A combination of factors contributed to the decline of Spanish-Jewish culture. Many of the sophisticated peoples of the Jewish community had already begun to doubt there Judaistic faith simply by adopting intellectually philosophical beliefs that had discredited their religion. As it was said in this article, “Those who read a few columns in a book of Greek philosophy will soon tear to shreds the scroll of the Torah.” (Alami, pg. 117) Although ancient philosophy was a contributor to the decline of Judaism, it was not as common as others which had appealed to the general masses.
Another reason for the cause of a decline in Judaism culture is because the majority of the people in Spain we’re Christians, and they were extremely intolerant of the Jewish peoples. Frequent riots had occurred throughout the country for the purposes of targeting, killing or forcibly converting individuals under the Jewish faith. The environment of Spain for the Jewish people was certainly not a safe one. To avoid the violent acts of the Christian citizens of the country, many Jewish peoples converted to Christianity for the protection it had provided.
Not only did the citizens of Spain suppress people of the Jewish faith, the authorities of Spain probably had the biggest impact in the decline of the Jewish culture. In particular, a man named Vincent Ferrer was a leader in the Spanish community in forcing the conversion of Jews to Christianity. He was known to be responsible for the creation of the Laws of Valladolid, which was a set of laws created to significantly suppress the people of the Jewish faith. This had caused many of the Jews to lose their homes, careers and cause them to pay much higher taxes than Christians and had caused either the deat...
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...ntil they confessed others who practiced Judaism and were then given a severely torturous sentence, or were put to death. Although the violent mobs and the severe suppression were very hard for the Spanish Jews, the Spanish Inquisition was certainly the causative factor in the expulsion of Jews in Spain.
The worst violent act in the Spanish Inquisition is not the many mechanisms used to torture the innocents as bad as that is. But it is that during an execution, thousands of Christian peasants of the city and countryside gathered together to celebrate and make the death of innocent people a spectacle. The fact that thousands of people enjoyed and approved of the deaths of people just because they practice a different religion is more gut wrenching than any torture device that could be manifested because it shows how dark the mass of humanity can be if we allow it.
As demonstrated by scholars such as Kagan and Dyer, Homza, and Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition was a highly organized and secretive institution used to police religious and social order. The trials of María Gonzalez and Pedro de Villegas demonstrate the dedication with which Inquisitors sought to persecute those who were outsiders in society and manipulate them into confessing their religious offenses. However, they also show that the Inquisition was not completely unmerciful- it operated with a legal process that afforded the accused an opportunity to provide evidence that would prove they were not guilty. Using these two cases, I will demonstrate these polarities and argue that the Spanish Inquisition was not as cruel as it is made out to be. Although victims were often falsely accused, they were provided the opportunity to defend themselves and community testimony was allowed to confirm their case. Although it’s methods weren't always ideal, the Inquisition was "something less than the faceless, monolithic machine that it is commonly conceived to have been."1
The Jews have been the only people accused of deicide and this caused hatred from Christians. During the diaspora, the Jews settled in the Mediterranean countries, although they settled as far away as Europe. Constant uprooting prevented the Jews from becoming agriculturalists and pastoralists, therefore they worked at trades. During the middle ages, the Jews made ornamental glass objects and worked at money lending. They were seen as prosperous and resented by the people of the countries where they settled. Resentment built against the Jews by the less prosperous people of the settled countries. The attitude of the Christian church was summed up, from our lecture, by John Chrysostom who wrote: “The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon.” The churches were reluctant to help the Jews during the holocaust because of the long-standing hatred. The Jews caught in German-occupied areas after World War I had little help except for few organizations and many countries did
Before Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, The Spanish Inquisition made it known to anyone within Spain’s domain of influence that if a person was not of the Catholic religion, they were to be punished severely and sometimes even fatally. This influence would undoubtedly be brought over to the Americas a century later, as the colonization of the New World would begin by then. While it was very essential for the Spanish (as well as the Portuguese) to improve their economy by using the resources they found in Latin America, it seemed to a number of them as if that was the only reason for being there, or the main reason at the very least. During the Spanish Inquisition and from that point after, it was the Pope’s main goal, to convert everyone to Roman Catholicism; an opportune moment arrived as the Americas were found, along with the Natives who resided there who were waiting to be converted.
The Inquisition run by Tomas de Torquemada persecuted other religions and was a base of counter-reformation
The Disputation of Barcelona was held through a period of 5 days in June of 1263 where Pablo Christiani, a monk that was a former jew, and Rabbi Moshe, son of Nachman Gerondi, philosopher, physician and a Jewish intellect in the Middle ages, participate in a disputation in the Kingdom of Aragon. King James and his wife Queen Yolanda host this disputation hoping for the conversion of Judaism to Christianity to be easy and simple and recruit Pablo Christiani to represent the christians while Rabbi Moshe is there representing the Jewish. This film shows the constant fight of religions trying to take out the Jewish religion and force a conversion. While they tried it through a disputation they never did stop torturing the Jews and forcefully convert
The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision by Henry Kamen, was released in 1997 and is the third edition of the acclaimed book centered around the infamous tribunal. The years following the first publication saw increases in the quality of scholarship and an influx of research. New historical interpretations subsequently began to demonstrate an enhanced insight, as works like Benzion Netanyahu’s The Origins of the Inquisition presented original perspectives. Kamen was consequentially compelled to reevaluate the evidence surrounding the Inquisition, ultimately causing him to divert from his previous conclusions and adopt a revisionist perspective exploring historical causation. The Spanish Inquisition has been repeatedly studied for many years, and the Tribunal instituted by the Catholic monarchy typically elicits negative characterizations as absolutist, oppressive, violent, invasive and intolerant. Kamen, however, aims to discover the true nature and significance of the Spanish Inquisition and shield the readers from any unknowledgeable stereotypes or misinformed notions. He investigates the ideological and social environment of the tribunal, as he attempts to determine whether the Spanish Inquisition was a product of its attendant society by additionally assessing its impact, functionality, organization and global reception. Events of the eighteenth and nineteenth century are disparately mentioned, as they proceed the more significant developments and undertakings that occurred towards earlier stages of the Inquisition. Kamen intermittently justifies and condones Inquisitional activity in an attempt to systematically eradicate popular misconceptions; he marginalizes the cruelty and power often accredited to the institution...
