The ''Scepter of Judah'' ( ) was a text produced by the

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

historian

Solomon Ibn Verga Solomon ibn Verga or ''Salomón ben Verga'' (, 14601554) was a Spanish-born Sephardic Jewish historian, physician, and author of the ''Shevet Yehudah'' (Hebrew: – "'' Scepter of Judah''"). He was the nephew of Judah ibn Verga. Schudt (1718) ...

. It first appeared in the Ottoman Empire in 1550. It contains some 75 stories of Jewish persecution, and is a transitional work between the medieval and modern periods of Jewish history. Born in Spain, Verga's views were shaped by the expulsion in 1492, his forced baptism, and the massacres as he fled Portugal. ''Shevret Yehudah'' was "the first Jewish work whose main concern was the struggle against ritual murder accusations." It was cited by his contemporary

Samuel Usque Samuel Usque (Lisbon, c.1500 - after 1555 in Italy or Palestine) was a Portuguese converso Jewish author who settled in Ferrara. Usque was a trader. His major work is the ''Consolação às Tribulações de Israel'' ("Consolation for the Tribulat ...

, ''Consolação às Tribulações de Israel ("Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel")'', Ferrara, 1553. Rebecca Rist has called it a satirical work that blends fiction with history. Jeremy Cohen has said Verga was a pragmatist who presented benevolent and enlightened characters with a happy ending. The work was essentially a comprehensive analysis of sixty-four different

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 ...

s that the

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

people had suffered since antiquity. Hardly an insular text, it made use of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

sources as well. It also had a certain

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...

value, as Ibn Verga discussed the

customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

and practices of Jews in various lands. Ibn Verga also sought to highlight what he felt were the faults of his people, and as such, much of his

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

s of the Jews are exaggerated for effect. In many ways the ''Scepter of Judah'' was the first and most significant work of Jewish

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

; it was essentially the first time that such a comprehensive interest had been expressed by the Jews in their past. Ibn Verga sought to clarify the problem of anti-Jewish sentiment, which had manifested itself in the

expulsion of the Jews from Spain The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion of practicing Jews following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted to eliminate their influence on Spain's large ''converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Judais ...

in 1492. According to the author, the expulsion from Spain and Jewish exile in general were natural phenomena that were subject to historical forces of causation and explanation. They were not simply "punishment" for the

sins In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considere ...

of the Jewish people, as had been the time-honored way of explaining such misfortunes. The text posited the view that the hatred of the Jews is a popular inheritance which is passed from

generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...

to generation. It is occasioned by

religious fanaticism Religious fanaticism or religious extremism is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that cou ...

(as had been the case in Spain) and is compounded by

envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Envy can also refer to the wish for another person to lack something one already ...

and

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of Emotional insecurity, insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, he ...

; it also stems from a lack of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. Ibn Verga also suggested that there was perhaps too much flaunting of opulence amongst the

Sephardim Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendan ...

; certain festivities had been too extravagant, which had raised antagonism and jealousy amongst

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Whether this was actually the case is debatable. The ''Scepter of Judah'' was one of the most popular Jewish history books of all time, perhaps the most popular until the 19th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scepter Of Judah Historiography Jewish literature 1553 books Books about antisemitism Jews and Judaism in the Ottoman Empire Jewish Spanish history

Further reading

References