From Mass Conversion to Expulsion (Studies in Medieval Religions and Cultures) [1 ed.] 0367536706, 9780367536701

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
1 The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and their Reception
2 The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 and the Fall of the Aragonese Dynasty of Naples
3 Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions
4 The New Christians and their Reception by the Surrounding Society
5 The Failure to Establish a Spanish-Style Inquisition
6 The Expulsions of 1510–1511
7 An Expulsion of “Bad Christians”
8 The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

From Mass Conversion to Expulsion

This book explores the events that marked the last decades of Jewish presence in the kingdom of Naples from 1492 to 1541. It employs a comparative approach in the examination of the mass conversion of the Jews in the Kingdom of Naples in 1495, the failed attempt to establish a Spanish‑style inquisition, and the expulsions of 1510 and 1541. By relying on a variety of sources, including Hebrew liter‑ ary works and rabbinic Responsa, this study sheds new light on the reception of the refugees of 1492, the evolvement of the political and military crisis of 1495, the attacks on the Jewish communities, and Jewish reaction, all aspects that have never before been subject to systematic analysis. The Spanish victory of 1503 and the transformation of southern Italy into a Spanish‑ruled dominion bring this dis‑ cussion closer to the Iberian model of mass conversions and expulsions. The un‑ precedented expulsion of the New Christians along with the Jews offers a unique opportunity for drawing a parallel with the much later expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain. By highlighting these aspects, this book offers insights for understanding the larger issues of the integration of refugees and rejection of minority groups, ques‑ tions that are as relevant to present concerns and politics as they were on the eve of the modern era. Nadia Zeldes has a Ph.D. in Jewish History from the Tel Aviv University (1998). She is currently a research fellow affiliated with The Center for the Study of Con‑ version and Inter‑Religious Encounters at Ben Gurion University, Israel. Her main research interests concern inter‑religious and inter‑cultural encounters in the Medi‑ terranean world during the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. She has published extensively on Christian‑Jewish relations in that period with a focus on the history of conversions in southern Italy and Spain. Nadia Zeldes is the author of “The Former Jews of This Kingdom” – Sicilian Converts after the Expulsion (1492–1516) (2003) and Reading Jewish History in the Renaissance: Christians, Jews, and the Hebrew Sefer Josippon (2020).

Studies in Medieval Religions and Cultures

Recent titles include: Converting the Saxons A Study of Violence and Religion in Early Medieval Germany Joshua M. Cragle Irenaeus of Sirmium and His Story in the Medieval East and West Remembering a Lesser Saint Marijana Vuković From Mass Conversion to Expulsion Jews and New Christians in the Kingdom of Naples (1492–1541) Nadia Zeldes

From Mass Conversion to Expulsion

Jews and New Christians in the Kingdom of Naples (1492–1541)

Nadia Zeldes

First published 2024 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2024 Nadia Zeldes The right of Nadia Zeldes to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing‑in‑Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978‑0‑367‑53670‑1 (hbk) ISBN: 978‑0‑367‑53671‑8 (pbk) ISBN: 978‑1‑003‑08282‑8 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828 Typeset in Times New Roman by codeMantra

Contents

List of Abbreviations Preface Introduction

vii ix 1

1 The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception

10

2 The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 and the Fall of the Aragonese Dynasty of Naples

28

3 Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions

37

4 The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society

59

5 The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition

82

6 The Expulsions of 1510–1511

102

7 An Expulsion of “Bad Christians”

115

8 The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples

131

Conclusion

145

Bibliography Index

151 169

Abbreviations

IMHM Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the National Library of Israel AHN Archivo Histórico Nacional NSA Naples, State Archive PSA Palermo, State Archive JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JTS Jewish Theological Seminary REJ Revue des Études Juives

Preface

The Italian south is often disregarded in the traditional definition of the Italian Renaissance polity, which is usually confined to the Italian city‑states. In his classic The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, Jacob Burckhardt described the politi‑ cal entities of southern Italy as “despotically governed states,”1 a prejudicial view that left traces even in modern scholarship. But Burckhardt’s observation that “the feudal system… gave a distinctive colour to the political constitution of Naples” is still apt and reflects the social and economic structure of the only monarchy in mainland Italy. The same holds true for the Kingdom of Sicily. Both states were monarchies ruled by Aragonese and later Spanish dynasties, their regime setting them apart from other political entities of the Italian mainland. Another crucial factor that singles out the southern kingdoms from the rest of the Italian peninsula is the sheer size of their Jewish population, especially when one takes into account that it was a significant percentage of the general population – about 25,000 Jews in Sicily on the eve of the expulsion, and over 20,000 in the kingdom Naples.2 My own research on the “Mezzogiorno,” which refers to the island of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula, began more than thirty years ago. At first, under the influence of my teachers, among them the late Professor Shlomo Simonsohn, I considered myself a scholar of Italian Jewish history. However, my focus on the late medieval and early modern period forced me to realize that the area I was researching was in this period connected in almost every respect to the Spanish sphere of influence – politically, culturally, and religiously. The Spanish influence on the culture and politics of Renaissance Italy is discussed by Benedetto Croce in his classic La Spagna nella vita italiana.3 Recently, my field of expertise has been described by a colleague as “Italia spagnola,” but was this also the view corroborated by the perceptions of contemporary people? I became convinced that I was on the right path after reading a colophon written by a Jewish exile from Sic‑ ily. In 1504, he finished copying a Hebrew book adding that it was “the thirteenth year of our expulsion from the island of Sicily, from the kingdom of Sefarad, here in Reggio, the principal city of Calabria.”4 The copyist was simply reflecting a real‑ ity that was obvious at the time. Of course, by that time the kingdom of Naples too became part of Sefarad. This book reflects in many ways more than three decades of research. My work on converts and inquisition in Sicily draws on Sicilian sources that allowed

x  Preface me to expand the relatively limited picture we have of the mass conversions of 1495. Again, the examination of the Sicilian material relating to the activity of the Spanish Inquisition there helped reach a better understanding of its role in the first years following the Spanish conquest of the kingdom of Naples. Work on Hebrew and Jewish sources, whether literary or halakhic, offered an opportunity to include a Jewish point of view in the analysis of the events. I owe my ventures into vari‑ ous aspects of the “converso” question and the Christian‑Jewish discourse to my participation in study groups, conferences, and intense exposure to “converso” scholarship, especially during my years of work at the Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter‑religious Encounters at Ben‑Gurion University of the Negev,

Figure 1 The Kingdom of Naples with administrative divisions as they were in the late 15th century

Preface xi and more recently at the seminars of the group working on New Christian and New Jewish Discourses of Identity between Polemics and Apologetics: Rhetoric and Representation from the Late Middle Ages to the End of the Early Modern Period at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies. Lastly, I would like to thank Professor Giancarlo Lacerenza of the Università di Napoli L’Orientale and other friends in Naples for helping me obtain rare works and access to local documents. Notes 1 Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, translated by S.G.C. Middlemore (Vienna and London: Phaidon Press, 1937), 2. 2 The number of Jews in Sicily on the eve of the expulsion: Shlomo Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, vol. 18, Under the Rule of Aragon and Spain (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 12015– 12024; according to the census taken in 1505 in Sicily, the entire population numbered about 112,890 hearths or between 550,000 and 600,000 inhabitants: Rosella Cancila, Fisco, richezza, communità nella Sicilia del cinquecento (Rome: Istituto storico italiano, 2001), 72, note 6; For estimates on the number of Jews in the kingdom of Naples and the general demography of the kingdom, see Chapter I. 3 Benedetto Croce, La Spagna nella vita italiana durante la rinascenza (Bari: Laterza, 1917). 4 Paris Bibliotheque Nationale, Héb. 1200 in Manuscrits médievaux en caractères hé‑ braïques, edited by Collette Sirat and Malakhi Beit Arieh (Paris and Jerusalem: The Israeli Academy of Science and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1972), vol. III, 55.

Introduction

The late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries saw the eruption of religious intolerance in the form of anti‑Jewish riots, massacres, mass conversions, and ex‑ pulsions in Mediterranean Europe. The violent anti‑Jewish riots and the ensuing mass conversions in Castile and Aragon in 1391 heralded a new chapter in the history of the religious minorities in this region,1 and the concomitant religious in‑ tolerance extended not just to Jews but also to Muslims still residing in the Iberian Peninsula. Although addressed by modern historiography, the manifestations of intolerance – forced conversion and expulsion – are usually analysed as separate episodes in specific political‑territorial contexts, not as part of shared trends rooted in religious thought, politics, social conflict, and economic interests. This book, which focuses on the Jews and New Christians in Naples and their expulsion, belongs to the growing awareness in the scholarship of the need for a comparative approach to the phenomena of expulsion and forced conversion. It was perhaps Maurice Kriegel who first drew attention to the interfacing links between the forced conversions and expulsions of Jews and Muslims from 1391 until the early seventeenth century.2 More recent studies have taken an integrative approach to the expulsions from the Crown of Aragon, Provence, Avignon, and elsewhere in Mediterranean Europe during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.3 To date, however, notwithstanding the similar forces at work, the Kingdom of Naples and its Jews have not been part of the discussion. By way of introduction to the geographical‑historical setting, I briefly survey the history of the Jewish communi‑ ties in southern Italy. The Jewish Population in the Italian South Various archaeological findings dating to approximately the fourth century CE pro‑ vide evidence of Jewish settlement in the southern region of the Italian peninsula. One such finding is the ruins of a building at Bova Marina in Calabria identified as a synagogue in use between the fourth and fifth centuries CE; if this identifica‑ tion is correct, this would make it the second oldest synagogue in Italy.4 There are also indications that a Jewish community existed at Reggio Calabria as early as the fourth century. Tomb epitaphs in Greek and Hebrew found near Taranto can be dated to between the third and sixth centuries, and a number of burial places DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-1

2  Introduction and epitaphs discovered at Venosa in the Basilicata province provide evidence for the existence of a Jewish community there from the fourth century onwards. Jews lived in the city of Naples at least from the first century CE. Epitaphs, inscriptions, writings, and archaeological finds show that Jews lived in many cities throughout the region that would later become the Kingdom of Naples.5 In the later medieval and early modern periods, the territory of the Kingdom of Naples corresponded to the present‑day regions of Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, and also included parts of today’s southern and east‑ ern Lazio. In the fifteenth century, it was comprised of twelve provinces: Abru‑ zzo citra, Abruzzo ultra, Terra di Lavoro, Molise, Principato, Capitanata, Terra di Bari, Terra d’Otranto, Basilicata, Principato, Calabria citra, and Calabria ultra. The designation “Kingdom of Naples” came into use only in the fourteenth century; officially, it remained “the Kingdom of Sicily” (regno di Sicilia). The distinction between regno di Sicilia al di qua del Faro (on the Italian mainland) and regno di Sicilia al di là del Faro (the island of Sicily) came later. After the victory of King Alfonso V in 1442, the well‑known Renaissance humanist Lorenzo Valla voiced his opinion that the new denomination, “Kingdom of Naples (regno di Napoli), would be pleasing to the Neapolitans, inasmuch as their fatherland would bear the name of their capital instead of being part of the Kingdom of Sicily.”6 Fifteenth‑ and sixteenth‑century Hebrew writings sometimes use the Hebrew transliteration of the Italian term reame (realm, kingdom) to refer to the Kingdom of Naples, as it was the only state under monarchic rule in the Italian peninsula at that time. Hebrew sources occasionally refer to the entire southern kingdom as “Puglia.”7 In fact, as the wealthiest, most developed region, Apulia, the coastal area bordering on the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto came to stand for the entire kingdom.8 In the fif‑ teenth century, the bulk of Jewish settlement was concentrated in the provinces of Calabria and Apulia, but there were significant Jewish communities in most major cities in the Kingdom of Naples.9 The Jewish communities of southern Italy suffered two episodes of forced mass conversion, one towards the end of the thirteenth century and again in 1495. Sixteenth‑century Jewish authors were familiar with both events. Regarding the first episode, the historian Shelomo Ibn Verga commented: “In the year of the aforementioned expulsion [from England in 1290], two large communities of Na‑ ples and Trani were compelled to convert, and most of them did so. And the cause of this apostasy I could not find.”10 An anonymous Hebrew chronicle laments the conversions of 1495: And there were great congregations in Naples and the nearby towns, and in the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, and most of them were lost on account of our sins … and those destined for leaving the fold, to leave the fold.11 Insofar as it has addressed these events, modern scholarship confined itself to the bare facts, rarely placing them in a larger historical context.12 The mass conver‑ sions of the late thirteenth century and their aftermath fared somewhat better in the

Introduction 3 scholarship than the riots of 1495.13 Various sources indicate a numerical decline in the Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Naples in the wake of the persecu‑ tions taking place in the second half of the thirteenth century. Already between 1277 and 1288, we find Jews complaining of the increased tax burden they needed to shoulder because many of their brethren had already left the cities.14 A further reduction in numbers took place in the aftermath of the mass conversions. Writing in 1304, the Dominican Giordano de Rivalto estimated the number of converts as about 8,000.15 Called neofiti (sometimes spelled “neophiti”) in local sources, neophyte, “newly planted,” is a term derived from the Greek νέος (neos) – “new” and φυτόν (phyton)  –  “plant”. It was used by the early Church and throughout the Middle Ages to signify “one recently converted to the faith, or one who is a beginner in the discipline of the religious life,” as defined in the twelfth century by Petrus Lombardus.16 The term therefore has a long history and more than one meaning. But in southern Italy, it became synonymous with “converted Jews” and their descendants. Under the Angevin dynasty (1266–1442), Jewish life was characterized by heavy taxation and episodes of persecution. Influenced by the Franciscan Giovanni da Capistrano, Queen Giovanna II (1414–1435) revoked all privileges and immu‑ nities granted to the Jews by her predecessors and imposed a series of restrictions on the Jewish population.17 And yet, despite episodes of forced conversions and persecution, Jewish communities continued to exist and even thrive in the King‑ dom of Naples; new immigrants continued to arrive. In 1442, King Alfonso V of Aragon conquered the kingdom and was recognized by the papacy as heir and successor to Giovanna II, the last Angevin queen.18 The Jewish communities flourished under the Aragonese dynasty. The relative security and prosperity afforded by the monarchy attracted Jews from other lands: northern Italy, Sicily, Portugal, Spain, Germany (or rather the territories of the Holy Ro‑ man Empire), Provence (and France), and elsewhere. Most of the evidence for their presence comes from the intellectual activities of these immigrants: author‑ ship of books and other writings, manuscript copying, and early printing enter‑ prises. Among the authors, I mention Azaria ben Ephraim ben Joab of Modena, author of Hamas ha‑Zeman (Tyranny of Time, completed in 1481) who came from Modena to Vasto (in the Abruzzo province) and lived there for twenty years,19 and Moshe bar Shem Tov Ibn Habib, originally from Portugal, who penned books on Hebrew grammar – Perah Shoshan (completed in Naples in 1484) and Marpe Lashon (completed in Bitonto in 1486) – and a compilation on Hebrew poetry and verse – Darkhei Noam (finished in Naples in 1484).20 Iberian Jews settled in the Salento area (in Apulia) even before the expulsion of 1492, as attested by the names of copyists found on several pre‑1492 Hebrew manuscripts.21 In 1475, Rashi’s commentary on the Torah was printed in Reggio Calabria by Abraham Garton, who was probably of Sephardic origins.22 Foreign‑born Jews also operated the first printing presses in Naples: in 1489, Joseph ben Jacob Ashkenazi Gunzen‑ hauser and Joshua Israel Nathan Soncino (the most important Jewish printer of that day, originally from northern Italy) were granted permission to trade in printed books (causa… vendendi libros impressos seu de stampa) in the Kingdom of

4  Introduction Naples.23 Another striking example of a renowned scholar who chose Naples as his residence in this period is Rabbi Judah Messer Leon (ca. 1425–1495). Messer Leon, who was born in Montecchio (Umbria), first headed a yeshiva in Ancona, lived for a time in Bologna, and studied medicine at the University of Padua, and in 1469, he was accorded doctoral degrees by Emperor Frederick III. From Padua Messer Leon moved to Venice for a short time, then to Mantua, finally settling in Naples.24 However, in most cases, it is Jewish surnames like Spagnolo, Catalano, L’Argentière, Todisco, Teotonico (indicating German origins), and Siciliano that reveal their foreign origins. All of the above indicates that, even prior to the post‑1492 influx of Spanish exiles, many of the local Jews living in the Kingdom of Naples were in fact recent immigrants who had lived there for a generation or two at most. Few (except the neofiti) had deep roots in the kingdom. This observation raises the question of solidarity within the Jewish community. Were the varied and disparate origins of the Jews a decisive factor in the weak response to the calamities of 1495? Despite numerous studies on the Jews in the Neapolitan provinces, there is scant informa‑ tion on communal life, internal politics, and conflict and insufficient data on the demographic composition of each community. Regarding the Jews of southern Italy, David Abulafia has made the following observations: he noted that Jews lived in southern Italy from the days of the early Roman Empire and that local Jews usually enjoyed relatively good relations with their non‑Jewish neighbours and were economically well integrated.25 Also, in the Kingdom of Naples, Jews were scattered across a large area and were an accepted part of the social fabric. Moreover, after the mass conversions in the 1290s, a sub‑ stantial community of conversos or neofiti (in the local parlance) existed in the kingdom, surviving as a distinct group until the early sixteenth century. This set of circumstances offers a picture very similar to that of the Spanish kingdoms, and comparisons to Spain are integral to this book’s comparative ap‑ proach. Like Iberia, southern Italy was characterized by ethnic and religious diver‑ sity. A Greek population survived there throughout the Middle Ages to the early modern period.26 Although no longer significant by the fifteenth century, the Mus‑ lim element, consisting of Sicilian Muslims exiled to Lucera by Emperor Frederick II, left its traces in place names and historical memory.27 The Christian popula‑ tion was itself diverse, as during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the old Greek Orthodox element was joined by other non‑Catholics – Bulgars, Slavs, and Albanians – who, driven out by Turkish expansion, settled in Apulia. Moreover, various heterodox groups survived in southern Italy for generations. As one more minority group among such a varied population, the Jews of the Kingdom of Na‑ ples were in fact “an integral element in a mosaic of peoples and religions.”28 This equilibrium was shattered by the arrival of thousands of Jewish refugees from the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily in the aftermath of the 1492 expulsion. Several factors, among them sheer numbers, provoked anti‑immigrant enmity on the local population’s part.29 In 1495, during the French occupation of the king‑ dom, anti‑Jewish riots broke out, accompanied by large‑scale looting and forcible conversions.

