The term Sephardic refers both to the Jews who historically inhabited the Iberian Peninsula (Sepharad), and to the descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497. On March 31 of that year, an edict of expulsion was issued against all Jews who refused to accept Christianity. Some accepted conversion, but others, around 200,000, left for North Africa, Italy and especially Turkey, where they were warmly welcomed by the Sultan. Thus the Sephardic diaspora was created, a dispersion within a dispersion that not only looked to Israel as its homeland, but had been indelibly marked by a long stay in Spain. The exiles brought with them the language and songs of Spain, which they faithfully preserved, and even many of the foods characteristic of the Peninsula. They also bore Spanish personal and family names, and their worldview had been shaped by the customs and conduct of their Spanish neighbors.

Among these settlers were many who were descendants or heads of wealthy families and who had held prominent positions in the countries they had left. Some had been state officials, financiers, and owners of mercantile establishments. There were also doctors or scholars who had served as teachers in secondary schools. The many sufferings they had endured for the sake of their faith had made them more self-conscious than usual. They sometimes considered themselves a superior class, something like the nobility of Judaism. This sense of dignity possessed by the Sephardim was manifested in their general behavior and in their scrupulous attention to dress.

The number of Sephardim who have rendered important services to different countries is considerable, from Samuel Abravanel (financial adviser to the viceroy of Naples) to Benjamin Disraeli. Among other names mentioned are those of Belmonte, Nasi, Pacheco, Palache, Azevedo, Sasportas, Costa, Curiel, Cansino, Schonenberg, Toledo, Toledano and Teixeira.

The Sephardim occupy the first place in the list of Jewish doctors. Many of them won the favor of rulers and princes, both in the Christian and Muslim worlds. The fact that the Sephardim were chosen for prominent positions in all the countries in which they settled was due to the fact that Spanish had become a world language through the great expansion of Spain since the end of the 15th century. From Tangier to Salonika, from Smyrna to Belgrade and from Vienna to Amsterdam and Hamburg, they preserved not only Spanish dignity but also the Spanish language. Thus was born the Judeo-Spanish or Ladino language, preserved with great tenacity from generation to generation to the present day, with today some 150,000 speakers in Israel alone.

For a long time the Sephardim were actively involved in Spanish literature. They wrote in prose and rhyme, and were authors of theological, philosophical, literary, pedagogical and mathematical works. The rabbis, who, like all Sephardim, placed great emphasis on a pure and euphonious pronunciation of Hebrew, delivered their sermons in Spanish or Portuguese; several of these sermons appeared in print. Their thirst for knowledge, together with the fact that they interacted freely with the outside world, led the Sephardim to establish new educational systems wherever they settled; they founded schools in which the Spanish language was the medium of instruction.

In Amsterdam, where they were especially prominent in the seventeenth century on account of their numbers, wealth, education, and influence, they established poetical academies after Spanish models; two of these were the Academia de los Sitibundos and the Academia de los Floridos. In the same city they also organized the first Jewish educational institution, with graded classes in which, in addition to Talmudic studies, instruction was given in the Hebrew language.

The Sephardim have preserved the romances and the old melodies and songs of Spain, as well as a large number of old Spanish proverbs. Several plays for children, such as "El Castillo," were very popular with them, and they still manifest a fondness for the dishes peculiar to Spain, such as "pastel," or "pastelico," a kind of meat pie, and "pan de España," or "pan de León."

Mainly in those families that kept Ladino as their main language, the most common names were those of Spanish origin, such as Aleqría, Ángel, Ángela, Amado, Amada, Bienvenida, Blanco, Cara, Cimfa, Comprado, Consuela, Dolza, Esperanza, Estimada, Estrella, Fermosa, Gracia, Luna, Niña, Palomba, Preciosa, Sol, Ventura y Zafiro; y apellidos españoles como Belmonte, Benveniste, Bueno, Calderón, Campos, Cardoso, Castro, Curiel, Delgado, Fonseca, Córdoba, León, Lima, Mercado, Monzón, Rocamora, Pacheco, Pardo, Pereira, Pinto, Prado, Sousa, Suasso, Toledano, Tarragona, Valencia y Zaporta.

For a long time, Sephardim married predominantly other Sephardim. They also made an effort to maintain the particularity of the ritual with respect to the Ashkenazi one. Wherever Sephardic Jews settled, they grouped together according to the country or district from which they had come and organized separate communities with legally promulgated statutes. In Constantinople and Salonika, for example, there were not only Castilian, Aragonese, Catalan, and Portuguese congregations, but also in Toledo, Cordoba, Evora, and Lisbon.

