received their punishment. The poet said of the Spaniards that Italy
had become their grave; of France, that Spain had been its rod of
correction; of Germany, that the Turks were its executioners, who made
of it a wall against which to direct their cannon; and of England,
that wild and savage Scotland was a perpetual thorn in its side. One
great comfort was that all these sufferings, sorrows, and trials which
came upon the Jewish race were literally announced and precisely
foretold by the prophets. They had only served to elevate Israel, and
as the prophecies of evil were verified, so they might trust that the
prophecies of good would not remain unfulfilled.
The dialogues end with comforting prophecies in the feeling words of
Isaiah. This edifying description served doubtless to sustain the
Marranos in their newly-recovered creed, and to endure sufferings of
every kind for it, even death itself.
Samuel Usque was of opinion that the sufferings of the Jewish people
were soon to decrease, and that the long looked-for morning would soon
follow the darkness of night. But the church showed him that this
anticipation was ill-founded. He lived to see fresh tribulations arise
in his immediate neighborhood, and a whole system of fresh persecutions
put into practice, which the Jewish historian, Joseph Cohen, was able
to record in his annals of Jewish martyrdom. These fresh troubles
had their origin in the reaction which the Roman Catholic Church was
ardently desirous to institute against the ever-growing Reformation.
Two men strove at almost the same time, quite independently of each
other, to re-establish declining Catholicism, and thereby laid snares
in the way of the progress of the human race. A Neapolitan, Pietro
Caraffa, and a Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola, both men of zeal, and ready
to take the initiative, began with self-castigation, and ended by
reducing the minds and bodies of others to bondage. The worm-eaten
papacy, supposed to be crumbling away beneath the laughter and derision
of its opponents, for which its very friends had nothing but a shrug of
the shoulders, was raised by these two men to a height greater almost
than in the time of Innocent III and his immediate successors, because
it rested, not on the tottering foundations of dreamy belief, but on
the firm ground of powerful conviction and reckless determination.
Caraffa, afterwards Pope Paul IV, and Loyola, the founder of the order
of Jesuits, so powerful to this day, were very much in earnest in
impressing the minds of the faithful with the belief in the supremacy
of the papacy and the pope's power to bind and to loose, both in
heaven and on earth, they themselves being firmly convinced thereof.
Caraffa re-established the discipline of the church which had grown
lax, increased its severity, and placed a rod of iron in her hand. He
introduced into the Catholic world at large the means which Torquemada,
Deza, and Ximenes de Cisneros had employed in Spain to force Jews and
Moors to become members of the church, namely, the stake. All who held
a belief differing by so much as a hair's breadth from the papacy were
to abjure it, or be burnt. Merciless force, which does not think, and
destroys all independent thought, was to restore credit to the defamed
church.
To regain possession of the minds which had striven to emancipate
themselves, and to keep them in bondage, the Inquisition thought it
in the highest degree necessary to watch the press. The press had
brought mischief and schism into the church (so thought Caraffa
and his associates); the press, then, must be gagged. Only what was
approved by the pope and his followers was to be printed. Censorship
of the press had been introduced by previous popes, but as anything
had hitherto been obtainable by bribery, publishers had been able to
print and disseminate seditious works against the existing church
system, either with or without the knowledge of the clergy appointed
to control such publications. The seditious controversial pamphlets
in the Reuchlin quarrel, the famous "Letters," Von Hutten's shafts at
the papacy, Luther's first pamphlets against the Romish Babylonian
harlot, inflammable materials which, appearing in rapid succession,
on all sides kindled the tow of which the church tent was woven,
were the result of negligent censorship. This was now to be changed.
The censorship was henceforth intrusted only to priests faithful
to the papacy, and, either from conviction or from instincts of
self-preservation, they exercised their office without leniency.
The Jews soon felt the effect of this fierce Catholic reaction, for
they had no sort of protection, and owed their miserable existence
only to neglect in the enforcement of the canonical laws against them.
As soon as the church began seriously to put these hostile decrees
into execution, the existence, or at least the peace, of the Jews was
endangered. First of all the question of the Talmud was again raised,
but not with the lukewarmness of forty years before. At that time
Pfefferkorn and the Dominicans of Cologne could not hope to obtain a
hearing before the papal chair for their proposal to burn the Talmud,
but were obliged to have recourse to all sorts of ruses in order to
gain over the emperor to their policy. Now a totally different spirit
prevailed. The universal harm caused by the Talmud needed only to be
hinted at by malicious converts for a decree to be at once issued
against it. By such the fresh outcry against it was raised.
Elias Levita, the Hebrew grammarian, who had lived for a long time
in the house of Cardinal Egidio de Viterbo, and had instructed many
Christians in the Hebrew language, both personally and by his writings,
and had also imparted to some a superficial knowledge of the Kabbala,
left two grandsons, the children of his daughter, who were received in
Christian circles. One of them, Eliano, had learnt Hebrew thoroughly,
and was a proof reader and copyist in several towns of Italy; his
brother, Solomon Romano, had traveled much in Germany, Turkey,
Palestine, and Egypt, and understood many languages: Hebrew, Latin,
Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish. Eliano, the elder, had become a Christian
under the name of Victor Eliano, and was a priest, later even a canon.
Solomon Romano was so indignant at this that he hastened to Venice to
persuade his brother to return to the bosom of Judaism. But instead of
converting, he himself became converted. A Venetian patrician, much
attached to the church, set about bringing him over to Christianity,
and what he began, a Jesuit finished. Solomon Romano was baptized
(1551), and assumed the name of John Baptista, to the great grief of
his mother, who was still living. He became a Jesuit and afterwards an
ecclesiastical writer, wrote upon the mysteries of the Christian faith,
a Hebrew and Arabic catechism, and other similar works. This grandson
of the grammarian Elias Levita, with two other converts, Joseph Moro
and Ananel di Foligno, not content with having forsworn their religion,
appeared before the pope, like Nicholas Donin, to denounce the Talmud,
and repeated the same slanders, namely, that the books of the Talmud
contained abuse of Jesus, the church, the whole of Christendom, and
that they hindered the conversion of the Jews in a body. Julius III was
by no means bigoted, least of all was he inimical to Jews. But it no
longer lay with the pope to decide upon the Talmud; this task devolved
on the court of the Inquisition, that is to say, on the fanatical
Caraffa, and Julius III was obliged to approve and sign the decree laid
before him by the inquisitor general (August 12th, 1553)--another
proof of the emptiness of the boasted infallibility of the papacy. Leo
X had encouraged the printing of the Talmud, and the third pope after
him decreed its destruction. The officers of the Inquisition invaded
the houses of the Roman Jews, confiscated the copies of the Talmud and
compilations made from it, and burnt them with special malice on the
Jewish New Year's Day (September 9th), so that the Jews might feel the
grief at the destruction of their sacred books the more keenly. The
inquisitors did not wage war against the Talmud in Rome only. Copies
were burnt by hundreds of thousands throughout the whole Romagna, in
Ferrara, Mantua, Venice, Padua, and in the island of Candia, which
belonged to Venice. The officers of the Inquisition in their fury no
longer distinguished between the Talmud and other Hebrew writings.
