thumb|13th-century illustration from the depicting Jews playing chess.
The history of the Jews in the current-day Spanish territory stretches back to Biblical times according to Jewish tradition, but the settlement of organised Jewish communities in the Iberian Peninsula possibly traces back to the times after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The earliest archaeological evidence of Hebrew presence in Iberia consists of a 2nd-century gravestone found in Mérida. From the late 6th century onward, following the Visigothic monarchs' conversion from Arianism to the Nicene Creed, conditions for Jews in Iberia considerably worsened.
After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early 8th century, Jews lived under the Dhimmi system and progressively Arabised. Jews of Al-Andalus stood out particularly during the 10th and the 11th centuries, in the caliphal and first taifa periods. Scientific and philological study of the Hebrew Bible began, and secular poetry was written in Hebrew for the first time. After the Almoravid and Almohad invasions, many Jews fled to Northern Africa and the Christian Iberian kingdoms. Targets of antisemitic mob violence, Jews living in the Christian kingdoms faced persecution throughout the 14th century, leading to the 1391 pogroms. As a result of the Alhambra Decree of 1492, the remaining practising Jews in Castile and Aragon were forced to convert to Catholicism (thus becoming 'New Christians' who faced discrimination under the limpieza de sangre system) whereas those who continued to practise Judaism () were expelled, creating diaspora communities. Tracing back to a 1924 decree, there have been initiatives to favour the return of Sephardi Jews to Spain by facilitating Spanish citizenship on the basis of demonstrated ancestry.
An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Jews live in Spain today.
Early history
The earliest significant Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula is generally traced back to the first centuries CE, when the region, known to the Romans as Hispania, was part of the Roman Empire. This presence is supported by both archaeological finds and literary sources.thumb|200px|Roman provinces of [[Hispania]]Among the early artifacts of likely Jewish origin discovered in Spain is an amphora from the first century CE, discovered in Ibiza, part of the Balearic Islands. The vessel bears two Hebrew characters, suggesting Jewish contact with the region, likely through trade between Judaea and the Balearics. Additionally, a signet ring from Cádiz, dating to the 8th–7th century BCE, features an inscription generally considered Phoenician, though some scholars interpret it as "paleo-Hebraic," possibly indicating a Jewish presence in biblical times. Two trilingual Jewish inscriptions from Tarragona and Tortosa, dated between the 2nd century BCE and the 6th century CE, further support evidence of early Jewish settlements. Roughly from the same era, a tombstone inscription from Villamesías commemorates a freedman named Alucius Roscius, who defines himself as Jewish; the epitaph is loosely dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE.
One of the earliest references possibly indicating a Jewish presence in Roman-era Spain is Paul the Apostle's Epistle to the Romans. Paul's stated intention to travel to Spain to preach the gospel has been interpreted by many as evidence of established Jewish communities in the region during the mid-first century CE. Flavius Josephus, in The Jewish War, records that Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, was exiled by Emperor Caligula to Spain in 39 CE. However, in his later work, Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus identifies the location of Antipas's banishment as Gaul.
Rabbinic literature from references Spain as a distant land with a Jewish presence. The Mishnah, redacted around 200 CE, implied that there was a Jewish community in Spain, and that there was communication with the Jewish community in the Land of Israel. A tradition passed down by Rabbi Berekhiah and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, quoting second-century tanna Rabbi Meir, states: "Do not fear, O Israel, for I help you from remote lands, and your seed from the land of their captivity, from Gaul, from Spain, and from their neighbors." From a slightly later period, Midrash Rabbah (Leviticus Rabba § 29.2), and Pesikta de-Rav Kahana (Rosh Hashanna), both, make mention of the Jewish diaspora in Spain (Hispania) and their eventual return. Among these early references are several decrees of the Council of Elvira, convened in the early fourth century, which address proper Christian behaviour with regard to the Jews of Spain, notably forbidding marriage between Jews and Christians.
Thus, while there are limited material and literary indications for Jewish contact with Spain from a very early period, more definitive and substantial data begins with the third century. Data from this period suggest a well-established community, whose foundations must have been laid sometime earlier. Some suggest that substantial Jewish immigration probably occurred during the Roman period of Hispania. The province came under Roman control with the fall of Carthage after the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It is likely that these communities originated several generations earlier in the aftermath of the conquest of Judea, and possible that they originated much earlier. It is within the realm of possibility that they went there under the Romans as free men to take advantage of its rich resources and build enterprises there. These early arrivals would have been joined by those who had been enslaved by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, and dispersed to the extreme west during the period of the Jewish-Roman War, and especially after the defeat of Judea in 70. One questionable estimate places the number carried off to Spain at 80,000. Subsequent immigrations came into the area along both the northern African and southern European sides of the Mediterranean.
As citizens of the Roman Empire, the Jews of Spain engaged in a variety of occupations, including agriculture. Until the adoption of Christianity, Jews had close relations with non-Jewish populations, and played an active role in the social and economic life of the province. The edicts of the Synod of Elvira, although early examples of priesthood-inspired antisemitism, provide evidence of Jews who were integrated enough into the greater community to cause alarm among some: of the council's 80 canonic decisions, all those that pertained to Jews served to maintain a separation between the two communities. It seems that by this time the presence of Jews was of greater concern to Catholic authorities than the presence of pagans; Canon 16, which prohibited marriage with Jews, was worded more strongly than canon 15, which prohibited marriage with pagans. Canon 78 threatens those who commit adultery with Jews with ostracism. Canon 48 forbade Jews from blessing Christian crops, and Canon 50 forbade sharing meals with Jews; repeating the command to Hebrew the Bible indicated respect to Gentile.