Great authority was given to the president of each congregation. He and the rabbinate of his congregation formed the "ma'amad," without whose approval (often written in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian) no book with religious content could be published. The president not only had the power to make authoritative resolutions regarding the affairs of the congregation and to decide communal questions, but he also had the right to observe the religious conduct of the individual and to punish anyone suspected of heresy or of transgression of the laws. He often proceeded with great zeal and with inquisitorial severity, as in the cases of Uriel Acosta and Spinoza in Amsterdam.

The Church maintained a very firm position against Jews and false converts, with numerous preachers travelling around the country to protest against the Hebrew faith, among them the famous Vicente Ferrer. In the same vein, on papal initiative, the so-called Tortosa dispute was organised, a long inter-religious debate that took place mainly in this city of Tarragona at the beginning of the 15th century. Representatives of Christian converts and Jews participated in it. The main aim was to refute any thesis of the Jews and to promote their baptism, sometimes even en masse. In addition, there was no lack of anti-Jewish legal provisions, such as those promulgated in Castile in 1412. According to these, Jews had to let their hair and beards grow to distinguish themselves from Christians and they were forbidden to work as tax collectors or hold any other public office. Among many other limitations, they were also forbidden to treat Christian patients as doctors and to engage in lending with interest.

However, in the second half of the 15th century there seems to have been a timid normalisation of the situation and we once again find Jews occupying important positions in the administration, mainly during the reigns of Henry IV of Castile and John II of Aragon.

However, the road to the end of the Spanish Jewish quarters was already inexorable. The traditional climate of tolerance of the Hispanic kingdoms in previous centuries gave way to a period of constant tension in which the mere presence of Jewish communities was increasingly accepted with increasing difficulty by the rest of the population, often encouraged by provisions in the same direction by the ecclesiastical and secular authorities.

In this general context, Isabel I came to the throne in 1474, married to Ferdinand of Aragon, proclaimed king of his own kingdom just five years later. In this way, a period of joint government of the two main peninsular crowns began, laying the seed of what would become Spain from the 16th century onwards. At that time, the Middle Ages were being left behind, while the legal and institutional foundations of what is a modern State, governed by a centralized monarchy, were being laid. Religious uniformity was understood as an indispensable requirement for this new model of government and this uniformity involved the imposition of the majority faith, which was Christianity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to point out that the decision to expel the Jews was not exclusive to Spain. In fact, our country was one of the last European territories to adopt this measure. As an example, we can cite England, where the Jews were expelled in 1290, or France, where up to four expulsions were decreed between 1182 and 1394. It was, therefore, an ideological current that ran through Europe throughout the Late Middle Ages.

In the case of the Catholic Monarchs, if we look at the content of the Edict in which the expulsion was decreed, it seems that the main motivation was related to the problem of the converts. As we said before, thousands of Jews chose to embrace the Christian faith during the 15th century and, according to various sources, not all of them did so sincerely. To guarantee the orthodoxy of the faith of the new Christians, the Spanish Inquisition was instituted in 1478, directly under the control of the Crown. Two years later, the Catholic Monarchs decreed the strict separation of the aljamas into special quarters to ensure that there was no contact between the new Christians and the Jews, since it was understood that this contact was the most important obstacle that prevented sincere conversions. Finally, on March 31, 1492, the famous Edict of Granada was decreed, ordering the expulsion of the Hispanic kingdoms. Right at the beginning of its exposition of reasons, the edict makes its motivation clear: “It is well known that in our domains, there are some bad Christians who have Judaized and committed apostasy against the holy Catholic faith, the majority of which is caused by relations between Jews and Christians.”

The edict allowed Jews who were willing to accept Christianity to stay, but ordered the expulsion of all others, regardless of age.

We further order in this edict that Jews, both male and female, of whatever age, residing in our domains or territories, depart with their sons and daughters, servants, and relatives, small or large, of all ages by the end of July of this year and that they dare not return to our lands and that they take no step forward to trespass in such a way that if any Jew who does not accept this edict is found in these domains or returns, he will be punished with death and confiscation of his property.

There is no way of knowing how many people were forced to leave the country. The historian and theologian Juan de Mariana spoke of 800,000, but that figure is now considered totally absurd. Based on various local studies, current historians place the number of those expelled at around 200,000 people.

En mayo comenzó el éxodo, la mayoría de los exiliados –unas 100.000 personas– encontraron refugio temporal en Portugal (de donde fueron expulsados ​​los judíos en 1497), mientras que el resto se dirigió al norte de África y Turquía, el único país importante que les abrió sus puertas. Algunos encontraron hogares provisionales en el pequeño reino de Navarra, donde todavía existía una antigua comunidad judía, pero allí también su estancia fue breve, ya que los judíos fueron expulsados ​​en 1498. Un número considerable de judíos españoles, incluido el rabino principal Abraham Seneor y la mayoría de los miembros de las familias influyentes, prefirieron el bautismo al exilio, sumándose a los miles de conversos que habían elegido este camino en una fecha anterior. El 31 de julio de 1492, el último judío abandonó España. 