Introduction 5 As in Spain, the formation of a large population of New Christians encountered ambivalent responses. On the one hand, some members of the local intellectual elite viewed this as a positive development. On the other hand, there were those who disparaged the New Christians as descendants of an odious race and doubted the sincerity of their conversion. The Spanish victory of 1503 and the transformation of southern Italy into a Spanish dominion bring this discussion even closer to the Ibe‑ rian model. Moreover, from the very beginning of Spanish rule, the establishment of a Spanish‑style Inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples was under consideration, as demonstrated by the letter of the first Spanish governor, Gonzalo Fernández de Aguilar de Córdoba, from 1504, to be discussed in detail in Chapter 5. The attempt to import the Spanish Inquisition to the Kingdom of Naples and this initiative’s failure have been the subject of several studies, notably Luigi Amabile’s classic Il Santo Officio della inquisizione in Napoli.30 Amabile’s work as well as successive studies focused on the power struggle between the local elites and the Spanish government and to a lesser extent on the political and military circum‑ stances. Although determined local opposition certainly played a crucial role in the failed attempt to import the Spanish Inquisition, this study suggests that additional political‑military factors weakened Spanish resolve, prompting the authorities to seek a compromise. Forced to abandon plans to establish a Spanish‑style Inquisi‑ tion in Naples, Viceroy Ramón Folch de Cardona (1467–1522) decided to expel the converts. The two edicts issued by the viceroy on the 21st of November 1510 decreed the expulsion of the Jews along with the New Christians.31 This unprec‑ edented expulsion of the New Christians along with Jews is examined in the final chapter of this book, alongside parallels to the much later expulsion from Spain of the Moriscos, also a New Christian group of former Muslims. As noted by Benjamin Kedar, total or “corporate” expulsions were a charac‑ teristic trait of Western Europe civilization, from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period. As opposed to other types of deportation, such as the imposition of exile on political rivals, partial or temporary expulsion from city‑states, or relocation within the boundaries of an empire, “corporate” expulsions entailed the perma‑ nent banishment of an entire category of subjects.32 Among Kedar’s examples are the expulsions of Jews and other minorities from Western Europe including that of the Moriscos from Spain. This study proposes to add the “corporate” expulsion of the New Christians from southern Italy to this list while noting factors it has in common with other expulsions and, at the same time, single out certain aspects that make it distinct and possibly unique. Contents and Methodology Notwithstanding the underlying premise of similarities between the Iberian Pen‑ insula and southern Italy, the available sources for each differ greatly; this im‑ pacts my approach to the study of the converso problem. In the Iberian kingdoms, Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, inquisitorial records comprise an invaluable source for gauging religious attitudes and behaviour, delineating social and economic sta‑ tus, and tracing family connections, among others. As noted above, the attempt

6  Introduction to introduce an inquisition “a modo di Spagna” to the Kingdom of Naples failed; therefore, there are no records of trials or investigations. If the ongoing debate over the converso question in Spain during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries found expression in a variety of contemporary writings, some deriving from the converso group itself, others penned by their opponents, and quite a few by Jews, in Naples this debate left scant traces in the writings of contemporary authors. On the contrary, there is a plethora of documents produced by the organs of the royal administration of Naples, particularly the Camera Sommaria (the kingdom’s su‑ preme financial tribunal). Jews and converts appear in these documents regarding taxation, royal policies, and as petitioners, among other roles. This type of source provides rich information on economic life, occupations, taxation, strife, and, of course, the implementation of laws and regulations. Similarly useful are extant city ordinances and registers. Contemporary chronicles provide significant information on the political events of the day and include a significant number of references to Jews, conversion, and converts. Hebrew chronicles and rabbinic responsa often confirm the data provided by other sources, sometimes adding missing details, and more importantly – a Jewish perspective. As the arrival of the Spanish refugees in 1492 marked a turning point in Christian‑Jewish relations throughout the Kingdom of Naples, Chapter 1 of this book is devoted to this topic. Popular reaction and growing resentment of the pro‑Jewish royal policies paved the way for the widespread riots that resulted in the mass conversions of 1495. Chapter 2 describes the political circumstances that brought about the fall of the Aragonese dynasty, the French occupation, and the Spanish intervention. It shows how the political crisis and the ensuing anarchy permitted the outburst of anti‑Jewish violence and further weakened their posi‑ tion. Making use of primary sources such as contemporary Italian and Hebrew chronicles, rabbinic responsa, and Sicilian material, Chapter 3 analyses the unfold‑ ing of the crisis, the spread of the riots, and descriptions of forced conversions. Royal policies towards the New Christians and their reception by the surrounding population, as well as their relationship with the surviving Jews, form the focus of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 turns the spotlight on the attempts to establish a Spanish‑style Inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples. Chapter 6 examines the two expulsion edicts published in November 1510, one for the Jews and one for the New Christians. It addresses the expulsion of the New Christians along with the Jews and draws comparisons to what happened in 1492. Chapter 7 explores the legal opinions that determined the Church position on baptism and converts on the one hand and popu‑ lar and lay perceptions on these topics on the other. Popular views undermined the value of baptism while at the same time denied the coercive elements of mass conversions. Both views played a crucial role in the expulsion of New Christians. Chapter 7 draws comparisons to what happened in 1492, on the one hand, and the later decision to expel the Moriscos from Spain, on the other. Inasmuch as possible, there is also an attempt to provide answers regarding the return or survival of the neofiti and their descendants after the expulsion of 1510–1511. Chapter 8 examines the final period of Jewish presence in the Kingdom of Naples and analyses the eco‑ nomic and political roles played by Jews and conversos until the expulsion of 1541.

Introduction 7 The compass of this book’s comparative approach goes beyond shedding light on the history of the New Christians in the Kingdom of Naples. It should also prove useful for understanding the broader issues of rejection of minority groups and the problematic integration of large numbers of refugees, a question as relevant to pre‑ sent concerns and politics as it was on the eve of the modern era. Notes 1 Yitzhak Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, 2 vols., translated by Louis Schoffman (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1992), 2, 95–110; David Nirenberg, “Enmity and Assimilation: Jews, Christians, and Converts in Medieval Spain,” Common Knowledge 9 (2003): 137–155; Ram Ben Shalom, “Kiddush ha‑Shem and Jewish Martyrdom in Aragon and Castile in 1391,” (Hebrew) Tarbiz 70 (2001): 227–282. 2 Maurice Kriegel, Les juifs à la fin du Moyen Age dans l’Europe méditerranéenne (Paris: Hachette, 1979), 243. 3 Recent comparative studies include, Juan Ignacio Pulido Serrano, “La expulsión de los judíos y de los moriscos: una vision desde el siglo XVII,” in Carlos V. Europeísmo y Universalidad. Religión, cultura y mentalidad, edited by Juan Luis Castellano Castellano and Francisco Sánchez‑Montes González (Granada: Sociedad estatal para la conmemo‑ ración de los centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2000), 5, 565–575; Isabelle Poutrin, “Éradication ou conversion forcée? Les expulsions ibériques en débat au XVIe siècle,” in Les expulsions de minorités religieuses dans l’Europe des XIIIe‑XVIIe siècles, edited by Isabelle Poutrin and Alain Tallon (Pompignac: Editions Bière, 2015), 45–67. 4 The oldest known synagogue site in Italy is in Ostia, near Rome. 5 These sites are discussed at length in the publications of Cesare Colafemmina: The Jews in Calabria (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2012), Introduction; Idem, “Archeologia ed epigrafia ebraica nell’Italia meridionale,” in Italia Judaica. Atti del I convegno inter‑ nazionale, Bari, 18–22 maggio 1981 (Rome: Ministero per beni culturali e ambientali, 1983), 199–210. For a summing up of the findings, see Shlomo Simonsohn, The Jews of Italy. Antiquity (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2014), 94–99. 6 Giuseppe Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo (1494‑1622) (Turin: UTET, 2005), 4 (further references to Galasso are to this edition and volume unless stated otherwise). 7 Medinat ha‑Reame in an early sixteenth century travel guide: Moscow, Ms. Günzburg 722/3 (IMHM F. 47566); Puglia as referring to the entire kingdom: Gerush Puglia (ex‑ pulsion from Puglia), in rabbinic responsa: responsum of R. David ha‑Cohen of Corfu: Ha‑Cohen, Ze sefer te’shuvot ha‑gaon rabenu David ha‑Cohen me‑yi Corfu (Constan‑ tinople: Eliezer Soncino, 1537), Section 20. Since the responsum refers to the town of Strongoli in Calabria, it is clear that in this case the term “Puglia” stands for the entire kingdom. 8 Giuseppe Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno angioino e aragonese (1266‑1494) (Turin: UTET, 1992), 2. 9 For an alphabetical list of Jewish settlements, see: Nicola Ferorelli, Gli ebrei nell’Italia meridionale, edited by Filena Patroni Griffi, updated edition (Naples: D. Peerson, 1990) [first published: Turin, 1915], 111–112. For more recent information on Jewish presence in these places, see the publications of Cesare Colafemmina and others in Sefer Yuhasin, a review for the history of the Jews in south Italy, begun in 1985. 10 Solomon ibn Verga, Shevet Yehudah, edited by Azriel Shohat (Jerusalem: Mossad Bia‑ lik, 1947), 66. 11 Parma, Ms. Biblioteca Palatina, Cod. Parm. 2420, published by Alexander Marx, “The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain,” in Studies in Jewish History and Booklore

8  Introduction (New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1944), 87, 97–98. My trans‑ lation slightly differs from Marx’s. 12 Umberto Cassuto, “Un ignoto capitolo di storia ebraica,” in Judaica Festschrift zu Her‑ mann Cohens Siebzgstem Geburtstage edited by Ismar Elbogen, Benzion Kellermann, Eugen Mittwoch (Berlin: B. Cassirer, 1912), 388–404; J. Starr, “The Mass Conversion of Jews in Southern Italy (1290–1293),” Speculum 21 (1946): 203–211. Jeremy Cohen, however, considered the persecution of the Jews in thirteenth century as one more exam‑ ple of the mendicant friars’ intolerance towards the Jews: J. Cohen, The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti‑Judaism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982), 85–89. 13 Recent studies on the conversions of the thirteenth century: Benjamin Scheller, “The Materiality of Difference: Converted Jews and Their Descendants in the Late Medieval Kingdom of Naples,” Medieval History Journal 12, 2 (2009): 405–430; Idem, “Die Bettelorden und die Juden. Mission, Inquisition, und Konversion im Südwesteuropa des 13. Jahrhundreds: ein Vergleich,” in Gestiftete Zukunft im mittelalterlichen Europa. Festschrift für Michael Borgolte zum 60. Geburtstag, edited by Wolfgang Huschner and Frank Rexroth (Berlin: De Gruyter Akademie Forschung 2008), 89–122; Nadia Zeldes, “Evolution and Survival of Convert Community: The New Christians of South Italy from the 13th to the 16th Centuries,” (Hebrew) in Conceal the Outcasts. Jew‑ ish with Hidden Identities, edited by Avi Elqayam and Yosef Kaplan (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute, 2016), 9–31; see also a more comprehensive discussion of the topic in David Abulafia, “Jews, Conversos, and Cristiani Novelli in the Kingdom of Naples,” in A Companion to the Renaissance in Southern Italy (1350–1600), edited by Bianca de Vitiis (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2023): 253–271; the riots and conversions of 1495 are briefly mentioned by Felipe Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos del reino de Napoles,” Hispania 9 (1949): 28–240 (riots: 37–39), and Viviana Bonazzoli, “Gli ebrei nel regno di Napoli all’epoca della loro espulsione,” Archivio Storico Italiano 137 (1979): 495–599; 139 (1981): 179–287. For a more comprehensive study of this topic, see: Nadia Zeldes, “The Mass Conversion of 1495 in South Italy and Its Precedents: a Comparative Approach,” Medieval Encounters 25 (2019): 227–262. 14 Hubert Houben,“Neue Quellen zur Geschichte der Juden und Sarazenen im Königre‑ ich Sizilien (1275–1280),” Quellen und Forschungen aus Italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 74 (1994): 335–359. See also Zeldes, “Evolution and Survival of Convert Community,” 19–22. 15 Carlo Delcorno, Giordano da Pisa e l’antica predicazione volgare (Florence: Olschki editore, 1975), 23. 16 Peter Lombard, The Sentences, translated by Giulio Silano (Toronto: PIMS, 2010), Book 4, 38. 17 On Capistrano and the Jews in southern Italy, see Joshua Starr, “Johanna and the Jews,” JQR 31 (1940), 67–78; Shelomo Simonsohn, The Apostolic See and the Jews, 8 vols. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1991), 1, 71–73; Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 19–20. 18 On Alfonso’s conquest of Naples, see: David Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, the Struggle for Dominion (London and New York: Longman, 1997), 195–213. 19 Dvora Bregman, Hamas ha‑Zeman. Azariah ben Ephraim ben Joab of Modena (Jerusa‑ lem: Rubin Mass, 2010). 20 Abraham David, “Ibn Habib, Moses ben Sem Tov,” in Encyclopedia Judaica, edited by M. Berenbaum and F. Skolnik, 2nd edition, (Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2007), 9, 678–679. 21 Abraham David, “I manoscritti ebraici come fonti storiche dell’ebraismo salentino quat‑ trocentesco,” In Gli Ebrei nel Salento (secoli IX–XV), edited by Fabrizio Lelli (Galatina, Lecce: Congedo, 2013), 257–271.

Introduction 9 22 Renzo Frattarolo, Tipografi e librai, ebrei e non, nel Napoletano, alle fine del XV secolo (Florence: Edizioni Sansoni antiquariato, 1956), 12–22. And see: Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 60. 23 Adriaan K. Offenberg, “Notes on Hebrew Printing at Naples about 1490,” in A Choice of Corals. Facets of Fifteenth Century Hebrew Printing edited by Adriaan Offenberg (Nieuwkoop: De Graaf Publishers, 1992), 90–91. 24 Hava Tirosh Rothschild, Between Worlds. The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon (Albany: SUNY, 1991), 24–33. 25 David Abulafia, “The Aragonese Kings of Naples and the Jews,” in The Jews of Italy: Memory and Identity, Studies and Texts in Jewish History and Culture, edited by Ber‑ nard D. Cooperman and Barbara Garvin (Bethesda: University of Maryland, 2000), 82–106; Idem, “Jews, Conversos, and Cristiani Novelli,” 253–255. 26 The presence and importance of the Greek population in the late medieval and early modern period is often overlooked in modern studies, yet it was an important ­cultural‑linguistic factor, representing one more aspect of the diversity of the king‑ dom’s population: Vincenzo Giura, Storie delle minoranze, ebrei, greci, albanesi nel regno di Napoli (Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1985); Daniele Arnesano, “San Nicola di Casole e la cultura greca in terra d’Otranto nel quattrocento,” in La Conquista Turca di Otranto (1480) tra Storia e mito. Atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Otranto‑Muro Leccese, 28‑31 marzo 2007, edited by Hubert Houben and Francisco de Araujo (Galatina: Congedo, 2008), 1, 107–140. See also: David Abulafia, “The Italian Other: Greeks, Muslims, and Jews,” in Italy in the Central Middle Ages, 1000–1300 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). 27 On the medieval Muslim colony at Lucera, see: Julie Anne Taylor, Muslims in Medieval Italy: The Colony at Lucera (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005); David Abula‑ fia, “Monarchs and Minorities in the Medieval Mediterranean c. 1300: Lucera and Its Analogues,” in Christendom and Its Discontents. Exclusion, Persecution and Rebellion, 1000‑1500, edited by Peter Diehl and Scott Waugh (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 234–263. Lucera was known until the late Middle‑Ages as Lucera degli Saraceni. 28 Abulafia, “The Aragonese Kings of Naples,” 83. 29 On the coming of the exiles and their reception, see: Nadia Zeldes, “The Reception of Spanish and Sicilian Exiles by the Populace in the Kingdom of Naples,” (Hebrew) Zion 72 (2017): 37–58. 30 Luigi Amabile, Il Santo Officio della inquisizione in Napoli (Città di Castello: S. Lapi, 1892) [reprint Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 1987]; Idem, Il tumulto napoletano dell’anno 1510 contro la santa inquisizione (Naples: Tipografia della Regia Università, 1888). For more recent studies on the failure to establish a Neapolitan inquisition: Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos”; Giuseppe Galasso, Il Regno di Napoli: Il Mezzo‑ giorno Spagnolo, 269–276; Ernest Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella. I re cattolici nella politica europea del rinascimento (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 2001). The Italian transla‑ tion of the Barcelona edition of 1999 includes additional material that concerns Italy, 341–347. 31 The texts of the edicts of expulsion were published by Cesare Colafemmina: Cesare Colafemmina, “1510, Novembre 21: le Prammatiche di espulsione degli Ebrei e Ne‑ ofiti dal regno di Napoli,” Sefer Yuhasin 26 (2010): 3–21; Idem, “Gli ebrei in Pug‑ lia sotto Ferdinand il Cattolico,” in 1510/2010 Cinquecentenario dell’espulsione degli ebrei dall’Italia meridionale. Atti del convegno internazionale, Napoli, Università l’Orientale’ – 22–23 Novembre 2010, edited by G. Lacerenza (Naples: Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale, 2013), 34–38. For the English translation of the edict of expulsion affecting the converts, see Chapter 6. 32 Benjamin Z. Kedar, “Expulsion as an Issue of World History,” Journal of World History 7 (1996): 165–180 (quote: 167).

