CROSSROADS OF CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM, AND ISLAM

SPAIN

REMINDER: SPAIN CONQUERED BY MUSLIM INVADERS

•In the early 700’s AD•Muslim invaders called Moors- from North Africa

RECONQUISTA

• Almost immediately, Christian kings began taking back territory in the Iberian Peninsula.

RECONQUISTA

• The Moors maintained only the southern tip of the peninsula- the kingdom of Granada

The Alhambra- palace of the Moorish kingdom of Granada

THE CATHOLIC MONARCHS

• Spanish Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand • Very devout Catholic rulers

ISABELLA

• Queen of Castile, the largest Christian kingdom• Known for beauty and

intelligence• Helped the king

organize wars and even joined him on campaign

FERDINAND II

• King of Aragon• Married Isabella and

together united most of Spain under one crown• Fierce warrior

WAR AGAINST THE MOORS

• Between 1482 and 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand waged the Granada War to conquer all of Spain and unite it as one Christian kingdom• In 1492, they succeeded in defeating the last

Moorish King, Boabdil

EXPELLING THE MOORS

• At first the Catholic Monarchs allowed the Moors to worship and govern themselves • After a few years they began requiring the Moors

to convert to Christianity• Many Moors fled to North Africa (called Morisco)

PAYING FOR THE WAR

• The Granada War was very expensive (it lasted 10 years)• Much of it was paid for

by confiscating the property of Spanish Jews

JEWS IN SPAIN

• Jews in Spain held considerable power• Jews in the courts of all the kings of Spain and Portugal• In fact, Ferdinand and Isabella’s marriage was arranged

by a mutual Jewish friend.

• Many early bankers were Jewish because Christians were prohibited from usury (charging interest on loans). • But banks are critical, without them businesses can’t get

started.• These same bankers helped finance the war against the

Moors

ANTI-SEMITISM

• Still, Jews were hated by many. (This is called anti-Semitism). • Jews were often the scapegoat in the Middle Ages

• FYI: This is where the term ghetto comes from. It’s an Italian word meaning “slag”- as in industrial waste. Jews were forced to live in the crumby, industrial parts of cities.

CONVERSOS

• Many of the most powerful and wealthy people in Spain were conversos, Jews whose family had converted to Christianity

THE SPANISH INQUISITION

• The Inquisition was launched to purify Spanish society, especially of conversos who they believed were returning to their Jewish faith• This lapse of faith was believed to be heresy

PROVING A LAPSE OF FAITH

• Any traditionally “Jewish” rituals or behaviors could be considered a lapse of faith. • Examples: • not eating pork• Not working Friday night-Saturday (the Jewish

Sabbath, Christian Sabbath is Sunday)• Eating traditionally Jewish food (Kosher)

INQUISITION METHODS

• Under Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, the Inquisition sought to find these heretics• To get these heretics to confess, inquisitors would

employ threats and torture• Thousands were tortured, imprisoned for life

and/or burned at the stake in auto de fe (Act of Faith)

INQUISITION TORTURE

AUTO DE FE

JEWS EXPELLED

• Torquemada decided that the reason so many conversos were heretics was that Spanish Jews were a bad influence, so hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced from Spain

SPAIN A UNIFIED CATHOLIC COUNTRY

• The Inquisition and expelling of the Jews and Moors was so successful, that by the 1500’s, Spain was almost completely Catholic• In the process, Isabella and Ferdinand became

the most powerful kings in Europe