Sin embargo, el judaísmo sefardí no había desaparecido en absoluto, ya que casi en todas partes los refugiados reconstruyeron sus comunidades, aferrándose a su antigua lengua y cultura. En la mayoría de las áreas, especialmente en el norte de África, se encontraron con descendientes de refugiados de las persecuciones de 1391. En Israel les habían precedido varios grupos de judíos españoles que habían llegado allí como resultado de los diversos movimientos mesiánicos que habían sacudido al judaísmo español. 

Oficialmente, no quedaban judíos en España. Sólo quedaban los conversos, un gran número de los cuales se mantuvieron fieles a su fe original. Algunos cayeron más tarde víctimas de la Inquisición; otros lograron huir de España y regresar abiertamente al judaísmo en las comunidades sefardíes de Oriente y Europa.

The growing anti-Jewish atmosphere that developed during the 14th century reached its climax in 1391, when a wave of violence that began in Andalusia swept through most of the peninsular territories, leaving numerous Jewish communities destroyed and hundreds of human lives lost.

The initial spark that unleashed this wave of violence was lit in Seville. The Jewish quarter of Seville was one of the most important in Castile, with many of its members in a very advantageous socio-economic situation, which perhaps served as an incentive for the growing hatred among Christians. In this context, there was a person who was especially responsible for what happened. This was the sadly famous Ferrán Martínez, a clergyman who worked as a preacher, fuelling hatred against the Jews. It is known that in numerous public speeches he defended all kinds of theories against the Hebrew people. The basis of his reasoning was to justify all the sufferings of the kingdom with a divine punishment that would come from the fact that the "deicidal people" were allowed to live among Christians. The authorities were aware of the dangerous message and both King John I and Archbishop Gomez Barroso admonished the religious man and required him to put an end to his diatribes. However, the archbishop died in 1390 and the king in 1391, producing a situation of power vacuum that was exploited by the archdeacon to further increase his hate speech.

Finally, in June 1391, a violent mob broke into the Jewish quarter of Seville and unleashed a terrible massacre. Many Jews were forced to be baptized and many others were killed. It is not possible to know for sure how many people lost their lives; some contemporary sources speak of 4,000 dead, but this figure is clearly exaggerated. However, it is not unreasonable to think that hundreds of Jews lost their lives. The Jewish quarter of Seville, which had been the second most important in the kingdom, disappeared as such after this attack, with many of the Jewish possessions given to members of the court. It is believed that in the following century there were still about fifty Jewish families in the city, but they were dispersed throughout the city and in a state of impoverishment.

This wave of violence spread like wildfire through the Guadalquivir valley and within a few days similar attacks took place in towns such as Alcalá de Guadaira, Carmona, Écija, Cazalla, Fregenal, Córdoba, Montoro, Andújar, Jaén, Úbeda and Baeza. In Castile, the pogrom was soon reflected in Toledo, the most important Jewish quarter in the kingdom, and from there to Santa Olalla, Huete, Madrid, Segovia and Burgos. In the kingdom of Valencia, the Jewish quarter of the capital was the first to be attacked and from there the violence spread to Alcira, Játiva, Alicante and Orihuela. Practically at the same time, similar attacks took place in the area of ​​Catalonia. Beginning in Barcelona, ​​they multiplied in Tarragona, Gerona, Lérida, Besalú, Camprodón and Perpignan. In the Kingdom of Aragon, the Jewish quarters most affected were those of Tamarite de Litera, Barbastro and Jaca, while in the Kingdom of Majorca the Jewish quarter of its capital was attacked.

The pogroms of 1391 marked a turning point in the history of the Sephardic Jews. Many of them lost their lives and many others had their property taken away, which was plundered by violent assailants. Most of the Jewish quarters entered a phase of slow decline and many others disappeared. There have often been attempts to give a death toll and there are authors who have indicated that there could have been around 400 Jews killed in Seville, 250 in Valencia and around 300 in Barcelona. The reality is that there is no documentation that allows us to give a reliable figure.

But probably the main consequence of the massacres of 1391 was the great wave of conversions to Christianity that took place in the Peninsula. In fact, everything seems to indicate that the pressure on the Jews became so extreme that most of them decided to be baptized. It is logical to think that many of these conversions were not sincere, but were motivated by the terrible situation. In this way, the issue of converted Jews appears to be an increasingly important problem. If there was anything worse than being Jewish in medieval Spain, it was being a Christian who "Judaized," that is, a convert who in reality remained faithful to the Mosaic faith. These were called "marranos" and were the object of great social rejection.

The peaceful coexistence of the Christian and Jewish communities, which coexisted in practically all the cities and important population centres, was the dominant trend until the 13th century. However, in the following century this status quo began to crumble and there was growing conflict and rejection of the Jews by the Christians. Episodes of violence became more frequent and reached their peak in the terrible pogroms of 1391.