1

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception

The total number of Jews expelled from the dominions of the Catholic monarchs is still disputed, ranging from a minimal estimation of 50,000 to about 200,000.1 The discovery and publication of the embarkation contracts signed in the ports of the Iberian Peninsula (particularly Valencia), Sicily, and elsewhere tend to con‑ firm the larger estimates. Each ship carried about a hundred passengers and some were large enough to embark a thousand or even more. Recent calculations suggest that the number of expellees may have amounted to 160,000 or even 180,000.2 Studies by Haim Beinart, Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader, José Hinojosa Montalvo, and others identify the ports of exit from the Iberian Peninsula and the destina‑ tions of various groups of exiles. Most Jewish families from the lands of Aragon sailed from Sagunto (Morvedre) in the Kingdom of Valencia, but some departed through the ports of Tortosa‑Ampolla and Tarragona.3 Another port of embarkation was Port dels Alfacs.4 Haim Beinart suggested that Barcelona was another possible point of departure.5 Only a relatively small number migrated to Barbary, that is, the eastern North African coast. However, the question of Jewish migration and settle‑ ment in North Africa must be treated with caution because the Maghreb presents a serious problem as far as evidence is concerned. According to the chronicle of An‑ drés Bernáldez, the Spanish priest who was an eye‑witness to the expulsion, many of those who departed from Aragon and Catalonia by way of the Aragonese ports went to Italy, Tunisia, and Tlemçen. But the entire eastern North African coast was far from welcoming for the refugees. On coming, they encountered a hostile local population, and before they had a chance to settle, life was disrupted by the Spanish military incursions and the conquest of the coastal cities. Some of the miseries and hostile treatment faced by the exiles can be gleaned from the testimony of Judah Hayyat who came there from Portugal, to be discussed presently. A relatively small number of Castilian Jews who did not take the land route to Portugal sailed to the western North African coast (mainly Morocco), or to Italy, and the Kingdom of Naples.6 But with the exception of Fez, other places in Morocco proved to be risky for the hapless refugees. Those who attempted to settle in the Moroccan coastal cities were attacked, robbed, and sometimes killed.7 As noted above, many Castilian Jews crossed the border to Portugal. There they later faced expulsion and forced conversion, both discussed at length in studies concerning the fate of the Jews and conversos in that country. At any rate, this was DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-2

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 11 not an option for the Abravanel family because of Don Isaac’s past involvement in a conspiracy against King João II that forced him to leave Portugal in 1483. Returning there in 1492 would have been too dangerous for him and for his family. These reasons are hinted to in a document that refers to the risks any member of the Abravanel family would have faced, had they joined the Castilian refugees in Portugal: “it was ascertained that the said Don Jacob Abravanel could not go nor did he dare go to the kingdom of Portugal.”8 And so, Don Isaac and other members of his family sailed to Naples and were apparently well‑received there.9 The arrival of the refugees during the summer of 1492 left a strong impression on contemporary Neapolitan chroniclers who noted the event: “the ships began to arrive filled with Jews coming from Sicily and Spain, expelled by the Lord King of Spain,” and another author furnishes an accurate date stating that: on the 18th of August 1492 the Jews who were hailing from all the Span‑ ish nations came to Naples; they came on various vessels; they had been evicted by the most illustrious king of Spain who was ridding himself of all those who were expelled by force from his land, and they had also been expelled from France and the island of Sicily. And all of them were gathered in Naples.” Other sources stress the pitiable condition of the refugees, poor, thin, dying of hunger and disease. Many actually died in the streets, too weak and sick after their terrible voyage.10 King Ferrante I welcomed the expellees and helped settle them in his kingdom, but a bureaucratic machine was put in motion to receive the exiles and control their distribution throughout the land. Port authorities were instructed to register all newcomers, their lands of origin, the ship they came in, their skills, the number of children (males and females), and other details. After registering, they were al‑ lowed to settle in “any city, land or place or go from one place to another within the kingdom.”11 A letter dated April 1493 addressed to Commissioner Bartolomeo Bosco (or Bascho) ordered him to report on the number (numeratione) of newcom‑ ers and their places of settlement (circa la collocacione de quelli per le terre).12 As noted above, the refugees’ distribution throughout the land was strictly controlled, and the newcomers were not permitted to remain in the coastal cities where they had first landed. This procedure seems to be confirmed by the terms of the embar‑ kation contracts that allowed for only a few days’ stay at the port of arrival before proceeding to other destinations. A telling example is the contract signed in August 1492 in Trapani (Sicily) between the ship’s captain Jaymus Guell and nine Jews representing a group of about 250 adults and an unspecified number of children. The captain promised to carry on board the nine signatories and their families along with other persons, food, and cargo. The signatories promised to pay 225 florins for the passage of the adults and a lesser amount for the minors. The captain agreed to bring the group to the city of Naples and remain there for a few days, allow‑ ing for the possibility that they would need to continue their voyage to another place in the Kingdom of Naples.13 This conjecture is strengthened by the terms of a

12  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception contract made in Valencia in June 1492 that stipulates that the ships would remain for eight days in the port of Naples.14 Sicilian sources too indicate that a large num‑ ber of Sicilian Jews crossed over to the Kingdom of Naples with that destination in mind.15 A few days in the port of Naples were probably necessary for registering the passengers and their cargo. This was probably the usual procedure followed by the exiles coming to Naples or other Neapolitan ports. According to Ferorelli, the main ports of disembarkation were Gaeta, Pozzuoli, Castellamare di Stabia, Naples, Salerno, and Reggio Calabria.16 Obviously, these cities could not have been the final destination for the immigrants and they were in fact encouraged or even forced to continue their voyage to other places. Such was the case when a ship full of Sicilian Jews landed at Gaeta and the authorities decreed that since the city should not be overrun by such a multitude, “no one would be allowed to settle there without a special licence from His Majesty.”17 The city of Pozzuoli tried to rid itself of any and all the Jews who came there and prevented even a temporary residence. Such a stand could not be permitted because it brazenly contravened royal policy and indeed the city was threatened with a fine of 2,000 ducats if it persisted in its defiance and would not allow the Jews to remain there until it could be arranged for them to leave for other places.18 Several contemporary Jewish sources offer a glimpse into the Jewish point of view, stressing their relief at reaching what they believed to be a safe haven. In his introduction to Passover Sacrifice, a commentary on the Passover Haggadah (written in 1496 in Monopoli), Don Isaac Abravanel gave a moving account of his first years in Naples, praising his warm reception in his usual style that uses bibli‑ cal language: We arrived in the kingdom of Naples; in stillness and quiet (Isa. 30:15) were we received … For God has favoured me (Gen. 33:11) there and my posses‑ sions have spread out in the land (Job 1:10). I have made a monument and a name for myself (Isa. 56:5) like the holy and the mighty ones of the land (Ps. 16:3). I trade at the going merchants’ rate (Gen. 23:16), in peace and equity (Malachi 2:6), in joy and gladness over the abundance of everything (Deut. 28:47). My children are with me always (Job 21:8): the children are my chil‑ dren and the flocks are my flocks. (Gen. 31:43)19 Abravanel’s description of his voyage to Naples is dramatic as he compares it to the experience of a traveller “seeking his way as a ship at sea.” In his biography of Don Isaac Abravanel, Ben Zion Netanyahu accepted Abravanel’s phrasing at face value, arguing that he faced uncertainty as did other exiles and that the Abravanels “must have made the same tour of the various western Italian seaports with same distressing results.”20 But the Abravanel family made provision for their goods to be transported from Valencia to Naples well in advance of their own departure21; they certainly knew their destination and had good reasons to believe that they would be well received there. Abravanel’s words should therefore be understood as a metaphor rather than a factual statement. Like the Abravanels, other wealthy

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 13 Jews sailing from Spanish ports made out embarkation contracts naming Naples as their final destination.22 The less well‑to‑do embarked on crowded rickety vessels facing an unknown fate, robbery, disease, death at sea, and the dangers of captivity. Particularly tragic was the plight of those who sailed along the Italian coast and were refused entry into Genoa and other Italian city‑states.23 It is unclear whether the Jews who arrived at the ports of southern Italy were simply hoping to be al‑ lowed to land there, uncertain of local conditions, as suggested by Netanyahu in his biography of Don Isaac Abravanel. Or was there perhaps a prior arrangement with King Ferrante I? According to the Hebrew chronicle of Elyiahu Capsali, Seder Elyiahu Zuta, there was in fact a prior agreement with King Ferrante I: “before the arrival of the ships the Jews sent a messenger to plead with the king to let them come.”24 Unfortunately, no document confirming such an accord has survived. And yet, it stands to reason that there was at least a tacit understanding that the exiled Jews would be allowed to settle in the kingdom. The orders to Bartolomeo Bosco and the registration of newcomers demonstrate advanced preparation and the crea‑ tion of a bureaucratic machine charged with the regulation of entry and subsequent settlement of the immigrants. An interesting personal testimony is supplied by the converted Jew Colau or Nicolau Aragones, originally from Alagon (in the kingdom of Aragon). Colau’s story appears in the protocol of his trial by the Aragonese Inquisition held at Saragossa in 1510. He tells the following story about his peregrinations: At the time of the expulsion of the Jews from this kingdom (i.e. Aragon), he [Colau] went with his father and mother and brothers, all Jews, to the king‑ dom of Naples and they lived in a place named Santa Agata for two or three months, more or less…” Colau’s father died sometime after their arrival and then the young man left for Naples in an attempt to find work as a weaver.25 Santa Agata was a small town near Reggio Calabria that in 1503 numbered only ten Jewish households.26 After failing to settle in Naples, Colau left for Trapani in Sicily and there he converted to Chris‑ tianity. He later left Italy altogether and returned to Aragon where he was arrested and tried for heresy by the inquisition of Saragossa. This piece of micro‑history shows that like many newcomers, Colau and his family were forced to settle in a remote small town and probably found it hard to make a living there and that is probably the reason why the young man left the place and tried to find employment in Naples. The tale of Colau Aragones and his subsequent conversion and return to Aragon is indicative of the fate of numerous exiles in this period and I shall later return to it and further analyse it in its appropriate context. New information on the number of newcomers, formerly subject to speculation, offers at least a minimum estimate of 20,000. The number is mentioned in a peti‑ tion dated 11 July 1493 and addressed to the Camera Sommaria by the tax farmers of Calabria that states that “about twenty thousand Jews have recently come to settle in these provinces from outside the kingdom” (in li dicte provincie so ve‑ nuti ad habitare deli judei, novamente venuti ab extra regnum circha vinti milia).27

14  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception The term “provinces” in the plural is somewhat ambiguous since it may refer to all twelve provinces of the kingdom of Naples or only to the two provinces of Calabria: Calabria citra and Calabria ultra. A careful reading of this document raises the possibility that the second interpretation might be the correct one, and the number of 20,000 only refers to those who settled in the provinces of Calabria. The petitioners, tax collectors in charge of the silk tax, were only concerned with the tax exemption enjoyed by the immigrant Jews in regard to the sale of raw silk. They specifically complained about the situation in Calabria and presumably had little interest in the total number of Jews in the entire kingdom. If this interpreta‑ tion is correct, then the total number of newly arrived Jews would be considerably larger. Nevertheless, it is difficult to obtain corroboration from other contemporary sources. Tommaso di Catania states in his chronicle that “the [number] of Jews who came by the sea, expelled by King Ferrante [Ferdinand] of Aragon, amounted to forty thousand “casate” (households).”28 Since a medieval household is usually considered to consist of about five individuals, the total number of newcomers ac‑ cording to this estimate would be 200,000 individuals. This seems grossly exagger‑ ated. However, if the actual number was 4,000 casate, then Tommaso de Catania’s estimate amounts to circa 20,000 individuals, which agrees with the information gleaned from the tax‑farmers’ complaint. However, estimates of the number of deaths during the epidemic of 1493 that claim that the number of victims among the Jews reached about 25,000, call for further examination. At any rate, the arrival of thousands of refugees from Spain and Sicily placed considerable strain on the local population of the kingdom which numbered ap‑ proximately 1,100,100 at the time.29 As I intend to show in the following pages, the massive influx of hapless refugees was resented by the local population despite, or perhaps because, the monarchy’s decision to permit their entry and settlement. Jewish‑Hebrew chronicles depict King Ferrante I as “a wise and mighty man… righteous among the nations.” An anonymous Hebrew chronicle, probably written at the beginning of the sixteenth century, also praises Ferrante for the compassion he manifested towards the refugees of 1492: “And this was a king that loved the Jews and received them all and showed them mercy and gave them money.”30 Fer‑ rante’s enduring benevolence towards the Jews is apparent in his earlier granting of several privileges, such as the declaration he gave in 1476 in which he stated that he loved and cared for the Jews, not just those living in his kingdom but also foreigners who came to settle there. Later, in 1492, the king promised the Jews who had come from outside his realm (extra regnum) the same rights as those enjoyed by the longstanding Jewish population, namely, that they would be “held and known as his subjects and vassals as if they were born in the Regnum.”31 Some modern scholars tend to accept Ferrante’s image as a king who loved the Jews at face value.32 Others suggest that favouring the Jews served his interests, either because the taxes they paid increased the income of the royal treasury or, more indirectly, because their economic activities contributed to the prosperity of the kingdom.33 A better explanation, in my view, is that Ferrante I hoped to strengthen the kingdom’s economy by encouraging skilled Jewish artisans and merchants to settle there, a conclusion supported by the royal order calling for registration of

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 15 the newcomers’ skills and professions and forcing them to disperse throughout the kingdom instead of remaining in the city ports. At any rate, allowing the refugees to settle in the kingdom was a costly venture that the king did not pay out of the treasury’s budget. In April 1493, the Camera Sommaria ordered Bartholomeo Bosco, the official in charge of the census and set‑ tlement of the newcomers, to collect 6,000 ducats, of which 2,000 was to be paid by the local Jews and 4,000 by the foreign Jews.34 Even if this sum was collected in full, there were yet other taxes to be paid by the Jews. At the end of 1493, the leaders of the exiles took a loan of 600 gold ducats from Joseph Abravanel to pay the donativo (“gift” or “voluntary tax”) owed by the Jews who settled in the Terra di Lavoro. The monetary transaction was made in April 1494 by a Siennese bank in Naples and was duly noted by a local notary.35 In conclusion, Ferrante’s welcome was not entirely gratuitous. Even so, the king’s policy towards the Jews was met with opposition, mainly by popular elements. Regarding the general situation in 1493, the king’s secre‑ tary Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503) astutely observed that “the malcontents of the realm were not the grand barons, but the universities (i.e. the urban leadership) and the people at large, it was they who rebelled.”36 This observation agrees with a recent study by Vincenzo Selleri who argues that the cities were far from lacking political power in this period. During the last decade of Aragonese rule, it was the cities who demanded time and again the intervention of the central administration to resolve conflicts that arose whenever their interests were threatened by either the economic activities or the privileges enjoyed by the Jewish inhabitants (and later by converts).37 However, the king’s administration did not face an open rebellion, but rather a series of localized manifestations of stubborn opposition to specific policies, more often than not, forcing the Camera Sommaria to back off and re‑ voke privileges granted to the Jewish exiles. The petition referring to the number of newly arrived Jews was in fact addressed by a group of tax farmers in charge of collecting the silk tax who complained about their loss of income. According to the petitioners, the newcomers had bought about 10,000 libre38 of [raw] silk in order to work it, but because they did not export the finished product they avoided paying the usual tax of five grana to a libra.39 The tax farmers pointed out that the exemp‑ tion caused the treasury to lose revenue. The petition was approved by the Camera Sommaria, the exemption was cancelled and the Jews were ordered to pay the tax. A similar petition was addressed to the Camera Sommaria by the bailiff of San Lu‑ cido in Calabria who complained that the Jewish newcomers were buying wine and other commodities while refusing to pay the baglio tax set on foreigners, claiming that they enjoy the same rights as the local citizens.40 Again the Camera Sommaria approved the petition and ordered the newcomers to pay, thereby cancelling their exemption. These complaints and their quick resolution should not be dismissed as trivial or unimportant grumbles of local tax collectors and other officials motivated by loss of income. These minor officials were in fact contesting a powerful king’s policy towards the refugees forcing him to undermine their status and privileges. The petitions reflect a wider popular resentment against the Jewish newcomers that burst into the open at the first opportunity, as will be shown in the next chapter.

16  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception Another factor that exacerbated Christian enmity towards the Jews was the epidemic brought by the hapless immigrants, which killed thousands. Antonio Stanga, the Milanese ambassador in Naples, wrote at the beginning of 1493 about an outbreak of the plague which he attributed to the immigrant Jews, “most of whom are poor, reduced to beggary and smelly, and as a consequence they are in such a state and numbers [that they are] capable of infecting not only a city, but an entire large province.”41 Contemporary chronicles claim that the epidemic killed between 20,000 and 50,000 people and they too attribute the outburst of the plague to the Jewish newcomers. According to Giuliano Passero, “about thirty thousand Christians are considered to have died of that death, and twenty‑five thousand Jews from those who came to this kingdom, and they were the cause of that death.” And Tommaso de Catania provides the dates for the beginning and end of the epidemic: the dying (moria) began in Naples in January and ended in the month of September of 1493, and about three thousand Christians have died, and so did two thousand Jews who came that year, and they were the cause of this dying.42 The numbers cited here by Tommaso de Catania seem too small when compared with the estimates given by other sources, such as Passero, who is well informed and accurate in most cases. Notar Giacomo, another reliable source for the events of this period, mentions the epidemic of 1493 and confirms that there were numer‑ ous deaths in the city of Naples: “so many have died of pestilence in that city in that year as never have been recorded.”43 But Notar Giacomo provides no num‑ bers. Elijah Capsali’s Hebrew chronicle, written about fifty years after the events, concludes that the total number of dead reached 50,000, which agrees with Pas‑ sero. Capsali also underscores tensions between the king and the populace during the outbreak, claiming that the latter addressed themselves to the monarch crying: What have you done to us, taking in these people who infect us as we might be an‑ nihilated, us and our children… and the people of the land were filled with hatred for the miserable Jews, and they came to dread the people of Israel, they were as thorns in their eyes.44 According to Capsali, Ferrante tried to contain the epidemic by closing the roads and forbidding people to enter or exit the city of Naples under pain of death. Trying to protect the Jews, the king told them to bury their dead at night (to hide the num‑ ber of deaths) because he feared “the gentiles” would blame him for bringing in the plague‑ridden exiles.45 Capsali’s narrative is certainly not impartial nor should all the details necessarily be accepted as accurate, but there is little reason to doubt the author’s description of the anti‑Jewish sentiments awakened by the plague. Here, I must add a personal note. When I first read Capsali’s narrative of the plague and saw the estimates of contemporary authors, I was convinced that the numbers of the dead were grossly exaggerated. But writing about the epidemic of 1493 while experiencing the present world pandemic, I tend to accept these numbers and cannot but feel affected by Capsali’s touching description of the horrors of the plague and the attempts to contain it as they are rendered in his beautiful Hebrew.

