JEWS
395
JEWS
anti- Jewish statutes of Alfonso X; and soon after-
wards (1412), a severer edict was issued, intended to
isolate the Jews from the Christians lest intercourse
should injure the true Faith, and calculated to induce
them to give up their religion. In fact, degraded in
every way, parked in "Juderias", and deprived of
practically every means of subsistence, many Jews
surrendered to the exhortations of St. Vincent Ferrer,
and received baptism, while the others persevered in
Judaism and saw their misery somewhat alleviated by
the royal edict of 1414. The pensecution gradually
extended to all the provinces of Spain, where St. Vin-
cent also effected many conversions. At length,
brighter days dawned for the .Spanish Jews upon the
death of Ferdinand,
King of A r a g o n
(1410) and of Cath-
erine, Regent of Cas-
tile (1419), and upon
the publication of
the following solemn
declaration of Martin
V (1419), in their
behalf: "Whereas
the Jews are made
to the image of God,
and a remnant of
them will one day
be saved, and where-
as they have lie-
sought our protec-
tion: following in the
footsteps of our pred-
ecessors we com-
mand that they lie
not molested in their
synagogues; that
their laws, right.-,
and customs be nm
assailed; that th<'\
be not baptized 1>\
force, constrained Im
observe Christian
festivals, nor to weai'
new badges, and they
he not hindered in
their business rela-
tions with Chris-
tians." But then be-
gan new persecutions
against the Jewish
population of Cen-
tral Europe. In
their distress, the
Austrian and the
German Jews ap-
pealed to the same pontiff who, in 1420, also raised
his voice in their favour, and who, in 1422, con-
firmed the ancient privileges of their race. Never-
theless, the Jews of Cologne were expelled in 142G,
and those of several towns of southern Germany
burned on the old blood accusation (1431). To add
to their misfortune, the Council of Basle renewed the
old and devised new restrictive mea.sures against the
Jews (14.'i4); the unfavourable Archduke of Austria,
Albert, became Emperor of Germany (14.37-1439);
and the new pope, Eugenius IV (1431-1447), at first
well-disposed towards them, showed himself by this
time less friendly to them.
Meantime, the Jewish communities of Castile pros- pered under John II, who promoted several Jews to public offices, and who in 1432 confirmed the statute of the Jewish Synod of Avila prescribing the establish- ment of separate schools. In the course of time, how- ever, Spanish Christians complained to the pnpe of the arrogance of the Castihan Jews, and, in conse(iuence, Eugenius IV issued an unfavourable Bull (1442) which
greatly reduced Jewish prosperity and influence in
Spain, and which was practically repeated in 1451 by
Nicholas V (1447-1455). This pontiff was distinctly
opposed to mob violence against the Jews, and he en-
joined upon the Inquisitors of the Faith not only to
refrain from exciting the popular hatred against them,
but even to see that they should not be forcibly bap-
tized or otherwise molested. And yet, under Nicholas
V, severe persecutions befell the Jews of Central
Europe, and their fugitives found a friendly refuge
ahno.st exclusively in the new Turkish Emiiire started
by Mohammed II, the conqueror of ( 'onstantinople in
1453. The German emperor, Frederick 111, was weak
and vacillating, so that practically down to the end of
his reign (1493), the
Jews remaining in
Central Europe were
repeatedly suljjected
to miseries and hu-
miliations. The
Jews of Italy fared
better during the
same period, owing
to the fact that the
flourishing repubhcs
of Venice, Florence,
Genoa, and Pisa ap-
preciated and needed
them as capitalists
and diplomatists;
anti it is worthy of
notice that the Ital-
ian Jews were very
prompt in avaihng
themselves of the
newly invented art
of tjTJOgraphy. In
Spain, also, the Jew-
ish population lived
in comparative
peace and comfort
under Henry IV of
Castile (1454-1574)
and John II of Ara-
gon (1458-1479), for,
apart from a few
popular riots di-
rected against the
Jews, the persecu-
tion then prevailing
in Spain fell upon
the " Maranos ", or
forcibly converted
Jews, for whose am-
bition or weakness
Christianity was
but a mask. Even after Ferdinand II and Isabella
had united Castile and Leon under one sceptre
(1479), the Jews remained undisturbed — except
in Andalusia — until the fall of Granada, pro-
tected as they were by Isaac Abrabanel, the ruler's
Jewish minister of finance. But the conquest of the
rich Kingdom of Granada apparently led Ferdinand
and Isabella to regard the Spanish Jews as no longer
indispensable, as in fact out of place in their estates,
which they wished altogether Cliristian. Without the
approval of Innocent VII, the decree appeared (1492)
banishing all Jews from Spain, and it was carried out
despite Abrabanel's supplication and offer of an
immense sum of money.
Great indeed were the misfortunes which befell the impoverished Jewish exiles. In Navarre, they had ultimately to choose between expulsion and baptism. In the African seaports, when allowed to land, they were decimated by plague and starvation. On the Genoese ships, they were submitted to the most brutal treatment, and those who landed near Genoa reduced
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