The reasons to explain this change in dynamics are diverse and complex. Perhaps we should start with the internal fissures and contradictions that existed within the Jewish community. As Julio Valdeón explains, from a social point of view there was a very clear difference between the minority of wealthy Jews, who enjoyed great privileges and had close relations with Christian kings and magnates, and the large mass of small merchants, artisans, farmers, etc., victims par excellence of the wrath of the Christian people. The gap between the two groups was also evident in the area of ​​religious beliefs. The members of the oligarchy, greatly influenced by Averroes and Maimonides, had generally reduced their beliefs to a vague deism. The popular masses, on the other hand, remained faithful to the Mosaic tradition. In the final years of the 13th century, the mystical ideas of the Kabbalah made a strong entrance among the popular sectors. The licentious life of the courtly Jews and their religious lukewarmness were ruthlessly castigated by the pietists. In this way, tensions within the Jewish community itself were accentuated.

But apart from the internal problems of the Jewish community, most of the conflicts with the Christians were due to the nature of the social and economic relations between Christians and Jews. It must be remembered that many Jews held positions in the tax administration, linked, therefore, to the collection of taxes. Some of them were even the highest officials in fiscal policy and guardians of the royal treasury, which aroused enormous suspicions and animosity among Christians, especially in times of crisis when it was difficult to meet tax obligations. It must be remembered that the 14th century was especially turbulent and violent, with the economy in a state of constant deterioration.

The profession of moneylenders to which many Jews dedicated themselves was also problematic. In general, credit is essential for the functioning of a minimally developed economy. Not only the Crown, but also many individuals resorted to money lent by the Jews when the situation made it necessary. However, when the crisis and poverty became widespread, the profits obtained by the moneylenders were seen as indecent by the majority of the population, ending up forming another reason for hatred that was at the direct origin of many of the acts of violence suffered by the Jews.

Finally, we must not forget the religious motives in the strict sense. The Jewish people were constantly identified as the deicide people and were frequently accused of all kinds of behaviour contrary to the Christian faith. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Crown, the Cortes and the Papacy promulgated numerous provisions promoting the segregation of the Jews from the rest of society, as a measure to avoid any kind of proselytism of the Mosaic faith. This anti-Jewish ideological substratum was permanent and in times of crisis or conflict it served as a theoretical framework that supported attacks and outrages against the Jews. On countless occasions the Jews were the scapegoat who paid the consequences in times of social tension.

The first signs of large-scale violence were found in the kingdom of Navarre. When King Charles IV died in 1328, a period of dynastic crisis began which was the perfect setting for these attacks. Groups of "Jew-killers" dedicated themselves to the assault and destruction of numerous Jewish quarters in the kingdom. They did so under the influence of a similar movement that took place in the south of France at the beginning of that century, when groups of extremists dedicated themselves to violently harassing Jewish populations. In addition, there were several preachers encouraging this hatred, such as the Franciscan Pedro Olligoyen, who was singled out as one of the main perpetrators of the outbreak of violence. The authorities managed to contain the attacks in Pamplona and Tudela, where the most important Jewish quarters were located, but anti-Jewish violence broke out in other towns, such as in Funes, San Adrián or Viana. The case of Estella was particularly serious, whose Jewish quarter was completely destroyed.

A couple of decades later, a new anti-Jewish outbreak occurred, this time in the area of ​​Catalonia. In this case, the most direct motivation was linked to the spread of the Black Death. In many places in Europe, especially in the Rhine valley, the arrival of this deadly disease was linked to the spread of rumours that blamed the Jews, accusing them of poisoning the air and water. A few days after the first ravages of the epidemic occurred in Barcelona, ​​in May 1348, there was a violent assault on the Jewish quarter. King Pedro the Ceremonious tried to suppress the outbreak, but could not prevent similar attacks in Montblanch, Tárrega, Cervera, Villafranca del Penedés and Lérida.

In the case of Castile, violence against Jews found its perfect breeding ground in the civil war between King Pedro I and his half-brother Enrique de Trastámara between 1351 and 1369. Enrique's supporters soon spread the unfounded theory that Pedro was not actually the son of the previous king, Alfonso XI, but of a Jew who had given him up for adoption to the monarch. Pedro was frequently referred to as "the Jew" and the large number of Jews who held positions of responsibility at court was denounced as a symbol of degradation. In this context of general conflict, numerous Castilian Jewish communities suffered attacks, sometimes at the hands of foreign combatants who participated in the conflict on both sides, such as the French under the command of Bertrand du Guesclin or the English under the orders of the Black Prince. This occurred, for example, in Briviesca, Aguilar de Campoo or Villadiego. On other occasions, it was the inhabitants of the cities themselves who turned against the Jews, as in Valladolid, Segovia, Ávila or Toledo.

