[140] i.e., Little Esther. Some historians have doubted this story. They point out that Casimir’s demeanour towards the Jews was only of a piece with his conduct towards the lower classes of his subjects generally. He showed so great a regard for the rights of the despised serfs that he was called ‘the Peasant King.’ Again, it is certain that Casimir’s edict is dated 1343, and his connection with Estherka did not begin till 1350. On the other hand, Casimir’s one weakness was his passion for women, and the Polish historians say distinctly that Estherka gained great privileges from him for her people. Probably both explanations are correct. He granted the edict of 1343 from a sense of justice, and the monopolies of the Jews, later in his reign, at Estherka’s entreaty.
[141] In 1820 a commemoration of this miracle took place in St. Gudule, when eighteen pictures were painted for the church, describing the entire action of the story, the tortures of the Jews being minutely depicted.
CHAPTER XXIV.
A.D. 1300-1400.
THE JEWS IN SPAIN.
Up to this time, as has been already remarked, the Spanish Jews had enjoyed a freedom from persecution which presents a favourable contrast to the monstrous wrongs and cruelties which they underwent in other lands. The fourteenth century witnessed the gathering of the storm which, in that which ensued, was to burst with such deadly fury on the devoted race; nor were they even now exempt from occasional foretastes of its visitation. At its outset Ferdinand IV., known in Spanish history as ‘the Summoned,’[142] a youth at that time under age, occupied the throne, but the administration of affairs was in the hands of his mother, the queen regent. It should be noted that, although the Jews still retained the rights and privileges accorded them by previous generations, they were fast becoming odious in the eyes of all classes. The haute noblesse were jealous of the court favour which the Jews had so long enjoyed, and were seeking for an opportunity to oust them from it; the lesser nobles were deeply in their debt, and looked to a popular outbreak as the readiest mode of ridding themselves of their encumbrances; the priesthood were, as a rule, though with some noble exceptions, their bitter enemies, continually denouncing them to the people, as the causes of every national misfortune that befell them. This was partly due to religious bigotry, partly to their jealousy of the greater wealth and the superior medical skill of the Jews, which prevented them from acquiring the money and the influence over the people which a successful exercise of that profession would have ensured. As for the people, they were largely under the influence of the clergy, and readily believed the stories poured into their ears. Besides, the spectacle of the riches and luxury in which the Jews lived provoked at once their indignation and their rapacity. The train had been laid, and it needed nothing but the application of the spark to fire it.
Ferdinand’s favourite minister was a Jew named Samuel, a man of great ability, and, it is said, of a haughty, imperious temper. His death was mysterious. An assassin, who was never discovered, entered his house, A.D. 1305, at Seville, and stabbed him to the heart. It was not difficult to guess at the motives or the instigators of the deed; but nothing was brought to light. His successor seems also to have been a Jew, for a league was formed among the grandees against him. They presented a petition to the Cortes, assembled at Medina del Campo, requesting that measures might be taken to restrain the insolence of the Jews. An order was passed, accordingly, that they should not in future be collectors of taxes.
This was soon followed up by other like attacks. In 1313, Rodrigo, Bishop of St. Jago, held a provincial council at Zamora, at which manifestoes were presented, which showed but too plainly how fast the animosity against the Jews was ripening. Several of the constitutions of the council breathe the same spirit. It was enacted that Jews, henceforth, shall hold no post or dignity; and any Jews who hold them shall resign such within thirty days. They shall not be admitted as witnesses against Christians, nor claim, as hitherto, the benefit of the laws. No Christian women shall be nurses to Jewish children. Jews shall not attend Christians as physicians. They are prohibited from inviting Christians to their feasts. They shall not associate with Christians, lest they teach them their errors.
Some of these decrees were re-enacted at the Councils of Burgos and Salamanca, in 1315 and 1322, where it was also ordered that any Christians should be excommunicated who were present at Jewish marriages; and any Jews who called themselves by Christian names should be punishable as heretics!
In 1325, Alphonso XI., son of Ferdinand IV., was declared to be of age. His first acts showed that, whatever might be the sentiments of the nobles, the clergy, or the people, he was resolved to uphold the Jews. He chose as his minister of finance, Joseph of Ecija, a Jew of great administrative ability; and one of his first acts was to declare null and void various bulls and prelates’ letters, which had been obtained by persons owing debts to Jews, by which those debts were cancelled. He also granted the Jews licence to acquire landed property, though he limited the amount which they might hold. But he could not overcome the popular animosity against them. Don Joseph was presently accused of having, in concert with Count Alvar Osorio, bewitched the king by giving him magical potions. Osorio was sacrificed to these machinations; and Don Joseph, though he escaped on that occasion, was not long afterwards charged with keeping fraudulent accounts, and dismissed from his office. Probably, however, the king deprived him of his situation as the only mode of saving him from the malice of his enemies, for we find that he did not withdraw his friendship from him.[143]
In 1348, the king was induced to sign an order for the banishment of all Jews from his dominions, on account of an insult which they had offered to the Host, as it was being carried in procession through the streets. The order was cancelled, however, on the discovery being made that the supposed insult was a mere accident, and the person by whom it was thought to have been offered was a Christian. The revocation provoked a riot, which was with difficulty put down by a determined exercise of the royal authority.
This disturbance had hardly been quelled, when one more furious still broke out, caused by the spread of the plague, which had originated in Germany, into the Spanish peninsula. The cry was raised here, too, that the Jews had poisoned the waters of the Tagus—a crime impossible of commission! Nevertheless, on that indictment massacres were perpetrated in several of the cities, especially in Toledo, and 15,000 Jews are said to have been murdered.