Visigoths

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

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, "Inscriptiones Hispaniæ Latinæ," p. 268, Berlin, 1869; Rios, "Hist." 1:68). 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 practised 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 practised 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 practising 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 distibuted 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." 1:106 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, 2:23). 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.