Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/628

576 Andalusia Audernach AVcst. lie

Tlir.

.IKWISII

showed himself well disposed toward Their inide,

Jewish subjei-ls.

in silk es|)eciKlly,

liis

and

lluirvHiioiis iiuluslrics contributed not

Good-Will a little In the |>r(is])eril y of the kiiifrof Abd-er- doni; while their varied knowledjre Hal^man. ami eiillivation of the Arabic lonirue were of ftreat assistance in the (leva and s|)rea<l of science. Jews (list in;_'uished for culture and wealth were especially i)referre(l by the califs as counselors and aslroloiiers, and were aj)pointed to such important posts as judges and section

retaries of stale

(kiiili. hiijlh. kiitib).

Abd-erKahman's own jihysician was IIasdai iun" SuAi'iii'T. wlio, knowing Latin, beeaiue also conli-

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dential secretary a jxist hitherto held by the aliliol Samson and rose to be his master's trusted counHe conducted selor and a distinguished statesman. the calif's negotiations with the Greek and German empires, and also with several Christian Spanish ruIIasdai urged the establishment of a ralibinical lers. college in the Ihjinishing Jewish eoinininiity of Cordova, with the fugitive scholar .Mosks iti.N Ha.vok (Enoch) at its head, which eiuililed the Spanish Jews to be independent of the liabylonian gaonate in matters of Jewish law. A dispute which arose upon the death of Jloses ben llanok as to the ajipointmcnt of a successor to the office of rabbi was (ieeided by the calif Al-l.Iakim II. in favor of Closes' .son Hanok, and against Josejih ibn Abitur, a jiroteg^of the silkThis Aliitur had translated the nicrcliant Ilia Jau. !Mishnah into Arabic at Al Hakim's re(|uest. After Al Hakim's death all jiowcr was in the hands of the great hnji^' (chamljerlain) Al-Mansur. who was very Among other things, he ai>friendly to the Jews. pointed the wealthy Ibn Jau, who lived in princely style, as laisi (prince) and supreme .iudge over all the Jewish communities in the Aiidalusian califate. In true Oriental fashion, however, he very S(Jon dejiosed him and threw him into prison. The lirst disputed sic('essiiiM to the califate was the occasion of the first persecution of the Jews in Andahjsia. When Al Hakim's son was opposed by Sulaiman.Al-.Mansur's successor, he sent an embassy, com]K)Scd mainly of Cordovan Jews, to Count Raymond of Barcelona, asking for help. The angry Sniaiman

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swore revenge on tlu! Jews, and many First Per- were slain in a massacre at Cordova; secution butinariy escajied to Saragossa, Seville, and and -Malaga. Among the fugitiveswas Massacre, the learned i)hilolgist Samiki, iiaLkVI II!N XA(DEI,A(rXAOREl,AVwho His linguistic attainments and settled in Malaga. secured for him the inlluential jiostof and minister to Ilabus, the regent of the newly formed kingdom of (Jranada, which position he held for thirty years. On the death of Habus in KKiT. his younger son Balkin. supported by many inlluential Jews, was to have succeeded to the tlirone; but he declined in favor of his elder brother Badis. The Jews who .sided with Balkin (who was soon efl'eclually put out of the way) had liis calli.irraiihy

])rivate secretary

to flee,

among them Josi'.rii who was loyal to

iisx JlKiAsir.

Samuel,

Badis, rclaineil his position and was made nasi and chief rabbi of the Jews in Granada, for which his profound Talniudic erudition especially (|ualitied him. This was the golden age of the Jews of Granada; they were in all respects placed on the same footing as their Moorish fellow citizens, Samuel died in 10,")."). at a ripe age. and deeply venerated. His son Jose])h. who succeeded him, was not so fortunate. Beared in lu.xury. he lacked all his father's modesty his arrogance earned for him the hatred of the -Moorish grandees; and on December :ii), lOlifi, a terrible massaen' of the Jews in

I;N(

576

YCI.OI'KDIA

Granada was organized, from which but few escaped. was among the slain. This was the lirst massacre of Jews on Spanish soil resulting from religious hatred. The em of Mohammedan supremacy

Jo.seph

had been of comparatively short duration. Small principalities were established from time to time, always with special provision for the government of the .lews, who, as luretofore, devoted theniin Si)ain

the state, and to .science and A Jewish musician. Mansur. was held in high esteem by King Hakim. In Aragon there were Jewish lion tamers; in Andalusia. Jewish foot-racers. The bat lie of Zalaca HMi). in which Jews were numerously reprevenled in both Christian and .Mohammedan armies, and which was won by the Almoravide Yusuf ibuTashtin. had the most disastrous results for Yusuf sought to compel the the Jews in Andalusia, Jews of Lucena one of the richest, oldest, and most respected communities of the califate of Cordova and possessing nd)binical colleges directed by Kabbjs Isaac ihn GAYVAT(GiAT)and Isaac Ai.fasi to emCalling a meeting of the l)race ^lohainmedanism. representatives of the congregation, he Conver.annoimced that he had read in the book sion of the Cordovan writer ^luserra that to Mohatn- the Jews had promised toacknowledgc medanism Mohammed as prophet, and become .Moslems, if their expected Messiah Averted. should not have arrived before the This year had long goiu> j"ear .WO of the Hegira. by; and ''usuf insisted that they should now .selves to the service of

art.

(

—

—

make good

their promise.

It

took considerable exer-

and an enormous sum of money to induce the ruler's vizier to secure the postponement of the decree. Yusuf's son and successor. Ali. employed Jews again as tanners of the taxes, and m.iny of them, such as the i)hysicians Solomon ibn Alnniallem and Abraham b, Meir ilm Kanmial, also Abu Isaac ibu Cordova, .Muliajar, became his prime ministers, Seville, and Granada became anew centers of Jewish learning, under such rabbis as Baruch ibn Allialia, Joseph ibn Zaddik. and Joseph ibu .Migash. but tion

only for a short time. Andalusia was severely scour.sed by African invaders. Abdalla il)nTumart.a politico-religious fanatic in Morocco, was the founder of a sect tliat preached the absolute unity of God, without any conception of ciirporeality calleil hence Ai..moua-

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dks (jr Almuwahids and i)reaclied it Almohades. with tire and sword. After his death, Abd-al-Mu'min, another great fanatic, took the leaderslii]) and in the middle of the twelfth century con(|Uereil Cordova, with the greater |)art of Andalusia, consigning both Jews and Christians to the flames and to the spear. Beautiful synagogues were demolished, and the colleges at Lucena and Seville were closed, Abd al-Mu'min's persecution lasted ten years (1 146-1 1.")), Many Jews were of their possessions and sold as slaves; strijiped tied to Castile and Aragon: still otliere many others pretended to become Aloslenis, But there were not lacking brave Jews, like Aben Huiz aben I)ahn,wh successfully resisted force with force, and liberated 'Under the

many

of their coreligionists. battle of Muradal. or Xavas de Tolosa, in Cordova, 1212, broke the powerof the Almohades. Lucena. and a large portion of Andalusia fell into the hands of the king of Castile. When Ferdinand III. captured Seville, the .Tews of the city delivered to him a costly silver key, engraved with Hebrew and Arabic inscriptions, which is still preserved among the relics of the Seville Cathedral, -'loors thenceforward ridcd over only the kingdom of (Jranada. The Jews lived among them, undisturbed and in perfect

The