Historical Timeline

300 B.C.

400-300 B.C.: Jewish traders enter Iberia

700

711: Muslim forces from North Africa begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, establish beginning of Umayyad rule

711-718: The start of the Golden Age for Jewish culture in Spain; it ends during the 11th century

718: Battle of Covadonga, first victory by Christian Visigoth forces against Muslims, marks the start of the Reconquista

756: The Umayyad dynasty, headed by al-Rahman I, establishes stability, rules with religious tolerance

800

912-961: The Muslim Spanish expansion and cultural influence peaks, Caliphate of Cordoba heads the Umayyads

1000

1031: Umayyad disintegration; Muluk al-tawa’if, an era of fractured rule

1085: Alfonso VI annexes the city of Toledo, which had previously been the capital of the Visigoths, Toledo becomes a stronghold in the fight against the Muslims

1086: The Almoravid dynasty defeats Christian forces, unifies Iberian peninsula again

1094: Spanish cavalryman Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, often known as El Cid, leads the Castilians to capture Valencia

1100

1146: Almohad dynasty, less religious tolerance than predecessors

1148: Maimonides, Jewish philosopher of Cordoba, flees persecution from Almohads

1200

1252-1284: King Alfonso X, known as Alfonso the Wise, created a cosmopolitan court for learning that encouraged Jews, Muslims, and Christians to serve on

1263: Barcelona disputation, between Dominican Friar Pablo Christiani, convert from Judaism to Christianity, and Nachmanides, a prominent Jewish scholar and commentator. Nachmanides wins.

1290: England expels its full Jewish population

1300

1391: Dominican friars in Seville agitate for riots against Jews, which spread through Spain for the next hundreds of years. About 50 percent of Jews convert to Catholicism in that time.

1400

1414: Disputation of Tortosa, a public debate between Vincent Ferrer, Christian, and Profiat Duran, Jewish, about whether the Messiah had come

1469: Isabella and Ferdinand, Catholic Queen and King, marry and begin uniting Spain

1480: Inquisition established in Seville

1482-1492: Ferdinand and Isabella complete the Reconquista by defeating the armies of Boabdil of Granada

1492: Columbus voyage to New World; same week Jews flee from Spain

1492: The Alhambra Decree by Isabella and Ferdinand orders the expulsion of all Jews from Spain, giving them the choice to convert - half converts. King Joao II of Portugal and Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire welcome Spain’s expelled Jews

1496: Manuel I of Portugal forcibly converts all the Jews; they were allowed to practice Judaism privately without retribution

1500

1510: Portuguese military invades Goa

1525 : Spanish military invades Colombia

1532 : Spanish military invades Peru

1536: Inquisition Established in Lisbon, Portugal with forced mass conversions under Manuel I

1540: First auto-da-fé conducted by the Portuguese Inquisition; Jesuit order founded

1565: Spanish colonists invade the Philippines, arriving from Mexico

1570: Inquisition established in Lima, Peru

1571: Inquisition begins in La Ciudad de Mexico

1574: 1st auto-da-fe in Mexico

1579: Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, of converso descent, becomes governor of Nuevo Leon under King Philip II

1580: 177 of the 259 original Nuevo Leon settlers are conversos

1581: Iberian Unification under King Philip II

1581: Philip II of Spain assumes throne of Portugal, reinvigoration of Portuguese Inquisition, mass migration of crypto jews to Spain & Spanish holdings in New World

1589: Luis de Carvajal el Mozo, Nephew of Governor, arrested by Inquisition

1589-1596: 200 people arrested in Mexico by Inquisition for Judaizing

1591: Governor Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva dies

1595: Luis de Carvajal el Mozo arrested by Inquisition 2nd time

1596: Luis de Carvajal el Mozo burned at the stake

1600

1610: Inquisition starts in Cartagena, Colombia

1624: Approximately 50,000 Europeans lived in Brazil, with New Christians making up a significant percentage

1640: Iberian Union breaks up, Portugal regains independence

1654: 23 Jews arrive in New Amsterdam, fleeing persecution in Brazil

1700

1800

1811: Napoleon's new civil code, ensuring religious freedom, prompts Portugal to follow suit

1834: Spanish Queen Maria Cristina de Borbon abolishes Inquisition

1900

1923: After the Greco-Turkish War Turkish Orthodox Christians are expelled to Greece and Greek Muslims to Turkey

1941: Nazi annexation of Greece where Ladino Jews live; 80 percent of Greece’s pre-war Jews were murdered

2000

2015: Spanish parliament approves law granting citizenship to Jews with Sephardic heritage