Everything that fell into their hands became a prey to the flames; they
even seized copies of the Holy Scriptures. The Jews of all Catholic
countries were in despair; they were robbed by this confiscation of the
rabbinical books which contain the precepts of a religious life, and
in which there is no word referring to Christianity. They, therefore,
appealed to the pope to revoke the decree, or at least to permit them
the use of these harmless rabbinical writings. Julius III agreed to
this latter request, and issued a bull (May 29th, 1554) that the Jews
be compelled, under pain of corporal punishment, to give up all copies
of the Talmud, but that the bailiffs be not allowed to seize other
Hebrew works, or vex the Jews. Transgressors of this decree were to
be visited with severe ecclesiastical punishment. Henceforward all
Hebrew books were subjected to inspection before they were published,
lest they contain a shadow of reproach against Christianity or Rome.
The censors were mostly baptized Jews, who thus had the opportunity of
tormenting their former brethren in faith.
Matters became worse for the Jews after the death of Julius III, as the
college of cardinals insisted that all henceforth elected to the papacy
should belong to the strictest church party, if possible, be monks.
Cultivated dignitaries, interested in humanistic studies, who loved the
arts and sciences, if such there still were, had fallen into disfavor.
Marcellus II, the first of the reactionary popes, was succeeded in
the papal chair by the bigoted and fanatical Caraffa, under the name
of Paul IV (May, 1555-August, 1559). He retained in old age all the
violence and passion of his youth, and framed his policy accordingly.
He hated not only Protestants and Jews, but also the Spaniards, the
most useful tools of ecclesiastical fanaticism; he termed them and the
bigoted king, Philip II, "worthless seed of the Jews and Moors." Soon
after his accession to the papal chair he issued a bull, by which every
synagogue throughout the Papal States was ordered to contribute ten
ducats for the maintenance of the house of catechumens in which Jews
were educated in the Christian faith. Still more severe was his second
bull against the Jews (July 12th, 1555), which enforced the canonical
laws against them with great harshness. They were to remain shut up
in Ghettos, and were to possess only one synagogue; the rest were to
be destroyed. They were not allowed to employ Christian servants, not
even wet-nurses, and were forbidden to have intercourse with Christians
in general. Every Jew was commanded to wear a green cap, and every
Jewess a green veil, even outside the precincts of the city. They were
not to be addressed as "Sir" by the Christian population. They were
forbidden to own real estate, and those who had any were ordered to
sell it within six months; thus they were compelled to part with their
lands, worth more than 500,000 gold crowns, for a fifth of their value.
But the severest blow was that Jewish physicians were prohibited from
attendance on Christians, though so many popes owed their health to
them. Heavy penalties were attached to the infringement of this edict.
These cruel measures were carried out with extreme severity, and
confiscation of copies of the Talmud was not interrupted. Thereupon,
many Jews forsook Rome, which had become so malicious towards them, and
betook themselves to more tolerant states, but they were maltreated on
the way by fanatical mobs. Those who remained in Rome were treated in
a most undignified manner by the pope. First it was said that they had
only made a feint of selling their lands, and had executed sham deeds
of sale, and for this they were imprisoned; next the pope announced
that those Jews who were not working for the common good should
leave Rome within a given time. When the terrified Jews asked for an
explanation of what was meant by "working for the general good," they
received the Pharaoh-like reply, "You shall know at the proper time."
Paul IV compelled them to do forced labor in repairing the walls of
Rome, which he desired to fortify against the Spaniards, of whom he
had wilfully made enemies. Once he, whom the Jews not unjustly called
Haman, impelled by his fierce enmity against them, commanded his nephew
to set fire to all their dwellings under the veil of the darkness of
night. The latter was about to carry out the order, though unwillingly,
when he met the sensible cardinal, Alexander Farnese, who advised him
to delay the execution of the inhuman deed that the pope might have
time to consider. The order was revoked on the following day.
The fanatical Pope Paul IV thus ill-treated the Jews, but he raged
with even greater fury against the Marranos in his dominions. Many,
compelled to become Christians in Portugal, had found an asylum in
Ancona, and received an indemnity from Pope Clement VII guaranteeing
that they should not be molested by the Inquisition, but might confess
Judaism. The next two moderate popes, Paul III and Julius III, had
confirmed this privilege to the Marranos, convinced as they were that
baptism, enforced by violence, could have no sacramental significance.
The more violently the Inquisition now introduced into Portugal
proceeded against the Marranos, like that in Spain, the more fugitives
took refuge in Italy. They settled, with the property rescued, in
Ferrara and Ancona, trusting in the privileges assured to them by the
head of Catholic Christendom. But what did the vindictive Pope Paul
IV care for an assurance of safety granted by his predecessors, and
for a time tacitly recognized by himself, if it was in opposition to
his notion of orthodoxy? His perverse spirit could not suffer those
to live as Jews who had been sprinkled with baptismal water. Paul,
therefore, issued a secret order that all the Marranos in Ancona,
already numbering several hundreds, should be thrown into the dungeons
of the Inquisition, a trial of their orthodoxy instituted, and their
property sequestered (Elul--August, 1555). This was a severe blow
to the Marranos, some of whom had been there for half a century, and
had lulled themselves into a dream of security. Even those Marranos
who were Turkish subjects, and were dwelling only for a short time in
the flourishing seaport because of their trade with the Levant, were
included in the accusation of Judaizing, and imprisoned, and their
goods confiscated, as a matter of course. The furious pope thus cut off
a considerable source of his revenue at the moment when he was about to
plunge into a costly war with Spain.
