THE PERSECUTION OF THE MUSLIMS & JEWS PRESENTED BY MICHAEL VASILE & CHERIE KAO

Persecution in Spain Muslim & Jewish

Background Information Isabella and Ferdinand are working to unite Spain. To do this, they believe in making a unified language, and unified beliefs. Isabella and Ferdinand established that Catholicism would be Spain’s religion. The problem was that the majority of Spain’s population was either Muslim or Jewish. Isabella & Ferdinand (1469)

Ferdinand and Isabella’s Ultimatum To accomplish unity throughout Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella decided to crack down on the Muslims and Jews in Spain. People in Spain, unless they were Catholic, were to convert from either Islam or Judaism to Catholicism. If the people refused to convert, they were to leave Spain. Isabella

Beginning of the Inquisition To make sure that the Muslims and Jews were gone, Isabella and Ferdinand began the Spanish Inquisition to make sure that their population had converted. Spain had the largest Jewish population [about 100,100]. Jews were seen as heretics and were accused of secretly practicing “old faith”.

Kicked Out In 1391, a riot of anti-Jews broke out in Spain, many Jews were forced to convert to Christianity as a result to save their lives. Jews that had converted were called Conversos. It was believed that the Conversos will eventually return to Judaism, but many did not, because of the life of a Christian offers. Many Christians became government officials, and leaders of other fields, such as math, science, and business. The Conversos and their growing wealth came to dominate the Spanish Inquisition, overpowering the "old Christians" After Ferdinand and Isabella’s ultimatum of covert-or-leave, the Jews fled while most converted, but still living secretly as Jews. Jews begging for forgiveness

Persecution Elsewhere Muslim & Jewish

Martin Luther Martin Luther at first spoke well of the Jews, but it was an attempt to convert them to Christianity. Luther then would starting writing about expelling Jews from society. Martin Luther

Persecuted People would destroy synagogues and homes of Jews, confiscate Jewish writings. Rabbis were expelled, however doing so violated the law of the Church. Persecutions of Jews was most common in Germany In the 1500s, Popes Julius III and Paul IV placed several measurements aimed at Jews: Jews were required to sell all real estates to Christians, they were forced to live in the ghetto, and all Hebrew books were censored.

Bibliography Jews, the Reformation and Counter-Refomation. Early Modern Jewish History, n.d. Web. 3 Nov Secret of the Spanish Inquisition. Catholic Answers Magazine, n.d. Web. 3 Nov