Although the spread of Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the Diaspora that ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, emigration from Judea into the greater Roman Mediterranean area antedated the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans under Titus. Any Jews already in Hispania at this time would have been joined by those who had been enslaved by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, and dispersed to the extreme west during the period of the Jewish Wars, and especially after the defeat of Judea in 70. One account placed the number carried off to Hispania at 80,000. Subsequent immigrations came into the area along both the northern African and southern European sides of the Mediterranean.
As citizens of the Roman Empire, the Jews of Hispania engaged in a variety of occupations, including agriculture. Until the adoption of Christianity, Jews had close relations with non-Jewish populations and played an active role in the social and economic life of the province.
Around 300 CE, the Synod of Elvira, an ecclesiastical council held in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, addressed the interactions between Christians and Jews, which were relatively common at the time, with some Christians even admiring Jewish practices. To mitigate Jewish influence on Christian society, the council enacted several edicts aimed at reinforcing separation between the two groups. Canon 16 prohibited intermarriage between Christians and Jews, Canon 78 imposed penalties on Christians committing adultery with Jewish women, Canon 48 forbade Jews from blessing Christian crops, and Canon 50 prohibited shared meals between Christians and Jews.
Severus of Minorca's Letter on the Conversion of the Jews, from the 5th century, recounts the alleged conversion of Menorca's Jewish population in 418. Following the arrival of Saint Stephen's relics in Magona, Severus launched a campaign against the local Jews. Fearing violence and inspired by the Maccabees, the Jews stockpiled weapons. Severus mobilized Christians, accused Jewish leaders of plotting, and inspected the synagogue's weapons. This led to a riot, with Christians seizing and burning the synagogue. Within a week, all 540 local Jews were converted by force.
In comparison to Jewish life in Byzantium and Italy, life for the early Jews in Hispania and the rest of southern Europe was relatively tolerable. This is due in large measure to the difficulty the Church had in establishing itself in its western frontier. In the west, Germanic tribes such as the Suevi, the Vandals, and especially the Visigoths had more or less disrupted the political and ecclesiastical systems of the Roman empire, and for several centuries the Jews enjoyed a degree of peace their brethren to the east did not.
In Jewish tradition
Medieval Jewish legends often traced the arrival of Jews in Spain to the First Temple period. One such legend from the 16th century claimed that a funeral inscription in Murviedro belonged to Adoniram, a commander of King Solomon, who had supposedly died in Spain while collecting tribute. Another legend spoke of a letter allegedly sent by the Jews of Toledo to Judaea in 30 CE, asking to prevent the crucifixion of Jesus. These legends aimed to establish that Jews had settled in Spain well before the Roman period and to absolve them of any responsibility for the death of Jesus, a charge often leveled at them in later centuries.
Several early Jewish writers wrote that their families had lived in Spain since the destruction of the first temple. Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) stated that the Abravanel family had lived on the Iberian Peninsula for 2,000 years.
Identification of Spain with biblical Sepharad
The earliest mention of Sepharad is, allegedly, found in Obadiah 1:20:
While the medieval lexicographer, David ben Abraham al-Fasi, identifies Ṣarfat with the city of Ṣarfend (), the word Sepharad () in the same verse has been translated by the 1st century rabbinic scholar, Jonathan ben Uzziel, as Aspamia. Based on a later teaching in the compendium of Jewish oral laws compiled by Judah ha-Nasi in 189 CE, known as the Mishnah, Aspamia is associated with a very faraway place, generally thought of as Hispania, or Spain. Circa 960, Hisdai ibn Shaprut, minister of trade in the court of the caliph in Córdoba, wrote to Joseph the king of Khazaria, saying: “The name of our land in which we dwell is called in the sacred tongue, Sepharad, but in the language of the Arabs, the indwellers of the lands, Alandalus [Andalusia], the name of the capital of the kingdom, Córdoba.”
Connection with biblical Tarshish
right|300px|thumb|Map of Phoenician (red) and Greek colonies (blue) at about 550 BCESome legends associated the biblical placename Tarshish with Tartessus, a locale in southern Spain, and suggesting Jewish traders were active in Spain during the Phoenician and Carthaginian eras. In the Bible, Trashish is mentioned in the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, I Kings, Jonah and Romans; In generally describing Tyre's empire from west to east, Tarshish is listed first (Ezekiel 27.12–14), and in Jonah 1.3 it is the place to which Jonah sought to flee from the ; evidently it represents the westernmost place to which one could sail. One might speculate that commerce conducted by Jewish emissaries, merchants, craftsmen, or other tradesmen among the Canaanitic-speaking Phoenicians from Tyre might have brought them to Tarshish. Although the notion of Tarshish as Spain is merely based on suggestive material, it leaves open the possibility of a very early Jewish presence in the Iberian peninsula.
According to Rabbi David Kimchi (1160–1235), in his commentary on Obadiah 1:20, Ṣarfat and Sepharad refer to the Jews exiled during the war with Titus and who went as far as the countries Alemania (Germany), Escalona, France and Spain. He explicitly identified Ṣarfat and Sepharad as France and Spain, respectively. Some scholars think that, in the case of the place-name, Ṣarfat (lit. Ṣarfend) – which, as noted, was applied to the Jewish Diaspora in France, the association with France was made only exegetically because of its similarity in spelling with the name פרנצא (France), by a reversal of its letters.
