Rahel la Fermosa ( Ladino for "Rachel the Beautiful"; originally ''Rahel Esra''; c. 1165, Toledo – 1195, Toledo) was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish woman who lived in

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla� ...

in the twelfth century. She was the paramour of King

Alfonso VIII Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

of Castile, a Catholic Christian and husband of Eleanor of England, for almost seven years. Under her influence, a number of

Spanish Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...

were appointed to positions within the royal court. This led to discontent among the clergy and nobility. Rahel received the death penalty, together with her fellow Jews in the court, in the presence of the king himself.

Historical debate

This love-story, which had been relegated to the realm of fable by the Marquis de Mondejar and other Spanish literary historians, is related as a fact by Sancho IV around 1292. Given that the story is not mentioned in historical documents until then, modern scholars continue to debate the historical nature of Rahel and her relationship with the king.

In popular culture

The love affair between Rahel and Alfonso has been dramatized by Luis de Ulloa y Pereira, Vicente Antonio García de la Huerta, and other Spanish writers, as well as by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

in his play, ''

Die Jüdin von Toledo ''Die Jüdin von Toledo'' is a 1955 novel by German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger. The story focuses on the "Golden Age" of Jewish culture in medieval Spain and describes the affair of Alfonso VIII with the Jewish Raquel in Toledo. In the ...

.'' ''

'' was also the name of a novel by

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

, based on the story of Rahel and Alfonso as is ''La Historia de Fermosa'' by Abraham S. Marrache. She was portrayed in the 1919 film '' The Jewess of Toledo'' by Thea Rosenquist.

References

Sources

*
Gottheil, Richard and Meyer Kayserling. "Fermosa".
''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

''. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906, citing: :*Rosseeuw Saint-Hilaire, ''Histoire d'Espagne'', 1837, etc.; v. 181, 527 ''et seq.''; :*Amador de los Rios, ''Hist.'' i. 335 ''et seq.''; :*Kayserling. ''Die Jüdischen Frauen'', p. 74. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahel La Fermosa Mistresses of Spanish royalty 12th-century Castilian Jews Year of birth uncertain 1195 deaths Medieval Jewish women