The latter city suffered especially from this war even after its end. Shortly after ascending to the throne, Henry II imposed an enormous tribute on the Jews of Toledo, plundered and impoverished, as punishment for their loyalty to Peter. He ordered that all property, movable and immovable, belonging to the Jews of Toledo be sold at public auction and that all the latter, both women and men, be imprisoned and starved and tortured in other ways until they had raised this immense sum.

In the 13th century, the Christian kingdoms advanced decisively towards the south, leaving the Reconquista practically finished with the exception of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which would remain in Muslim hands for two more centuries, until 1492. The Crown of Aragon incorporated Valencia and the Balearic Islands, while Castile expanded through Extremadura, the area of ​​Jaén and western Andalusia. This concluded the historical process by which the Jews went from living under Islamic rule to living in Christian territories, so it is a good point to describe the general panorama in which the Jewish populations in the Peninsula found themselves.

In the Crown of Castile, the most important Jewish quarter was by far that of Toledo.

- In the area of ​​Extremadura, Cáceres, Plasencia and Badajoz stood out.

- In the north and centre of Castile, the Jewish quarter of Burgos stood out, in addition to that of Toledo, which, as we said, was the most important. Other Jewish quarters of similar size were found in Palencia, Sahagún, Villadiego, Carrión de los Condes, Valladolid, Medina del Campo, Peñafiel, Ávila, Segovia, Soria, Medinaceli, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Huete and Talavera.

- In the western area there were fewer Jews, but the Jewish quarters of León, Salamanca and Zamora can be mentioned.

- In the southeast, the Jewish quarter of Murcia is worth mentioning.

In the Crown of Aragon, Barcelona and Zaragoza stood out, far above all the others.

- In Aragon itself, we can mention Calatayud, Huesca, Teruel, Jaca, Monzón, Barbastro, Daroca, Tarazona and Alcañiz.

- In the area of ​​Catalonia, apart from Barcelona, ​​Gerona, Perpignan, Lérida, Tarragona, Tortosa, Vich, Manresa, Cervera, Tárrega, Santa Coloma de Queralt, Montblanch and Besalú stood out.

- In the Kingdom of Valencia, the Jewish quarter of the capital city stood out, in addition to those of Castellón, Játiva, Murviedro and Sagunto.

- In the Kingdom of Mallorca, the Jewish quarter of its capital, Palma, was important.

In Navarre, the most important Jewish quarters were in Tudela, Pamplona and Estella. There were other smaller ones in centres such as Olite, Tafalla, Peralta or Puente de la Reina.

The social and economic background of the inhabitants of the Jewish quarters was very diverse, but the most numerous were artisans and small traders. There are many references to Jews who were dedicated to agriculture, viticulture, industry, trade and various crafts. There are tailors, shoemakers, jewellers, potters, dyers, blacksmiths... Many of them owned small shops that were sometimes also workshops, mainly with textile products. There were also people in the Jewish quarters who were mainly dedicated to intellectual tasks, such as rabbis or Talmudic scholars, who often received funding from the community.

However, it was the money business that brought them their wealth and influence. Kings and prelates, nobles and farmers all needed money and could only get it from Jews, to whom they paid 20 to 25 percent interest. This business, which the Jews were in a sense forced to engage in in order to pay the numerous taxes imposed on them, as well as to obtain the obligatory loans required of them by the kings, led to their being employed in special positions, such as "almoxarifes", bailiffs, tax collectors or tax collectors.

Jews did not always live in groups, but it was the most common option in most cities. Jewish quarters usually occupied central areas of the city, close to the centers of political and religious power. In fact, in cities with a cathedral, the Jewish quarter was usually located very close to it. On many occasions, as in the case of Seville, there were walls or other types of fixed boundaries to separate the Jewish quarter from the rest of the city.

The "aljamas"

The word "aljama" of Arabic origin designated both the Jewish quarter itself and the legal institution that governed and represented it. In Hebrew it was called "cahal", equivalent to the municipality for Christians. They had their own legal system known as "tacanot" and an institutional framework with political, cultural and religious functions. There was a main rabbi, sometimes called "nasí" or prince, who was in charge of the highest representation of the aljama before the authorities and whose position depended on royal appointment. In addition, there were councils dedicated to specific issues, such as fiscal or faith-related matters. They were made up of judges or "dayanim", who Christians also called rabbis. In addition, in Castile the sources also mention the elders or "old men" and the adelantados (called "muccademín" in Hebrew). Normally they tended to belong to distinguished families and were in charge of various functions related to the administration of the aljama.

The rabbis were not part of the administrative structure but had great influence over their fellow citizens, being empowered to dictate any type of provision necessary for the maintenance of moral and religious discipline.

