000 by Grätz, is surely too large, while 233,784, the estimate of Loeb, must be considered too small. There were about 120 Jewish communities, of which the following were the most important: Toledo, Hita, Almoguera, Burgos, Carrion, Avila, Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Cuenca, Huete, Atienza, Paredes de Nava, Logroño, Almazan, Soria, Villanueva, Ucles, Pancorbo, Sahagunt, Sepulveda, Olmedo, Murcia, Osma, Najera, Talavera, Villa Real, Guadalajara, Arevalo, Plasencia, Villa Diego, and Sant Estevan. Among the communities of lesser importance were the following: Maqueda, Briviesca, Alcaráz, Calahorra, Aguilar, Ayllon, Belforado, Badajoz, Alcalá, Zurita, Vitoria, Buitrago, Albelda, Peñafiel, Trujillo, Roa, Bejar, Miranda, Cea, Castiello, Lerma, Medina de Pomar, Olmeda, Pedraza, Alfaro, Fuendidueña, and Verlanga (the "Repartimiento de Huete," reprinted from the original in Rios, "Estudios," pp. 40 et seq., and "Hist." ii. 53; the foregoing list, with some deviations, is found in "Hist." ii. 531 et seq.; a faulty list is given by Asso y del Rio and Manuel y Rodriguez in "Discorso Sobre el Estado de los Judios en España;" p. 150, Madrid, 1771, which work has been followed by Lindo, "History of the Jews of Spain and Portugal," p. 109, where the names of the towns are misspelled; see also "R. E. J." xiv. 161 et seq.; Grätz, "Gesch." vii. 168 et seq., where some incorrect statements are made).

Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia were more sparsely inhabited by Jews. The largest congregations were found in Tortosa, Gerona, Barcelona, and Valencia; then followed Saragossa, Calatayud, Monzon, Lerida, Teruel, Jaca, Fraga, Huesca, and Barbastro. Smaller congregations existed in Exea de los Caballeros, Tauste, Besalu, Cervera, Tarragona, Ruesca, Manresa, and Villafranca.
(see image) Iberian Peninsula, Showing Places Where Jews Resided Before the Expulsion.The Jews were burdened with various other taxes in addition to those already mentioned. Whenever the kings of Aragon or Castile stayed in a city in which a Jewish community existed, the Jews were required to provide the royal household with beds and other furniture; this duty involved many hardships and led to ill treatment of the Jews by royal servants; it could be escaped, however, by the payment of a specified sum, which was called "yan tares" in Castile, "cenas" (= "table expenses") in Aragon. The taxes were so oppressive that in 1354 the representatives of the Jewish communities of Aragon resolved to petition the king to relieve them of this burden ("He-Ḥaluẓ," i. 25). On the occasion of a royal visit to a city inhabited by Jews they paid a tribute to the royal guard, the "Monteros de Espinosa"; for a long time this payment amounted to twelve maravedis for each copy of the Torah; later it was fixed at four silver reals. In addition to all these taxes the Jews paid a coronation-tax ("coronaciones"), pasture-tax, tithes on houses for the bishops and their households, special customs duties and bridge-tolls, etc.

Occupations.

Although the Spanish Jews engaged in many branches of human endeavor—agriculture, viticulture, industry, commerce, and the various handicrafts—it was the money business that procured them their wealth and influence. Kings and prelates, noblemen and farmers, all needed money, and could obtain it only from the Jews, to whom they paid from 20 to 25 per cent interest. This business, which, in a manner, the Jews were forced to pursue in order to pay the many taxes imposed upon them as well as to raise the compulsory loans demanded of them by the kings, led to their being employed in special positions, as "almoxarifes," bailiffs, tax-farmers, or tax-collectors. Jews were employed as "almoxarifes" by Sancho, as well as by the infante Manuel and by the latter's consort Beatriz. Among Jews holding such positions may be mentioned Samuel, Abraham al-Barchilon, and Cag and Abraham ibn Susan. Without the material assistance of the Jews King Sancho, whose secretary was Cag de Toledo, would hardly have succeeded in collecting the taxes.

Spain

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