Arrival after the destruction of the First Temple
Spanish Jew Moses de León (ca. 1250 – 1305) mentions a tradition concerning the first Jewish exiles, saying that the vast majority of the first exiles driven away from the land of Israel during the Babylonian captivity refused to return, for they had seen that the Second Temple would be destroyed like the first. In yet another teaching, passed down later by Moshe ben Machir in the 16th century, an explicit reference is made to the fact that Jews have lived in Spain since the destruction of the First Temple:<blockquote>Now, I have heard that this praise, emet weyaṣiv [which is now used by us in the prayer rite] was sent by the exiles who have driven away from Jerusalem and who were not with Ezra in Babylon and that Ezra had sent inquiring after them, but they did not wish to go up [there], replied that since they were destined to go off again into exile a second time, and that the Temple would once again be destroyed, why should we then double our anguish? It is best for us that we remain here in our place and to serve God. Now, I have heard that they are the people of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) and those who are near to them. However, that they might not be thought of as wicked men and those who are lacking in fidelity, may God forbid, they wrote down for them this magnanimous praise, etc.</blockquote>Similarly, Gedaliah ibn Jechia the Spaniard has written:<blockquote>In [5,]252 anno mundi [1492 CE], the King Ferdinand and his wife, Isabella, made war with the Ishmaelites who were in Granada and took it, and while they returned they commanded the Jews in all of his kingdoms that in but a short time they were to take leave from the countries [they had heretofore possessed], they being Castile, Navarre, Catalonia, Aragón, Granada and Sicily. Then the [Jewish] inhabitants of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) answered that they were not present [in the land of Judea] at the time when their Christ was put to death. Apparently, it was written upon a large stone in the city's street which some very ancient sovereign inscribed and testified that the Jews of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) did not depart from there during the building of the Second Temple, and were not involved in putting to death [the man whom they called] Christ. Yet, no apology was of any avail to them, neither unto the rest of the Jews, till at length, six hundred-thousand souls had evacuated from there.</blockquote>Don Isaac Abrabanel, a prominent Jewish figure in the 15th century and one of the king's trusted courtiers who witnessed the 1492 expulsion of Jews, informs his readers that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship to Spain by a certain Phiros, a confederate of the king of Babylon in laying siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Greek by birth, but had been given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to a certain Espan, the nephew of King Heracles, who also ruled over a kingdom in Spain. This Heracles later renounced his throne because of his preference for his native country in Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country's name España (Spain) derives. The Jewish exiles transported there by the said Phiros were descended by lineage from Judah, Benjamin, Shimon and Levi, and were, according to Abrabanel, settled in two districts in southern Spain: one, Andalusia, in the city of Lucena – a city so-called by the Jewish exiles that had come there; the second, in the country around Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo). Abrabanel says that the name Ṭulayṭulah was given to the city by its first Jewish inhabitants, and surmises that the name may have meant טלטול (= wandering), on account of their wandering from Jerusalem. He says, furthermore, that the original name of the city was Pirisvalle, so named by its early pagan inhabitants.
According to Abrabanel, the Jewish exiles that arrived in Spain during the biblical period were later joined by those brought by Titus after the destruction of the Second Temple.
Arrival after the destruction of the Second Temple
Rabbi and scholar Abraham ibn Daud wrote in 1161: "A tradition exists with the [Jewish] community of Granada that they are from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin, rather than from the villages, the towns in the outlying districts [of Israel]." Elsewhere, he writes about his maternal grandfather's family and how they came to Spain: "When Titus prevailed over Jerusalem, his officer who was appointed over Hispania appeased him, requesting that he send to him captives made-up of the nobles of Jerusalem, and so he sent a few of them to him, and there were amongst them those who made curtains and who were knowledgeable in the work of silk, and [one] whose name was Baruch, and they remained in Mérida." Here, Rabbi Abraham ben David refers to the second influx of Jews into Spain, shortly after the destruction of Israel's Second Temple in 70 CE.
Don Isaac Abrabanel wrote that he found written in the ancient annals of Spanish history collected by the kings of Spain that the 50,000 Jewish households then residing in the cities throughout Spain were the descendants of men and women who were sent to Spain by the Roman Emperor and who had formerly been subjected to him, and whom Titus had originally exiled from places in or around Jerusalem. The two Jewish exiles, those sent to Spain after the destruction of the First Temple, and those sent there after the destruction of the Second Temple, joined together and became one community.
Under the Visigoths (5th century to 711)
Barbarian invasions brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Visigothic rule by the early 5th century. Other than in their contempt for Catholics, who reminded them of the Romans, the Visigoths did not generally take much of an interest in the religious creeds within their kingdom. It was only in 506, when Alaric II (484–507) published his Breviarium Alaricianum in which he adopted the laws of the ousted Romans that a Visigothic king concerned himself with the Jews.
left|thumb|Visigothic coinage: [[Recared|King Recared]]
The tides turned even more dramatically following the conversion of the Visigothic royal family under Recared from Arianism to Catholicism in 587. In their desire to consolidate the realm under the new religion, the Visigoths adopted an aggressive policy concerning the Jews. As the king and the church acted in a single interest, the situation for the Jews deteriorated. At the Toledo III Council in 589, bishops endorsed the Breviary's restrictions on Jews, including prohibitions on intermarriage with Christians, owning Christian slaves, and holding public office.
thumb|right|Visigothic coinage: [[Sisebur|Sisebut]]
While the policies of the subsequent Kings Liuva II (601–604), Witteric (603–610), and Gundemar (610–612) are unknown, Sisebut (612–620) embarked on Recared's course with renewed vigour. Sisebut instituted what was to become a recurring phenomenon in European Christian kingdoms, the first edicts requiring the mass conversion of all Jews to Christianity. After his 613 decree that Jews must either convert or be expelled, some fled to Gaul or North Africa, while as many as 90,000 converted. Many of the conversos, like those of later periods, maintained their Jewish identities in secret. During the more tolerant reign of Suintila (621–631), most of the conversos returned to Judaism, and a number of the exiles returned to Spain.
