The Massacre of 1391
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Massacre of 1391, also known as the pogroms of 1391, was a display of
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
and violence against
Jews in Spain While the history of the Jews in the current-day Spanish territory stretches back to Biblical times according to legendary Jewish tradition, the settlement of organised Jewish communities in the Iberian Peninsula possibly traces back to the times ...
. It was one of the Middle Ages' worst antisemitic outbreaks; Jews were ultimately given the choice of converting or leaving Spain in 1492. Jews in the Iberian Peninsula at this time were generally disliked, and violence against them was common even until the 15th century. The year 1391, however, marked a peak of anti-Jewish violence.


Attitudes toward Jews in the 1300s

In the years leading up to the Massacre of 1391, Jews were not particularly liked by the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
church because they were believed to have crucified the Christ. However, there was tolerance as they were under the protection of Spain and had crucial roles in banking and finance that made them a financial asset. In the early fourteenth century (1311–12) the general council of
Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
, and larger Spanish population. However, while it is likely that this inspired ill feelings towards Jews, there was no drastic result because of the current
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
on the Jewish people which contributed greatly to the kingdom and the church. Thus, Jews were too much of an economic asset to be violently discriminated against.


Violence in the early 1300s

Peter (Pedro) I (known by his enemies as Peter the Cruel) was the king of Castile from 1350 to 1365. Unlike the norm of abusing Jews financially, Peter was sympathetic to them. Some would explain his Jewish sympathy by claiming that he was illegitimately Jewish himself. While a rebel against the church, Peter the Cruel had become a sort of protector of Jews against
Henry of Trastamara Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter the ...
, his half-brother. Henry had killed around 1,200 Jews in 1355, ordered a Jewish massacre in 1360, and was involved in the murder of many other Jews in 1366. When Peter's half-brother Henry killed him during a battle in a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
in 1369, Jews lost their royal protection and became the subject of attacks in Castile. They also were greatly taxed. While Henry had criticized his brother for being in support of Jews, he himself became tolerant of them because of the financial burdens placed on them and the services they provided. Because of Henry's violence toward them, the common people of Spain began to accept this violent antisemitism, but Jews were too important financially to be completely annihilated. The tragedy of 1391 would not have been possible without the Archdeacon of Ecija,
Ferrand Martinez Ferrand may refer to: *Clermont-Ferrand, a city * Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral *Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport * Clermont-Ferrand Sports Hall People * Adèle Ferrand (1817–1848), painter * André Ferrand (born 1936), French politician * Ant ...
, whose actions ignited this tragedy against the Jewish people. Ferrand Martinez was a well-respected and prominent member of the Catholic church, but in his preaching, Martinez would use political
anti-Judaism Anti-Judaism is the "total or partial opposition to Judaism as a religion—and the total or partial opposition to Jews as adherents of it—by persons who accept a competing system of beliefs and practices and consider certain genuine Judai ...
to aid him as he harshly criticized Jews and would stir the people up against them. Martinez would carry his prejudices with him as a religious judge as he would illegally wrong Jews because of his negative feelings toward them. He even went so far as to write to the nearby authorities and command them to remove Jews from living among them. The Jews of
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
became greatly concerned with Martinez's orders, so they reached out to the
King of Castile This is a list of kings and queens of the Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts. Kings and Queens of Castile Jiménez dynasty House of Ivrea The following dynasts are descendants, in the ma ...
. Because of their importance to his finances, Henry sided with Jews in 1378 and told Martinez to stop his
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
of Jews. However, Martinez ignored Henry and continued to preach violence against Jews as he abused his power in the religious judiciary. Jews continued to complain to the king about the injustices against them, and Martinez was warned in 1382, 1383, and 1388 to stop abusing his power and preaching that the king would not punish anyone who attacked or killed Jews. When Martinez continued to declare his strong beliefs against Jews, the king was once again informed of his harmful actions, but rather than take immediate action, he simply commended Martinez for his religious zeal but also reminded him that Jews were still under the crown's protection. This only fed Martinez as he continued to stir up the people through his harmful
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
s against Jews. It wasn't until 1389 that Archbishop Barroso suspended Martinez from both preaching and his judicial position because he had publicly and inaccurately preached on the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
's power. While Martinez' suspension did give Jews some relief, it was short lived; in 1390 both Archbishop Barroso and the king died, resulting in Martinez gaining a higher position in the church and his suspension being terminated. Martinez used his newfound position and power to order the Jewish
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s to be destroyed, the materials used in Catholic churches, and the Jewish books to be sent to him. This destruction and the force used to fulfill it rightly frightened Jews of Seville, who once again reached out to the authorities to protect them from Martinez' oppression. In early 1391, the authorities wrote to the religious leaders in Seville and claimed that they were responsible for electing Martinez in a position of such power and they ordered that he right his wrongdoings to Jews, that he rebuild their synagogues, and that he be removed from his religious position. In response to the crown's orders, Martinez claimed that the crown had no authority over him and that he was subject to only the Catholic church. He ignored his orders to rebuild the synagogues and stop preaching against Jews. Martinez' refusal to obey the crown's orders only illustrated his zeal for his belief that he was doing the right thing by persecuting Jews, and his followers shared the same zeal because he had been riling them up for so long. As his preaching of violence against Jews continued, so did the uneasiness of the mob as they were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to attack and raid Jews. Around March the mob broke out and plundered and killed Jews, and while they were stopped from even further violence, the antisemitic mob mentality had already spread to nearby cities.