But very few Marranos succeeded in escaping from the bailiffs of the
Inquisition. They were all received by Duke Guido Ubaldo, of Urbino,
and quartered in Pesaro, because he was then at enmity with the pope,
and thought to transfer the trade of the Levant from Ancona to Pesaro
by means of the connection of the Marranos with Turkey. Duke Hercules
II, of Ferrara, also offered the Portuguese and Spanish Jews, from
whatever country they might have fled, an asylum in his dominions,
and formally invited them thither (December, 1555). Among those who
escaped to Pesaro was a man then held in high repute, the celebrated
physician Amatus (Chabib) Lusitanus (born 1511, died 1568), a sensible
and intelligent man, a skillful physician, a noted scholar, and a man
of equal conscientiousness and amiability. As a pretended Christian
he had borne the name of João Rodrigo de Castel-Branco. He appears to
have been driven from his home by the introduction of the Inquisition
into Portugal. He had been for some time in Antwerp, then the most
important city of Flanders, afterwards visited both Ferrara and Rome,
but had permanently established himself at Ancona (about 1549), where
he had openly assumed his family name of Chabib, and Latinized it under
the form of Amatus Lusitanus. Although he openly professed himself a
Jew, he was frequently summoned to the court of Pope Julius III to
attend him in sickness. Sufferers came to him from far and near. The
art of healing was to him a sacred office, which he fulfilled with his
whole soul in the endeavor to prolong human life. Amatus was able to
take a solemn oath--by God and His holy commandments--that he had
always labored purely for the welfare of mankind, had never concerned
himself about compensation, had never accepted valuable presents, had
treated the poor without fee, and made no difference between Jews,
and Christians, and Turks. Nothing ever hindered him in his devoted
calling, neither family considerations, nor long distances. Amatus
had many disciples of his art who were attached to him, and whom he
regarded as his children. In his young days he had written medical
works so highly esteemed that they were often printed during his
lifetime. The greatest interest was excited by his seven "Centuries"
(each dealing with a hundred cases of illness), in which he minutely
described his remedies and their effect, and gave the characteristics
of his patients. These "Cures" procured for him very extensive fame
during his lifetime; they were frequently printed in Italy, France,
Germany, and even in Spain, and were used by other physicians as
text-books. Amatus received an invitation from the king of Poland
to come to his court in the capacity of his private physician, an
invitation which he did not accept.
This benefactor of mankind, the ornament of his time, was obliged to
flee like a criminal from Ancona to Pesaro, and afterwards to journey
even further, because he refused to make a ridiculous confession of
faith before the bloodthirsty Inquisition of Paul IV, and did not
wish to expose himself to the risk of death at the stake. More than
a hundred Portuguese Marranos, unable to flee, had to pine in the
dungeons of the Inquisition until their sentence was announced to them.
This was to the effect that those who penitently made confession of
the Catholic faith should be set at liberty, but be carried to the
island of Malta, and forfeit all honors and dignities. Sixty Marranos
agreed to this hypocrisy, but twenty-four of them, among them an aged
woman, Donna Maiora, remained firm in the faith of their fathers, "The
Lord our God is one God," and were burnt at the stake (May, 1556).
Most of those to be transported to Malta escaped, and took refuge in
Turkey. A cry of horror was heard from all Jews when the news of this
shocking catastrophe was spread abroad. The sentence was as illegal
as cruel, because, as has already been said, the religious freedom of
the Marranos in Ancona had been solemnly confirmed by three popes in
succession. The Portuguese Marranos in Turkey were completely stunned
by this blow administered to their fellow-sufferers. They bethought
themselves of means by which to be revenged on the insanely cruel pope.
The peculiar position of the Jews in this century made it possible for
them to entertain the idea of a struggle with their malicious enemy
in the chair of St. Peter. A union of all the Jews of the East might
furnish the means.
There lived at this time a noble Jewish lady, an ornament to her
sex and her people by her grace, her intelligence, her character,
and greatness of mind, one of those beings whom Providence seems to
place in the world from time to time that the likeness of man to the
Divine Image may not be quite forgotten. Donna Gracia Mendesia was a
name which her Jewish contemporaries pronounced only with admiration
and love. Blessed with ample means, which she expended wisely, and
only for the benefit of others and for the elevation of mankind,
she commanded an influence equal to that of a princess, and reigned
over the willing hearts of hundreds of thousands. She was called the
Esther of her time. But what anguish of mind she was obliged to endure
before she dared openly to call herself Gracia (Hannah)! The waves of
meanness and wickedness surged around her, but could not sully the
purity of her soul. Born in Portugal (about 1510, died about 1568),
of a Marrano family named Benveniste, she was married under the
Christian name of Beatrice to a rich participator in the same unhappy
fate, one of the house of Nassi, who had taken the baptismal name
of Francisco Mendes. He had founded an extensive banking business,
branches of which extended through Flanders and France. The German
emperor and ruler of two continents, Charles V, the king of France, and
many princes besides, were debtors to the house of Mendes. A younger
brother, Diogo Mendes, was head of the branch bank at Antwerp. When the
husband of Beatrice died (before 1535), leaving her with one daughter
named Reyna, and the terrible Inquisition, introduced into Portugal,
threatened danger to her property and the lives of herself and her
child, she betook herself to her brother-in-law at Antwerp, accompanied
by a younger sister and several young nephews. She furnished poor
Marranos with the means to flee from the fires of the Inquisition.
The sums which pseudo-Christians paid to the emissaries and creatures
of the pope to frustrate the Inquisition, went through her hands and
her brother-in-law's. The Mendes family acquired a high position in
Antwerp, where there were many Marranos. Mendesia's young, handsome and
clever nephew, João Miques, associated with the first people in the
city, and was much beloved by Maria, ruler of the Netherlands, formerly
queen of Hungary, sister to Charles V.
Beatrice was by no means at ease in Antwerp. Affection for the
religion in which she had been born, and which she was compelled to
deny, and horror of the Catholic faith forced upon her, made Flanders
just as hateful to her as Portugal. She longed for a country where
she could freely follow the impulses of her heart, glowing with love
to Judaism. She, therefore, importuned her brother-in-law, the head
of the banking business, who had married her sister, either to go
to Germany, or elsewhere, with her, or pay over her share of the
property. Diogo Mendes fixed a time for this removal, but died before
it arrived (1540-1546); he also left a widow and a daughter, Gracia
the younger. This was the beginning of sorrowful days for Mendesia.
She was recognized by her brother-in-law's will as the head of the
widely-extended business, but could not settle the affairs of the house
quickly enough to enable her to follow the wish of her heart, and
betake herself to some tolerant land, where she could openly confess
herself a Jewess. Besides, Charles V, in his covetousness, cast an
eye upon the large property of the house of Mendes. An accusation was
made by the imperial attorney-general that the deceased Diogo Mendes
had secretly practiced Judaism. It may also have become known that he
had supported the antagonists of the Inquisition by word and deed. It
was, therefore, decreed that the whole of his property, being that of
a heretic, should be forfeited to the exchequer. The order was issued
that the goods and account-books of the house of Mendesia be seized
and sealed. But the widow Mendesia succeeded in satisfying the avarice
of the officials for the moment by bribes and the advance of a large
loan. But it was impossible for her to leave Antwerp without exciting
suspicion against herself and endangering her property still more. Thus
she was obliged to remain there in great distress of mind for more than
two years, until the loan was repaid by the emperor.
