Alhambra Decree: Sefárdica Articles

The Alhambra Degree (Sp. Edicto de Granada) marked the end of the Sephardi age in Spain. Commonly known as the Edict of Expulsion, the Ahlambra Decree was issued March 31, 1492 and ordered the expulsion of Spanish Jews by July 31 the same year.¹ It took centuries to revoke the decree.²

Background

It had been twelve years since the Spanish Inquisition had begun, and the Spanish Crown thought that it was successful because many were found “guilty.” However, in the eyes of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon), Jews (by default, the Sephardi Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula) were still considered a problem.³ On one hand, there were the conversos (Sp., converts) who were Christians but kept their Jewish traditions and traditionally Jewish trades⁴, and on the other hand, crypto-Jews, who were nominally Christian, but secretly Jewish (derr. marranos. Sp. pigs)⁵, and then, the publicly Jewish.⁶ The Catholic Monarchs considered Jews a corruption to their religion and the the Judaized Christians (Christians that kept Jewish traditions to various extents) as “bad Christians […][,] perverted and cheated.”⁷ Because of this, they ordered the creation of the Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición (Tribunal of the Holy Office of Inquisition) in 1478 to detain and interrogate these conversos, to find these crypto-Jews and Muslims and detain/punish them accordingly.⁶ The Crown thought that the cause of all this “corruption” of their religion was in the coexistence between Christians and Jews. Because of this, they decided, in 1480, to separate them and send them to “juderías” – Jewish ghettos. By doing this, they expected that all collaboration, conversation, relation, and communication that Jews and Christians had would end and that the Jews could no longer “damage” their religion. Furthermore, the Catholic Church didn’t like that Christians follow Jewish traditions like circumcision of their sons and adult males, Jewish dietary regulations, Jewish prayers, etc. Despite all their efforts, nothing seemed to stop the “epidemic” of conversos and, in their eyes, the corruption the Jews were causing.⁸

A few months prior to the penning of the edict, specifically on January 2, 1492, Queen Isabel I and Fernando II of Aragon had finally “reconquered” Granada politically; the Emirate of Granada was already their vassal, and thus, under their military dominion. As the last Muslim state in the Iberian Peninsula, the king of Granada agreed to cede Granada under certain conditions.⁹ These ranged from the promise of the Catholic Monarchs that the Muslims would be judged according to their laws to a guarantee that all citizens in Granada would be allowed to sell their terrains.¹⁰ The most relevant point for this story is that the Spanish monarchs would allow/maintain the freedom of religion in Granada.¹¹

Three months later, the Catholic Monarchs emitted the Alhmabra Decree.¹

The Edict

The Edict decreed the following:

The expulsion of all Jews from the territories and dependencies under the Catholic Monarchs at the time, regardless of age and status;
Prohibition of return for Jews no matter what;
No third-parties (Muslims and/or Christians) could associate with or help any Jew past the date of expulsion;
Deadline to leave up to July 31, 1492 (Julian Calendar);

In order to be spared from the Edict, a Jew must be baptised and converted to Christianity. The price a Jew would pay for breaking the Edict was death and seizure of assets. Any person that helped or sheltered a Jew past the expulsion deadline would have their assets seized and would lose the protection from the Crown.¹²

The Expulsion

It was left clear that no amount of money, political influence, or powerful connections mattered – nothing could save them now. But one Isaac Abranavel, a rich and devout Jew with connections and treasurer of the Catholic Monarchs was one of the few that had the means open for direct communication with the monarchs, thought he could change this.¹ Abranavel tried to convince the monarchs not to banish all Jews, even through bribery.¹³ Finally, he managed that the Catholic Monarchs postpone the expulsion from July 31 to August 2. This date was not chosen randomly. That year (and in the Julian Calendar), August 2 coincided with Av 9. Tisha b’Av (He. תשעה באב), Av 9, corresponded with both of the falls of the Temple of Jerusalem.¹⁴ The expulsion of Sephardi Jews was a catastrophe, and the date exemplified this symbolically.¹⁵

The Sephardim left to many places because of this expulsion. However, there was a country, or rather, an empire, that received the majority of the Sephardim. Despite opposition from some in the court¹⁶, Sultan Bayezid from the Ottoman Empire opened the doors of his empire to Sephardi Jews. He ordered that Jews be brought directly to the Ottoman Empire, especially Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Izmir, and Safed.¹⁷

The exact number of Jews that left and converted is very disputed.¹⁸

This tragedy did not erase Sephardi history, and it certainly did not stop it. The Alhambra Decree began a new stage in Sephardi history. Many families from around the world, be it the Mediterranean, Europe, or even Latin America, can trace their trajectory to this very moment.

Sources

1
pg. 248. Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. ISBN 0-316-56688-8
2
New York Times. 1492 Ban on Jews Is Voided by Spain; 1492 BAN ON JEWS IS VOIDED IN SPAIN.https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/17/archives/1492-ban-on-jews-is-voided-by-spain-1492-ban-on-jews-is-voided-in.html.
3
pg. 2. academia.edu. Edicto de Granada. https://www.academia.edu/10982632/Edicto_de_Granada.
4
Encyclopaedia Britannica. converso. https://www.britannica.com/topic/converso.
5
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Marrano. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marrano.
6
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Spanish Inquisition. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition.
7
pg. 2-3. academia.edu. Edicto de Granada. https://www.academia.edu/10982632/Edicto_de_Granada.
8
pg. 2-4. academia.edu. Edicto de Granada. https://www.academia.edu/10982632/Edicto_de_Granada.
9
pg. 244-245. Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. ISBN 0-316-56688-8
10
wikisource.org. Tratado de Granada. https://es.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Tratado_de_Granada.
11
pg. 245. Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. ISBN 0-316-56688-8
12
pg. 4-6. academia.edu. Edicto de Granada. https://www.academia.edu/10982632/Edicto_de_Granada.
13
chabad.org. Don Isaac Abravanel – “The Abarbanel”. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111855/jewish/Don-Isaac-Abravanel-The-Abarbanel.htm.
14
chabad.org. What Happened on the Ninth of Av?. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/946703/jewish/What-Happened-on-the-Ninth-of-Av.htm.
15
pg. 249. Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. ISBN 0-316-56688-8
16
Jewish Virtual Library. Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-spanish-expulsion-1492.
17
Anadolu Agency. Ottoman Empire welcomed Jews exiled from Spain. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture-and-art/ottoman-empire-welcomed-jews-exiled-from-spain/1220028.
18
pg. 250. Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. ISBN 0-316-56688-8