digest
The Alahad Muslims that 70-year period in the 12th century was called the Golden Age of Spain because the Muslims were tolerant. The Jews came to hold important positions financially, diplomatically, and in the government, and Jewish life developed beautifully. However, the northern Christians, from Barcelona south, began to push the Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula. The Christians, Roman Catholic Spaniards who were bitterly anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic, originally still needed the Jews, and therefore overt acts of persecution were rare, though the Jews already felt discrimination and the intolerance of the Christians. However, by 1391 the pressure was on for the Jews of Spain to be forced to convert to Christianity.
In 1391 there was a pogrom initiated by a Franciscan priest, Vincent Ferrer, that swept Spain. Tens of thousands of Jews were forced to convert, thousands were killed, and many thousands of others fled. They fled mainly to Portugal, but they also fled to North Africa and to other places in the Mediterranean. So from 1391 to 1492, that century is a century of Jewish persecution in Spain. The Holy Order of the Inquisition was established. The Inquisition was not established against Jews per se; it was established against Jews who had pro forma converted to Christianity but remained Jewish in their hearts and in their practice, and the Inquisition was meant to root them out and destroy them because they pretended to be Christians and weren't really Christians. Nevertheless, the Inquisition had a terrible effect on Jews as well. There were public burnings, the auto-da-fé, and all sorts of atrocities were committed. The Jewish Spain, the Spain that Jews had lived in for 800 years, now tottered on the brink of extinction.
In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella completed the conquest of Spain, drove the Muslims out, and issued an edict under the influence of Torquemada, the chief Inquisitor. By the way, Torquemada was probably descended from Jewish converts. We have that many times in Jewish history, that Jews themselves become the worst enemies of the Jewish people, something which can be seen even today regarding the anti-Israel programs which exist in the world. In any event, Torquemada convinced Isabella, who was a devout Catholic, and, as we all know, wives can convince husbands, and she convinced Ferdinand. They issued an edict that on a certain date in August 1492, all of the Jews either had to convert or they had to leave Spain. This Spanish expulsion was one of the great tragedies in Jewish history, but it was a great tragedy for Spain as well. Within a century, Spain lost its empire and became a second-rate country, never again to regain the prominence it had when its Jewish population existed.
My name is Barrel Wine, and I thank you for watching. For more on Jewish history, go to jewishhistorydotorg.