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 17 Several other factors played a role in promoting the growth of anti‑Jewish feelings in this period: the role of Jews in the local economy, religious fervour and anti‑Jewish preaching, and above all the influence of the so‑called prophecy of St. Cathaldus. Among the many reasons for popular disaffection was the local tax system. In the Kingdom of Naples, the Jews were taxed separately, and their tax payments went directly to the king’s treasury and were therefore not part of the total tax paid by the city. In times of economic crisis, the Jews aroused particular resentment because they did not contribute to the city’s tax burden and also because, as money‑ lenders and pawnbrokers, they were hated for seeming to take advantage of the or‑ dinary people’s poverty and need. The Jews living in the Kingdom of Naples were not exclusively associated with money‑lending and banking as they were in other parts of the Italian mainland,46 and yet, their activities as merchants, moneylend‑ ers, and pawnshop operators, had the potential to spark resentment.47 In the Italian South, as in other places, popular opposition to Jewish banking and money lending was exacerbated by the Franciscans’ preaching and their claim that the Jews were “preying on the poor.” The Franciscan order attempted to remedy this by offering interest‑free loans at the institutions called Monti di Pietà, Mounts of Charity. In a recent study, Paola Avallone argued that the establishment of the first Monti di Pietà the Kingdom of Naples coincides with the increasing restrictions imposed on Jewish banking, these institutions reaching their highest presence after the final expulsion of the Jews, that is, after 1541.48 Religious persecution and anti‑Jewish preaching were not a characteristic of Ferrante’s reign, but the Kingdom of Naples had known past episodes of persecu‑ tion and anti‑Jewish policy, notably those instigated by the Franciscan friar Giovanni Capistrano in the early fifteenth century.49 Capistrano’s ardent anti‑Jewish preaching was well known to the Franciscan friar Roberto Caracciolo (1425–1495), the only preacher of note in the reign of Ferrante I. Caracciolo was born in Lecce and lived there for varying periods during the second half of the fifteenth century. From 1488 until his death in 1495, he stayed in his city of birth where he composed his Specchio della fede (Mirror of the Faith), a work containing frequent anti‑Jewish references, such as their description as “a most perverse nation” (perversissima gente) and “murderers of Christians” (uccisori dei cristiani), alongside a reiteration of the old accusation that Jews emit a foul smell.50 His preaching probably acerbated anti‑Jewish feelings in his city of birth. The events that took place in Lecce, starting with anti‑Jewish riots at the beginning of 1495 and ending with looting and forced conversions during the same year, indicate that such connection should be taken into account. Possibly, a far more significant and immediate contribution to the increasing enmity towards the Jews was the purported discovery of the so‑called prophecy of St. Cathaldus. The main source for the story of the prophecy is Giovanni Pon‑ tano (1426–1503), the humanist who served as Ferrante I’s secretary. According to Pontano, a Franciscan friar named Francisco, of Spanish origins, claimed to have discovered a lead tablet buried under the chapel of St. Cathaldus in Taranto: Then, since he [the Franciscan] could not persuade King Ferdinand [Ferrante I] by any means to chase the Jews from his kingdom, as his cousin Ferdinand

18  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception of Spain had done, as the king was staying in Taranto, he invented this fic‑ tion: he hid a lead tablet, inscribed by himself on the sly, in the ruined sanctu‑ ary of Saint Cathaldus not far from Taranto, under a wall. Three years later he brought it to light, after having bribed a priest to whom he said that Saint Cathaldus appeared to him in a dream, showing him where the tablet was hidden… After having disinterred it, he wished to bring it before the king… That man was instructed to warn the king that he would bring on himself God’s anger, and future disaster and calamity if he did not obey the writing on the tablet. And the text, by certain circumlocutions and distorted words, ordered the banishment of the Jews. But the king, after having seen the tablet, discovered the fraud. Having discovered it, he did not invite Francisco to read it together thinking that the friar would interpret the words as it pleased him, therefore the king chose to dissimulate his understanding of the facts with the greatest caution and discretion.51 The friar is identified by modern scholarship as Francisco de Aragona, confes‑ sor of Count Diomede Carafa, an important personage at the Neapolitan court.52 The lead tablet presumably contained a prophecy announcing the fall of the royal house of Aragon (that is, Ferrante’s dynasty) unless the king was persuaded to or‑ der the expulsion of the Jews, as his cousin Ferdinand (the Catholic) had already done. Pontano describes the friar’s audience with Ferrante I and praises the king for refusing to discuss the prophecy under the pretext that he did not understand the confused text. But the friar did not give up and went on preaching about the prophecy, creating such furore and turmoil that “he inflamed almost all of Italy, and first and foremost the Pope.”53 The discovery of the book and the prophecy were certainly known in Neapolitan circles as Notar Giacomo reports that: On 8 April 1492 the book of St. Cathaldus was found in the city of Taranto by a deacon named Raphaele of St. Pietro della Porta. It was brought to his majesty the king. That St. Cathaldus was the archbishop of the city of Taranto and the book’s covers were made of lead.” The story spread all over the kingdom, and it is also told by Antonello Coniger in his chronicle that is mainly concerned with the events in the city of Lecce.54 Fer‑ rante’s refusal to consider the prophecy is consistent with his generally favourable attitude towards the Jews and his tendency to disregard criticism of his policies. In fact, there was little overt expression of popular resentment or opposition to the Jewish presence during Ferrante’s lifetime. Ferrante I died on 25 January 1494 and was succeeded by his son Alfonso II who abdicated a year later. Although there were no widespread anti‑Jewish riots during Alfonso’s reign, several violent incidents attest to the growing enmity towards the kingdom’s Jews in this period. Lecce in the Salento region had already been the scene of several anti‑Jewish incidents even before Ferrante’s death, culminating in the riots and forced conversions of 1495. The first anti‑Jewish outbursts took place there in the 1460s, when the city faced an economic crisis following its transfer

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 19 into royal hands after the death of Prince Giovanni Antonio del Balzo, the city’s feudal ruler. The king, who had enacted taxation and policy changes, supported the Jews and opposed the city’s attempts to expel them. The conflict was intensified by the economic crisis brought about by a wave of immigration from the Adriatic coast in the aftermath of the Ottoman conquests, which caused food shortages and high prices. Matters were further exacerbated by the Ottoman occupation of Otranto in 1480 and the passage of troops (Christian as well as Turkish) through the city that caused general devastation followed by an outbreak of epidemics. But the old king forced the city to recall the Jews it expelled and reinstate their rights and privileges.55 On Easter 1494, shortly after Ferrante’s death, a group of Christian youths of Lecce traced crosses on their brows, protesting the fact that the wearing of the special Jewish badge was not enforced in their city.56 The badge was imposed on the Jews of southern Italy already in 1307 by Charles II of Anjou. At the time, it consisted of a yellow circle measuring two fingers and two palms in circumference, to be worn by males, whereas women were forced to wear a purple veil.57 During the Aragonese period, the Jewish badge was changed to a red circle.58 However, it was never enforced by Ferrante I. The demand that the badge be strictly enforced should be understood as criticism of Ferrante’s lenient atti‑ tudes towards the Jews and an increase in anti‑Jewish feelings. Letters issued by the Camera Sommaria during 1494 show that the anti‑Jewish atmosphere around Easter 1494 was not confined to Lecce. In March 1494, the Jews of Brindisi com‑ plained that they had been insulted, threatened, and subjected to stone throwing that were hurled at them and at their houses, particularly by masked individu‑ als. Following their complaint, the capitano (governor) of Brindisi was ordered to protect the Jews during Holy Week. The order by the Camera Sommaria reminds the addressee that Jews enjoyed royal protection and that he must do everything in his power to prevent acts of violence during Holy Week, and at other times, especially on Good Friday. A similar letter was sent to the capitano of Trani.59 A few days later, on 20 March, the Camera Sommaria sent a letter to the bishop of Trani, asking him to protect the Jews from the attacks and insults of priests and the bishop’s men and reminding him of the privileges and protection granted by King Ferrante.60 In May 1494, at Altomonte, the Jews were beaten and insulted by the local Christians so badly that they were forced to hide themselves. In June of the same year, an anti‑Jewish riot broke out in Salerno. Then, in September, all twenty families of the giudecca of San Severino had to leave that city for fear of being robbed and maltreated.61 The complaints addressed to the Camera Sommaria during that year also describe minor harassments, such as the complaint of the Jew Joseph de Lanzano of Vasto in the province of Abruzzo who claimed that the local butchers prevented his buying the Kosher meat he needed for his household. The Camera Sommaria responded by reminding the capitano (governor) of Vasto that the Jews of the kingdom enjoyed royal privileges and ordered him to ensure that the petitioner be permitted to buy Kosher meat.62 Although in this case there is no indication of serious violence, it is one more demonstration of the deterioration in the Jews’ status and quality of life. The growing popular enmity affected Jewish life in all localities of the kingdom.

20  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception In Calabria, most grievances were addressed by Sicilian Jews who had recently immigrated to the province. Following a complaint by Sicilian immigrants to Reg‑ gio, in May 1494 the Camera Sommaria ordered Ioanni Canziano, an official of the city, to obey the missive that ordered him to treat the newcomers in the same way as the native Jews and not as foreigners. In April of that same year, the Sicilian Salomon Actant, an apothecary, asked for the intervention of the Camera Somma‑ ria because Christian apothecaries of Reggio harassed and molested him and other Jewish apothecaries. Also in 1494, Sicilian Jews living in Reggio complained that a lieutenant of the governor kept insulting them, harassing them, and even pulling their beards and hair. The Camera Sommaria responded that had the king known about the incidents, he would have been greatly displeased (li despiaceriano gran‑ damente). In July 1494, in response to complaints from San Lucido, the Camera Sommaria ordered the captain to ensure that the Jews should not suffer further verbal or physical violence, because it is the will of the king that everyone should live calmly and peacefully in his kingdom (che la intencione del signor Re è che ciascuno habia da vivere quietamente).63 Apparently, most incidents concerned the immigrant Jews rather than the local Jewish communities.64 As noted above, the coming of the refugees upset the age‑old equilibrium in the kingdom. Moreover, the majority’s resentment was exacerbated by economic considerations. Jews were perceived first and foremost as competitors, and any attempt by the monarchy to grant tax exemptions to the newcomers was construed as unfair to local business. Jews were detested also because of their association with money lending and pawn brokering. The economic factor played in fact an important role in 1495 in the out‑ break of violence against the Jews and the sack of their property. Numerous complaints and the need to remind local officials and the clergy of the former king’s policy towards his Jewish subjects show that the Jews’ position had begun to deteriorate almost immediately upon Ferrante’s death. Now, stoning the Jews, attacks on the Jewish quarter during the Holy Week and certain Christian feasts were constant features of daily life in the Middle Ages as demonstrated by David Nirenberg in his Communities of Violence.65 But such attacks became more frequent and more violent than they had been before 1494, and it is evident that such a cluster of complaints appearing in a short period of time and in several places concomitantly signals a marked deterioration of inter‑community relations. Other aspects of Jewish‑Christian relations, such as debt collection and the hon‑ ouring of business deals, also seem to have taken a turn for the worse in this period. Mosè and Mayr de Balmes (sons of the king’s physician Abraham de Balmes) of Lecce had to address themselves to the Camera Sommaria in order to force their debtors to honour their debts and business obligations.66 Similar orders were dis‑ patched during the summer of 1494 to the capitano of Molfetta concerning the debtors of the Jew Isaac L’Argentière and to the capitano of San Severo concerning the collection of debts owed to local Jews.67 Attempts to avoid payment of debts were probably widespread. In any event, a number of admonitory letters by the Camera Sommaria to local authorities concerning debts owed to the Jews have sur‑ vived. The letters were dispatched to various locations in the province of Apulia: Nardò, Bitonto, and Corato, among others.

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 21 To conclude, King Ferrante I was the only ruler in Christian Europe, with the notable exception of Pope Alexander VI, who welcomed the Jewish refugees of 1492.68 However, the coming of about 20,000 refugees, and their settlement in a medieval kingdom whose population amounted to approximately one million inhab‑ itants, was a challenging enterprise under any circumstances. The king’s policy of favouring “foreign Jews” and granting them the same privileges and exemptions en‑ joyed by the local Jews was met with local manifestations of obstruction in the form of petitions intended to redress specific grievances. In each case, the Sommaria re‑ lented and the petitioners’ demands were accepted. This demonstrates the weakness of the central government vis à vis these popular elements. This trend continues and even intensifies during the reign of Ferrante’s successors, Alfonso II and Ferrante II, as will be shown in the next pages. Popular resentment can be easily gauged by an examination of documents issued by the Camera Sommaria in regard to economic matters, but other sources show that more factors were at play and they too af‑ fected popular opinion and contributed to the enmity towards the Jews. The outburst of the epidemic believed to have been brought by the Jewish immigrants reinforced the traditional stereotype of the Jew as a carrier of plague and disease.69 Although the principal source of information regarding the conflict between the king and populace at the time of the plague is a Jewish source, the language used by contem‑ porary Christian chronicles that stress the large numbers of the dead and the role of the Jews in spreading the disease confirm the general picture drawn by Capsali’s chronicle. The acts of the friar who “discovered” the prophecy of St. Cathaldus and brought it to public attention should be understood as a show of defiance against the king, especially when taking into account the implied threat that Ferrante’s policies would bring about the fall of the dynasty. The prophecy spread beyond the borders of the Neapolitan kingdom and was then gleefully retold by the French. Philippe de Commynes, ambassador and counsellor to Charles VIII of France, stated that: For King Ferrand [Ferrante I], who was natural son to Alphonso … was highly concerned to see his kingdoms invaded by such a powerful army, and to find himself not in a position to oppose it … And besides, in the pulling down of a chapel (as I have been assured by several of his nearest), there was a book found with the title, Truth, with Its Secret Counsel, which (it is said) contained a full prophecy of his misfortunes; but there were only three persons who had a glimpse of it, for as soon as he had read it, he committed it to the flames.70 As subsequent events confirmed the predicted doom, it is reasonable to consider the prophecy’s demoralizing effect and its influence on anti‑Jewish attitudes. Popular opposition to King Ferrante’s policies, the difficulties of absorbing a large number of immigrants, the outbreak of a deadly epidemic, as well as the ex‑ isting religious and economic tensions between Christians and Jews all add up to the creation of favourable conditions for growing enmity and intolerance towards the Jews. The political events of 1495, and principally the defeat of the Aragonese dynasty by the French, sparked the outburst of riots, looting, and forced conver‑ sions later that year.

22  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception Notes 1 Estimates of the number of Jews who left the Spanish kingdoms in 1492: Henry Kamen, “The Mediterranean and the Expulsion of Spanish Jews in 1492,” Past and Present 119 (1988): 30–55; Haim Beinart, The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, translated by J.M. Green (Oxford, Portland Oregon: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2002), 284–290. 2 Number of passengers: Jacqueline Guirral‑Hadziiossif, Valence, Port Méditerranéen au XVe siècle (1410–1525) (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1986), 355–357; José Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, Hispania Judaica Series (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1992), 291, 683–686, 697; Beinart, Expulsion, 240–244, 274–279. For more recent estimates, I thank Prof. Benjamin Arbel for letting me cite his paper “Italy as a Place of Refuge,” presented at the Italia Judaica Workshop, Tel‑Aviv University, July 3, 2023. 3 Ports of embarkation: Beinart, Expulsion, 223–290; Miguel Ángel Motis Dolader, La expulsión de los judios del reino de Aragón (Zaragoza: Diputación General de Aragón, Departamento de Cultura y Educación, 1990), II, 215–300; Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, 286–299. On other destinations, see: Andrés Bernal‑ dez, Memorias del reinado de los reyes católicos, edited by Manuel Gomez Moreno y Juan de M. Carriazo (Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1962), 256–257. 4 Gabriel Secall Güell, “Noticias de judios aragoneses en el momento de la Expulsión,” Sefarad 42 (1982): 108, no. 16. 5 Beinart, Expulsion, 239. 6 Beinart, Expulsion, 238–244, 274–279; Motis Dolader, La expulsión, II, pp. 215–300; documents concerning embarkation from Valencian ports: Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, Nos. 840, 844, 846, 849, 850, 872, 873. 7 Beinart, Expulsion, 238–244, 274–279; Motis Dolader, La expulsión, II, pp. 215–300; documents concerning embarkation from Valencian ports: Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, Nos. 840, 844, 846, 849, 850, 872, 873. Settlement in North Africa: Andrés Bernáldez, Memorias del reinado de los reyes católicos, edited by Manuel Gomez Moreno y Juan de M. Carriazo (Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1962), Cap. CXI, 256–257; Jane Gerber, Jewish Society in Fez 1450‑1700 (Leiden: Brill, 1980); Joseph Hacker, “The Nagidate in North Africa at the End of the Fifteenth Century,” (Hebrew) Zion 45 (1980): 118–132; Nadia Zeldes, “Tunis in Avraham Za‑ cuto’s Day: A Safe Refuge for Exiles from Spain and Portugal?,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 13 (2017): 85–100. 8 Quote: “…e era çertificado quel dicho Don Jaco Abravanel non iva ni osava ir al dicho reygno de Portogal,” Luis Suarez Fernández, Documentos acerca de la expulsión de los judios (Valladolid: CSIC, 1964), 439, no. 204. On Abravanel’s Portuguese origins and the family’s involvement in the conspiracy against King João II, and the punishments inflicted on the conspirators, see: Elias Lipiner, Two Portuguese Exiles in Castile. Dom David Negro and Dom Isaac Abravanel, Hispania Judaica Series (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997), 46–71. 9 For a recent and comprehensive biography of Don Isaac Abravanel, see: Cedric ­Cohen‑Skalli, Don Isaac Abravanel, an Intellectual Biography (Waltham, MA: Brandeis Unmiversity, 2020). And see notes 19–21 below. 10 “Al 1492 de lo mese di augusto incominciaro a venire in Napoli le navi cariche de Judei, quali venevano da Sicilia, et da Spagna scacciati per lo signore re di Spagna don Fer‑ rante d’Aragona re di Spagna, et d’Aragona,” Giuliano Passero, Cittadino Napoletano o sia Prima pubblicazione in istampa, che delle Storie in forma di Giornali, le quali sotto nome di questo Autore finora erano andate manoscritte, edited by Michele Maria Vecchioni, Orsino e Altobelli (Naples: Presso Vincenzo Orsino, 1785), 56; “E li XVIII de agusto 1492 in la cità di Napole intraro li Iudie, che venevano da tutta la lengua de Spagna; lo quale venevano con nave caravelle et barcie; lo quale le aveva caciate lo

