Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/459

 JEWS

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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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