At length the hour of deliverance seemed to be at hand, when she might
leave Antwerp, and proceed to Venice. A story circulated that her
nephew, João Miques, had fled to Venice with her daughter Reyna, for
whose hand several Christian noblemen had sued. Perhaps this was a
story sedulously spread by the Mendes family so as to afford a pretext
for their journey to Venice, and that no hindrance might be interposed.
But this precaution was not successful. After her departure, Charles
V again gave orders that her property, so far as it lay within his
dominions, should be seized, because the sisters were secret Jewesses,
and Mendesia the elder (as she was called) was compelled to pay large
sums to avert this fresh calamity.
But misfortune, greater than any that she had yet experienced, was
in store for her at Venice, from a quarter whence she least expected
it, namely, from her younger sister. The latter, as reckless and
scatter-brained as the elder was prudent and sedate, demanded her share
of the property and her daughter's, to do with as she pleased.
But Donna Mendesia neither could nor would agree to this, she having
been made sole manager of the property, and also guardian of her niece,
still under age. Chafing at this guardianship, and probably guided
by evil counselors, the younger sister took a step which turned out
to her own disadvantage. She informed the Venetian government that
her sister was about to emigrate to Turkey, and take with her all her
wealth, there to resume her adherence to Judaism, while she herself and
her daughter desired to remain Christians; and she asked the Venetian
authorities to assist her in obtaining possession of her property, in
order that she might use it as a good Christian in Venice. The rulers
of Venice, seeing the prospect of a rich prize, did not hesitate to
take up the accusation, cited the accused to appear before the legal
authorities, and arrested her to prevent her flight. Her ill-advised
or worthless sister also sent an avaricious, Jew-hating messenger to
France, to take possession of the property there belonging to the
Mendes family. This envoy, thinking himself insufficiently paid for
his errand, denounced the younger sister also as a secret Jewess, and
the French court confiscated the Mendes property in France. King Henry
II also held himself exempt from repaying his debt to the family. The
unfortunate Mendesia was meantime endeavoring to divert these blows
aimed at herself and her property. Her nephew, João Miques, gave
liberal assistance to prevent losses and to set his noble relative
free. Either he or his aunt found a way to induce Sultan Solyman to
embrace their cause. Such immense riches were about to be brought
into his dominions, and the Venetian Republic, which existed only by
his forbearance, dared deprive him of them? That roused his fury. His
private physician, Moses Hamon, a Jew who hoped to win the hand of the
rich heiress Reyna for his son, had disposed the sultan in favor of the
Mendes family. A special messenger of state (Tshaus) was sent by the
Porte to Venice, with instructions that the imprisoned Marrano was at
once to be set free and allowed to depart unhindered for Turkey with
all her property. In consequence of this a difference arose between
the court of Turkey and the Republic of Venice, which afterwards led
to animosities. An important part was thus thrust upon this poor lady
against her will.
In the meantime she succeeded--no one knows how--in finding a
place of refuge in Ferrara under the protection of the liberal-minded
Duke Hercules of Este, where she resided for several years (about
1549 to 1553) under her Jewish name, a blessing and a comfort to her
fellow-sufferers for their faith. Here she was able for the first
time to exercise openly and freely her sublime virtue, her lively
sympathies, her generosity, her genuine piety--in a word, all the
nobility of her heart. Her wisdom and prudence were of great service
to the Marranos in Italy. The poet Samuel Usque, who dedicated his
beautiful work to her, spoke of her with enthusiasm and deep respect.
He makes his Numeo, who plays the part of consoler in the dialogues,
utter among other grounds of consolation for the sufferings of the
Israelites, that they had met with unexpected help from this good woman:
"Who has not seen Divine Mercy reveal itself in human form,
as it has shown, and still shows itself to thee a shield
and defense against thy wretchedness? Who has not seen the
heartfelt compassion of Miriam over again in the sacrifice
of her own life to save that of her brethren? Or the great
wisdom of Deborah in ruling her fellow-men? Or the infinite
virtue and holiness of Esther in protecting the defenseless?
Or the memorable exertions of the chaste widow Judith in order
to deliver the besieged from terror? The Lord hath sent her
down in our days from the midst of His holy angels, and united
every virtue in one person, and for thy happiness it is that He
hath placed this soul in the lovely form of the blessed Jewess
Nassi. She it was who, at the beginning of the dispersion (of
the Marranos), gave strength and hope to thy perishing sons,
made hopeless by their want of means to escape the fire, and
encouraged them to go forth on their pilgrimage. With bountiful
hand did she succor those who had already set out on their
wanderings in Flanders and other parts, and who, weakened by
poverty and overcome by the perils of the sea passage, were in
danger of getting no further, and strengthened them in their
need. She did not withhold her favor even from her enemies.
With her pure hand and her heavenly will has she freed most of
this nation (of Marranos) from the depths of endless misery,
poverty, and sin, led them into safe places, and gathered them
together into obedience to the precepts of the true God. Thus
did she become thy strength in thy weakness."
The two editors of the Ferrara Spanish Bible, Abraham Usque and Athias,
who dedicated it to "Her Highness the Señora Donna Gracia," described
her invaluable services in a few words:
"We desire to dedicate the translation to your Grace, as the
person whose deserts among our people will always occupy the
foremost place. May you be pleased to accept it, to favor and
protect it with the spirit which has always favored those who
have asked help of you."
As she protected all three of the Usques, this eulogy may sound partial
from their lips; but all, even the most conscientious rabbis of the
time, were full of her praise, and wrote with equal enthusiasm, if not
elegance, of her virtues:
"The noble princess, the glory of Israel, the wise woman who
builds her house in holiness and purity, with her hand sustains
the poor and needy, in order to make them happy in this world,
and blessed in the world to come. Many are they whom she has
rescued from death, and lifted up from the abasement of a
worthless life, when they were languishing in a dungeon, and
were given over to death. She hath founded houses wherein all
may learn the law of God. She has given to many the means
whereby they may not only live, but live in plenty."
