Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being

Spain had been the home of Jews long before the intro duction of Christianity. Under non-Christian rule they enjoyed considerable power and prosperity. With the in troduction of Christianity, however, came the desire to convert the Jews ; and as the Church was not very nice or scrupulous about the methods employed, there commenced a series of intermittent barbarities which stained the annals of medieval Christianity for many centuries. Fortunately for the Jews these persecutions were neither universal nor constant. Bad blood broke out now here, now there, but there were usually also healthy spots, and healthy members, immune from the fell disease. While the fanaticism of the mob was often irritated by envy, the fanaticism of princes was, as a rule, overcome by their personal interests. For the Jews of Spain numbered some of the bravest soldiers, some of the ablest Ministers of State, and, above all, some of the most resourceful financiers. The Kings of Spain and Portugal, accordingly, took the Jews under their protection, though they could not always prevent out breaks which involved the loss of thousands of Jewish lives. During periods of respite, Jews outvied their neighbours in * Benedicius is simply the Latin equivalent of the Hebrew Bafuch. xi xii INTRODUCTION their devotion to literature, science, and philosophy. They produced eminent poets, celebrated doctors and astro nomers, and most influential philosophers. Indeed the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries have come to be re garded as the golden age in the history of the Jews since the dispersion, and that chiefly through the distinction achieved by the Jews of Spain. But fanaticism neither slumbered nor slept. And the climax was reached in the year 1492, when, under the baneful influence of Torquemada, the Jews were expelled from Spain, in spite of the golden promises made by Ferdinand and Isabella so long as they needed Jewish aid against Moorish foes.…