In 633, the Fourth Council of Toledo, while taking a stance in opposition to compulsory baptism, convened to address the problem of crypto-Judaism. The trend toward intolerance continued with the ascent of Chintila (636–639). He directed the Sixth Council of Toledo to order that only Catholics could remain in the kingdom, and taking an unusual step further, he excommunicated "in advance" any of his successors who did not act in accordance with his anti-Jewish edicts. Again, many converted, but others chose exile.
However, the "problem" continued. The Eighth Council of Toledo in 653 again tackled the issue of Jews within the realm. Further measures at the time included the forbidding of all Jewish rites (including circumcision and the observation of the Shabbat), and all converted Jews had to promise to put to death, either by burning or by stoning, any of their brethren known to have relapsed to Judaism. The council was aware that prior efforts had been frustrated by lack of compliance among authorities on the local level; therefore, anyone, including nobles and clergy, found to have aided Jews in their practice of Judaism was to be punished by seizure of one quarter of their property and excommunication.
The efforts again proved unsuccessful. The Jewish population remained sufficiently sizable as to prompt Wamba (672–680) to issue limited expulsion orders against them, and the reign of Erwig (680–687) also seemed vexed by the issue. The Twelfth Council of Toledo again called for forced baptism and, for those who disobeyed, seizure of property, corporal punishment, exile, ll and slavery. Jewish children over seven years of age were taken from their parents and similarly dealt with in 694. Erwig also took measures to ensure that Catholic sympathisers would not be inclined to aid Jews in their efforts to subvert the council's rulings. Heavy fines awaited any nobles who acted in favour of the Jews, and members of the clergy who were remiss in enforcement were subject to a number of punishments. Egica's measures were upheld by the Sixteenth Council of Toledo in 693.
In 694, at the Council of Toledo, Jews were condemned to slavery by the Visigoths because of a plot to revolt against them encouraged by the Eastern Roman Empire and Romans still residing in Spain.
The Jews of Spain were utterly embittered and alienated by Catholic rule at the time of the Muslim invasion. The Moors were perceived as a liberating force and welcomed by Jews eager to help them to administer the country. In many conquered towns, the Muslims left the garrison in the hands of the Jews before they proceeded further north, which initiated the Golden Age of Spanish Jews.
Jewish life in al-Andalus (711–1085)
Islamic conquest of Iberia
With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. For the most part, the invasion of the Moors was welcomed by the Jews of Iberia.
Both Muslim and Catholic sources tell that Jews provided valuable aid to the invaders. Once the city was captured, the defence of Córdoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada, Málaga, Seville, and Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Moors. The Chronicle of Lucas de Tuy records that when the Catholics left Toledo on Sunday before Easter to go to the Church of Saint Leocadia to listen to the divine sermon, the Jews acted treacherously, informed the Saracens, closed the gates of the city before the Catholics and opened them for the Moors. However, unlike de Tuy's account, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada's De rebus Hispaniae maintains that Toledo was "almost completely empty of its inhabitants" not because of Jewish treachery but because "many had fled to Amiara, others to Asturias and some to the mountains" and the city was then fortified by a militia of Arabs and Jews (3.24). Although in the cases of some towns, the behaviour of the Jews may have been conducive to Muslim success, it was of limited impact overall.
In spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as dhimmis, life under Muslim rule was one of great opportunity in comparison to that under prior Catholic Visigoths, as was testified by the influx of Jews from abroad. To Jews throughout the Catholic and Muslim worlds, Iberia was seen as a land of relative tolerance and opportunity. After initial Arab-Berber victories, especially with the establishment of Umayyad dynasty rule by Abd al-Rahman I in 755, the native Jewish community was joined by Jews from the rest of Europe, as well as from Arab territories from Morocco to Mesopotamia (the latter region was known as Babylonia in Jewish sources). Thus, the Sephardim found themselves enriched culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the commingling of diverse Jewish traditions. Contacts with Middle Eastern communities were strengthened, and the influence of the Babylonian academies of Sura and Pumbedita was at its greatest. As a result, until the mid-10th century, much Sephardic scholarship focused on Halakha.
Although not as influential, traditions of the Levant, known as Palestine, were also introduced, in an increased interest in Hebrew and biblical studies.
Arabic culture, of course, also made a lasting impact on Sephardic cultural development. General re-evaluation of scripture was prompted by Muslim anti-Jewish polemics and the spread of rationalism, as well as the anti-Rabbanite polemics of Karaite Judaism.
In adopting Arabic, as had the Babylonian geonim (the heads of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia), the cultural and intellectual achievements of Arabic culture were opened up to the educated Jew, as was much of the scientific and philosophical speculation of Greek culture, which had been best preserved by Arab scholars. The meticulous regard which the Arabs had for grammar and style also had the effect of stimulating an interest among Jews in philological matters in general. Arabic came to be the main language of Sephardic science, philosophy and everyday business. From the second half of the 9th century, most Jewish prose, including many non-halakhic religious works, was in Arabic. The thorough adoption of Arabic greatly facilitated the assimilation of Jews into Arabic culture.