After Donna Gracia Nassi had become reconciled to her sister, who
probably saw that she endangered herself by assuming an antagonistic
attitude towards Gracia, after she had seen her sister's child,
the beautiful young Gracia, betrothed to her nephew Samuel Nassi in
Ferrara, and after she had provided like a mother for all the members
of her family, she carried out her long-cherished intention, and
betook herself to the Turkish capital to escape the many annoyances
to which she was subject in Christian territory. Her gifted nephew,
João Miques, who was betrothed to her daughter Reyna, and who had
undertaken long journeys to Lyons, Marseilles, Rome, and Sicily on
business affairs, had by his adroitness prepared a good reception for
her in Constantinople. With skillful diplomacy, acquired by intercourse
with Christian statesmen, he obtained a hearty recommendation to
Constantinople from M. de Lansac, the ambassador at the French court,
with whom the Mendes-Nassi family had been at enmity, and so met with
a favorable reception there. In Constantinople, João Miques made open
avowal of Judaism, assuming the name of Joseph Nassi, and marrying his
wealthy cousin Reyna. He did not go thither alone, but took with him
a great following of 500 persons, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian
Jews. He made his appearance there as a prince; his tact, his knowledge
of European affairs, and his wealth, procured him an entrance into
the court circle, and secured the favor of Solyman. But his noble
mother-in-law remained the principal manager of the large property of
the family.
The Jewish inhabitants of Constantinople soon felt the beneficent
hand of Donna Gracia and her son-in-law. They assisted the poor,
established houses of prayer and schools, and made endowments for
teachers of the Talmud. But their benevolence was not limited to
Spaniards and Portuguese, it extended to Germans and beyond the city of
Constantinople.
When the news came that Pope Paul IV had imprisoned the Marranos of
Ancona with the intention of burning them sooner or later, the heart
of Donna Gracia felt a terrible pang, as a mother when her children are
in misfortune, for she had taken them all into her heart as her sons
and brothers. She did not give herself up to useless lamentation, but
at once joined with her son-in-law in taking active steps for their
relief. She first addressed herself to Sultan Solyman, entreating
him to demand that at least Marrano Jews from Turkey, in Ancona on
business, be surrendered to him, and had the happiness of seeing this
request fulfilled. Sultan Solyman addressed a letter to the pope
(March 9th, 1556) in the haughty tone which Turkish rulers, in the
consciousness of their power, assumed towards the Christian princes,
weakened by disunion. He complained that his Jewish subjects had been
unjustly imprisoned, whereby his treasury had suffered the loss of
fully 4,000 ducats, besides a still greater diminution of revenues
on account of injuries to Turkish Jews. The sultan insisted that the
pope should at once set at liberty all Turkish Marranos in Ancona,
and hinted that, in case his representation meet with an unfavorable
reception, reprisals would be made upon Christians dwelling in his
dominions. Paul IV was most unwillingly compelled to submit, set free
the Turkish Jews, and allow them to depart uninjured. The remainder,
who had no powerful partisan, were, as has been said, burnt. The Jews
resolved to be revenged on the pope, and hoped for the active aid of
Donna Gracia and her son-in-law in accomplishing this purpose.
Duke Guido Ubaldo, of Urbino, had received the Marranos from Ancona in
Pesaro, only because he thought by this means to bring the Levantine
trade of the Jews to his own port. The community of Pesaro, therefore,
sent a dispatch to all the Turkish communities which had commercial
relations with Italy, requesting that they no longer send their goods
to Ancona, but to Pesaro. The commerce of the Turkish Jews was very
considerable; everything passed through their hands, they competed
with the Venetians, and sent out their own ships and galleys. The
Jewish Levantine merchants had hitherto made Ancona the staple port
for the wares shipped from Turkey to Europe, in order to lessen the
pre-eminence of Venice. In the first ebullition of indignation at the
shameful deed of Pope Paul IV, many of the Levantine Jews agreed to the
proposal of the Jews of Pesaro (Elul--August, 1556), and resolved to
punish him severely by entirely cutting off the important source of
revenue arising from the commerce of the Levant. But as this measure
was practicable only if all Jews trading with Italy were privy to it,
the participators in the arrangement at first only agreed not to carry
on trade with Ancona for eight months (till March, 1557).
The Jews of Pesaro and the Marranos formerly in the Turkish dominions,
of course, made every effort to effect a general movement to place the
pope and his seaport under ban. But the resident Jews of Ancona, not
Marranos, were afraid that their interests would suffer injury by the
removal of the trade of the Levant to Pesaro, and they lost no time
in sending letters to the Jewish communities in Turkey, entreating
them not to make any binding agreement, because they would incur great
danger, owing to the passionate disposition of the pope, who would
certainly drive them into misery if he learnt that the Jews intended to
be revenged on him.
All eyes were, therefore, directed towards Constantinople, for thither
the representatives of the commercial towns of Salonica, Adrianople,
Broussa, Ancona, and the Morea had sent letters requesting that the
matter be well weighed, and their interests regarded. Donna Gracia
and Joseph Nassi, of course, had the principal voice, and they were
resolved from the beginning to punish the inhuman pope severely.
They had instructed their agents to send the goods belonging to their
house to Pesaro. The Portuguese and some of the Spanish communities in
Turkey agreed to make a decided stand and prohibit trade with Ancona
under threat of exclusion from Jewish commercial circles. But some
opposition was made in Constantinople itself, many of the merchants
fearing that their interests would be endangered by the preference
given to Pesaro. The matter was, therefore, in the hands of the rabbis
of Constantinople. If they unanimously considered that the port of
Ancona was to be avoided out of regard for the danger which threatened
the Marranos of Pesaro, their authority would fall into the balance,
and settle the question. Gracia and Joseph, therefore, influenced the
rabbis, so that they decided to pronounce against the pope.
Two rabbis, however, were opposed to this decision. As no unanimous
decision was made in the chief community of Constantinople, the Jewish
merchants of the other Turkish communities were spared the imposition
of restrictions upon their trade with Ancona. In vain Donna Gracia,
who regarded the question as of the deepest interest, demanded an
opinion from the rabbis of the community of Safet, which enjoyed the
highest authority among the Jews of the East, in the persons of its
two representatives, Joseph Karo and Moses di Trani. The ban of the
rabbis against Pope Paul IV was not put into action. Whilst the rabbis
were still consulting, that which Donna Gracia and her adherents had
been fearing to their great grief came to pass. Duke Guido Ubaldo,
disappointed in his expectation of seeing his port of Pesaro become
the center of the Jewish Levantine commerce, and attacked by the pope
for his favor towards Jews, ordered the Marranos to depart from Pesaro
(March, 1558). It must be accounted a great merit in him that he did
not surrender them to the officers of the Inquisition. Most of the
exiles sailed eastward in hired ships; but the pope's naval police lay
in wait for them, and they escaped with difficulty. Some were taken
prisoners, and treated as slaves. The skillful and humane physician,
Amatus Lusitanus, a Marrano, who had resided for a short time in
Pesaro, and then in Ragusa, restoring many Christians to life and
health, was also obliged to quit Christian territory and take refuge
in the town of Salonica, almost entirely peopled by Jews (1558-1559).
