Spain in 1391 was encompassed by violent acts committed by Christians towards the Jewish population. This conflict was based around the frustration of Christians trying to show the superiority of their religion to the Jews. This essay will be discussing the forced conversions of Jews, by Christians in the 1391 riots against the Jews, also known as the Massacres of 1391, for the violence portrayed onto the Jewish communities in Spain. The main ideas we will be looking at in this essay are what led the series of riots to take place, what these riots looked like, the implications left behind after the riots ended, as well as, looking into why Christians believed that they were entitled in forcing Jews to convert to Christianity. To begin this essay the first aspect of the events on 1391 that we will be exploring is what led to the violent conflicts between Christians and Jews. Exploring the idea of the gathering in Seville and the interaction that took place between Ferran Martinez and Hia Ibn Attaben. The Second aspect we will than look into is this massacre, discovering what these violent acts looked like, how Jews were being treated by the Christians and how the riots and massacre expanded throughout the rest of Spain. The third aspect that we will be looking at is the idea of Jews as Conversos, exploring the relationship between Jews, Christians and Muslims, prior to and during these events. As well as, looking at the repercussions of this forced conversion and how Conversos had to adapt to the change in their society and way of living. The last aspect we will look at explores a primary source about the Christian faith, this source is written by a man who has converted from being a Jew to Christianity. This source will be used to show why Christians feel a sense of entitlement to convert Jews out of their religion, and into Christianity, the “superior” religion. I think that each of these aspects we will explore in relation to the 1391 riots and massacres of Jews, really highlight the significance of this event in Spanish history. This is another very important battle of religion, and this time it is Christians trying to prove that their religion is superior and should be the one that is followed by everyone.
This forced conversion of Jews to Christianity was one that was created by Christians insecurities of their faith in comparison to the Jews. In 1388, there was a group of Jews that would gather in order to air their grievances against the archdeacon, Ferran Martinez: “On 11 February 1388, A large crowd gathered before the gates of the royal palace, that Alcazar, in Seville – one of the largest cities in the kingdom of Castille.”[i]. Hia Ibn Attaben was key in bringing people to this gathering, with the intention “to publicly air their grievances against one of Seville’s most prominent citizens, Archdeacon Ferran Martinez, a canon at the cathedral, whose incendiary sermons had been threatening the security of the Jewish community.”[ii] Ferran took advantage of the disputes, encouraging riots against the Jews in Seville. Forcing them to choose between conversion to Christianity or death. The specific site of this gathering was important as it was “one of the most public and visible spaces in the city.” [iii] The gathering was a “diverse representative sample”, showcasing the multitude of different religious orders that all were centered in this area.[iv] The riots that began in Seville spread all over Spain, driven by the idea that Christians were fighting for religious superiority over the Jews, increasing tension among the two groups. In Castille, there was a significant turning point in this battle for superiority where Enrique De Trastanara utilized anti-Semitism to gain an advantage over his half brother. The state of the economy and political realm held a significant influence over how these riots escalated.
One of the riots, the “Massacre of 1391”, had a significant number of casualties and fatalities. Following this event Jews were trying to escape the cities, moving away from the larger cities where violence against them was escalating in frequency and severity. The aftermath of this massacre held significant socioeconomic, social, and religious influence in the two faith groups, “The conversion to Christianity of many thousands of Jews caused by the massacres, forced disputation, and segregations that marked the period between 1391 and 1415 produced a violent destabilization of traditional categories of religious identity.”[v] There was a group of leaders, including St. Vincent Ferrer who wanted to increase the distance between Christians and Jews in two ways, “First, by converting as many Jews as possible to Christianity; and second, by sharpening the boundaries between Christians and those (ideally few) Jews who would inevitably remain in Christian society until the end of time.” [vi] The massacre began to spread and develop in Spain, originating in Seville the violence spread to “Cordoba and Toledo, and then into the lands of the Crown of Aragon.” [vii]During the riots the King of Aragon was becoming frustrated about conversions, not being able to tell who was a “true” or “natural” Christian, and those who had converted from Judaism. From there it continued to spread to Valencia, “By August pogroms raged into the city of Barcelona, on the Mediterranean island of Majorca, and into Northern Spain.”[viii] Prior to the riots in Seville there was a general feeling of contentment and peace between the different religious orders in this area. This abruptly ended when Ferran Martinez took action against the Jews and the pre-existing tensions began to interfere with the previous notion of peace.