Although initially, the often-bloody disputes among Muslim factions generally kept Jews out of the political sphere, the first approximately two centuries that preceded the Golden Age were marked by increased activity by Jews in a variety of professions, including medicine, commerce, finance and agriculture.
By the ninth century, some members of the Sephardic community felt confident enough to take part in proselytizing amongst previously-Jewish "Catholics". Most famous were the heated correspondences sent between Bodo the Frank, a former deacon who had converted to Judaism in 838, and the converso Bishop of Córdoba, Álvaro of Córdoba. Both men, by using such epithets as "wretched compiler", tried to convince the other to return to their former religion but to no avail.
During the al-Andalus period, Jews primarily lived in cities rather than rural areas. They likely made up around 2% of the overall population, though their presence was much more significant in certain regions. In medieval Granada, Jews may have even formed the majority, and the city was popularly referred to as Gharnātat al-Yahūd—"Granada of the Jews."
Caliphate of Córdoba
After the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by the Abbasids in 750, a surviving prince, 'Abd al-Raḥmān I, fled Damascus and eventually reached the Iberian Peninsula, where he established the independent Emirate of Córdoba in 756, with the city as its capital. In 929, his descendant 'Abd al-Raḥmān III proclaimed the Caliphate of Córdoba, asserting full political and religious independence from the Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates in the east. This marked the beginning of a period of relative stability, prosperity, and cultural flourishing in al-Andalus, attracting increasing numbers of Jewish migrants from North Africa, Italy and the eastern Mediterranean, where conditions had become increasingly unstable. A vibrant, largely Arabic-speaking Jewish community emerged, integrated into the region's commercial, intellectual, and administrative life.
The onset of the so-called Golden Age is closely associated with the career of Ḥasdai ibn Shaprūṭ (c. 915–c. 970), a Jewish courtier who served 'Abd al-Raḥmān III and his successor, al-Ḥakam II. Initially recognized for his medical expertise, he rose to become a trusted advisor, diplomat, and financial administrator. Appointed nasi (leader) of the Jewish community, he played a central role in fostering a cultural and scholarly renaissance. Under his patronage, Hebrew studies flourished, and Córdoba became, in the words of one scholar, the "Mecca of Jewish scholars who could be assured of a hospitable welcome from Jewish courtiers and men of means." He founded a talmudic academy in the city under Rabbi Moses ben Hanoch, acquired Jewish texts from Babylonia, and drew to his circle notable figures such as Dunash ben Labraṭ, the innovator of Hebrew metrical poetry, and Menaḥem ben Saruq, compiler of the first Hebrew dictionary, which later gained wide use among Jewish communities in Germany and France.
Hasdai benefited world Jewry by creating a favourable environment for scholarly pursuits within Iberia but also by using his influence to intervene on behalf of foreign Jews, as is reflected in his letter to the Byzantine Princess Helena. In it, he requested protection for the Jews under Byzantine rule, attested to the fair treatment of the Christians of al-Andalus and indicated that such was contingent on the treatment of Jews abroad. As a prominent dignitary, he corresponded with the Khazars, a kingdom that had converted to Judaism in the 8th century.
Taifa period
In 1009, the Caliphate of Córdoba entered a period of civil war and instability that ultimately led to its collapse. By 1031, the caliphate had formally disintegrated, marking the beginning of the Taifa period in al-Andalus. The region fragmented into numerous independent Muslim principalities, or taifas, each governed by local rulers. These mini-states were often centered around major cities—such as Seville, Granada, Zaragoza, and Toledo—and ruled by local dynasties or ambitious military leaders. While politically divided and frequently in conflict with one another, the taifas also experienced a burst of cultural and intellectual activity, often competing in patronage of poets, artists, and scientists. Rather than having a stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets and scholars were generally valued by the Christian as well as Muslim rulers of regional centres, especially as recently-conquered towns were put back into order.
One of the most prominent Jews to hold high office in the taifa kingdoms was Samuel ibn Naghrillah, also known as Samuel ha-Nagid (993–1056). According to tradition, his rise to power began when his refined calligraphy brought him to the attention of the court in Granada, where he entered the service of King Ḥabbūs al-Muzaffar and later his son Bādīs ibn Ḥabbūs. Over the course of three decades, Samuel served as vizier, policy advisor, and military commander, one of the very few Jews in Islamic history, along with his son Joseph ibn Naghrilla, to lead Muslim armies. The period during which Samuel ha-Nagid commanded a Jewish-led army represents the only known instance of such leadership between antiquity and the modern state of Israel. A distinguished poet and scholar, Samuel also authored an introduction to the Talmud that remains influential.
During the taifa period, Jews also held vizierial positions in cities such as Seville, Lucena, and Zaragoza. Lucena experienced its heyday as a Jewish community from the 10th to the early 12th century, when it became one of the most important centers of Jewish life in al-Andalus; its population was reportedly entirely Jewish, and it was home to a prestigious yeshiva led by prominent scholars such as Isaac Alfasi and Joseph ibn Migash.