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 23 illustrissimo sig. Re de Spagna, che se liberao de caciarelle tutte da suo paiese, et percì foo cacite (sic.) da la Francza et dall’Isola de Cicilia; lo quale tutte se arredussino in Na‑ pole,” Melchiorre Ferraiolo, Una cronaca napoletana figurata de Quattrocento, edited by Riccardo Filangieri (Naples: Arte Tipografica, 1956), 80. Descriptions of the state of the refugees survived in the reports of two Florentine diplomats – Piero Alamanni and Antonio della Valle, in Arbel, “Italy as a Place of Refuge” (see note 2 above). 11 Naples, State Archive (hereafter NSA), Camera Sommaria Partium, 35, f. 116, cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 94, note 60 and NSA Camera Sommaria Com. 35, ff. 31 t and 106 t, also cited by Ferorelli, Ibid., note 61. 12 NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 35, fol. 217v; Biblioteca de Gemmis, Bari, fondo Beltrani, b. 3, fasc., 3, fols. 571–572, published by Diego de Ceglia, “Lo storico bitontino Eusta‑ chio Rogadeo e la sua raccolta di documenti pr la storia degli ebrei del Mezzogiorno,” Sefer Yuhasin 7 (2019): 101–102. 13 “ad stipulacionem requisitionem dictorum iudeorum debet velificare et se conferre in civitate Neapolis, et ibi infra dies sex dicti judei debent descendere et exonerare dictam caravellam, et si infra dies tres mandatos a die que applicabunt, dicti judei declarabunt dicto patrono velle ire in aliquo alio loco di regno serenissimi regis Ferdinandi de Ne‑ apoli quo unumquisque dictus patronus teneatur velificare et apportare quomodo judei ire voluerunt in loco dicto regis Ferdinandi di Neapoli,” Trapani State Archive, Notary Andrea Sesta, reg. 8830 c 614–614v. The embarkation contract is cited by Angela Scan‑ daliato, “Momenti di vita a Trapani nel Quattrocento,” in Gli ebrei in Sicilia dal tar‑ doantico al medioevo: Studi in onore di Monsignor Benedetto Rocco, edited by Nicolo Bucaria (Palermo: Flaccovio Editore, 1998), 167–219. 14 The terms are worded in Catalan: “E les dites naus sien tengudes estar ahi per temps de huyt dies,” ARV, Protocols no. 2.009, fols. 299r–304r and 331r–332r, Hinojosa Mot‑ alvo, The Jews in the Kingdom of Valencia, Nos. 846, 684. 15 The expulsion from Sicily and destinations of the exiles: Shlomo Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, 18, Under the Rule of Aragon and Spain (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2010), 12243–12251, 12285–12291; Nicolo Bucaria and Paola Scibilia, “Nuovi documenti sull’espulsione degli ebrei dalla Sicilia,” Italia 17 (2006): 93–125; Nadia Zeldes, “Dif‑ fusion of Sicilian Exiles and their Culture as Reflected in Hebrew Colophons,” His‑ pania Judaica Bulletin 5 (2007): 302–332; Scandaliato, “Momenti di vita a Trapani,” 167–219. 16 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 95. Unfortunately, the lists made by port officials did not survive. 17 NSA, Cancelleria Aragonese, Partium 6, fol. 194, cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 95, note 65. 18 Pozzuoli: NSA, Sommaria Partium, 36, fol. 192r, Cesare Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei in Campania (III),” Sefer Yuhasin 4 (1988): 131; Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, Ibid. 19 Don Isaac Abravanel, “Zevah Pesach,” in Haggadah shel Pesah, edited by R. Israel Meir Fraser (Jerusalem: Mossad ha‑Rav Kook, 2007), 68. 20 Isaac Abravanel, “Introduction to Kings,” in Commentary on the Former Prophets edited by Yaakov ben Avraham Fidanki (Tel‑Aviv: Torah ve‑Da’at, 1955), 422; On Abravanel’s coming to Naples, see: Ben Zion Netanyahu, Don Isaac Abravanel: Statesman and Phi‑ losopher, 5th edition (Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 1998), 63. 21 The Abravanels embarkation from Valencia: Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the King‑ dom of Valencia, No. 873. 22 Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, Nos. 840, 844, 846, 849, 850, 872, 873. 23 On the fate of the exiles in Genoa and the conversion of many of them, see: The Jews in Genoa, edited by Rossana Urbani and Nathan Guido Zazzu (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 1999); on the difficulties encountered by the refugees who tried to join existing Italian Jewish communities, see: Michele Luzzati, “La marcha hacia la Italia de las ciudades y de los príncipes,” in Los caminos del exilio. Encuentros Judaicos de Tudela, edited by Juan Carrasco et al. (Pamplona: Gobierno de Navarra, 1996), 159–179;

24  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception Robert Bonfil, “Italia: un triste epílogo de la expulsión de los judíos de España,” in Judíos. Sefarditas. Conversos: La expulsión de 1492 y sus consecuencias. Ponencias del Congreso Internacional celebrado en Nueva York en noviembre de 1992, edited by Ángel Alcalá (Valladolid: Ambito, 1995), 148–249. 24 Eliyahu Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta, 3 vols., edited by Aryeh Shmuelevitch, Shelomo Simonsohn, and Meir Benayahu (Jerusalem: The Ben Zvi Institute and the Diaspora Research Institute, 1975), 1, 212. 25 Testimony of Colau Aragones: “que en el tiempo de la expulsión de los jodios deste reyno se fue con su padre y madre y hermanos jodios ad realme de Napoles endonde stuvieron en un lugar se dize Santa Agata por tiempo de dos o trese meses poco mas o menos.” Source: Saragossa, Archivo Provincial, Prov. Z. Sección Inquisición 20/17, and see: Na‑ dia Zeldes, “The Case of Colau Aragones. The Mediterranean Itinerary of a Sefardic Exile in the Aftermath of the Expulsion,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 11 (2014): 63–77. 26 Santa Agata was destroyed in an earthquake in 1783, then the place was rebuilt and named Gallina, now incorporated in Reggio Calabria. In 1443 together with another town named Cardeto was taxed for 365 households and in 1532 it counted 649 hearths: Anastasio Bertucci, Da Sant’Agata a Gallina. Notizie di storia e di cronaca della Città Regia (Vibo Valentia: Mapograf, 1983), 1. In 1503 the Giudecca of Santa Agata num‑ bered ten households: Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 478–483. 27 NSA, Camera Sommaria, Partium, 35, fols. 255v–256r, published by Zeldes, “The Re‑ ception of Spanish and Sicilian Exiles,” 56–58. For previous estimates of the number of exiles in Naples, see: Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 103–104; Bonfil, “Italia: un triste epílogo,” 148–249. 28 Tommaso de Catania, Chroniche antiquissime dall’anno DCCCCLXXXVI fino al MDLII, in Chroniche antiquissime, diarii et altri opusculi cosi italiani come latini ap‑ partenenti alla storia del Regno di Napoli, 7 vols. (Naples: Presso Bernardo Perger, 1780), 1, 37–38. 29 Eleni Sakellariou calculates that in 1447 the population of the entire kingdom ranged ­between 890,080 and 1,100,100: Eleni Sakellariou, Southern Italy in the Late ­Middle‑Ages: Demographic, Institutional and Economic Change in the Kingdom of Na‑ ples, c.1440–c.1530 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 439–447. 30 Elijah Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta, 1, 212. Anonymous Hebrew chronicle: MS Parma, Biblioteca Palatina, Cod. Parm. 2420 (IMHM, F. 13285), published by Marx, “The Ex‑ pulsion of the Jews from Spain,”, 86–87 (English translation is Marx’s). 31 NSA, Camera Sommaria, Com. 33, fols. 174 and 157; Camera Sommaria, Com. 35 fol. 106; NSA, Camera Sommaria, Partium 35, fol. 116; NSA, Camera Sommaria Par‑ tium 36, fol. 127, cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 93–94, nn. 58, 59. Ferrante’s sentiments towards the Jews are expressed in a privilege granted in 1476: “Nos tamen… ipsos Iudeos et quemlibet ipsorum tam marem quam feminam tam regniculum nostrum quam externum hoc regnum nostrum incolantem et inhabitantem amamus atque diligimus, et ipsius Iudeis et cuilibet eorum favori et auxilio semper fuimus et erimus…” (NSA, Camera Sommaria, Privilegiorum, fols. 15–19, reproduced in Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 255–256). Unfortunately, the original documents have been lost and only copies and quotes survive. 32 Some modern scholars support this view. See Cesare Colafemmina, Documenti per la storia degli ebrei in Puglia nell’archivio di stato di Napoli (Bari: Regione Puglia‑­ Assessorato alla cultura istituto ecumenico “S. Nicola,” 1990), 11; David Abulafia, “The Aragonese Kings of Naples and the Jews,” 94. 33 Giuseppe Petralia, “L’epoca aragonese,” in L’ebraismo dell’Italia meridionale dalle origini al 1541, edited by Cosimo Damiano Fonseca et al. (Galatina: Congedo, 1996), 79–114; Alfonso Silvestri, “Gli ebrei nel Regno di Napoli durante la dominazione aragonese,” Campania Sacra 18 (1987): 21–77; Idem, Il commercio a Salerno nella seconda metà del quattrocento, Camera di commercio, industria e agricoltura (Salerno: Linotypografia M. Spadafora, 1952).

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 25 34 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 371–372. 35 Act of Notary Antonio de Arminio, preserved at the Real Casa Santa dell’Annunziata di Napoli, No. 534, published by Alfonso Leone, “Un debito ebraico del 1494,” Hebraica Hereditas. Studi in onore di Cesare Colafemmina, edited by Giancarlo Lacerenza, Uni‑ versità degli studi di Napoli, “L’Orientale” (Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli, “L’Orientale,” 2005), 95–98. 36 “li mali contenti del Reame non sono baroni grossi, nge [vi] sono universitati e popoli grossi, che subito si ribellarono,” Erasmo Pèrcopo, Lettere di Giovanni Pontano a prin‑ cipi ed amici (Naples: R. tipografia Francesco Giannini e figli, 1907), 50–51. On the situation in Naples in this period, see also Giuseppe Galasso, Il Regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 24. 37 Vincenzo Selleri, “Farene dui: The Separation of Jewish and Christian universitates in Fifteenth Century Apulia,” Journal of Jewish Studies 70 (2019): 83–109. 38 A weight unit commonly used in medieval and early modern Italy, approximately 317 grams. 39 Grana: a coin of small denomination. The tax farmers complained that the Jews used the silk for local manufacture rather than export and therefore were exempted from the tax: “quali per loro magesterio havessero comparato circha libre dece milia de seta pro quella lavorare. Et perche no la extraeno, ma la lavorano, recusano per questo pagare la grana cinque per libra,” NSA, Camera Sommaria, Partium, 35, fols. 255v–256r. 40 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 369–370. 41 Stanga’s report is cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 97–98. 42 Twenty thousand dead: Una cronaca napoletana figurata del Quattrocento, 80–81; a to‑ tal of 55,000 dead: “nella quale moria se annumerano esservi morti delle persone trenta milia christiani, et venticinque milia judei di quilli, che erano venuti in questo regno, et questi foro causa di detta moria,” Passero, Giornali, 56; and and estimate of 50,000 dead “di gennaro icomensò la moria in Napoli, et finio il mese de Settembre de lo anno 1493, dove nge morsero da trenta milla cristiani et viginta milla judei che vennero in quillo anno, et epsi foro causa de detta moria,” Catania, Chroniche antiquissime, 1:38. 43 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli di Notar Giacomo, edited by Paolo Grazilli (Naples: Dalla Stamperia Reale, 1845), 177. 44 Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta, 1, 212–213. All English translations are mine (the author), unless stated otherwise. References to the Bible and Rabbinical literature in the text: “Miserable Jews”: paraphrase of Nehemiah 3:34; “came to dread”: paraphrase of Exo‑ dus 1:12; “as thorns in their eyes”: Midrash Exodus Rabbah, 1. 45 Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta, Ibid. 46 On Jewish banking, money lending, and pawnshops in Renaissance Italy, see Robert Bonfil, Jewish Life in Renaissance Italy, translated by Anthony Oldcorn (Berkeley: Uni‑ versity of California Press, 1994) , 88–91; idem, The Book of Moneylender and Bor‑ rower (Hebrew) (Jerusalem: Shazar, 2015); Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, 1, 219–227. 47 Money lending in Naples: from 1468 the Jews were allowed to lend money at an interest of thirty six percent for sums up to 50 ducats, and an interest of twenty four percent for sums above that. On Jewish loans and pawns in the Kingdom of Naples, see Silvestri, “Gli ebrei nel Regno di Napoli,” 21–77; Filena Patroni Griffi, Il Banco di Gabriele e Mosè: Un registro di pegni del 1495 (Cava de’ Tirreni: Avagliano, 2000), 16–17. 48 On the Monti di Pietà in the Kingdom of Naples: Paola Avallone, “Nascita e diffusione dei Monti di Pietà nel Regno di Napoli,” in 1510/2010 Cinquecentenario dell’espulsione degli ebrei dall’Italia meridionale. Atti del convegno internazionale, Napoli, Università l’Orientale – 22–23 Novembre 2010, edited by Giancarlo Lacerenza (Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli, “L’Orientale,” 2013), 103–116. 49 Capistrano’s anti‑Jewish activity: Joshua Starr, “Johanna and the Jews,” JQR 31 (1940): 67–78; Bonfil, Jewish Life in Renaissance Italy, 23–24; Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, 1, 71–73. 50 Zelina Zafarana, “Caracciolo, Roberto,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 19 (1976), https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/roberto‑caracciolo_(Dizionario‑Biografico)/,

26  The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception accessed February 8, 2021; Carmela Massaro, “Ebrei e città nel mezzogiorno medievale: il caso di Lecce,” Itinerari di ricerca storica 5 (1991): 9–50 (esp. 39–40); Marcello Semeraro, “Fra Roberto Caracciolo e gli ebrei,” in Studi Storici, edited by Cesare Co‑ lafemmina (Molfetta: Ecumenica Editrice, 1975), 43–60. 51 Giovanni Giovano Pontano, De Sermone, edited and translated into French by Florence Bistagne (Paris: H. Champion, 2008), book 2, 169–170. 52 Giampaolo Tognetti, “Le fortune della pretesa profezia di San Cataldo,” Bulletino dell’Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo e archivio Muratoriano 80 (1968): 273– 317 (identification of the friar: 274–275). 53 Pontano, De sermone. 54 “A di VIII de Aprile 1492 in la cita de Taranto fo trovato per uno iacono nomine Raph‑ aele a Sancto Pietre della Porta lo libro de sancto Cathaldo quale fo portato alla Maesta del Signore Re: lo quale sancto Cathaldo fo Archiepiscopo della Cita de Taranto et le coperte del libro erano de piumbo,” Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 173; Antonello Coni‑ ger, “Cronache,” in Raccolta di varie chroniche, diarii, ed altri opuscoli appartenenti alla storia del regno di Napoli, 5 vols., edited by A. Pelliccia (Naples: Bernardo Perger, 1782), 5, 27. 55 Giovanni Guerrieri, “Gli ebrei a Brindisi ed a Lecce,” Studi Senesi 17 (1900): 225–52; Carmela Massaro, “Ebrei e città nel mezzogiorno medievale: il caso di Lecce,” Itinerari di ricerca storica 5 (1991): 9–50. 56 “In questo anno in la cità di Lecce ne la festa de la resureccione certi Zovani (=giovanni) de moto loro vedendo che judei non portavano singho (=segno) essere conosciuti porta‑ vano la croce in capo…,” Coniger, “Cronache,” 5, 29. 57 Jewish badge during the Angevin rule: NSA, reg. Ang. 1306–1307, fol. 224, published Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, No. 32. 58 Jewish badge under the Aragonese: order given by Alfonso the Magnanimous in 1443: “ad portacionem rotellarum seu signorum coloris drappi rubei in pectore,” cited by Fer‑ orelli, Gli ebrei, 190. 59 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 40, fols. 74v–75r; Colafemmina, Puglia, 127. 60 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 40, fol. 113v; Colafemmina, Puglia, 129. 61 Altomonte: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 40, fol. 219, Cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 199; Salerno: NSA, Sommaria, Comune 36, fols. 66, 124; NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 39 fol. 225, cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 199; San Severino: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 38, fol. 9, cited cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 199. However, many of Ferorelli’s sources are no longer extant, as for example the Sommaria, Comune, cited above. 62 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 38, 11r–v; Cesare Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei in Abruzzo,” Sefer Yuhasin 3 (1987): 86. 63 Treating newcomers the same way as local Jews: NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 40, fol. 92, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 412–413; Jewish apothecaries: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 40, fol. 185r, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 405–406; pulling beards and hair: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 40, fol. 220v, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 414–415; San Lucido: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 39, fol. 166r, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 427–428. 64 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 26–29. 65 On the “customary” attacks on the Jewish quarter during the Holy Week and certain Christian feasts and incidents of stoning the Jews, see: David Nirenberg, Communites of Violence. Persecution of Minorities in the Middle‑Ages (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), 200–230. 66 NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 39, fol. 64r, in Colafemmina, Puglia, 138. On the Balmes family, see Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 263–78. Abraham ben Moses de Balmes of Lecce, the physician of Ferrante I, should not be confused with his grandson, Abraham ben Meir de Balmes, a philosophical‑kabbalistic thinker who moved to Venice after 1510 and became Cardinal Domenico Grimani’s personal physician. He died in 1523. See Brian

The Coming of the Exiles of 1492 and Their Reception 27 Ogren, “Sefirotic Depiction, Divine Noesis, and Aristotelian Kabbalah: Abraham ben Meir de Balmes and Italian Renaissance Thought,” JQR 104 (2014): 576–79; Fabrizio Lelli, “Gli ebrei nel Salento: primi risultati delle ricerche in corso,” in Gli ebrei nel Salento: Secoli IX–XVI, edited by Fabrizio Lelli )Lecce: Congedo, 2013(, 9–41 (on Balmes, 31–34). 67 Isaac L’Argentière: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 39, fols. 86r–v, Colafemmina, Puglia, 143–144; San Severo: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 39, fols. 78v–79r, Colafemmina, Pug‑ lia, 144–145. 68 Pope Alexander VI Borgia’s welcome of Jews and conversos in 1492: Ariel Toaff, “ Alessandro VI, inquisizione, ebrei e marrani. Un pontefice a Roma dinanzi all’espulsione del 1492,” in L’identità dissimulata: Giudaizzanti iberici nell’Europa cristiana dell’età moderna, edited by Pier Cesare Ioly Zorattini (Florence: Olschki, 2000), 15–25. But the number of exiles who came to Rome is by no means comparable to the number of refugees in the Kingdom of Naples. 69 Joshua Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews: The Medieval Conception of the Jew and Its Relation to Modern Anti‑Semitism (Philadelphia, PA: JPS, 1983), 97–108; Niren‑ berg, Communities of Violence, 231–249. 70 “Car le roy Ferrand, qui estoit filz bastard d’Alphonce… porta grand passion ledict Fer‑ rand en son cueur de veoir venir sur luy ceste armee et qu’i n’y pouvoit remedier… Et si trouva ung livre, comme m’ont certiffié des plus prouchains de luy, qui fut trouvé en defaisant une chapelle, ou il y avoit escript dessus: Le voyr, avecques son conseil secret; et veult l’on dire qui’il contentoit tout le mal qui luy est advenu; et n’estoient que trois a le veoir, et puis le jetta au feu,” Philippe de Commynes, Mémoires, edited by Joël Blanchard (Paris: Librairie Droz, 2007), chap. XIV, 538–539. For the English transla‑ tion, see The Memoirs of Philip de Commynes, Lord of Argenton, 2 vols., edited by Andrew R. Scoble (London: H. G. Bohn, 1855–1856), 1, 154.