Violence in 1391


Violence in Seville and Castile

Martinez continued to stir up the people against Jews as he preached that they should be forced to convert to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. Violence finally erupted on 6 June when around 4,000 Jews in Seville were murdered, their houses were attacked and destroyed, and those that weren't killed were terrified into converting in an attempt to not be murdered as well. The violence against Jews originated in Castile, and acted as a catalyst for further violence against Jews. This pattern of violence continued through over 70 other cities and towns within three months, as city after city followed the example set in Seville and Jews faced either conversion and baptism or death, their homes were attacked, and the authorities did nothing to stop or prevent the violence and pillaging of the Jewish people. As this fanaticism and persecution spread throughout the rest of the kingdom of Castile, there was no accountability held for the murders and sacking of the Jewish houses, and estimations claim that there were 50,000 victims (though it is likely this number was exaggerated).


Violence in Aragon

This religious mob spread even to
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
, as the authorities could do nothing to prevent the same pattern of plunder,
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
, and
fanaticism Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb ''fānāticē'' ren-''fānāticus''; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. Definitions Philosopher George Santayana ...
(although it did not go completely unpunished). About 100,000 Jews in Aragon converted rather than face death or attempt to flee.


Valencia

One of the first of the cities the antisemitic violence spread to was the city of
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, capital of the
Kingdom of Valencia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
, one of the realms forming the
Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...
. After the violence in Seville and Castile, on 28 June, Queen
Violant of Bar Violant of Bar (c. 1365 – 3 July 1431) was Queen of Aragon by marriage to John I of Aragon. She was active in matrimonial politics and served as "Queen-Lieutenant" (regent) of Aragon as proxy of her spouse from 1388 until 1395. Life She was the ...
ordered city officials to be especially protective of Jews. However, the situation continued to escalate and in July Prince Martin ( King John's brother) was placed in charge of protecting Jews against persecution. Martin had gallows set up outside the Jewish area as a threat to those who would be inclined to attack Jews, extra surveillance for security, and criers would go around proclaiming that Jews were under the crown's protection (although the criers were revoked on 6 July). The Jews in Valencia were attacked on 9 July. The violence started out with several youths outside the Jewish community shouting that Jews should convert or be killed, and the situation continued to escalate to the point of violence. As a crowd began to gather, they began throwing stones at the guards, and, against Martin's attempts to stop the crowd, they used pipes to break through the walls and forcefully enter the gates of the Jewish community and attack Jews. The Jewish houses were pillaged and they themselves were killed and
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d by the angry mob. Prince Martin recorded that nearly 300 Jews had been killed that day and that there weren't Jews left who could have been baptized. Other sources claim around 230 Jews were murdered and many of the remainders were forced to be convert. There were around 2,500 Jews in the community, and only about 200 escaped murder and conversion. While Martin was quick to state that this violence against Jews could have only been explained as judgment from
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
, King John was not so willing to give up his
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
over his people who had explicitly disobeyed both him and his brother, who was present at the attack trying to prevent it. John told Martin that there must be harsh consequences and that the mob must be brutally punished lest the violence spread and cause harm to more Jews. As punishment, Martin imprisoned several of the attackers and had a man
hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
(he had tried to attack
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s). King John criticized his brother's minimal punishments for such brazen disobedience to the crown, and said that he would have had three to four hundred people killed, but now they must put the law on hold and serve punishment on their own. Around 11,000 Jews in Valencia converted rather than face death or attempt to flee.


References

{{Massacres of Jews 1391 in Europe 14th-century massacres 14th century in Spain Medieval anti-Jewish pogroms Jewish Spanish history Massacres in Spain