Expulsion and forced conversion of the Jews of Portugal
King Manuel I ordered all Jews and Muslims to leave Portugal; for the Jews the edict of expulsion turned in 1497 into mass forced baptism, which created the large community of “New Christians”.
- Date
- 5 December 1496 – October 1497start: exact date; end: month known · duration: ≈ 10 monthsDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Lisbontoday: Lisbon, Portugal · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Manuel I of Portugal, Kingdom of Portugal
- Threads
- History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Cristãos-novos; New Christians; Новые христиане
The decree of 5 December 1496 was an unstated condition of Manuel’s marriage to Isabella, eldest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, who had expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492 — many of them had then taken refuge in Portugal. The deadline was the end of October 1497, but the king, unwilling to lose his Jewish subjects, prevented most of them from leaving and had them baptised by force, while the Muslims were mostly allowed to go to North Africa.
The converts and their descendants, the “New Christians”, remained under suspicion: in 1506 about 2,000 of them were massacred in Lisbon, and in 1536 the Inquisition was established in Portugal. Many emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, Morocco, the Netherlands and the Americas; among the descendants of Portuguese Jews were Baruch Spinoza and David Ricardo.
Connections
Related events
- Fall of Granada2 January 1492 · Western and Central Europein 1492, the year Granada fell, the Catholic Monarchs expelled the Jews from Spain, and many of them fled to Portugal
- Garcia de Orta’s Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India10 April 1563 · South AsiaOrta’s family were New Christians, Jews forcibly baptised in 1497
Same participants
- Treaty of Tordesillas7 June 1494 · Western and Central Europevia Kingdom of Portugal
- Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut20 May 1498 · South Asiavia Kingdom of Portugal
- Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India8 July 1497 – between August and September 1499 · Western and Central Europevia Manuel I of Portugal
Same place
- Publication of The Lusiads1572 · Western and Central Europe
- Restoration of Portuguese independence1 December 1640 · Western and Central Europe
- Lisbon earthquake1 November 1755 · Western and Central Europe
- British Ultimatum of 189011 January 1890 · Western and Central Europe
- 5 October 1910 revolution — Portugal becomes a republic5 October 1910 · Western and Central Europe
- Salazar’s Estado Novo: the Constitution of 193319 March 1933 · Western and Central Europe
- Carnation Revolution25 April 1974 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 5 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Sudebnik of 1497September 1497
- Battle of Vedrosha14 July 1500
- Construction of the Moscow Kremlin walls and towers1485–1495
Middle East and Egypt
Africa
- Askia Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Meccabetween 1495 and 1497 – between 1497 and 1498
Central and Northern Asia
- Shaybani Khan destroys the Timurid Empire1500 – 27 May 1507
South Asia
- Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut20 May 1498
North America
- John Cabot’s voyage to North AmericaMay 1497 – 6 August 1497
- Voyages of the Corte-Real brothers to Newfoundland1500–1502
Latin America
- Discovery of Brazil by Cabral’s expedition22 April 1500
- Columbus’s landfall on San Salvador12 October 1492
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal
- Wikipedia (English): History of the Jews in Portugal
- Wikipedia (Russian): Изгнание евреев и мусульман из Португалии
- Soyer F. The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal: King Manuel I and the End of Religious Tolerance (1496–7). — Leiden: Brill, 2007.
- Wikidata: Q15138579