The year 1391 held immense significance to the Jews, this is when they experienced the greatest loss of life during the Middle Ages. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian groups were being pushed together in terms of land and communities causing tensions to build and progress into violence, “Their coexistence was not easy, for each of the three religious communities felt at risk, both physically and spiritually, from the others,” [ix] The relations between these groups can be characterized at this point in history by their “punctuated equilibrium”, defined as, “long periods of constant but functional conflict separated by episodes of widespread violence.” [x] Their interactions with each other always had a history of conflict, while sometimes they were able to coexist, this also gave reason for violence towards one another. This year was also significant to Christian groups, when the crisis brought about by the question, “who is a Jew?”, lead to the decay of the Iberian Peninsula. Following this year of violence towards the Jewish groups there was an increase of conversion to Christianity as a protective measure. This was done to keep their jobs, housing, and safety secure following the rioting in previous years. This uptake in conversions increased the discussion surrounding the questions of who a Christian was and who a Jew was; this led to more violence as these questions were considered on a broad scale. The Jews became labelled as the “conversos”, who had to strive to seek the approval of the “true” or “natural” Christians. In doing this they hoped to gain what the Christians had; they yearned for the honor and respect that they were not given as Jews. This need to gain honor and approval was integral in their acceptance in those groups, “Conversos desired to achieve a degree of honor and respect among Old Christians, perhaps both in reaction to, and in order finally to possess, the honor, meaning the prestige, that the law and society had denied them as Jews.” [xi] In an attempt to be able to function in their surrounding environment, after losing so much stability in the massacre and riots, gaining acceptance to Christian groups was significant in re-establishing their communities.
The basis of the superiority that Christians felt over the Jews was rooted in the idea that God is Almighty in power, knowledge and will. The connection to this omnipotent god gave them a sense of superiority over those who didn’t have this direct relationship. There is a commandant in the Christian faith to convert, “as a religious duty to Him [God], as those giving thanks, praising, and glorifying but not comprehending for His essence or apprehending any part of it.”[xii]This is an impassioned view of God and their mission in conversion, seeing God as the creator, the all powerful. As the creator they see God as being involved in the lives of all people, “this, then, is our teaching about the triune nature of the oneness of the creator.” [xiii] Based on this understanding of God as all powerful creator they were not able to comprehend how other religious orders and individuals did not follow their creator. In their view, if God is this all-powerful being, and they are following him, they perceive that they have a certain level of power and entitlement over anyone who did not follow God. So, at this point in time the Christians felt that the Jews were not in line with who God was, but that themselves were. This perception of Judaism, and other religious orders, is the basis on which their fight for superiority is built.
The forced conversion of Jews in Spain in 1391 is a very important aspect that makes up Spanish history. It stemmed from the interaction that took place between Ferran Martinez and Hia Ibn Atabey in Seville. Hia Ibn Atabey, publicly brought his grievances forward to the archdeacon, which as we can see did not go over well. This resulted in Ferran Martinez gaining power and taking his frustration, and sense of revenge out on the Jews, leading to the riots and massacres. These massacres that took place were filled with violence. The idea for Jews was that you either converted to Christianity, you hid and ran away from the violence, or you were killed. This idea developed and expanded all over Spain, and only worsened as time went on. The Jews who did convert to Christianity were than given the title Conversos. However, as conversos they were than trying to start their lives over again. They needed to try and obtain freedom and ability to function in society, while they were still being looked down on by these Old Christians. The last item that we discussed was built around the primary document, discussing the greatness of Christianity. We discussed within the essay that this sense of entitlement that Christians had could’ve come from many different things. The first being that they maybe saw this forced conversion as a calling from God, so it had to be done, or it could’ve also been self motivated, as they saw God as this all powerful, eternal being and they believed that if they believed that and wanted to achieve that powered, then everyone else should as well. 1391 in Spain was filled with an immense amount of conflict and destruction to relationships between the Christians and Jews. I think that this event is very significant to keep in mind, especially when continuing to study further into Spanish history as this event had a major impact on the many events that followed.
Bibliography
“In Support of the Trinity (mid-twelfth century).” Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim and Jewish Sources, Translated by Thomas E. Burman. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
Irish, Maya Soifer. “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” The Medieval Roots of Antisemitism: Continuities and Discontinuities from the Middle Ages to the Present Day., Edited by Jonathon Abrams and Cordelia Heb. New York: Routledge. Pg. 306-319.
Nirenberg, David. “Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain.” The American Historical Review, Vol. 107, No. 4. Oxford University Press, October 2002.
Nirenberg, David. “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities: Jews and Christians in Fifteenth Century Spain.” Past and Present, No. 174. 2002. Pg. 6-41.
Oeltjn, Natalie. “A converso confraternity in Majorca: La Novella Confariade Sant Miquel.” Jewish History, 24. Toronto, Canada: Springer Science and Business Media, 2010. Pg. 53-85.
[i] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 306.
[ii] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 306.
[iii] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 306.
[iv] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 306.
[v] David Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities: Jews and Christians in Fifteenth Century Spain,” (Past and Present, 2002) 6.
[vi] David Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities: Jews and Christians in Fifteenth Century Spain,” (Past and Present, 2002) 12.
[vii] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 307.
[viii] Maya Soifer Irish, “Towards 1391: The Anti-Jewish Preaching of Ferran Martinez in Seville.” (New York: Routledge) 307.
[ix] David Nirenberg, “Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain,” (Oxford University Press, October 2002) 1066.
[x] David Nirenberg, “Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain,” (Oxford University Press, October 2002) 1066.
[xi] Natalie Oeltjen, “A converso confraternity in Majorca: La Novella Confariade Sant Miquel,” (Toronto, Canada: Springer Science and Business Media, 2010) 68.
[xii] “In Support of the Trinity (mid-twelfth century),” (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012) 195.
[xiii] “In Support of the Trinity (mid-twelfth century),” (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012) 195.
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