In Castile, assemblies with representatives of the different aljamas were frequent from the 14th century onwards, making decisions that affected the common interests of the Jewish population, both in relation to religious and fiscal matters or of any other nature. In addition, since the time of Alfonso X there existed the figure of the rab major, a position with authority over all the aljamas, who was mainly in charge of tasks related to taxation and the administration of justice. These "central" institutions did not exist in the Crown of Aragon, where the aljamas were autonomous and generally jealous of their independence.

Among the functions of the aljama was also that of watching over the morality and good customs of the inhabitants of the Jewish quarter. To this end, they had the power to dictate the "herem", which was an anathema imposed on those people whose behavior was considered contrary to the interests of the community. It was a very severe punishment, since people who suffered it were removed from the community and their neighbors were forced to ignore them. They also severely punished the "malsines", who were a kind of informer much hated by the Jews. By royal concession, some communities even had the power to dictate the death penalty for these malsines, an exceptional power unknown among the Jews of other European countries.

As regards fiscal policy, in addition to the taxes that had to be paid to the royal treasury, the aljamas had their own taxes, which generally taxed meat and wine. They also regulated other aspects of neighbourhood life, such as market prices, building regulations or the prohibition of gambling.

In larger Jewish quarters, the aljama also provided basic assistance for the poor and offered first-class education for children. In addition, there were more specialised schools for the children of well-off families, where private tutors taught not only the Talmud but also poetry, medicine or astronomy.

From a social point of view, it can be said that the Jews were divided into two large groups:

- On the one hand, the wealthiest families formed a kind of privileged aristocracy. Its members often held positions in the administration of the aljama and often even in that of the kingdom. Their way of life was sometimes similar to that of Christian high society, with lifestyles not very in keeping with the dictates of the Hebrew religion.

- On the other hand, there was the social majority, generally artisans, shopkeepers and all kinds of professionals in a rather modest economic situation.

For most of the Middle Ages, most Jews accepted this difference in social class without much difficulty, but in the 13th century, theories related to the Kabbalah began to spread and, as a result, there was greater conflict. Social struggles would increase and become especially intense during the 14th century.

The first Jewish communities in Christian areas

After the arrival of the Muslims in 711, small Christian resistance groups were formed in the north of the peninsula, both in the Cantabrian area and in the Pyrenees. They would be the germ of the kingdoms that over the centuries would expand southwards into the territory of Al Andalus, in a complex historical process lasting eight centuries known as the Reconquista.

There is very little news about the Jewish communities in these Christian centres in their first centuries of existence. While Al Andalus was experiencing authentic cultural and economic splendour, in the north there were only a few small and scattered Jewish quarters. The most important in early times was that of Barcelona, ​​of which there is news from the 9th century that speaks of several Jewish properties on the land surrounding the city. In the area of ​​Aragon we can mention the Jewish quarters of Jaca and Ruesta, and in Navarre those of Pamplona and Estella. In León there was already an important Jewish quarter in the 10th century and in Castile the best known of this period was that of Castrojeriz. Jewish communities were especially scarce in Galicia, where we can mention the small community that lived in the vicinity of the monastery of Celanova.

From a legal point of view, Jews were considered royal property in all Christian kingdoms and were theoretically protected by kings and lords. In times of weak authority, they were exposed to attacks, in a general context of great insecurity and instability. In addition, discriminatory ordinances against them appeared regularly, although with little practical effect. Their status was that of "servi regis", a kind of servitude to the Crown. In fact, there are frequent documents in which kings speak of "my Jews".

As for the social and economic situation of Jews in these first centuries of the High Middle Ages, one can quote José Luis Lacave in "The Jews in Spain":

At this time the basis of subsistence of the Jews was the land; they themselves cultivated their fields, although a certain tendency towards urban trades and incipient commerce was already emerging. Documents occasionally tell us about Jewish tailors, shoemakers, silversmiths and goldsmiths, and also about Jews engaged in the silk or linen trade.

The Jews and the Reconquista

From the 11th century onwards, as a consequence of the disintegration of Al-Andalus, the Christian kingdoms began a more active policy of expansion towards the south with the aim of gaining more and more territory from the Muslims. In this context, large areas of the territory and urban centres were incorporated, which needed to be repopulated quickly and efficiently to ensure that they remained in Christian hands. This circumstance led to a significant improvement in the living conditions of the Jews, since on many occasions significant legal and economic benefits were offered to those who settled in the recently incorporated territories.

Relations with the Christian population changed and during this period organised communities emerged, influential in trade and industry, especially in the north-west quadrant of the Peninsula. The offer of privileges and freedom by several Leonese monarchs attracted numerous Jews who actively participated in the repopulation. Many of them came from the south, from the area controlled by the Muslims, which they decided to leave in the face of growing instability and attracted by the advantages offered in the Christian kingdoms. This population transfer produced a transformation in Spanish Judaism, with a growing influence of currents of thought arriving from the East, to the detriment of the Franco-German Jewish tradition.

