Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Rhino Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: Happy Alhambra Decree Day Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2024 15:35:22 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 61 Message-ID: <20240401153522.000024b6@example.com> References: <20240401121121.00003510@example.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:35:24 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="e448d2c3c1fbbc93409b96e2da0f5814"; logging-data="2361897"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/1CqVECcAhQ0qAqsNcI8UENB+VdIHFFoE=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:YrHLL+vsIH1O5mCxfNpCqKRQqXY= X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 4.2.0 (GTK 3.24.41; x86_64-w64-mingw32) X-Antivirus: Avast (VPS 240401-6, 4/1/2024), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Bytes: 3684 On Mon, 1 Apr 2024 17:55:53 -0000 (UTC) "Adam H. Kerman" wrote: > Rhino wrote: > >Sun, 31 Mar 2024 21:58:31 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman > >: > > >>That's right, children. This is the anniversary of Ferdinand and > >>Isabella signing the Alhambra decree, expelling the Jews of Spain > >>from their separate kingdoms, Aragon and Castille. March 31, 1492. > >>Columbus would set sail for, uh, India a few months later. Quite a > >>few members of his crew were Jewish. > > >I didn't know that several of the crew were Jewish. > > Most famously, the navigator on Columbus's ship. I'm spacing out on > his name. > > >. . . > > >>100,000 expelled, 200,000 converted, after 50,000 had converted in > >>the decades after the massacre of 1391. Voluntary conversions, they > >>were, under penalty of death. Of course the Catholic monarchs > >>didn't believe them, hence the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expects > >>the Spanish Inquisition. > > >Were the Jews really better treated under the previous Muslim rule > >than Catholic rule? > > Islam became a huge religion thanks to missionaries and forced > conversion. There's no question that they did it throughout their > history. But from what I've read, there were restrictions on Jews (and > I guess Christians) on the Iberian peninsula, typically about serving > in government. I don't think there were restrictions on business > affairs. I've never read that there were forced conversions on the > Iberian peninsula during several hundred years of Muslim rule. > > Getting Catholic monarchs onto the throwns of the Spanish kingdoms > was a huge part of the Church's global domination strategy. Nor were > they going to tolerate citizens choosing religion for themselves. The > overt religious intolerance began in earnest around the end of the > 14th century and throughout the 15th century, leading up to the > expulsion. > > In the pre-Christian era, we tried to become the dominant religion, > hence the two Hellenic-style Temples and priests. This begat the > people who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, who objected to having a > Temple-based religion, and eventually led to Christianity. We > shouldn't prosyletize. > > >>. . . A Jewish friend with an interest in archaelogy once worked on a Roman dig - I don't recall where beyond it being in Italy - and told me the Romans viewed Christianity as a mere Jewish sect. That certainly changed over the following centuries! -- Rhino