This same year seems to have brought misfortune also to the Marranos
of Ferrara, and the duke withdrew his protection from them, for the
printing press of Abraham Usque was closed, and Joseph Nassi's brother,
Don Samuel Nassi, was so badly treated by the duke, that he was obliged
to call in the intercession of the Turkish court to enable him to
remove to Constantinople in peace. One threatening glance from the
infidel sultan had more effect upon Christian princes than the voice of
justice and humanity.
The nearer Paul IV approached the grave, the more did he become
incensed against the Jews. Two baptized Jews, named Sixtus Senensis,
and Philip or Joseph Moro, at his command traveled through the Jewish
communities situated in the Papal States and annoyed the Jews with
their seditious sermons. The latter once forced his way into the
synagogue at Recanate on the Day of Atonement (1558) with a crucifix,
which the Jews regarded as an idolatrous image, and with violence
placed it in the ark where the sacred Torah was kept. When the Jews
turned him out for this insult to their sanctuary, he collected the
furious mob round the house of God, and two Jews who had laid hands
on him were seized and scourged by order of the chief magistrate.
Pope Paul IV was most enraged against the Marranos and the Talmud. He
tried to drive the former out of their most secret hiding-places Many
pseudo-Christians of Spain and Portugal, unable to save themselves by
flight, entered the orders, and, so to speak, howled with the wolves to
escape being attacked by them. Paul IV, to whom complaints were made
that Jewish Christians had joined the orders of monks, forbade them to
receive Jews as members.
He went yet more thoroughly to work with the Talmud, of which not
a copy was left in the Papal States or throughout the greater part
of Italy, owners thereof being exposed to the heaviest penalty. The
schools, for the most part, were closed. Had this condition of things
become universal, great ignorance and stagnation would have spread
among Italian Jews, and facilitated the great object of the pope--
their conversion. But at this time a large school and an asylum for
the persecuted Talmud arose in Cremona, a town of northern Italy,
belonging to Milan. A Talmudist, Joseph Ottolenghi, from Germany,
opened a school under the protection of the governor of Milan, teaching
the Talmud and having rabbinical works printed. Every owner of a copy
of the Talmud sent it secretly to Cremona, and thus very many were
collected there, and thence exported to Germany, Poland, and the
East. This scanty religious freedom the Jews retained also under the
Spaniards, who were compelled to carry on war with Paul IV. After the
pope had been obliged to submit to a disgraceful peace, he planned to
have the Jewish writings in Cremona burnt. The Dominicans, who acted
as the papal police, influenced the people, so as to be able to exert
pressure upon the governor. Inflammatory papers were distributed in
Cremona calling upon the people to kill the Jews (April 8th, 1559). A
few days afterwards the governor was urged by two Dominicans, one of
whom was Sixtus Senensis, a baptized Jew, to erect a pyre on which to
burn copies of the Talmud, because it was said to contain nothing but
blasphemies of Jesus. The governor did not choose to give credence to
the accusations against the Jews without further confirmation, so two
witnesses stood up against the Talmud (April 17th), a baptized Jew,
Vittorio Eliano, grandson, by a daughter, of the Jewish grammarian
Elias Levita, and a worthless German Jew, Joshua dei Cantori. By them
the Spanish governor of Milan was convinced of the injuriousness of the
Talmud, and gave orders to his soldiery to make a house to house search
among the Jews of Cremona and in the printing offices, to collect all
the copies they could find, and make a great fire of them. Ten or
twelve thousand books were burnt on this occasion.
Vittorio Eliano, the malicious proselyte, very nearly came to grief by
this burning of the Talmud, for the Spanish soldiery, having received
orders to wage war upon the writings of Jews, troubled themselves but
little whether the contents were Talmudical, or otherwise, and they
very nearly burnt the Zohar, the Kabbalistic text-book, the especial
favorite of the papacy. Since the enthusiasm of Pico di Mirandola,
still more of Reuchlin, Cardinal Egidio de Viterbo, and the Franciscan
Galatino, for mysticism, the most orthodox of the Fathers and Princes
of the church believed firmly that the Kabbala contained the mysteries
of Christianity. The order of extinction issued against the Talmud,
then, did not touch the Zohar. In fact, it was precisely under Pope
Paul IV that it was first printed, with the consent of the Inquisition,
in Mantua. The Kabbala was to rise out of the ruins of the Talmud. Thus
the printing of the book which caused more permanent injury to Judaism
than any blow hitherto aimed at it was aided. From envy of the Mantuan
publishers, a Christian publisher, named Vincent Conti, of Cremona,
printed the Zohar at the same time, because the sale promised very
large profits in Italy and the East, and he even offered to furnish
a larger book in order to cast suspicion upon the Mantuan edition.
The baptized grandson of Elias Levita, the venomous canon Vittorio
Eliano, had charge of this Cremona Zohar, and he did not hesitate to
write a boastful Hebrew preface to attract buyers, and to have his own
name mentioned in connection with it. Whilst it was being printed,
the Spanish soldiers were searching for Jewish writings in Cremona,
and found two thousand copies of the Zohar, which they were about to
cast into the burning pile. Vittorio Eliano and his partners very
nearly lost their outlay and their profits, but another convert, the
above-named Sixtus of Siena, commissioned by the papal Inquisition to
help in destroying the Talmud in Cremona, restrained the fury of the
Spanish soldiery, and rescued the Zohar. Thus the Talmud was burnt,
and the Zohar spared for the time being. It was a wise instinct of the
enemies of the Jews which led them to spare this poisonous spring in
the hope that adherents of the Zohar would the sooner renounce Judaism.
Spread abroad by the press, the Zohar came to be considered a canonical
book, and for some time was as much quoted as verses from the Bible,
and treated on an equality with the Holy Scriptures in all Hebrew works
not strictly Talmudical. But the love of the papacy for the Kabbala did
not last long. A few years later the Kabbalistic writings were included
in the catalogue of books to be burnt (Index expurgatorius).