After the Expulsion form Spain in 1492 and forced conversions in Portugal, many Jews and New Christians, sought answers for these tragic events, claiming that they were signs for the approaching messianic era. A number of other worldwide developments added fuel to the fire. The Reformation was threatening Christianity and the Ottoman Empire had expanded through Europe and North Africa. Europe during the Age of Discovery found a “New World” with new people in new territories who could be converted by the messiah. Messianic hopes and speculations spawned myths among the Jews and Christians that spread throughout the community.
Before the Spanish Inquisition took place, several other inquisition movements appeared, but none quite so barbaric and brutal as the Spaniard’s did. Waves of opposition towards the church swept Europe in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, it was a modern belief that a peaceful, utopian government could be obtained if all of the population of the society were “pure” and Catholic The Medieval Inquisition started in France and Italy. During this time a group of people called the Albigensies lived in northern Italy and southern France. They had established a religion called Manichaeanism, which was the belief in two gods, one for good and one for evil. Pop...
Hebrew religion began to give rise to Judaism after the destruction of the temple and the exile of Judah in 586 BC. The term "Jew," in its biblical use, is almost exclusively postexilic. The Jewish religion of the biblical period evolved through such historical stages as the intertestamental, rabbinic, and medieval to the modern period of the nineteenth century with Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism.
What was the Spanish Inquisition? The Spanish Inquisition persecuted and discriminated against minorities in the Iberia Peninsula who opposed to the practice and ideologies of the Catholic Church. Between 1480 to 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was placed under the authority of the royal power in Spain; the Inquisition was created in order to resolve the particular problem presented by the presence of thousands of converted Jews in the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time, the inquisition extended its authority to other minorities and become implanted in other geographical regions. This “institution” operated and was expanded to other territories under the crown of Castile—the Canaries and the territories ruled by viceroys in New Spain and Peru (24, 25).
Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.
In the post-doctoral Cohen was in the search of whether or not there was a period of time were Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace under the control of the Islamic world. This event was called convivencia and occurred during the Golden Age. The region where this event took place was Spain. The convivencia was a controversial topic due to the differences in religion among the groups. Recent Spanish historians do not take for consideration the event of convivencia due to the disbelief that it actually occurred. Jewish historians have their side of the story where they argue that Jewish-Islamic relations during convivencia were harmonious. There are suggestions that this event of peace among these three groups was impossible based upon religious challenges. Each different version about convivencia has been influence by politics. Cohen was not only able to answer whether convivencia took place, but also demonstrated an extended background about each culture. Cohen emphasizes the roles that each group played during convivencia and the influences and contributions that each one contributed. In Islamic Spain there was a greater tolerance and freedom than anywhere else in that area. Jews and Christians had the option to pay a poll tax to be protected under the same rules as Muslims. Jews were protected from discrimination and had the right to be treated as any other Muslim. In contrast, with Christians-Jew relations there was an immediate social, economic and religious difference. Christians believed that they were superior to Jews. Relations between Christians and Jews were not as engaging as relations between Jews and Muslims. The main idea that kept Jews in a good social position was their influence in local economy. Many Jews...
Not all Jewish communities continued on their faith with YHWH. Before the exile, many communities began to scatter all over the Middle East, Egypt and Babylon; however, the exile...
Jewish persecutions go back centuries to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was rumored, at the time, that the Jews were responsible for sentencing the death of Jesus. In the Bible, the Jewish people are quoted as saying, “The blood of Jesus. His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matthew XXVII. XXV) This passage shows the want from the Jews to have Jesus crucified and killed. As a result of this, the Christians began the tradition of making the Jewish community bear the guilt of the death of Jesus Christ. Christians began havocing and causing trouble at different Jewish services and and different synagogues. The right of the Jewish men and women became less and less. This prejudice against the Jews wen...
In 1478, Spain’s Monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I established the Spanish Inquisitions, with the intension of maintaining Catholic orthodoxy in their country and territories. The inquisitions were prisons intended to “convert” and punish people of Jewish and Islamic beliefs or anyone else who disagreed with the ideals of the Catholic Church. During the 350 year time period, am estimated total of around 125,000 prisoners of the Inquisitions were “investigated”, tortured and starved. In 1095 Pope Urban II convinced many Christians that is not a sin if they kill non-Christians or non-believers. Urban II then proclaimed that all Christians who were willing to fight Muslims in the holy lands, would be forgiven of their past sins and would be accepted into heaven and so began the crusades. Despite the many beliefs that Muslim and Christian’s share, the crusaders felt justified by God in the violent slaughter of Muslim peoples. In retaliation, the Muslims formed their own crusades against the Christian peoples. It is believed that when the crusades finally ended in 1291, the total death toll reached somewhere between 1 million and 3 million people, yet religious struggles over dominance in the Holy Lands still continue even