[158] Some of the stories related of the atrocities perpetrated on these miserable wretches are too shocking for repetition. They are related by several historians, but I think it better, for the credit of human nature, to suppress them.
[159] It must be noted, however, that, although Alexander showed compassion to the fugitives, he made them pay a heavy price for his protection of them, and also bestowed on Ferdinand the title of ‘the Most Catholic,’ in requital of the banishment of the Jews from his dominions.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A.D. 1400-1500.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL.
No mention has hitherto been made of the Jews dwelling in Portugal. Little is said respecting them by historians; and the idea has in consequence been entertained that they were few in number, and had little influence in the affairs of the country. But that is a mistake. They settled early in various parts of Portugal, and under the rule of the first Portuguese kings bore an important part in its concerns. In the reign of Sancho I., in 1190, a Jew, Don Solomon Jachia, was made a field-marshal, and commanded the Portuguese army. In 1248, Sancho II. appointed so many Jews to public offices that the Pope of the day, Gregory IX., remonstrated with him on the subject, and requested that Christians might be chosen for the various posts of receivers and farmers of the revenue, which then were generally occupied by Jews, to the oppression and injury of Christian men. We are told that, in requital of the royal protection granted them, the Jews furnished an anchor and a cable of sixty fathoms’ length to every king’s vessel which left port.
The same favour was continued by subsequent monarchs. In 1289, the clergy laid a complaint before Pope Nicolas IV. against King Dennis, that he appointed Jews to the highest offices in the State; the Chief Rabbi Judah being his High Treasurer and Minister of Finance. The consequence was they stated, that he permitted his countrymen to dispense with the payment of tithe due from them, and also to lay aside their distinguishing badge. But the complaint seems to have been without foundation. When, at Evora, in 1325 sumptuary laws were enacted respecting dress, no exceptions were made in favour of the Jews; and, unless a composition entered into with the Jews of Braganza, accepting a fixed sum in lieu of the annual taxes, can be regarded as such, no special favour was shown them.
Alphonso IV., in 1340, remitted the extraordinary impositions which, from time to time, had been exacted of them, commuting them for a sum which, though per se large, was a great relief to them. His successor, Ferdinand, in 1371 ordered that all the privileges which had been granted by his predecessors to the Jews should be confirmed. He had a Jew, Don Judah, for his treasurer. In 1389, John I., at the suit of Moses, his physician, gave his sanction to the bull of Clement VI., which had been confirmed by the newly elected Pope, Boniface IX., granting the Jews licence to celebrate their feasts, and practise the rites of their religion without interruption from any. In short, up to the date of the accession of John II., in 1481, though laws were passed from time to time, imposing penalties and restrictions on the Jews, which we in the present day should consider harsh and unfair, there was nothing which amounted to persecution.[160]
On the accession of John II., in 1481, he held a Cortes at Evora, when great complaints were made of the luxury in which the Jews indulged, and the display they made of their riches. They rode splendidly caparisoned horses, wore silk doublets, carried jewel-hilted swords, entered churches, where they made a mock of the worship in progress; above all, refused to wear the badge by which they were distinguished. Jewish artisans, too—cobblers, tinkers, and the like—roamed about the country, making their way into houses, while the men were engaged at work in the fields, and perverting the women. The king replied to these various complaints, promising to restrain the indulgence in splendid apparel, and to oblige the Jews to wear their badge; but adding that, as regards other offences, if it could be proved that they had committed them, the law would punish them.
In 1491, when the expulsion from Spain took place, large numbers of the exiles found a refuge in Portugal. It was the most likely spot for them to select. There was no long and perilous sea-voyage to be encountered, and the similarity of language and customs of the two countries made the change less harsh and painful. But though John permitted the fugitives to find a shelter in his dominions, it was only for a brief interval, and upon very stern conditions. He required that all persons, excepting children at the breast, should pay the sum of eight crusadoes (19s. 4d.) each, in return for which they received a certificate, entitling them to reside eight months in the kingdom. At the expiration of that time, the king engaged to provide vessels, on reasonable terms, to convey them to any land they might select. Those who could not pay the crusadoes, or lingered in Portugal after the prescribed time, were to become the slaves of the king.[161] Upon these terms as many as 20,000 families, amounting probably to more than 100,000 persons, crossed into Portugal, with the intention probably of quitting its inhospitable shores as speedily as possible. But the eight months passed, and large numbers still lingered. Some were doubtless too poor to pay for a passage, for which exorbitant prices were charged. The king had, indeed, ordered that no more than a reasonable sum should be asked, but his commands were slackly and carelessly carried out, and complaint would have been worse than useless. Many were terrified by the tales of barbarities practised on their countrymen by the savage inhabitants of the African coast, and many had been enfeebled by the pestilence which had broken out among them. No sooner had the eight months expired than the penalty was enforced, and the whole of the loiterers became the slaves of the king. Those who were young and able-bodied were forcibly baptized, and then carried off to colonize the island of St. Thomas, in the Gulf of Guinea, which had recently become a Portuguese possession.