Paul IV's hatred of Jews and their writings was not confined to Italy,
but, nourished by the fanatical spirit aroused by him, extended far
and wide. Baptized Jews were always the tools employed in these
persecutions. One named Asher, from Udine, brought accusations against
Jewish works in Prague, and the authorities confiscated them one and
all, even prayer-books, and sent them to Vienna (1559). The Jewish
ministers were obliged to repeat the prayers in the synagogue by
heart. A fire which broke out at about this time in the Jews' quarter
of Prague, and by which a great number of their houses were reduced to
ashes, displayed the fanatical hatred of Christians towards them still
more clearly. Instead of hastening to the assistance of the unfortunate
people, and joining in their rescue, they threw helpless women and
children into the flames, and plundered the goods of the Jews. And as
if the measure of misfortune were not full enough, Ferdinand I, chosen
emperor about a year before, commenced the expulsion of the Jews from
Bohemia and Prague in real earnest.
Emperor Ferdinand was, in reality, a mild prince, who sincerely
desired to maintain peace between Catholics and Protestants, but he
had an invincible dislike to Jews. It was he who first introduced the
tickets of notification, or permits, for the Jews of Austria. He made a
regulation by which every Jew resident in Austria who went on business
to Vienna, should at once on his arrival announce himself to the
marshal of the district, and state what was his business, and how long
he intended to remain in the place. To this restriction Ferdinand added
others, and at length commanded the expulsion of the Jews with their
wives and children, their servants and all their goods and chattels,
from Lower Austria. This decree of banishment was delayed for two
years, but they were finally compelled to withdraw from the country.
Emperor Ferdinand destined the ancient community of Prague to the same
fate. What may have been the reason is either easy or difficult for
us to conceive, according to our way of thinking. The congregation
of Prague was in very evil repute among other Jewish communities,
being considered low, unprincipled, violent, and quarrelsome. Such
fierce disputes arose regularly about the appointment of rabbis and
the choice of the president, that the chief rabbis of Germany and
Italy, at the instigation of the emperor, were obliged to arrange a
system of election for the community of Prague. The reason of this sad
state of things was no doubt that, on the recall of the Jews after
the expulsion of twenty years previously, only the worst, none of the
well-disposed, members had returned. Christians were, no doubt, very
much overreached by this rabble, but Christians of the lower class were
probably not better nor more conscientious. Christians treated their
own brethren with the greatest leniency, but required the practice of
the strictest virtue and uprightness from Jews. Discussions about the
second expulsion of Jews from Prague were long carried on, for even
the archdukes then in the land were opposed to it; yet the banishment
took place (1561). The exiles were attacked, and plundered by robber
knights. But it was clear then, as after the first expulsion, that the
Christians of Prague, or at all events the nobility, longed for the
Jews. Scarcely were they driven out when steps were taken to recall
them, and this policy was favored by the princes.
But Emperor Ferdinand refused the request to allow the Jews to return,
on the ground, genuine or assumed, that he had sworn to expel the Jews
from Prague, and could not break his oath. Thereupon a noble Jew of
Prague undertook a journey to Rome to procure from the new pope, Pius
IV (the Jew-hating Paul IV was dead), the absolution of the emperor
from his oath.
This noble man was Mordecai Zemach ben Gershon, one of the noted
Soncin family of printers, whose ancestor, Gershon, or Girolamo,
Soncino, founded not only beautiful Hebrew, but also Latin, type, and
published both rabbinical works and Petrarch's poems. Members of this
family with great success carried on Jewish printing establishments in
several towns of Lombardy, in Constantinople, and in Prague. Although
Mordecai Zemach had borne gross insults to his honor from the people of
Prague, and his married daughter, a second Susannah, had been accused
of adultery by false witnesses, and sentenced by cowardly rabbis,
he yet showed himself ready to make the greatest sacrifices for the
good of the people of Prague. He undertook the journey to Rome amidst
many dangers and difficulties for the purpose above stated, and his
exertions were crowned with success. The pope, at that time invested
with the power to bind and to loose, relieved the emperor of his oath,
and the latter felt his conscience lightened. His son Maximilian
(afterwards emperor) took the Jews of Prague under his special
protection, and thus the decree of banishment was recalled. Jews were
again allowed to reside in Prague and a few other Bohemian towns, and
were also re-admitted to Austria. But they had a troubled existence
even under the best of the emperors, such as Maximilian II and Rudolph,
for the official hand of the Catholic Church was heavy upon them.
The first consistent representative of the fanatical and persecuting
Catholic Church, Pope Paul IV, was dead (1559), and the people of Rome
cursed his memory and his system. The people flocked to the Capitol as
in the old times of the Roman Republic, traversed the eternal city, set
fire to the buildings of the Inquisition, maltreated the Dominicans
and the bailiffs of that tribunal, tore down the arms of the pope,
destroyed his statue, and rolled its head through the streets. With
derisive laughter the Romans looked on while a Jew placed the cap that
he and his brethren were compelled to wear on the statue of the very
pope who had issued the order concerning it. But of what avail was this
childish rage against the dead? The system survived its supporter for
centuries. The Jesuits and the strict church party had got the upper
hand in the Catholic Church, and each pope, willingly or unwillingly,
was obliged to submit to them. It was under Pope Pius IV, one of the
best high priests of Rome, that the principles of the council of Trent
were turned into decrees which enslave the minds of Catholics to this
very day.
A deputation of the Jews of Rome waited upon the newly-chosen pope to
do homage to him, and described in touching words the sorrows which his
predecessors had brought upon them. Pius IV promised them relief, and
issued a bull for the Jews of the Papal States (February 27th, 1562),
which was certainly to their advantage, but the milder regulations
only made the restrictions still remaining appear the harsher. The
introduction to the bull is interesting, because it brings to light the
hypocrisy of the papal curia:
"The precepts for your conduct issued by my highly venerated
predecessor, out of his zeal for religion, have (as we are
told) served some who coveted your goods as a pretext for false
accusations against you, and have been interpreted contrary to
the intention of my predecessor, thus causing you to be vexed
and disquieted. Therefore, we decree, in consideration that
Holy Mother Church grants and concedes much to Jews in order
that the remnant of them may be saved, and in accordance with
the example of our predecessors," etc.