2

The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 and the Fall of the Aragonese Dynasty of Naples

The year 1494 is described by the Florentine historian Francesco Guicciardini as “a most unhappy year for Italy… and in truth, the beginning of those years of mis‑ fortune, because it opened the door to innumerable and horrible calamities (innu‑ merabili e orribili calamità).”1 Several events unleashed the “calamities” of 1494: the ascension to the throne of France of the ambitious Charles VIII in 1483, the death of Lorenzo de Medici of Florence, who acted as a moderate but forceful influence on Italian politics, and the death of Ferrante I in January 1494. Charles VIII had legitimate claims for the throne of Naples as a descendant of the house of Anjou who ruled both Sicily and southern Italy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The rights of the Anjou dynasty had in fact been usurped by Alfonso the Magnanimous when he conquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1442. Now Charles VIII intended to assert his birthright and to quote Guicciardini in his Storia d’Italia: as successor to the House of Anjou, for want of a direct descendent of Charles I [of Anjou], [Charles VIII] decided to personally spend that year in Italy, not in order to occupy something that belonged to others, but because he be‑ lieved it belonged to him by right, for his ultimate goal was not the kingdom of Naples in itself, but to possess the necessary force to later turn his arms against the Turks for the greater glory of the Christian name.2 Modern historians doubt the sincerity of Charles’s motives, especially his inten‑ tions to launch a crusade against the Turks.3 Although a Turkish attack on Sicily was perceived as a genuine threat at the time, it is doubtful Charles VIII planned to take part in defence of the territories belonging to Ferdinand the Catholic. Since Charles VIII had legitimate claims on the throne of Naples, he first tried to pursue his case by diplomacy. Charles sought to win the support of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza (nicknamed Il Moro), secure the pope’s recognition of his right to the crown of Naples, and obtain the active or tacit support of Florence and Venice. But Ludovico Sforza proved to be an unreliable ally who was interested mainly in his own status as ruler of Milan. Since Pope Alexander VI had already sanctioned the coronation of Alfonso II as king of Naples, he refused to commit himself to the French cause. This left war as the only option for Charles and he invaded Italy at the head of a huge army of 30,000. The strong French force and the DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-3

The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 29 manifest political and military weakness of the Italian city states allowed Charles to descend the length of the Italian peninsula almost unopposed. But instead of try‑ ing to win the support of the local population, Charles made no effort to protect the people from the ravages and depredations wrought by his army. Many contempo‑ rary sources describe the cruelty of the French soldiers who spared no one, took no prisoners, and did not hesitate to destroy a church if it was in their way.4 The Jews of Rome, although not necessarily a primary target, suffered the arbitrary violence of Charles soldiery. In his Le Voyage de Naples, a chronicle written in Old French that extols the triumphs of Charles VIII in Italy, André de la Vigne describes the encounter between the French soldiery and the Jews of Rome: And at that time a quarrel broke out in a street close to the Jewish quarter between the Jews and our soldiers who belonged to the French and Scottish guard; and so fierce it was and so well managed by the gallant and resolute French, that many Jews were killed then and there, as was one of their leaders who behaved too rashly. And after seizing their goods on the spot, they [the soldiers] totally destroyed their synagogue.5 The assault of the Jewish quarter in Rome by the French soldiery is also mentioned by the Spanish priest and chronicler, Andrés Bernáldez: “they committed many acts of robbery and assault, and put to the sack a great part of the Jewish quarter, where there were more than 3,000 Jewish inhabitants.”6 This outburst of violence against the Jews in Rome was a harbinger of other attacks, robbery, and forced conversions that were to occur during the French occupation of the Kingdom of Naples. Charles’s expedition met very little effective opposition and all attempts at thwarting the invasion were unsuccessful. The Neapolitan fleet sent to block the French from landing at Genoa and prevent them from bringing ashore their artil‑ lery, a type of weapon previously unknown in Italy, failed. In early September the French were at Asti moving south. The approaching French army led to the fall of Piero de Medici in Florence, and even Pope Alexander VI could not resist Charles’s forces. Alfonso II of Naples entered Rome with his army on 10 December 1494 still hoping to strengthen the pope against Charles’s forces. Meanwhile, there was an attempt to create an Italian coalition against the French, in hope of gaining the support of Venice. But Charles was unstoppable and all that could be achieved at that point was a negotiated agreement that promised a safeguard for the Duke of Calabria, the young Ferrandino (later crowned Ferrante II) allowing him and the Neapolitan troops to retreat unmolested. On 27 December of that year, the French army entered Rome. Charles VIII made his own entrance on 31 December, and Pope Alexander VI had no choice but to promise him the Kingdom of Naples.7 News of the agreement between Charles III and Pope Alexander VI was re‑ ceived in Naples on 21 January 1495. King Alfonso immediately ordered to dig pits and fortify the approaches to Castel Nuovo, the Neapolitan royal residence, to resist French attack. But on 22nd January, Alfonso sunk into despair and decided to abdicate and leave the throne in favour of his son Ferrante II. The result was that

30  The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 thousands of people rose up in arms in the city of Naples. However, all sources agree that the Duke of Calabria (the king’s son, Ferrante II) responded by riding about the city and showing himself to the people in order to calm the city populace.8 One more factor that contributed to the success of the French expedition was the fact that the events of 1495 were interpreted in messianic and apocalyptic terms.9 The tensions of this time are reflected in the work of a Franciscan friar, Angelus Terzonis de Legonissa. Written in 1497, his Opus Davidicum extols the messianic destiny of the French king as a descendant of the house of David, thus making the house of France, rather than the Jews, the rightful heirs to the Davidic dynasty. The author of this work displays an ambivalent attitude towards the Jews: on the one hand, he praises the house of France for “having extirpated and expelled all Jews and heretics not only from its borders, but also from within its realms”; on the other, he praises the Jews for recognizing Charles VIII as the “Messianic king” prophesied by the book of Daniel.10 The contradictory nature of French attitudes towards the Jews throughout their campaign and conquest suggests that there was a certain discrepancy between the official royal policies and the actual treatment of the Jewish population they en‑ countered. Converting Jews was indeed considered praiseworthy in the circles sur‑ rounding King Charles VIII, but not necessarily by force. The same Andrè de la Vigne cited above relates in his chronicle how the French king was overjoyed to have a Jew of Florence convert to Christianity: The next Thursday in Florence he [King Charles VIII] stopped and did not go on because a Jew, out of his free will, humbly pleaded that he wished to be baptised by him if he pleased, and he obtained that thing on the same day, since the king immediately took his hand and gently held him over the bap‑ tismal font. And to note this memorable event, he named him Charles, giving him his own name.11 But whereas conversion of the Jews was a desirable end, it is doubtful that robbery, violence, or forced conversions were an inherent part of the French monarch’s plan. According to Marino Sanuto’s account of the expedition, Charles initially tried to protect the Jews: “and as the king [Charles VIII] entered [Naples], he published an edict ordering that no harm shall be done to the Jews.” But this well‑intentioned policy was short‑lived and later Charles VIII chose to avoid confrontation with his own troops on account of the Jews and made no effort to restrain them, as Sanuto comments: “later he [King Charles] tolerated all the damage that had been done to them.”12 A Jewish chronicle of this period agrees with Sanuto’s opinion and comments that “the king of the French did not wish the Jews to be harmed, and he protected them whenever he entered the cities.”13 But the results of the French invasion were nevertheless disastrous for the Jews. The general atmosphere of impending doom and apocalyptic expectations af‑ fected the Jews as it did the Christian population. The Jews too viewed the descent of Charles VIII into Italy in messianic, or rather eschatological terms. In Jewish writings of that period, Charles VIII indeed represents the King of the North from

The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 31 the book of Daniel, but he is perceived as a harbinger of the end of days rather than a deliverer. According to kabbalistic writings, the sufferings caused by the French conquest of Naples presaged the birth pangs that would bring the Messiah. This particular interpretation of the events can be found in the colophon to a copy of Sefer ha‑Peliah (Book of Wonder)14 written close to the events: “And I record here what I wrote in Rome on 26 Iyyar in the year 5255 to the Creation [1495]. I think that the troubles which have beset the Jews in all the kingdoms of Edom from the year 5050 [1490] of the sixth millennium until the year 5255 [1495] — it is a time of trouble for Jacob, but he shall be de‑ livered from it [Jeremiah 30:7] — these are the birth pangs of the messianic age. And the wars that took place in Italy when the king of France named Carlo [Charles VIII] came, these are the events prophesied by Daniel regard‑ ing the king of the north: to destroy the nations, to set up an abomination that desolates.” [Daniel 11:31, 12:11] As noted above, the Jews’ messianic and eschatological interpretation of the events was known in Christian circles. Thus, popular fear and messianic expectations spread among the people in Italy and played a role in the weakening resolve to resist the advance of the French king. By the beginning of 1495, the French army was approaching Naples itself. On 19 January, the town of Aquila (modern day L’Aquila) in the Abruzzo raised the banner of Charles VIII, and on 10 February, it declared for the French. The French army then captured the fortified town of Monte San Giovanni. There the French soldiers massacred locals, raped women, and pillaged the city. The atrocities are recounted by Giuliano Passero in his Giornali: “never have the Turks, nor have the Moors behaved with such cruelty, taking the babes from their mothers’ breasts and dishonouring the women.”15 Another reliable source for the events is the de‑ tailed account of the Venetian Marino Sanuto on Charles’s expedition. According to Sanuto, the French killed 700 people in Monte San Giovanni, looted the place, and seized booty worth 25,000 ducats.16 The fear instilled by the French soldiers is echoed by the words of a Spanish Jewish exile, Rabbi Isaac ben Hayim Ha‑Kohen formerly of Xativa (Spain) who describes them as “rebels of the light, killers and destroyers… a numerous people, large as giants, their weapons bright as lighten‑ ing.”17 It is not inconceivable that the atrocities were intentional, perpetrated in order to demoralize the population and ensure their surrender. Sanuto remarks that: the king [Charles] was pleased that such cruelty has been committed for the very fact that it was done, and also because it served as an example for other castles and places in the kingdom to refrain from mounting a defence, and give him the keys instead.18 These tactics worked and most cities rendered themselves to the French with little opposition. Realizing that he could not win the war, King Alfonso II abdicated in

32  The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 favour of his son Ferrandino who was crowned as Ferrante II and removed him‑ self to Sicily where he lived his last days in a convent. Ferrante II continued to fight to the very end until Charles entered Naples. Contemporary sources as well as modern scholars agree that Alfonso abdicated out of despair, believing that he was being punished for his sins. Not even his closest family could persuade him to change his mind. Giuseppe Galasso, citing Giacomo Gallo’s Diurnali, offers one more reason for Alfonso’s abdication. According to Gallo, Alfonso meant to avert disaster for the kingdom by removing himself: Seeing that he was betrayed by everyone and having all of Italy as enemy, he believed that he could mend (i.e. turn back) the expedition of the King of France and be given help [by the kingdom’s Italian allies], so he formally renounced [the kingship] with judge and notary.19 Possibly, by abdicating, Alfonso was also hoping to change the position of Lu‑ dovico Sforza of Milan and induce him to support his son Ferrante II, but as Gallo remarks, it was too late. Meanwhile Ferrante II engaged in a losing battle with the French forces that were approaching Naples.20 After Capua transferred its al‑ legiance to the king of France, Ferrante II returned to Naples, but soon had to flee. The young king, together with the queen, found refuge in Messina.21 Charles VIII of France entered Naples on 22 February 1495 and was then lodged at the Castle of Capuana. All sources agree that Charles encountered no opposition in Naples and, to quote Coniger’s chronicle, he won “without wasting the blow of a lance” (senza spezzare colpo di lancia).22 In the space of a few days, Charles VIII captured all the fortresses and all the castles of the kingdom and they raised his flag. The people swore to obey him. To commemorate his victory, he had the gates of the royal resi‑ dence of Castel Nuovo dismantled and sent to Paris. The Aragonese dynasty fell as had been predicted by the fictitious prophecy of St. Cathaldus. The prophecy, together with other stories and expectations that characterize this period, played its part in the demoralization of the local population and contributed to their surrender to the French forces. Venice at first declared neutrality, but in March 1495, it organized a defensive pact, the League of St. Mark. According to the terms of the League, Venice was committed to intervene against any act of aggression committed against its allies. As the French captured territories belonging to Milan, Venice attacked French posi‑ tions in Apulia. The Venetian fighting force took Monopoli in July after a bloody battle that did not spare the civilian population of the city. The cities of Polignano and Mola immediately surrendered to Venice. Venetian ships sailed along the coast of Apulia but they refrained from further conquests, urging Trani and Barletta to raise the flag of Aragon in support of Ferrante II. Well aware of his weakness vis à vis Venice, King Ferrante II made no attempts to repossess the Apulian ports; instead, he offered Trani, Brindisi, and Otranto to the Serenissima in return for a loan of 200,000 ducats. Much later, this loan was paid by Ferdinand the Catholic in order to extend his sovereignty over the cities of Apulia.23

The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 33 A development hitherto unmentioned so far is the gathering of Spanish forces in Messina during 1494. The overt reason for sending both an army and a fleet to Sicily was the threat of a possible Turkish attack on the islands of Sicily, Malta, and Gozo. The Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, used the exit tax extracted from the Jewish communities in Sicily to finance the fortification of certain coastal areas in Sicily. Another portion of the exit tax, the part paid by the Jews of the queen’s fief in Sicily (the camera reginale), was used to finance the Spanish army headed by Gonzalo Fernández de Aguilar de Córdoba and the fleet commanded by Count Galceran de Requesens y Joan de Soler.24 With the help of the Spanish forces commanded by Gonzalo de Córdoba, soon to be known as the Gran Capitán, Ferrante II landed in Reggio Calabria. In June of that same year, the deposed king and the Spanish army encountered the French at Seminara in Calabria, where they fought gallantly but still lost the battle. The Gran Capitán, however, stayed on and in a short time was joined by the Spanish fleet sailing from Messina. Several cit‑ ies on the Tyrrhenian coast joined Ferrante II. By July Ferrante was able to return to Naples, residing at Castle Capuano, while the French still held Castel Nuovo. The return of the king encouraged Gaeta and several other cities to rebel against the French. By then Ferrante II announced to Venice that he had retrieved most of Apulia, except for Barletta and Manfredonia. At this time, the war in Apulia and Calabria was waged mostly by Spanish and Venetian forces allied with Ferrante II. Unfortunately, in August 1496, King Ferrante died still a young man. He was suc‑ ceeded by Alfonso’s younger brother, Federico.25 The war with French continued along with an increasing involvement by the Spanish forces. Finally, on 25 February 1497, Charles VIII accepted a truce that allowed him to fortify places that remained in French hands and send reinforce‑ ments to Italy. Meanwhile, Federico obtained Pope Alexander’s confirmation for his investiture as king of Naples. But, his reign too was short lived. The involvement of Ferdinand the Catholic in the wars in Italy meant that his interests prevailed over those of the Neapolitan Aragonese dynasty. Already in 1497, Ferdinand and Charles of France signed an agreement at Alcalá de Henares that partitioned southern Italy between the French and the Spaniards. At first, Ferdinand was promised only the province of Calabria. But in 1498, King Charles VIII died of an accident and was succeeded by Louis XII. Louis XII too had designs on Italy, and in 1499, he attacked Milan claiming the rights he had as duke of Orleans to the duchy of Milan. Louis’s claims on the one hand, and Ferdinand’s interests in southern Italy on the other, led to another agreement between the monarchs, the Treaty of Granada concluded in 1500. According to the treaty, the kingdom was to be partitioned between Louis XII of France and Ferdinand the Catholic, effectively deposing King Federico. The French were promised Naples, Terra di Lavoro, the Abruzzi and Molise, whereas the Spanish were to rule Apulia and Calabria.26 The treaty was not respected and war broke out again between the French and the Spanish ending with the victory of the Spanish forces in 1503. King Federico was deposed and exiled to France. The victo‑ rious general, Gonzalo Fernández de Aguilar de Córdoba, the Gran Capitán, became first the governor of the newly conquered kingdom, then its first Spanish viceroy.27

