Persecution in Early Modern Spain

Article by Jess Banks. Edited by Emma Carmichael. Additional Research by Ellie Veryard.

From the fifteenth century onwards, Europe was developing as part of a global system both economically and socially which led to a number of cultural shifts. With the discovery of ‘new worlds’ there was a great deal of non-Christians living in Europe and although there are cases of coexistence between the different religious groups, periods of high tension were not uncommon. Spain in this Early Modern period was in transition from being predominantly Muslim to becoming gradually more Christian-centred. The result of this was a large amount of persecution aimed not only at Muslims but Jewish communities also. This crime in history has been largely overlooked and I would argue, unpunished.

Spain had been a largely fragmented country until the union of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1479 which created a power bloc of Christianity capable of asserting a vast amount of authority. The monarchs had a strong belief that their reign was blessed by God and therefore, in 1481, they made a declaration claiming they would eradicate Islam and move Spain towards Christendom. It is important to consider this religious fervour in context, however, religious beliefs in Early Modern Europe have often been seen as being far more militant than those found in the society of today and it is possible that Ferdinand and Isabella truly believed they were acting on Gods wishes. Moreover, this was a time of great religious uncertainty as the Reformation of the sixteenth century had led to a phase of great persecution. Although Spain was largely untouched by the Reformation, there was a great deal of suspicion surrounding religious belief which led to the forced conversion of these religious minorities, in an effort to evangelise the world. 

The Spanish inquisition of 1478 particularly focused on the Jewish community due to the fear of ‘crypto Judaism’ (secret practises). Spain had some of the most extreme opinions in relation to Jewish practises and in 1492, they were expelled from the country. The hatred usually stemmed from the disagreements over money lending; in Christian culture money lending is strongly prohibited and therefore Christians looked to Jews to them lend money, a process which appeared to work well until the money had to be repaid. This contributed greatly to racial tensions in which Jewish people were increasingly alienated from Spanish society through the formation of ghettos. The ghettos, although increasing the safety of the Jewish community, also caused residential segregation. Segregation then went further, including the prohibiting of any Jew to touch goods unless they paid for them, implying they were diseased and that a simple touch could infect the goods of others. This anti-Semitism, however brutal, helped confirm Christian identity and made them as a group more united against this common enemy. 

In addition to segregation, European people were more than ready to believe in superstitions levelled against the Jews, including Juan de Quiñones’ statement in 1632 claiming that Jewish men ‘suffer from a blood flow as if they were women’, this was supported by the scientific theory of the day, that the impure blood had to be released from the body in order to once again make the body pure. Further superstitions included the idea that Jewish people participated in ‘blood libel’ which entailed killing children and using their blood for cult rituals. This was widely believed, such as in the case of Simon of Trent in Italy (sainted in 1588) who was found in a Jewish cellar, his father convinced it was a case of ‘blood libel.’ As a result, twenty local Jews were arrested, tortured and then murdered although there was never any definite proof they were guilty. As a positive marker of how far society has progressed, however, the Pope removed Simon from the Calendar of Saints in 1965 although some question clearly remains as to why he was not removed sooner. Friedman states in Jewish Conversion, the Spanish Pure Blood Laws and Reformation: A Revisionist View of Racial and Religious Anti-Semitism that this early persecution laid the foundations for recent hatred of Jews, perhaps increasing the scale of this crime. 

Muslims also faced a vast amount of persecution from the time of Ferdinand and Isabella’s reign. This included the forcible conversion of mosques into churches, the enslavement of all except children under the age of eleven who were sent to good Christians to be brought up in good faith and the suppression of any uprisings by Ferdinand’s vast army.  Although clearly stated in the bible that force should not be used in conversion, Ferdinand allowed any means necessary in which to transform Spain to a monotheist country. Despite this apparent conversion, however, there remained a great fear within the Spain that Muslim culture had never truly been eradicated. 

Moriscos (converted Muslims) were, in relative terms, very small in number, being just 385,000 of the 8 million Spanish population but they were mainly concentrated in Aragon and Valencia resulting in many Spaniards believing them to be more dominant than they actually were. The Moriscos were therefore a source of much controversy, even generations later when according to Lea in The Moriscos of Spain: Their conversion and Expulsion, they had integrated with society and had long since discarded their national language and dress. Moriscos, however, were still used as scapegoats when any financial problems challenged Spain such as in 1609 when King Felipe had them expelled, since public opinion dictated that it was due to them that unemployment was so high. This proved to be an unsuccessful move as entire communities and trading networks collapsed due a reliance of one third of the Spanish nobility on the Moriscos for cheap labour. Some societies gained from property left behind but overall, no significant advantages emerged from the expulsion. 

Spain appeared to resist the cultures of other people and was largely closed to external influence across the Early Modern period. Monarchs only distributed works in the vernacular and very few foreign works were translated into Spanish. This perhaps led to the inward nature of views and preconceptions of other cultures suffered by those in Spain. More importantly, the persecution of Jews and Muslims that lasted for many centuries has had very little historical backlash and it is only by having a greater awareness of these blemishes in our past that we can learn from and prevent any such persecutions occurring again. 

• Estimates for the numbers of Jews expelled from Spain in the fifteenth century are widely different varying from 165,000-800,000. 

• Many countries throughout Europe had expelled Jews from the thirteenth century onwards. Before Spain, England, France and Germany among others had all expelled Jews. 

• The Spanish Inquisition had been originally formed in the late twelfth century as a means to convert and repress adherers to the Albigensian heresy in Southern France but by the mid fifteenth century it had sufficiently dwindled. It’s reinvigoration after religious authorities in Seville convinced Isabella of the existence of crypto-Judaism by Conversos was initially opposed by the Pope, who eventually gave in under pressure. This began a period of heightened Inquisitorial activities.

← Back to Volume 3

← Back to Issue 5