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Today is: Thursday, Tevet 23, 5771 · December 30, 2010
• Decree of Expulsion Issued for Portuguese Jews (1496)
Following the death of King Joao of
Portugal in 1494, his son King Manuel I ascended the throne. When his
legitimacy as heir to the throne was challenged, Manuel wished to marry
Princess Isabel of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, in order
to solidify his position. As a precondition to the marriage, the Spanish
monarch demanded that Portugal expel its Jews-many of whom were
refugees from the 1492 Spanish Expulsion who found refuge in the
neighboring country of Portugal. Manuel agreed, and five days after the
marriage agreement was signed, on Tevet 23 (5257), he issued a decree
giving Portugal's Jews eleven months to leave the country.
Appreciating the Jews' economic value, Manuel was unhappy with the
potential loss of this economic asset, and devised a way to have the
Jews stay in Portugal-but as Christians. Initially, he instructed the
Jews to leave from one of three ports, but soon he restricted them to
leaving from Lisbon only. When October of 1497 arrived, thousands of
Jews assembled there and were forcibly baptized. Many Jews decided to
stay and keep their Jewish faith secret; they were called Marranos or
Crypto-Jews.
Over the next 350 years, the infamous Inquisition persecuted,
tortured and burned at the stake thousands of "marranos" throughout
Spain, Portugal and their colonies for continuing to secretly practice
the Jewish faith.
Links: Samuel Nunez-Ribeiro-The Life of a MarranoSpanish & Portuguese Expulsion; Inquisition
The soul has three garments: thought, speech and action
- Tanya
Chitas and Rambam for today:
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Audio: 