34  The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 Notes 1 “L’anno mille quattrocento novanta quattro, anno infelicissimo a Italia, e in verità anno principio degli anni miserabili, perché aperse la porta a innumerabili e orribili calamità”, F. Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, edited by E. Mazzali (Milan: Garzanti Libri, 1988), I, 55. For the English translation I rely here on The History of Italy, translated with notes and introduction by Sidney Alexander (London: The Macmillan Company, 1969), 32. 2 “…le ragioni le quali il re de Francia, come successore della casa di Angiò e per essere mancata la linea di Carlo primo, pretendeva al reame di Napoli, e la deliberazione di passare l’anno medesimo personalmente in Italia, non per occupare cosa alcuna appart‑ enemente ad altri ma solo per ottenere quello che giustamente se gli aspettava; benché per ultimo fine non avesse tanto il regno di Napoli quanto il potere poi volgere l’armi contro a’ turchi, per accrescimento e esaltazione del nome cristiano”, Guicciardini, Sto‑ ria d’Italia, I, 59–60. Here my translation slightly differs from Alexander’s, compare: The History, 34. One of the best sources on the French invasion of Italy is the account of the Venetian historian Marino Sanuto (1466–1536). Sanuto is mainly known for his journals, I Diarii, edited by Rinaldo Fulin (Bologna: Forni editore, 1969–1970) [origi‑ nally published: Venice: F. Visentini, 1879–1903], but Sanuto also wrote the history of the French invasion citing documents that describe the expedition of Charles VIII: Marino Sanuto, La Spedizione di Carlo VIII in Italia, edited by Rinaldo Fulin (Venice: Tip. del commercio di M. Visentini, 1883). 3 For example Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 248–249, and see the bibliography cited there. More recently: Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 209–235. But conflict with the Turks was, nevertheless, perceived as a genuine threat: Nadia Zeldes, “The Campaigns of 1494–1495 in the Italian South: Ottoman Threat, Span‑ ish Preparations, and Jewish Gold,” Mediterraneo in armi, edited by Rossella Cancila (Palermo: Associazione Mediterranea, 2007), I, 207–226; Idem, “Conversos, Finance, and Military Campaigns in the Reign of Ferdinand the Catholic: A View from Sicily,” Journal of Levantine Studies 6 (2016): 107–127. 4 On the political circumstances in Italy, see: Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean King‑ doms, 246–254; Anne Denis, Charles VIII et les Italiens: Histoire et Mythe (Geneva: Droz, 1979), 70, 89. 5 “En celluy temps se leva une noise entre Juifz et noz gens de souldee tant de la garde francoyse qu’escossoyse, en une rue pres la place judee, et fut si grande et si tres bien fondee par les Francoys gours et esvertuez que maintz Juifz furent illec tuez, et ung de chefz de Judee trop rogue; avec leurs biens qu’on prist la situez, on destruisit toute leur synagogue,” André de la Vigne, Le Voyage de Naples, edited by Anna Slerca (Mi‑ lan: Vita e pensiero, 1981), 233. On the author, see the introduction to this edition. The incident in Rome is discussed by Abraham Berliner, Geschichte der Juden in Rom (Hildesheim: H. Engel, 1987) [originally published: Frankfurt am Main, 1893], 76. 6 Andrés Bernáldez: “fizieron muchos robos e fuerças y muertes de ombres, e metieron a saco mano grand parte de la judería, donde avía más de tres mil vezinos judíos,” Memo‑ rias del reinado, 347. 7 For a detailed description of the events from the Neapolitan point of view, see: Galasso, Regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 46–80. 8 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 58–59; Passero, Giornali, 64; on the other hand, Notar Giacomo, in the Cronica di Napoli describes Ferrandino riding around the city and being acclaimed as king but makes no mention of a tumult: Ibid., 185. 9 Amnon Linder, “L’expédition italienne de Charles VIII et les espérances messianiques des juifs: témoignage du manuscrit B.N. Lat. 5971 A,” REJ 137 (1978): 179–86. On the motives of Charles VIII, see Abulafia, Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 248–249.

The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 35 10 A manuscript of the “Opus Davidicum” is housed in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. The manuscript and its significance is discussed by Linder, “L’expédition italienne de Charles VIII,” 179–186. 11 “A Florentine, le jeudy ensuivant, il s’arresta sans tirer plus avant, car ung juïf de franche volunté lui supplia en toute humilité que par luy eust, si luy plaisoit, baptesme, la quelle chose il obtint ce jour mesme; car par la main le roi tantost le print, et sur les fons humaneyment le tint; aussi, affin de memoire et renom, il le nomma Charles par son droit nom,” Le Voyage de Naples, 243. 12 “Et el Re, intrato che’l fu, fece uno editto non fusse dato impazo a Zudei, tamen poi comportò ogni danno li fo fatto,” Sanuto, La Spedizione, 241. 13 Parma, Ms. Biblioteca Palatina, Cod. Parma 2420; Marx, “Expulsion of the Jews,” 87, 97–98. The English translation is Marx’s. 14 Sefer ha‑Peli’ah (Book of Wonder), a fourteenth‑century kabbalistic work attributed to Rabbi Nechunyah Ben Hakaneh. The colophon was published by Samuel Kraus, “Le roi de France Charles VIII et les espérances messianiques,” REJ 51 (1906): 87–96. 15 “mai Turchi, né Mori fecero tale crudelitate et levavano de pietto a le matre li peccerelli et levaro l’honore a tutte le donne,” Passero, Giornali, 65; see also Galasso, Regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 62–69. 16 Sanuto, La Spedizione, 209–210. 17 Ms. Oxford Bodl. F 16, Neubauer Catalogue No. 2770, cited by Moshe Idel, “Chronicle of an Exile: R. Isaac ben Hayim Ha‑Kohen from Xativa,” (Hebrew) in Jews and Con‑ versos at the Time of the expulsion, edited by Yom Tov Assis and Yosef Kaplan (Jerusa‑ lem: The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 1999), 263. 18 “questa tal crudeltà el Re fo contento fusse usato, si per la cossa fatta, quam a ciò sia esempio altri castelli e lochi del Reame non si vogli defender, imo portarli le chiave,” Sanuto, La Spedizione, 209–210. 19 “vedendosi essere tradito da tutti et havere tutta Italia per nemica, credendo reparare all’impresa di Re di Franza et essere aiutato, rinuncio con giodice et notaro, ” Giac‑ omo Gallo, Diurnali e tre scritture pubbliche dell’anno 1495, Introduction by Scipione Volpicella (Naples, 1846), 8. And see the discussion of these events by Galasso, Regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 59. 20 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 199–211. On the French invasion of the Kingdom of Naples, see Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 248–249, and the bibliography cited there; The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, edited by David Abulafia (Aldershot: Variorum, 1995), The Introduction; Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 209–235. 21 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 116. 22 Coniger, Cronache, 30. 23 Carol Kidwell, “Venice, the French invasion and the Apulian ports,” The French De‑ scent, 295–308. 24 For the financial arrangements regarding the funding of the Spanish army and fleet in Sicily, see letters of Queen Isabella I as ruler of the Sicilian Camera reginale: Bar‑ celona., Archivo de la Corona de Aragon, Cancelleria Diversorum Camere Reginalis reg. 3687. On the use of the Jews’ exit tax to finance preparations against a Turkish at‑ tack on Sicily, see Zeldes, “The Campaigns of 1494‑1495”; idem, “Conversos, Finance, and Military Campaigns.” For the biography of Gonzalo Fernández da Córdoba, see: Luis Maria de Lojendio, Gonzalo de Córdoba, El Gran Capitán (Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1952), esp. 50, 93–259. For Count Galceran de Requesens y Joan de Soler, a Catalan no‑ bleman, see: Cesáreo Fernández Duro, Historia de la armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón (Madrid: Imprenta real, 1895–1903), I, 15–19, https:// armada.defensa.gob.es/html/historiaarmada/tomo1/tomo_01_04.pdf, accessed Novem‑ ber 2, 2022.

36  The Political Calamities of 1494–1495 25 Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 254–255. 26 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 148–159; on Spanish moves and politics see also: Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms 1250‑1516 (Oxford: Clar‑ endon Press, 1978), II, 554–561. 27 On the appointment of the Gran Capitán as viceroy of Naples and the politics of this period, see Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 292–302; Carlos J. Hernando Sánchez, “El Gran Capitán y los inicios del virreinato de Napoles: Nobleza y estado en la expan‑ sión europea de la monarquía bajo los reyes católicos,” in El Tratado de Tordesillas y su epoca, edited by Luis Antonio Ribot García, Adolfo Carrasco Martínez and Luis Adão da Fonseca, 3 vols. (Madrid: Junta de Castilla y León, 1995), III, 1817–1854.

3

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions

The previous chapters show that there were several pre‑existing conditions, political, social, and economic, that ignited the flare‑up of 1495. A comparison between the forced conversions of 1495 and other events of mass conversion, principally the riots of 1391 in Castile and Aragon, sheds light on the mechanism that permitted the escalation of violence. In both cases, the attacks on Jewish quarters, widespread looting, and popular outbursts were exacerbated by a lack of royal protection and anarchic conditions, as well as pre‑existing social and economic tensions. Ferrante I’s favourable treatment of the Jews reflects a great measure of the traditional pattern of the royal‑Jewish relationship as it evolved in the Iberian king‑ doms. The king needed the Jews’ taxpaying abilities to ensure a stable source of income and they always constituted a loyal element of the population. As a conse‑ quence, anti‑Jewish violence was more often than not a form of rebellion against the ruler, whereas the king’s ability to protect his Jews was a measure of his power. Ferrante’s death in 1494 and the political crisis of 1495 broke the usual pattern. Once the king’s iron‑fisted rule ended, and his heirs proved too weak to withstand the French invasion or even to exert their royal authority, the Jews became an easy target. As noted above, the king’s favour marked the Jews as allies of the monarchy so that by attacking the Jews, the rioters were in fact challenging royal authority. Although there were no openly violent outbursts during the short reign of Alfonso II, several anti‑Jewish incidents attest to the growing enmity toward the Jews even before the coming of the French. Some of these incidents are described in Chapter 1. Fall of the Aragonese Dynasty and the First Outbursts against the Jews Shortly after Alfonso’s abdication certain unspecified rumours spread in Naples leading to general unrest. All sources agree that the Duke of Calabria (the king’s son, Ferrante II) responded by riding about the city and showing himself to the people in order to calm the city populace.1 At that point popular unrest had noth‑ ing to do with the Jews, but there is little doubt that any small incident could have sparked a riot. Several chronicles mention the spread of a rumour that the Jews should be robbed, and they all agree that it happened in February. Although there is no clear DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-4

38  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions documentation, it is perhaps possible to reconstruct the series of events that led to the outburst. The first incident is related by Marino Sanuto, the only contemporary author who describes a riot sparked by the arrival of ships carrying Jewish refu‑ gees. Ferrante II, in an attempt to calm the populace, responded by refusing entry to these new immigrants and promised to curb the economic activities of the Jews living in the kingdom. There is also an indirect testimony that around that time either Alfonso II or Ferrante II ordered the expulsion of the Jews from Naples and Campania. Additional testimonies raise the possibility that at the same time, he also ordered the expulsion of the “marani.” Analysing this sequence of events might provide an explanation for the unrest, rumours and the resulting violence in the coming months. Marino Sanuto, in his account of King Charles VIII’s Italian expedition, gives an earlier date for the breaking of the first riot against the Jews – 26 and 27 of January, rather than February. According to Sanuto, popular disaffection began with the fall of the city of Aquila to the French on 19 January 1495. Aquila had surrendered to the French on condition that they would not enter the city. But the French army dis‑ regarded the terms of surrender and the soldiers entered it and killed eighty towns‑ people. As noted in the previous chapter, such acts of cruelty were often intentional and served to demoralize the population and ensure their surrender. The weakness of the monarchy now became evident and the people of Naples realized that they held considerable power over the king: they could surrender to the French without repercussions, but even if they decided to remain loyal to the house of Aragon, they could still impose conditions. As the king was the Jews’ mainstay, the weakening of royal power meant that the Jews were now unprotected. In any case, the king was now forced to listen to popular demands. Marino Sanuto also hints that the refugee problem was indeed one of the main reasons underlying popular dissent: “The Neapolitans, seeing that the people acted in such a manner [referring to the happenings in Aquila], on [January] the 26 and 27 they rose against the Jews and marani, and having realized that Ferrando [Ferrante II] could no do more than try to silence the people, and as by chance it so happened that two ships carrying Jews had just arrived there… the people became more and more agitated and some of them mistreated the refugees, and told the king that they did not want any more marani or Jews in Naples. And the king or‑ dered them to depart and so they hired ships going to Barbary, Alexandria or Constantinople. But the rich marani stayed at home. [And the king issued] an edict decreeing that all the pawned items that the Jews kept on hand, and those they had put in the banks should be returned to the owners in order to alleviate the scandal, even in those cases in which the terms of payment and the usury were put in writing, stating that the money should be paid on a certain date; and this happened not only in Naples, but in the entire kingdom, and in Apulia, where in many places there was great destruction of Jewish property. And even though the king made this provision, it did not prevent the sacking.”2

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 39 The trigger was, therefore, the docking of two ships carrying Jews and marani in Naples. This undisputable evidence for the continuing arrival of Jewish refu‑ gees long after 1492 raises questions on the process of expulsion and emigration of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. Sanuto provides no information as to the refugees’ identity and we can only speculate on the basis of the known waves of emigration in the wake of the expulsions. It is more than likely that the Jews and marani were coming from Portugal for reasons that shall be explained pres‑ ently. In 1492 large numbers of Castilian Jews and conversos crossed the border to Portugal, though their exact number is still unclear. Sources give widely diverse estimates that range between 600 households (casas) which would amount to about 3,000 individuals, to 20,000 families; and some suggest that as many as 300,000 individuals entered Portugal. However, not all immigrants were allowed to settle.3 A very reliable source in this regard is Judah Ḥayyat’s introduction to his Minḥat Yehudah. Judah Ḥayyat (ca. 1450–ca. 1510) recounts how already in the winter of 1493, after King João II ordered the Spanish exiles to leave Portugal, he and his family sailed from Lisbon together with 250 refugees. João’s order is confirmed by several independent sources. In February 1493 the king of Portugal had approved an ordinance passed by the town council of Benavente (close to the border with Castile) to expel the Castilian Jews from that town. According to other sources, the king ordered most of the exiles to leave Portugal before April 1493.4 The timetable reflected by Ḥayyat’s account explains how it is possible, or even probable, that the arrival of the ships in question was related to that expulsion. Ḥayyat describes the circumstances which forced the refugees to spend more than six months on board because they were not allowed to land anywhere for the first four months, and then, after being captured by a Basque ship, were forced to remain in Malaga for two more months (while attempts were made to force them to convert). After that, he and other refugees had to face extremely difficult conditions in North Af‑ rica. Many months later he arrived in Naples only to be robbed and beaten by the French soldiery.5 Ḥayyat left South Italy and finally settled in Mantua. Ḥayyat’s account, which offers instructive testimony on the route taken by Sephardic refu‑ gees who were forced to leave Portugal in the winter of 1493, explains how it was possible for a number of them to have arrived in Naples in January 1495. Sanuto mentions the coming of marani together with the Jews. Now the term marani often designates converted Jews of Spanish (or Portuguese) origin, but can also refer to unconverted Sephardic Jews. In Italian sources, it is occasionally used as a deroga‑ tory term for anyone hailing from Spain, including Old Christians.6 The confusion between Spanish Jews and Spanish conversos is particularly evident in Machi‑ avelli’s The Prince when referring to King Ferdinand’s policies: In addition, always using religion as a justification, in order to undertake greater schemes, he devoted himself with great cruelty to driving out and clearing his kingdom of the Marrani. There could not be a more admirable example, nor one more rare.7

40  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions English translations, as in the edition cited here, attempt to correct what they per‑ ceive as a mistake and render the word “marrani” found in the original as “Moors.” However, the Moors were not expelled by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1492, only the Jews were. In fact, neither were the conversos or “marani.” But Machiavelli’s use of this term epitomizes the confusion. Now, if Sanuto’s marani were Spanish converts who came on the ships alongside Jews, his description supports the hy‑ pothesis that the newcomers were Castilian Jews and converts who were expelled from Portugal by King João. To an impartial observer, it seems incredible that the mere addition of a few hundred new immigrants would cause such uproar. But Sanuto’s description evi‑ dences the extent of anti‑Jewish feelings, suppressed ever since the landing of the first wave of immigrants for almost three years. In part, the crowd’s reaction can be attributed to the Jews’ economic activities, especially money lending and the operation of pawn shops. The rioters demanded a cancellation of debts regardless of legal standing. Therefore, it appears that one of the reasons the Jews were hated so much was simply because people owed them money. The clearer it became that the Aragonese monarchy was losing to the French, the more emboldened the people became and readier to act against the Jews. Af‑ ter Capua transferred its allegiance to the king of France, Ferrante II returned to Naples and found that riots had broken out there. As noted above, Ferrante was desperate and probably had no compunction to sacrifice the Jews in order to gain popular support. Referring to King Charles policies towards the Jews, Sanuto re‑ marks that “he [Charles VIII of France] also agreed to let the marani return, and he gave them a safe‑guard (li dé salvo condutto), but then he broke it and demanded about 12,000 ducats.”8 This cannot but refer to a previous order concerning the expulsion of the “marani,” probably issued by Ferrante II on the eve of his defeat. The concessions granted to the city of Naples by Ferrante II at that time were confirmed after he regained his throne in May 1496. Regarding the Jews, the elected officials of the city demanded that they be removed from Naples, and those who remained should be forced to live together in a separate place (in loco apar‑ tato), without intermixing with the Christians; the city also petitioned the king that the Jews should be constrained to wear the special badge, and that he abolish certain rights previously granted by King Ferrante I.9 It is possible that the original order was not fully implemented in January 1495 because of the dire political and military situation, hence the insistence of the city officials that they be confirmed in 1496. But, there are indications that at least some Jews were forced to leave the city shortly after the original requests were approved. On 4 February 1495, the Camera Sommaria notified the capitano (the governor) of Castellammare di Sta‑ bia, a locality in Campania, close to Naples, that Mayr Cosen and his mother had to leave the town according to the royal order (como loro se intendeno partire per la ordinacione facta) and for that reason all people who entrusted their pawns to the Jew should come and recover them.10 The expulsion of the Jews from Naples is mentioned again in August 1495 in connection with the transfer of another Jewish family from Naples to Sorrento. The document refers to an order given by Alfonso II: “as it was at that time when the king Don Alfonso decreed that the Jews had

