Jacob Proctor

Professor Bowman
HIST 106
2.16.12
Religious Tolerance in the i!!le "ges
Religious tolerance is a to#ic which often comes to the forefront when !iscussing
e!ie$al%&arl' o!ern &uro#e. "t the same time that Jews were being #ersecute! to the
e(treme in some #arts of &uro#e) Jews were li$ing #eacefull' an! #ros#erousl' in Se#hara!
*S#ain+. These !ifferent cultures) the Islamic worl! an! ,hristen!om) ha! !ifferent goals for
the religious i!entit' of their sub-ects. Islamic authorities !esire! a #eaceful countr' an! ci$il
obe!ience) whereas ,hristen!om stro$e for religious homogen'. These goals woul! sha#e the
fates of o##resse! #eo#le grou#s throughout &uro#e) an! change the state of the worl!.
"l."n!alus was a ha$en for religious tolerance) a shining light. That light came to an
en! with the Recon/uista *class notes+. uslim rule! S#ain) 0nown as "l."n!alus) was 0nown
throughout the worl! for their e(traor!inar' le$el of religious tolerance. Though un!er uslim
rule) the citi1ens of "l."n!alus were allowe! to #ractice their religion how the' saw fit. The
goal of the rulers of "l."n!alus was #eace. Rather than attem#t to sub!ue all of its inhabitants
an! con$ert them to Islam) the' saw fit to lea$e them to their own !e$ices. The non.uslim
inhabitants of "l."n!alus were re/uire! onl' to obser$e the jizya) a ta( #ai! to the authorities
to allow safe #ractice of religion. This ma' soun! li0e the o##osite of tolerance) but in fact it
was a blessing to man' of the inhabitants of "l."n!alus. Though ,hristians coul! safel' li$e in
other countries in &uro#e) this was not so for man' other religious grou#s. In #racticall' e$er'
countr' in ,hristian &uro#e) Jews an! uslims were o##resse!) an! were either alrea!'
forbi!!en from li$ing there or were on the $erge of e(#ulsion. Jews an! uslims in other #arts
of &uro#e woul! ha$e gla!l' #ai! a ta( in or!er to #ractice their religion. So the jizya) in the
e'es of those that #ai! it) was an e(traor!inar' blessing) much better than the alternati$e. The
most e(em#lar' case of religious tolerance was the jizya.
2"n! what will it #rofit our lor! an! 0ing to #our hol' water on the Jews calling them our
names) 2Pe!ro)3 or 2Pablo)3 while the' 0ee# their faith li0e "0iba or Tarfon 4 5now) Sire)
that Ju!aism is one of the incurable !iseases.3
ibn 6erga) Shebet Yehudab
This /uote from 2The Jews of S#ain3 shows the attitu!e that was felt towar!s non.
,hristians in the i!!le "ges. 7hereas in "l."n!alus #eo#le of man' !ifferent religions
coe(iste! in relati$e harmon') elsewhere this was not the case. "fter 800 'ears of rule) uslim
S#ain came to an en! in a mo$ement 0nown as the Recon/uista 9 the ,hristian 2recon/uering3
of S#ain *class notes+. The uslim #o#ulation was seen as an e$er growing threat to
,hristianit'. 7hen ,hristian armies swe#t across S#ain) there was an enormous amount of
bloo!she! on both si!es) but the uslim armies fare! worse. The ,hristian armies felt li0e it
was :o!;s will for them to rule S#ain. The' ha! a #atron) Saintiago atamoros *St. James the
oor.sla'er+) as the forefront image to s#ur on their troo#s. 7hen S#ain was theirs) the
uslims an! Jews left in the lan! were not treate! as the ,hristians who ha! li$e! there un!er
uslim rule. The' were gra!uall' force! out of the countr'. Jews were o##resse! in their
cities. The' were sub-ect to ban!s of flagellants wal0ing through the Jewish sections of the
cities beating themsel$es an! #roclaiming the e$il of the Jews. The cities of S#ain were
ram#ant with #ogroms) mobs sanctione! b' the go$ernment to #ersecute Jews. an' were
force! to con$ert to ,hristianit'. These conversos were s#are! from #ersecution at first) but) as
can be seen in the /uote abo$e) their con$ersions were often not seen as authentic. Jewish
#ersecution came to a hea! in 1<=2 when a ro'al !ecree went out stating that all Jews were to
be e(#elle! from S#ain. This e(#ulsion u#roote! families that ha! li$e! in S#ain for
generations. This was religious intolerance at its most e(treme.
There were a few grou#s of #eo#le that stan! out as recei$ing un!ue measures of
intolerance. In #articular) Jews recei$e! e(tremel' harsh treatment un!er ,hristian rule. >ot
onl' were the' e(#elle! from man' &uro#ean countries) the' were sub-ect to intense
#ersecution. The most e(treme e(am#le of this was the S#anish In/uisition. ?uring this #erio!
of stri$ing for #erfect religious homogen') Jews were torture!) interrogate!) an! #ersecute!
be'on! belief. &$en conversos were often belie$e! to be false con$erts) an! therefore their
con$ersions !i!n;t !o them an' goo! whatsoe$er. The In/uisition stan!s as the archet'#al case
of religious intolerance.
@uotes ta0en from 2Jews of S#ain3 P?A an! ,lass >otes