Samuel ha-Nagid is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Golden Age of Hebrew poetry in Spain, alongside figures such as Solomon ibn Gabirol, Judah Halevi and Abraham and Moses ibn Ezra. These poets composed a wide range of works, including secular poetry on love, friendship, nature, and war, as well as liturgical poems and religious hymns praising God and the covenant between the Creator and the people of Israel. Judah Halevi, born in Tudela, Navarre, is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets of all time. Among his most celebrated works are the Zionides (Shirei Tzion), which express longing for the Land of Israel—especially the well-known poems Libi BaMizrah ("My Heart is in the East") and Siyyon ha-lo tishali ("Zion, Do You Not Inquire?"). HaLevi was also the author of the Kuzari, a fictional dialogue inspired by the Khazar king's conversion to Judaism. The work advocates the spiritual primacy of Judaism over rationalist philosophy and other religions, and concludes with a call to return to the Land of Israel. Later in life, he left Spain and set out for the Land of Israel, composing a final series of poems during his journey; he is believed to have died en route or at Jerusalem's gates. His poetic and philosophical legacy continued to influence Jewish thought and literature long after his death, and his works remain foundational texts in the Hebrew literary tradition.
The intellectual achievements of the Sephardim of al-Andalus influenced the lives of non-Jews as well. Most notable of the literary contributions is Ibn Gabirol's neo-Platonic Fons Vitae ("The Source of Life"). Thought by many to have been written by a Christian, the work was admired by Christians and studied in monasteries throughout the Middle Ages. Some Arabic philosophers followed Jewish ones in their ideas although that phenomenon was somewhat hindered in that, although in Arabic, Jewish philosophical works were usually written with Hebrew characters. Jews were also active in such fields as astronomy, medicine, logic and mathematics. In addition to training the mind in logical yet abstract and subtle modes of thought, the study of the natural world, as the direct study of the work of the Creator, was ideally a way to better understand and become closer to God. Al-Andalus also became a major centre of Jewish philosophy during Hasdai's time. Following the tradition of the Talmud and the Midrash, many of the most notable Jewish philosophers were dedicated to the field of ethics, although the ethical Jewish rationalism rested on the notion that traditional approaches had not been successful in their treatments of the subject in that they were lacking in rational, scientific arguments. In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as translators. Greek texts were rendered into Arabic, Arabic into Hebrew, Hebrew and Arabic into Latin and all combinations of vice versa occurred. In translating the great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were instrumental in bringing the fields of science and philosophy, which formed much of the basis of Renaissance learning, into the rest of Europe.
The so-called Golden Age of Jewish life in Muslim Spain began to wane well before the completion of the Christian Reconquista, eroded in part by the growing influence of zealot Islamic movements from North Africa. A major turning point came with the Granada massacre of 1066, when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace where Joseph ibn Nagrela, son of Samuel ha-Nagid and vizier to the emir of Granada, had sought refuge. He was seized and publicly crucified, and the violence quickly escalated into a full-scale pogrom in which 4,000 Jews were reportedly killed and 1,500 Jewish families were attacked.
Almoravids and Almohads (1085–1215)
thumb|right|250px|A Jew and a Muslim playing chess in 13th-century al-Andalus. , commissioned by [[Alphonse X of Castile, 13th century. Madrid.]]
After the fall of Toledo to Christian forces in 1085, the ruler of Seville appealed to the Almoravids, a Berber Muslim dynasty from North Africa, for military assistance. The Almoravids, known for their strict religious conservatism, abhorred the more cosmopolitan and tolerant culture of al-Andalus, including the elevated status that some dhimmīs (non-Muslims under Muslim rule) held within Andalusi society. In addition to battling the Christians, who were gaining ground, the Almoravides implemented numerous reforms to bring al-Andalus more in line with their notions of proper Islam. In spite of large-scale forcible conversions, Sephardic culture was not entirely decimated. Members of Lucena's Jewish community, for example, managed to bribe their way out of conversion. As the spirit of Andalusian Islam was absorbed by the Almoravides, policies concerning Jews were relaxed. The poet Moses ibn Ezra continued to write during this time, and several Jews served as diplomats and physicians to the Almoravides.
Wars in North Africa with Muslim tribes eventually forced the Almoravides to withdraw their forces from Iberia. As the Christians advanced, Iberian Muslims again appealed to their brethren to the south, this time to those who had displaced the Almoravides in north Africa. The Almohads, who had taken control of much of Islamic Iberia by 1172, far surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook and treated the dhimmis harshly. Jews and Christians were expelled from Morocco and Islamic Spain. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, many Jews emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled south and east to the more tolerant Muslim lands, and others went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms.
Meanwhile, the Reconquista continued in the north. By the early 12th century, conditions for some Jews in the emerging Christian kingdoms were becoming increasingly favourable. As had happened during the reconstruction of towns after the breakdown of authority under the Umayyads, the services of Jews were employed by the Christian leaders, who were increasingly emerging victorious during the later Reconquista. The Jews' knowledge of the language and the culture of the enemy, their skills as diplomats and professionals and their desire for relief from intolerable conditions rendered their services of great value to the Christians during the Reconquista, the very same reasons that they had proved useful to the Arabs in the early stages of the Muslim invasion. The necessity of having conquerors settle in reclaimed territories also outweighed the prejudices of antisemitism, at least while the Islamic threat was imminent. Thus, as conditions in Islamic Iberia worsened, immigration to Christian principalities increased.
The Jews from the Muslim south were not entirely secure in their northward migrations, however. Old prejudices were compounded by newer ones. Suspicions of complicity with Islam were alive, and Jews who immigrated from Muslim territories spoke Arabic. However, many of the newly-arrived Jews of the north prospered during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The majority of Latin documentation regarding Jews during the period refers to their landed property, fields and vineyards.
In many ways, life had come full circle for the Sephardim of al-Andalus. As conditions became more oppressive in the areas under Muslim rule during the 12th and the 13th centuries, Jews again looked to an outside culture for relief. Christian leaders of reconquered cities granted them extensive autonomy, and Jewish scholarship recovered and developed as communities grew in size and importance (Assis, p. 18). However, the Reconquista Jews never reached the same heights as had those of the Golden Age.
