Decree of Expulsion Issued for Portuguese Jews (1496)
Following
the death of King Joao of Portugal in 1494, his son King Manuel I
ascended the throne. When his legitimacy as heir to the throne was
challenged, Manuel wished to marry Princess Isabel of Spain, daughter of
Ferdinand and Isabella, in order to solidify his position. As a
precondition to the marriage, the Spanish monarch demanded that Portugal
expel its Jews—many of whom were refugees from the 1492 Spanish
Expulsion who found refuge in the neighboring country of Portugal.
Manuel agreed, and five days after the marriage agreement was signed, on
Tevet 23 (5257), he issued a decree giving Portugal's Jews eleven
months to leave the country.
Appreciating the Jews'
economic value, Manuel was unhappy with the potential loss of this
economic asset, and devised a way to have the Jews stay in Portugal—but
as Christians. Initially, he instructed the Jews to leave from one of
three ports, but soon he restricted them to leaving from Lisbon only.
When October of 1497 arrived, thousands of Jews assembled there and were
forcibly baptized. Many Jews decided to stay and keep their Jewish
faith secret; they were called Marranos or Crypto-Jews.
Over the next 350 years, the
infamous Inquisition persecuted, tortured and burned at the stake
thousands of "marranos" throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies
for continuing to secretly practice the Jewish faith.
(Chabad)