Jewish communities became increasingly stable and prosperous, developing under royal protection, even in areas controlled by monastic communities or those belonging to the nobility. In fact, it was during this period that we find the first examples of Jews occupying important positions in the administration of the Christian area. Thus, for example, the military leader known as El Cid employed Jews as treasurers, financial agents, lawyers and administrators. Similarly, it is believed that King Alfonso VI surely employed the Jew Joseph ha-Nasi Ferrizuel, called Cidellus, as a doctor and financier, who did much to help his coreligionists. This inaugurated a tradition that would be constant in the Spanish Middle Ages, that of employing Jewish courtiers who, although they remained faithful to their religion, exercised considerable authority over the inhabitants of the kingdom.

The initiative to give positions of responsibility to members of the Jewish community increased as the Arab influence grew, since in Muslim states it was common for Jews to occupy the highest positions in the State. In general, they combined these tasks with their dedication to science and literature, so that efficiency in administration was added to the cultural splendor that the Christian courts wanted to imitate.

Furthermore, in the Christian kingdoms the figure of the financier practically did not exist, due to the traditional condemnation of usury by the Christian religion. The Jews who arrived from Al-Andalus thus had a clear business opportunity before them, and soon became lenders not only to kings but also to bishops and nobles. In this way they secured their socio-economic position and in some way became indispensable to the authorities who ran the State.

Thus, between the 11th and 13th centuries there was a situation of general well-being for the Jews in the Christian kingdoms, which contrasted clearly with the enormous difficulties they faced in other European territories. This logically caused an immigration of Jews to the Peninsula, with new populations settling mainly in urban centres under the protection of the king, although also in places dependent on local lords or ecclesiastical authorities. This was possible because in certain circumstances the king granted some nobles or members of the church the right to "have Jews", although in general this was an exclusive privilege of the monarch.

The aljamas were the most common form of organization of the Jewish community in Christian cities. It had legal status and enjoyed administrative and judicial autonomy. There was a state official who was in charge of it and was responsible for collecting the special taxes that the aljama had to pay to the royal treasury.

There were frequent individuals who rose in their social and economic position within the framework of the reconquest. Administrative skills and knowledge of languages ​​made it easier for them to take charge of collecting taxes, a task that they often complemented with the practice of medicine and astronomy. The monarchs increasingly trusted them, not only in matters relating to the Treasury, but also in relation to diplomatic activity and other matters of State. These prominent figures in the political, cultural and economic life of the Christian kingdoms did not appear until the time of the expulsion, especially in the kingdom of Castile.

In many cases, their social status was similar to that of the nobility and they were also usually landowners, since it was common for them to be given large tracts of land as payment for their services or to meet the repayment of loans. Their lifestyles were not too closely limited to Hebrew law and they were often enveloped in luxury and ostentation, forming a kind of Jewish aristocracy that raised certain suspicions inside and outside the aljamas. However, it was common for them to use their advantageous position in the court to promote laws that benefited the members of their religion, so in general their existence was viewed with pleasure and respect by the rest of the Jews.

Among them we can mention Yosef ibn Ferruzel (Cidiello), Yehuda ibn Ezra, Semuel ibn Sosán, Isaac de la Maleha, Abraham de Barchilón, Juçaf de Écija, Samuel ha Leví, Meir Alguadex, Abraham Beneviste, Abraham Seneor and Isaac Abravanel in Castile; and Eleazar, Yehudá de la Caballería, Mosé Alconstantini, Yosef Ravaya and Hasday Crescas in Aragón; in Navarre the most notable was Yosef Orabuena. (José Luis Lacave, "Jews and Jewish quarters")

Today, most historians point out that the first Jewish communities settled in the Peninsula during the 1st and 2nd centuries, specifically after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70, during the reign of Vespasian, and after the subsequent repression of the Bar Kochba rebellion in 134, with Hadrian as emperor. Within the dispersion that followed these events, it is very likely that an undetermined number of Hebrew families left the Holy Land to end up settling in Hispania. In fact, several passages in the Talmud and the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah) indicate that during the reign of these emperors the forced transfer of Jewish prisoners to the Peninsula was ordered. These testimonies show an early settlement, whether voluntary or involuntary.

The oldest documentary evidence found in Spain is an inscription known as the Epitaph of the Jewess Annia Salomonula. This is the tombstone that covered the burial of a girl in the town of Adra in Almería. On it we can read:

[An]nia · Salo/[mo]nula · an(norum) · I / mens(ium) · IIII · die(rum) · I / Iudaea

Annia Salomonula, one year, four months, one day, Jewish.