Christian kingdoms (974–1300)
thumb|right|300px|The Spanish kingdoms in 1030
Early rule (974–1085)
Catholic princes, the counts of Castile and the first kings of León, treated the Jews harshly. In their operations against the Moors they did not spare the Jews, destroying their synagogues and killing their teachers and scholars. Only gradually did the rulers come to realize that, surrounded as they were by powerful enemies, they could not afford to turn the Jews against them. Garcia Fernandez, Count of Castile, in the fuero of Castrojeriz (974), placed the Jews in many respects on an equality with Catholics; and similar measures were adopted by the Council of Leon (1020), presided over by Alfonso V. In Leon many Jews owned real estate, and engaged in agriculture and viticulture as well as in the handicrafts; and here, as in other towns, they lived on friendly terms with the Christian population. The (1050) therefore found it necessary to revive the old Visigothic law forbidding, under pain of punishment by the Church, Jews and Christians to live together in the same house, or to eat together.
Toleration and Jewish immigration (1085–1212)
Ferdinand I of Castile set aside a part of the Jewish taxes for the use of the Church, and even the not very religious-minded Alfonso VI gave to the church of León the taxes paid by the Jews of Castro. Alfonso VI, the conqueror of Toledo (1085), was tolerant and benevolent in his attitude toward the Jews, for which he won the praise of Pope Alexander II. To estrange the wealthy and industrious Jews from the Moors he offered the former various privileges. In the fuero of Najara Sepulveda, issued and confirmed by him in 1076, he not only granted the Jews full equality with Catholics, but he even accorded them the rights enjoyed by the nobility. To show their gratitude to the king for the rights granted them, the Jews willingly placed themselves at his and the country's service. Alfonso's army contained 40,000 Jews, who were distinguished from the other combatants by their black-and-yellow turbans; for the sake of this Jewish contingent the Battle of Sagrajas was not begun until after the Sabbath had passed. The king's favoritism toward the Jews, which became so pronounced that Pope Gregory VII warned him not to permit Jews to rule over Catholics, roused the hatred and envy of the latter. After the Battle of Uclés, at which the Infante Sancho, together with 30,000 men were killed, an anti-Jewish riot broke out in Toledo; many Jews were slain, and their houses and synagogues were burned (1108). Alfonso intended to punish the murderers and incendiaries, but died in June 1109 before he could carry out his intention. After his death the inhabitants of Carrión de los Condes fell upon the Jews; many were slain, others were imprisoned, and their houses were pillaged.
thumb|Image of a [[Hazzan|cantor reading the Passover story, from the 14th-century Barcelona Haggadah]]
Alfonso VII, who assumed the title of Emperor of Leon, Toledo, and Santiago, curtailed in the beginning of his reign the rights and liberties which his father had granted the Jews. He ordered that neither a Jew nor a convert might exercise legal authority over Catholics, and he held the Jews responsible for the collection of the royal taxes. Soon, however, he became more friendly, confirming the Jews in all their former privileges and even granting them additional ones, by which they were placed on equality with Catholics. Considerable influence with the king was enjoyed by Judah ben Joseph ibn Ezra (Nasi). After the conquest of Calatrava (1147) the king placed Judah in command of the fortress, later making him his court chamberlain. Judah ben Joseph stood in such favor with the king that the latter, at his request, not only admitted into Toledo the Jews who had fled from the persecutions of the Almohades, but even assigned many fugitives dwellings in Flascala (near Toledo), Fromista, Carrion, Palencia, and other places, where new congregations were soon established.
After the brief reign of King Sancho III, a war broke out between Fernando II of León, (who granted the Jews special privileges), and the united kings of Aragon and Navarre. Jews fought in both armies, and after the declaration of peace they were placed in charge of the fortresses. Alfonso VIII of Castile (1166–1214), who had succeeded to the throne, entrusted the Jews with guarding Or, Celorigo, and, later, Mayorga, while Sancho the Wise of Navarre placed them in charge of Estella, Funes, and Murañon. During the reign of Alfonso VIII the Jews gained still greater influence, aided, doubtless, by the king's love of the beautiful Rachel (Fermosa) of Toledo, who was Jewish. When the king was defeated at the Battle of Alarcos by the Almohades under Yusuf Abu Ya'kub al-Mansur, the defeat was attributed to the king's love-affair with Fermosa, and she and her relatives were murdered in Toledo by the nobility. After the victory at Alarcos the emir Muhammad al-Nasir ravaged Castile with a powerful army and threatened to overrun the whole of Catholic Spain. The Archbishop of Toledo called to crusade to aid Alfonso. In this war against the Moors the king was greatly aided by the wealthy Jews of Toledo, especially by his "almoxarife mayor", the learned and generous Nasi Joseph ben Solomon ibn Shoshan (Al-Hajib ibn Amar).