In 1495, John was succeeded by Emmanuel, known in history as ‘the Fortunate.’ His succession appeared at first to promise the miserable Jews some respite from their sufferings. He revoked the edict under which such as had remained in the kingdom became slaves. He refused a large sum of money which had been presented to him by some wealthy Jews, and professed his determination of treating them with equity and mercy.
Unhappily, the gleam of sunshine soon passed away, and was succeeded by a fiercer tempest than any that had yet darkened their skies. In an unhappy hour Emmanuel sued for the hand of the Infanta Isabella, daughter of the Catholic sovereigns of Spain; and they would not consent to the marriage, except on the condition that their son-in-law should banish the Jews from Portugal, as they had banished them from Spain. We may believe that there was a struggle in his mind, for he was evidently inclined to be compassionate towards the unfortunate race, which he had already befriended. But what, after all, were a few thousands of wretched Jews, when compared with the fulfilment of his hopes? Nay, he would win the approval of his lady-love by doing even more than had been required of him. He would win her favour at once, and that of Heaven also, by his fulfilment of their wishes. He issued a proclamation from Muja, ordering all the Jews still within his dominions to embrace the Christian faith within the space of three months, or to depart from Portugal. Three ports were at first named—Lisbon Oporto, and Setubal—from any of which the Jews might embark; but subsequently this order was revoked, and Lisbon was named as the only place of embarkation. It is probable that Emmanuel expected, after the great reluctance which the Jews had manifested, on a recent occasion, to quit their present place of abode for unknown and unfriendly regions, that the greater part, at all events, would choose baptism rather than deportation. When he found that this was not the case, but that great numbers were resolute to depart, and were making the needful preparations for their voyage, he was greatly disconcerted. The glory of making converts to the Church would be denied him, and he would lose a vast number of wealthy and valuable subjects. He resolved not to forego these advantages without at least making another effort to secure them. He despatched a secret order that all children under fourteen should be separated from their parents, and brought up in the Christian faith. This was not to be carried into effect until the day of embarkation came, so that there would be no time left for disputing or evading the decrees. But the king’s intention was by some error divulged; and, lest the Jews should contrive to defeat it, it was put into immediate execution. Such scenes of horror ensued as imagination cannot picture. It was the repetition, on a larger scale, of the massacre at Bethlehem. Children were dragged forcibly from the grasp of their parents; infants torn from their mothers’ breasts, to undergo what they regarded as worse then death. Many, in the distraction of their agony, flung their children into the wells and rivers, or slew themselves with their own hands.[162] One miserable mother threw herself at the feet of the king, as he was riding to church—to church! Great God of Mercy, that men should dare to bring such deeds into Thy very house, for Thine approval! She cried out that six of her seven children had already been taken from her—would he not spare her youngest to her? The courtiers mocked at her misery. The king bade his attendants remove her from his path—‘the poor bitch,’ as he expressed it, ‘robbed of her whelps!’—whether with her petition granted or not, we are not told. But the people were not so deaf to the common instincts of humanity as their monarch. They assisted the Jews to conceal their children, and the inhuman command was only partially carried out. Nevertheless, this last deadly blow had gone further to break the hearts of the Jews than all their previous sufferings. On condition of receiving back their children, and that the Inquisition should not be introduced into Portugal for twenty years to come,[163] many of those who had hitherto resisted all attempts to proselytize them consented to receive baptism. The more steadfast spirits, whom no amount of suffering could subdue, were either shipped off to foreign lands or remained behind after the appointed day, and became the slaves of Emmanuel.