There is archaeological evidence that supports the claim that Jewish communities were numerous during the late Roman Empire, when the first Christians were also found in the cities of Hispania. For example, several lamps engraved with the menorah or Jewish seven-branched candelabrum have appeared in places as diverse as Mérida, Toledo, Cástulo (Jaén), Águilas (Murcia) or Palma de Mallorca, all of them dating from between the 4th and 5th centuries. From the same period, a curious white marble font found in Tarragona is preserved in the Sephardic Museum of Toledo. It is also decorated with the menorah, as well as other symbols represented schematically, such as the tree of life. It has the peculiarity of having inscriptions in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. In the latter language one can read “Peace upon Israel and upon us and upon our children”.

When the Roman Empire collapsed in 476, Hispania became a monarchy ruled by the Visigoths, a people of Germanic origin who had entered the Peninsula several decades earlier. It does not seem that the first Visigoth kings were especially belligerent in religious matters and in general the Jewish communities continued to function in a similar way to that of the last centuries of the Empire. However, everything changed when King Recaredo adopted Catholicism as the official religion (587). He soon approved a series of anti-Jewish provisions, which were reinforced by the decrees of the Council of Toledo in 589. Among other measures, Jews were prohibited from having Christian slaves, holding public office, as well as marrying or having sexual relations with Christians.

With subsequent monarchs, situations of repression alternated with others of a certain relaxation, so many Hebrews adopted Christianity to avoid problems in difficult times and then returned to Judaism when the situation improved. This caused the positions of the Catholic hierarchy to become even more extreme and the different Catholic councils held in Toledo only corroborated and expanded the anti-Jewish laws promulgated by the crown.

The reign of Sisebuto (612-621) marks a high point in the repression, marking a harsh line against the Hebrew people that will be the most common tone in the rest of the history of the Visigothic kingdom in the Peninsula. As Joseph Pérez points out in his “The Jews in Spain”, Sisebuto orders the Christians to be freed from all relations of dependence with respect to the Jews who are forced to give up their slaves and servants; Jewish proselytism is punished by the death penalty and the confiscation of property; the children that Jews may have with Christian slaves must be educated as Christians. (…) Finally, Sisebuto intends to force the Jews to convert to Catholicism or, if not, to leave Spain. The number of those who were then expelled has been calculated in many thousands and that of those baptized in 90,000, but they were probably much less. Since then, converts and Jews were excluded from public office on the grounds that it was intolerable that they had authority over Catholics.

Despite the severity of these measures, the anti-Jewish policy had not yet reached its most extreme and violent levels. Around 638, Chintila decreed the prohibition of living in the kingdom for anyone who was not Catholic. In the second half of that same century, Recesvinto ordered the death of Jews by stoning or burning, and shortly after, Égica decreed the enslavement of both Jews and converts. The degree of compliance with these measures varied depending on the time and the city in question, but as a whole they created an unbreathable atmosphere for the Jewish community in Hispania, increasingly marginalized socially and more exposed to increasingly frequent outbreaks of violence.

Despite the severity of these measures, the anti-Jewish policy had not yet reached its most extreme and violent levels. Around 638, Chintila decreed the prohibition of living in the kingdom for anyone who was not Catholic. In the second half of that same century, Recesvinto ordered the death of Jews by stoning or burning at the stake and, shortly afterwards, Égica decreed the enslavement of both Jews and converts. The degree of compliance with these measures varied depending on the period and the city in question, but as a whole they created an unbreathable atmosphere for the Jewish community in Hispania, increasingly marginalised socially and more exposed to increasingly frequent outbreaks of violence.

The Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates back to very remote times, although we can only confirm it with certainty from Roman times (1st century AD). However, there is some evidence that has led various authors throughout history to push the arrival of the first Hebrew communities back even further in time. To do so, they rely primarily on the biblical mentions of “Tarshish”, which a good part of historiography has identified with Tartessos, a culture developed mainly in the southwest of the peninsula between approximately the 12th and 11th centuries BC.

The Tartessian world was the result of the evolution of local peoples with a strong influence from the Phoenicians, who were a nation of sailors and merchants from the Near East. These Phoenicians were also a Semitic people, with a close relationship with the Hebrew world and hence it is not unreasonable to think of an early relationship, at least commercial, between Tartessos and the kingdom of Israel. In relation to this possibility, perhaps the most famous passage is the one that appears in the Book of Kings, which, in praising the reign of Solomon (10th century BC), says:

The king had the fleet of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish arrived bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. (1 Kings 10:22)

Authors such as Adolf Shulten, Antonio García y Bellido or Ángel Montenegro, considered that the mentions of Tarshish do indeed allude to Tartessos and its commercial relationship with the Near East. However, from these mentions it cannot be deduced that there were Jewish communities living in Spanish cities before the Roman era.