All that the new pope conceded, however, was that Jews of the Roman
dominions beyond the city be allowed to doff their distinguishing
mark, the yellow cap, acquire land to the value of 1,500 ducats,
trade in other things besides old clothes, and hold intercourse with
Christians, but not to keep Christian servants. This was about all
that one of the best popes granted, or dared grant. More important to
the Jews of Rome was the point that the accusations of transgressing
the harsh laws of Paul IV were not heard, as well as the charge of
misdemeanor against those who had not given up their copies of the
Talmud. The Italian Jews also made an effort to obtain from the pope
the remission of the interdict against the Talmud. But this question
was in the hands of the cardinals and bishops sitting in the council
of Trent, and to carry out their object the Italian communities chose
two deputies (October, 1563). As the council only approved the list of
forbidden books previously made out in the papal office, the opinion
of the pope and those who surrounded him served as a guide in the
treatment of Jewish writings. The decision of this point was left to
the pope, who afterwards issued a bull to the effect that the Talmud
was indeed accursed--like all humanistic literature, including
Reuchlin's "Augenspiegel and Kabbalistic writings"--but that it would
be allowed to appear if the name Talmud were omitted, and if before its
publication the passages inimical to Christianity were excised, that is
to say, if it were submitted to censorship (March 24th, 1564). Strange,
indeed, that the pope should have allowed the thing, and forbidden its
name! He was afraid of public opinion, which would have considered
the contradiction too great between one pope, who had sought out and
burnt the Talmud, and the next, who was allowing it to go untouched.
At all events, there was now a prospect that this written memorial,
so indispensable to all Jews, would once more be permitted to see the
light, although in a maimed condition. The printing of the Talmud was
in fact undertaken a few years later at Basle.
But even this slight concession was withdrawn from the Jews of the
Papal States when Pius IV was succeeded by a pope who held gloomy,
monkish, intolerant institutions in higher esteem than human happiness
and human life, and who carried the ecclesiastical aims of Caraffa and
his colleagues to their extreme consequence. Pius V (1566-1572) outdid
his pattern, Paul IV, in love of persecution and cruelty. This pope
hated Jews no less than he hated Swiss Calvinists and French Huguenots.
They soon felt the severity of the new ecclesiasticism. Three months
after his enthronement (April 19th, 1566), Pius V confirmed in every
respect the restrictions which Paul IV had imposed on Jews; he even
increased their severity, and disregarded the ameliorations of his
predecessor as if they had never been granted. The former regulations,
then, were enforced: exclusion from intercourse with Christians,
prohibition to own lands, or to carry on any business except the trade
in old clothes, compulsion to wear the distinctive Jew badge, and
the refusal to permit more than one synagogue. But these edicts were
not issued against the Jews in the Papal States only; they extended
throughout the whole Catholic world. For at that day, in a period of
spiteful reaction against Protestantism, the decrees of the pope made
a far different impression from what they had produced previously, and
found willing executors. Thus days of sorrow were again beginning for
the Jews of Catholic countries.
Once more Joseph Cohen had to enter trials in his "Annals of
Persecution," once more to collect the tears of his people in his "Vale
of Weeping" (Emek ha-Bacha). The ecclesiastical tyrant, Pius V, often
gave the opportunity. Under the pretext that the Jews of the Papal
States had infringed his canonical laws, he caused a number of them to
be thrown into prison, and their books to be collected and burnt. The
prosperous community of Bologna was visited with especial severity,
the blow being aimed at their property. In order to have a legal
reason for robbery, confusing questions upon Christianity were put at
a formal hearing before the tribunal of the Inquisition; for example,
whether the Jews regarded Catholics as idolaters; whether the forms
of imprecation against the Minæans, and the "Kingdom of Sin" in the
prayers referred to Christians and the papacy, and especially whether
the story, in a work but little read, about a "Bastard, the Son of an
Outcast," was intended to refer to Jesus.
A baptized Jew, named Alexander, had drawn up the points of accusation,
and the prisoners were questioned upon them, under application of
torture. Some of them succumbed to the pain, and confessed everything
that the bloody tribunal asked them. Only the rabbi of Bologna, Ishmael
Chanina, had the courage to declare even under torture, that if he
should confess anything during the unconsciousness which might ensue
from his sufferings, such confession would be null and void. As others,
however, had confessed to slanders uttered by Jews against Christians,
the papal curia had an excuse for its robberies. The rich and the
upper classes were forbidden under the severest penalties to leave
the town. But this foolish prohibition awakened in the minds of the
Jews of Bologna the idea of leaving the place entirely and forever. By
bribing the gatekeeper, they succeeded in escaping, with their wives
and children, from the net spread for them, and fled to Ferrara. Pope
Pius V was so incensed against the Jews for this act, that he informed
the college of cardinals that all Jews were to be expelled from the
Papal States. In vain some of the church dignitaries protested, showing
how the Jews had been protected by the chair of St. Peter from time
immemorial, that it had indeed pledged itself to shield the remainder
of the Jews, in the hope that they might be saved. In vain did the
commercial world of Ancona entreat the pope not to ruin by his own
deed the commercial prosperity of the Papal States; his hatred of
Jews stifled the voice of common sense, of justice, and of interest.
The bull was issued (February 26th, 1569), that all Jews in the Papal
States, except those of Rome and Ancona, should depart within three
months; those who remained were to be reduced to slavery, and undergo
even severer punishment.
There were at that time about 1,000 Jewish families and 72 synagogues
in the Papal States, excluding Rome, Ancona, and Bologna. In spite of
the misery which threatened them, almost all included in this decree
decided upon emigration, and only very few became Christians. The
exiles also suffered loss of property, because they had not time to
sell their estates, and collect the debts owing to them. The historian
Gedalya Ibn-Yachya alone lost over 10,000 ducats by his debtors in
Ravenna. The exiles dispersed, and sought protection in the neighboring
little states of Pesaro, Urbino, Ferrara, Mantua, and Milan. The Jews
of Avignon and Venaissin, the only communities remaining on French
territory since the expulsion of the Jews from France two hundred
years previously, were also ordered to leave. The reactionary princes
of the church had long cast malicious glances upon them, for they had
been particularly favored by the officials of the Papal States under
the humanistic popes, Leo X, Clement VII, and especially Paul III.
The curia received its only income from this district through their
commerce. The Jews of Avignon, Carpentras, and other towns, owned great
wealth and property of all kinds, and held lands.
Most of the Jews of the Italian and French ecclesiastical territories,
like all expelled from Christian countries, went to Turkey, and
there met with the kindest reception, if they were able to get so
far without being attacked and maltreated by the robber-knights of
the Order of Malta. It seemed almost as if there were to be an end
of Jews in Christian Europe. Hatred, persecution, and banishment
reigned everywhere. In Catholic dominions the fanaticism of the papacy
prevailed, and in Protestant countries the narrowness of Lutheranism,
sunk from its former height to the level of a child's quarrel.
Both seemed to desire the enforcement of the oft expressed thought of
the arch-enemies of the Jews, that Jews have no right to dwell in the
West.