Turning point (1212–1300)
thumb|right|300px|The Spanish kingdoms in 1210
The Crusaders were hailed with joy in Toledo, but this joy was soon changed to sorrow, as far as the Jews were concerned. The Crusaders began the "holy war" in Toledo (1212) by robbing and killing the Jews, and if the knights had not checked them with armed forces all the Jews in Toledo would have been slain. When, after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), Alfonso victoriously entered Toledo, the Jews went to meet him in triumphal procession. Shortly before his death (Oct. 1214) the king issued the fuero de Cuenca, settling the legal position of the Jews in a manner favorable to them.
thumb|302x302px|[[Illuminated manuscript|Illuminated Bible manuscript page, Damascus Crown, Burgos, c. 1260]]
A turning-point in the history of the Jews of Spain was reached under Ferdinand III, (who permanently united the kingdoms of León and Castile), and under James I, the contemporary ruler of Aragon. The clergy's endeavors against the Jews became more and more pronounced. Spanish Jews of both sexes, like the Jews of France, were compelled to distinguish themselves from Catholics by wearing a yellow badge on their clothing; this order was issued to keep them from associating with Catholics, although the reason given was that it was ordered for their own safety. Some Jews such as Vidal Taroç, were also allowed to own land.
The papal bull issued by Pope Innocent IV in April 1250, to the effect that Jews might not build a new synagogue without special permission, also made it illegal for Jews to proselytize, under pain of death and confiscation of property. They might not associate with the Catholics, live under the same roof with them, eat and drink with them, or use the same bath; neither might a Catholic partake of wine which had been prepared by a Jew. The Jews might not employ Catholic nurses or servants, and Catholics might use only medicinal remedies which had been prepared by competent Catholic apothecaries. Every Jew should wear the badge, though the king reserved to himself the right to exempt anyone from this obligation; any Jew apprehended without the badge was liable to a fine of ten gold maravedís or to the infliction of ten stripes. Jews were also forbidden to appear in public on Good Friday.
The Jewish community in 1300
right|thumb|300px|An illustration from the [[Sarajevo Haggadah, written in fourteenth-century Spain]]
The Jews in Spain were citizens of the kingdoms in which they resided (Castile, Aragón, and Valencia were the most important), both as regards their customs and their language. They owned real estate, and they cultivated their land with their own hands; they filled public offices, and on account of their industry they became wealthy while their knowledge and ability won them respect and influence. But this prosperity roused the jealousy of the people and provoked the hatred of the clergy; the Jews had to suffer much through these causes. The kings, especially those of Aragon, regarded the Jews as their property; they spoke of "their" Jews, "their" juderías (Jewish neighborhoods), and in their own interest they protected the Jews against violence, making good use of them in every way possible. The Jews were vassals of the king, the same as Christian commoners.
There were about 120 Jewish communities in Catholic Spain around 1300, with somewhere around half a million or more Jews, mostly in Castille. Catalonia, Aragón, and Valencia were more sparsely inhabited by Jews.
Even though the Spanish Jews engaged in many branches of human endeavor—agriculture, viticulture, industry, commerce, and the various handicrafts—it was the money business that procured to some of them their wealth and influence. Kings and prelates, noblemen and farmers, all needed money and could obtain it only from the Jews, to whom they paid from 20 to 25 percent interest. This business, which, in a manner, the Jews were forced to pursue in order to pay the many taxes imposed upon them as well as to raise the compulsory loans demanded of them by the kings, led to their being employed in special positions, as "almonries", bailiffs, tax collectors.
The Jews of Spain formed in themselves a separate political body. They lived almost solely in the Juderias, various enactments being issued from time to time preventing them from living elsewhere. From the time of the Moors they had had their own administration. At the head of the aljamas in Castile stood the "rab de la corte", or "rab mayor" (court, or chief, rabbi), also called "juez mayor" (chief justice), who was the principal mediator between the state and the aljamas. These court rabbis were men who had rendered services to the state, as, for example, David ibn Yah.ya and Abraham Benveniste, or who had been royal physicians, as Meïr Alguadez and Jacob ibn Nuñez, or chief-tax-farmers, as the last incumbent of the court rabbi's office, Abraham Senior. They were appointed by the kings, no regard being paid to the rabbinical qualifications or religious inclination of those chosen
1300–1391
thumb|270px|At the Feet of the Savior, [[pogrom|massacre of Jews in Toledo, oil on canvas by Vicente Cutanda (1887)]]
thumb|right|300px|The Spanish kingdoms in 1360
In the beginning of the fourteenth century the position of Jews became precarious throughout Spain as antisemitism increased. Many Jews emigrated from the crowns of Castile and Aragon. It was not until the reigns of Alfonso IV and Peter IV of Aragon, and of the young and active Alfonso XI of Castile (1325), that an improvement set in. In 1328, 5,000 Jews were killed in Navarre following the preaching of a mendicant friar.
Peter of Castile, the son and successor of Alfonso XI, was relatively favorably disposed toward the Jews, who under him reached the zenith of their influence – often exemplified by the success of his treasurer, Samuel ha-Levi. For this reason, the king was called "the heretic" and often "the cruel". Peter, whose education had been neglected, was not quite sixteen years of age when he ascended the throne in 1350. From the commencement of his reign he so surrounded himself with Jews that his enemies in derision spoke of his court as "a Jewish court".
Soon, however a civil war erupted, as Henry II of Castile and his brother, at the head of a mob, invaded on 7 May 1355 that part of the Judería of Toledo called the Alcaná; they plundered the warehouses and murdered about 1200 Jews, without distinction of age or sex. The mob did not, however, succeed in overrunning the Judería of Toledo proper, which was defended by the Jews and by knights loyal to the King. Following the succession of John I of Castile, conditions for Jews seem to have improved somewhat, with John I even making legal exemptions for some Jews, such as Abraham David Taroç.
The more friendly Peter showed himself toward the Jews, and the more he protected them, the more antagonistic became the attitude of his illegitimate half-brother, who, when he invaded Castile in 1360, murdered all the Jews living in Nájera and exposed those of Miranda de Ebro to robbery and death.