Massacre of 1391
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Location | Crown of Castile, Crown of Aragon | ||||
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Date | 1391 | ||||
Target | Jews | ||||
Attack type | Pogrom | ||||
Motive | Antisemitism |
The Massacre of 1391, also known as the pogroms of 1391, was a display of antisemitism and violence against Jews in Castile and Aragon. It was one of the Middle Ages' worst antisemitic outbreaks. Jews in the Iberian Peninsula at this time were generally disliked, and violence against them was common even until the 15th century.[1] The year 1391, however, marked a peak of anti-Jewish violence.[1] Facing death, many Jews converted en masse to Christianity from 1391 on.[2]
Attitudes toward Jews in the 1300s
In the years leading up to the Massacre of 1391, Jews were not particularly liked by the
Violence in the early 1300s
Peter (Pedro) I (known by his enemies as Peter the Cruel) was the king of Castile from 1350 to 1365.[1] Unlike the norm of abusing Jews financially, Peter was sympathetic to them.[1] Some[who?] would explain his Jewish sympathy by claiming that he was illegitimately Jewish himself.[1]
While a rebel against the church, Peter the Cruel had become a sort of protector of Jews against Henry of Trastámara, his half-brother.[3] Henry had killed around 1,200 Jews in 1355, ordered a Jewish massacre in 1360, and was involved in the murder of many other Jews in 1366.[3] When Peter's half-brother Henry killed him during a battle in a civil war in 1369, Jews lost their royal protection and became the subject of attacks in Castile.[1] They also were greatly taxed.[1] While Henry had criticized his brother for being in support of Jews, he himself became tolerant of them because of the financial burdens placed on them and the services they provided.[1] Because of Henry's violence toward them, the common people of Spain began to accept this violent antisemitism, but Jews were too important financially to be completely annihilated.[3]
The tragedy of 1391 would not have been possible without the Archdeacon of Ecija,
The Jews of
When Martinez continued to declare his strong beliefs against Jews, the king was once again informed of his harmful actions, but rather than take immediate action, he simply commended Martinez for his religious zeal but also reminded him that Jews were still under the crown's protection.[3] This only fed Martinez as he continued to stir up the people through his harmful sermons against Jews.[3] It wasn't until 1389 that Archbishop Barroso suspended Martinez from both preaching and his judicial position because he had publicly and inaccurately preached on the Pope's power.[3]
While Martinez' suspension did give Jews some relief, it was short lived; in 1390 both Archbishop Barroso and the king died, resulting in Martinez gaining a higher position in the church and his suspension being terminated.[3] Martinez used his newfound position and power to order the Jewish synagogues to be destroyed, the materials used in Catholic churches, and the Jewish books to be sent to him.[3] This destruction and the force used to fulfill it rightly frightened Jews of Seville, who once again reached out to the authorities to protect them from Martinez' oppression.[3] In early 1391, the authorities wrote to the religious leaders in Seville and claimed that they were responsible for electing Martinez in a position of such power and they ordered that he right his wrongdoings to Jews, that he rebuild their synagogues, and that he be removed from his religious position.[3] In response to the crown's orders, Martinez claimed that the crown had no authority over him and that he was subject to only the Catholic church. He ignored his orders to rebuild the synagogues and stop preaching against Jews.[3]
Martinez' refusal to obey the crown's orders only illustrated his zeal for his belief that he was doing the right thing by persecuting Jews, and his followers shared the same zeal because he had been riling them up for so long.[3] As his preaching of violence against Jews continued, so did the uneasiness of the mob as they were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to attack and raid Jews.[3] Around March the mob broke out and plundered and killed Jews, and while they were stopped from even further violence, the antisemitic mob mentality had already spread to nearby cities.[3]
Violence in 1391
Violence in Castile
Martinez continued to stir up the people against Jews as he preached that they should be forced to convert to Christianity.[3] Violence finally erupted on 6 June[5] when around 4,000 Jews in Seville were murdered, their houses were attacked and destroyed, and those that weren't killed were terrified into converting in an attempt to not be murdered as well.[3]
The violence against Jews originated in Castile, and acted as a catalyst for further violence against Jews.
Violence in Aragon
This religious mob spread even to Aragon, as the authorities could do nothing to prevent the same pattern of plunder, murder, and fanaticism (although it did not go completely unpunished).[3]
About 100,000 Jews in Aragon converted rather than face death or attempt to flee.[3]
Valencia
One of the first of the cities the antisemitic violence spread to was the city of Valencia, capital of the Kingdom of Valencia, one of the realms forming the Crown of Aragon.[5]
After the violence in Seville and Castile, on 28 June, Queen Violant of Bar ordered city officials to be especially protective of Jews.[5][6] However, the situation continued to escalate and in July Prince Martin (King John's brother) was placed in charge of protecting Jews against persecution.[5] Martin had gallows set up outside the Jewish area as a threat to those who would be inclined to attack Jews, extra surveillance for security, and criers would go around proclaiming that Jews were under the crown's protection (although the criers were revoked on 6 July).[5]
The Jews in Valencia were attacked on 9 July.[5] The violence started out with several youths outside the Jewish community shouting that Jews should convert or be killed, and the situation continued to escalate to the point of violence.[5] As a crowd began to gather, they began throwing stones at the guards, and, against Martin's attempts to stop the crowd, they used pipes to break through the walls and forcefully enter the gates of the Jewish community and attack Jews.[5] The Jewish houses were pillaged and they themselves were killed and raped by the angry mob.[5] Prince Martin recorded that nearly 300 Jews had been killed that day and that there weren't Jews left who could have been baptized.[5] Other sources claim around 230 Jews were murdered and many of the remainders were forced to be convert.[4] There were around 2,500 Jews in the community, and only about 200 escaped murder and conversion.[4]
While Martin was quick to state that this violence against Jews could have only been explained as judgment from
Around 11,000 Jews in Valencia converted rather than face death or attempt to flee.[3]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8204-2082-0.
- ISSN 1405-4167.
- ^ JSTOR 1833647.
- ^ ISBN 978-90-474-0493-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Nirenberg 2014, p. [page needed].
- ISBN 978-1-107-16451-2.
Sources
- Nirenberg, David (2014). Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the Middle Ages and Today. University of Chicago Press. OCLC 1014217260.