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 41 been given the order to depart from Naples and they embarked upon the vessel…” (como in tempo che fo data liscencia ali iudei devessero inscire da Napoli per lo signor Re don Alfonso se imbarcarono sopre la nave…).11 The timeline indicates that the order was issued in January or February 1495. If indeed it was known that the Jews were about to be expelled, it might explain the spread of the rumours that the Jews could be sacked with impunity. So far, this hypothesis might offer a plausible explanation for the break out of the initial riots in Naples. But, except for Gallo’s Diurnali, none of the contemporary chronicles mention the order of expulsion. According to Gallo, in May 1496 the Jews started to leave Naples. He specifies that the order was given at the insistence of the “people of Naples” (lo Puopolo di Napoli) and that the nobles opposed it because they had no wish to lose the income from the houses, that is, rents and other revenue.12 But Gallo has nothing to say about the king’s earlier orders in 1495. Only Sanuto, in his account of King Charles’s expedition, tersely observes that the Jews were indeed expelled. However, he attributes the sacking of the few Jews that were left to the French.13 Notar Giacomo describes the beginning of the anti‑Jewish riots that broke out in the city in February 1495. He blames the sacking on the locals, both the nobles and the common people: “And in Naples, on 18 February, on a Wednesday, all the Jews of Naples were robbed and so it happened all over the kingdom, as well as in the castle of Capuana, because the nobles let the people understand that everybody should go to the city walls, as the Swiss14 wanted to enter the city and the said nobles started robbing the said Jews and the castle of Capuana; and be‑ cause on 19 [February] King Ferrando II returned to Naples and commenced to give many horses and mules to the nobles, and the royal stables and the arsenal were sacked and burned, and the same was done to the arsenal and the Ferrandine shipyard…”15 Notar Giacomo doesn’t mention the arrival of the ships and the ensuing riot, nor the order of expulsion; according to his chronicle, the initial outburst against the Jews and the looting of Jewish property was sudden and unexplained. But it can be better understood if it was a reaction to a proposed expulsion of the Jews. However, the sack of the castle of Capuana and the attack on the Jews who sought refuge in it seems to have been part of a more generalized riot that did not target the Jews alone. Another contemporary source, the chronicle of Antonello Coniger, which is mainly concerned with events that occurred in Lecce and in Apulia sheds little more light on the anti‑Jewish riot in Naples. Other than providing a different date for the beginning of the riot – 16 February – Coniger’s account agrees in general lines with that of Notar Giacomo: “On 16 February the Neapolitans rose up in violence and robbed the Giu‑ decca [the Jewish quarter16] and all the places where the Jews lived, and worse, they sacked the Castle of Capuana, the royal stables, the arsenal, and

42  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions the treasures of the House of Aragon. Seeing that, King Ferrante II, and Don Federico [his uncle], came riding on their horses to face the Neapolitans and pleaded with them to have pity on the innocent, claiming that even though the king’s father [King Alfonso II who abdicated] had offended them, they intended to make amends, but these words convinced only a few.”17 Coniger’s narrative provides an explanation of the chronology of the events (although he sometimes errs as to the exact dates) that complements that of Notar Giacomo. At first, confined to the city of Naples, further riots broke out throughout the kingdom only after King Charles VIII’s triumphal entrance in the capital. Coniger dates his entry to 21 February, anticipating the correct date by one day only, as the French king actually entered Naples on 22 February and was then lodged in the Castle of Capuana. A few days later, news of Charles’s conquest of Naples reached Lecce, and this, according to Coniger, triggered the first attack on the Jews of that city. On 26 February, as rumours that the king of France had taken Naples reached Lecce, the entire populace rose up in arms and after sacking the castle where most of the Jews had taken refuge with their goods, they sacked the entire Giudecca. They held swords but no one died and the looting continued for some time,18 as they kept finding hidden money and valuables.19 Was the attack on the Jews an extension of the general looting, as happened in Naples, or was it directed at them specifically? Were the townspeople induced to action by the realization that, once the Aragonese had been defeated, the Jews were no longer under royal protection? In any event, as happened elsewhere in similar situations, the Jews tried to seek refuge in the fortified castle. Unfortunately, as was the case during the Shepherds’ Crusade (1320),20 or the riots of 1391 in Castile and Aragon,21 the city castle did not offer the hoped‑for security, and the mob overran, looted, and sacked the place. Benedetta de Balmes, daughter of a prominent Jewish family of Lecce,22 pro‑ vides an eyewitness account of these events. In a complaint addressed to King Federico after the restoration of the Aragonese dynasty, she describes the circum‑ stances that caused her to appeal to a Christian acquaintance when the townspeople breached the castle of Lecce. Benedetta’s story is quoted by Ferorelli who relied on a no‑longer extant document; therefore, we only have partial testimony:23 “As she [Benedetta] was a widow, having no male relative to sustain her, she believed she was safe in the castle… until one day the castle gate was opened and the townspeople entered with looting in mind, and she, lacking any kind of help or favour, saw Joanpaolo de Guarino whom she knew, having done him many services and knowing him as a friend, and she saw a brother of his, and so she took him aside and entrusted him with a parcel in which there was a quantity of gold and silver, pearls, and other jewels worth between four and five hundred ducats, pleading with him to keep it for her in the greatest confidence.” Later, the nobleman Joanpaolo de Guarino refused to return the goods and in 1497 Benedetta appealed to the king. Benedetta’s account sheds light on the sequence

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 43 of events. The Jews first sought help from Christian neighbours; then, the Lecce commune (università), or rather the city governing body, ordered the Jews to take their goods and go to the castle for their safety. It should be pointed out that this demonstrates, as do most Italian narratives, that it was mainly popular elements who carried out the anti‑Jewish attacks, and that the governing body of the city and the elites tried to prevent anti‑Jewish violence. It is also interesting to note that at that point no one was killed and no one was forced to convert. Coniger stresses this fact and comments that even when the rioters were looting the giudecca with swords in hand, they did not kill anyone. Even so, the growing unrest and uncertainty provoked the flight of a number of Jews and converts from Apulia. A letter from Venice dated February 16 mentions a previous missive dated February 8 that had been sent by the Count of Lesina to inform the Venetian Senate about the arrival of forty families of Jews and “marani” from Apulia. Lesina, then under Venetian rule, is an island off the Dalmatian coast, now Hvar in Croatia. The Venetian authorities told the Count of Lesina that the immigrants will not be permitted to settle there or in any Venetian dominion and or‑ dered him to oversee their departure to other places.24 The date, February 8, shows that Jews and New Christians feared the consequences of the war and decided to depart even before Charles VIII’s entry in Naples. Since this predates the riots that led to the forced conversions, the “marani” mentioned in this document were either new immigrants of Spanish origins, or more likely, members of the “old” neofiti group. The Forced Conversions of 1495 A few weeks after the first outburst in Lecce, on March 12, another riot broke out there: “On 12 March all the people of Lecce rioted, shouting ‘death, death25 to the Jews unless they become Christians’ and thus a great number of them became Christians. And they [the people] furiously dragged the Bishop of Lecce [Marc Antonio Tolomei26] and brought him to the square on the same day in order to consecrate the Jewish synagogue as a church to Santa Maria della Gratia,27 bringing two thousand figures of saints to celebrate Mass.”28 This time the Jews were forced to choose between death and conversion. It is un‑ clear what brought this change in the crowds’ mood, or how looting and sacking turned into religious zeal. No preacher is mentioned in Coniger’s account. The official church was in fact so reluctant to involve itself that the people had to drag the bishop of Lecce to the square in order to make him consecrate the synagogue and turn it into a church; it was clearly not the prelate’s initiative. The riots and mass conversion at Lecce follow known patterns. A political‑military crisis brings disruption of central government in its wake, and the people, that is, the lower classes, riot and attack the Jews. Looting is also part of the usual pattern as is the initial attempt of the local government to protect the Jews by offering them shelter

44  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions in the fortified castle, as seen from Benedetta’s actions. But her mention of Joan‑ paolo de Guarino, whom she knew well, shows that the attackers were indeed lo‑ cals, not strangers. Attempts to save property by entrusting it to Christians are also mentioned in the chronicle of Elijah Capsali, which is one of the better‑informed Jewish Hebrew sources on the kingdom of Naples in this period: “and in those days the Jews entrusted their property to the gentiles in order to save it from the robbers’ wicked hands, but when the Jews returned and asked for it, the gentiles denied everything and refused them.”29 Coniger’s narrative reveals that some of the Jews stayed with Christians in order to avoid the rioters,30 but essentially to no avail. According to Coniger, the riots of Lecce ended with the conversion of most of the city Jews. Coniger’s chronicle is also the only source that describes an incident in which Jews chose death over conversion, but he expresses no pity for their plight: “on the evil and perfidious Jews it so happens that I have to tell you about a horrible inci‑ dent” (de Malinghi et perfiti Judei me accade narrarvi uno orribil caso): “on the day the cry “death to Jews unless they become Christians” was heard in Lecce, certain Spanish Jews who were staying in the house of a gentleman named Pierri Sambiasi, five people, men and women together, threw them‑ selves into a well so as not to be forced to convert to Christianity. One man who was the husband of one of the women was the fourth to jump in and he found himself on top of his wife and two others who rose out because of his fall, and did not sink into the water; and having regretted their decision, they climbed the stairs of the well, and the fifth, who was his son, fell in into the well… [here some words are missing in the published version] and the two went into the water and on top of these went in the father but he rose up, and the son tried to drown him in order to save himself, and then the father took a knife he kept next to his body and killed the son. The people of the house ran out when they heard the screams and dragged out the living father and the other four dead ones.”31 This description of the poor desperate people falling on top of one another and struggle between father and son in well, lends the entire episode a grotesque aspect but at the same time turns it into an all‑too‑human tragedy. It is important, however, to draw attention to the fact that this narrative was penned by a hostile author who sought to underscore the absurdity and futility of the Jews’ actions. For other places in the Kingdom of Naples we lack such detailed descriptions of the events. Never‑ theless, a variety of sources mention the conversion of Jews in Calabria, in the city of Naples, and in Apulia. Sanuto has little to say about the conversions, but men‑ tions the sacking of Jewish property in Lecce and Trani. He adds that some Jews were tortured in order to force them to reveal where they kept their valuables.32 Under such conditions, it stands to reason that there were Jews who converted to escape the torments. In 1496, after the restoration of the Aragonese dynasty, the New Christians of Catanzaro in Calabria petition the king to stop their harassment by officials and

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 45 inquisitors. The king responds by appointing certain good Christians to guide and teach them about their new faith. The king’s response indicates that these were new converts who probably embraced Christianity sometime in 1495. It could be that the majority of the Jews who used to live there converted since the synagogue of Catanzaro was turned into a church, an act confirmed by a papal bull issued in 1497.33 Montalto’s synagogue was also turned into a church following the conver‑ sion of the local Jews.34 A Sicilian labour contract from 1496 provides some information as to the cir‑ cumstances that led to the conversion of a woman named Dominica, formerly from Palermo. Her story is told by the Sicilian nobleman Yani (Iohannes?) de Cusencio, who acted as her representative: Yani de Cusencio… told Dominica’s story, saying that while still living in the Jewish perfidy, she had been captured by enemies in the kingdom of Naples, in the province of Calabria. And as she was being detained by the enemies, because she feared for her life, it so pleased God that she had recently be‑ came baptized.35 Dominica was ransomed by Yani de Cusencio who later brought her to Randazzo, in eastern Sicily; there the nobleman retrieved the ransom money by selling her as a servant to a local family. Her labour contract stipulated that she was to remain in service until the entire sum was paid. The reference to enemies who forced her to convert seems to refer to the French. Another Sicilian Jew, Bernardo Russu of Sem‑ inara in Calabria, clearly converted during the French occupation. In July 1495, at a time when the order was being restored throughout the kingdom of Naples, Russu asked the Sicilian authorities to return the property he had previously sent to Messina “because of his fear of the French who were having the run of the land” (per timuri di li francisci chi cursiro la dicta terra). But the property had been seized by the commissioner for Jewish property in Sicily under the pretext that it belonged to Jews. However, the inventory was kept in the hands of Esau Russu baron of Bagnara, and thus, the petitioner had proof of its value and contents. The Sicilian authorities recognized his claim and described his case as follows: “As the said Bernardo has been baptized and has become a Christian, ac‑ cording to the petition addressed to us, we… order you to return to Bernardo all the clothes and property, except certain silver which was included in the inventory and belonged to his brother, the Jew, and this would be given to the treasury and he will be provided with a receipt for it….36 The document reveals how Sicilian officials in charge of Jewish property proceeded in such cases. They first ascertained that Bernardo indeed had been baptized in Seminara, apparently under the patronage of a local nobleman, Esau Russu, baron of Bagnara. Bernardo’s brother, however, remained a Jew, and therefore his por‑ tion of the property was deducted from the total and reserved for the Sicilian treas‑ ury.37 Bernardo’s story provides several important clues to the conversions of 1495.

46  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions The reference to the patronage of the baron of Bagnara reveals the involvement of local nobles who perhaps offered protection to those who chose to convert. Fear of the French was undoubtedly one of the leading causes of conversion but, as can be inferred from Bernardo’s petition, some converted in order to save their property rather than their lives. Lastly, as happened in other cases, not all family members converted: Bernardo’s brother remained a Jew. Another Sicilian exile, Donato Canet, converted to Christianity, taking the name Pietro de Bologna, while his brother Crixi Canet remained a Jew.38 Mosè de Balmes, son of the physician Abraham de Balmes, converted to Christianity while his sister Benedetta remained a Jew.39 Manfredo La Muta, formerly a Jew of Palermo, converted during the French occupation and later returned to Sicily. Manfredo declared in his will written in 1505 that he had lost his wife’s marriage contract ten years before, during the disturbances of 1495: “he confirmed that the Ketubbah together with certain other writings were lost during the war in the Kingdom of Naples caused by the invasion of the French and the French king” (chitubam una cum certis aliis scripturis asserit amisisse tempore guerrari regni Neapolis invasi per gallos et regem gallorum).40 Although Manfredo did not specify that he converted at that time, it stands to rea‑ son that all the family converted in southern Italy during the French occupation and then returned to Sicily as Christians.41 The testimony given by Colau Aragones at his trial in Saragossa also refers to the widespread conversions in this period. He tells about his attempt to find work in Naples and adds that by that time, “as he intended to convert, he went to Trapani in Sicily as the wind carried them (note the plural: los aporto el viento) and there he became a Christian.”42 Colau does not supply exact dates for his peregrinations but his story fits in with the historical data and can be placed in the appropriate context. His family left Aragon at the time of the expulsion in 1492 and settled for some time in the town of Santa Agata (see Chapter 1). After the death of his father, possibly during the epidemic of 1493, Colau went to Naples in search of work as a weaver. If he was in Naples shortly before the French occupation, he was probably present during the outbursts against the Jews. At any rate, he decided to leave the kingdom. In order to explain why he converted in Sicily, we need to move sideways and call attention to an unu‑ sual agreement concerning the exiled Jews of Sicily. As noted in Chapter 1, many of them arrived in the kingdom of Naples following their expulsion from Sicily. The violent outbursts of the winter of 1495 affected most of the Jewish communi‑ ties in the kingdom of Naples but it is quite possible that the newcomers were hit hardest. Following these events, a considerable number of Sicilian Jews, prob‑ ably the wealthiest, decided to return to Sicily. A secret agreement was concluded in September 1495 between the converted physician Ferrando de Aragona, who acted as the representative (procurator) of the Sicilian Jews and converts, and King Ferdinand the Catholic acting in concert with certain members of his court. The agreement stipulated that exiles who converted to Christianity would be permitted to return to Sicily and recover their goods and assets after ceding forty‑five percent of their value to the Crown. Numerous Sicilian documents deal with the process of asset recovery and taxation. At the end of this process, in 1508, the king and his

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 47 officials collected 65,000 florins from the payment of the forty‑five percent tax.43 The amount indicates that the number of those who returned was far from negli‑ gible and that most of them had valuable property that they could and did recover. The story told by Colau Aragones shows that a number of other refugees joined the returning Sicilians as attested by his use of the plural when speaking of “those carried by the wind” (los aporto el viento) that came to Trapani in order to convert there. This testimony proves that not all conversions in this period were caused by straightforward coercion, and yet, the conversion of Sicilian exiles and others who joined them, such as Colau, would not have occurred were it not for the disastrous events of 1495. Additional information on the conversions in the Kingdom of Naples can be found in the rabbinic Responsa of this period.44 An important Jewish source that sheds light on the problems faced by the Jews living in Apulia and Calabria shortly after the events of 1495 is the collection of queries and responses of the Sicilian rabbi Hayyim ben Shabbetai Yonah, active between 1497 and 1508. Although lit‑ tle is known about his personal history, Rabbi Hayyim Yonah was apparently a well‑known scholar, praised by R. Judah Minz of Padua for his rulings, and later in life, befriended by Don Isaac Abravanel.45 Circa 1497, while in Trani, Rabbi Hayyim was asked to rule on the validity of a marriage contracted in that city some two years earlier by Elia son of Shabbetai Demmensi and a young woman named Mazal Tov. Shabbetai Demmensi, his son Elia, and his two sons-in-law – Moses Taguil and Menaḥem Actun46 – were all converted in Naples during the French occupation of the city. According to the responsum, Shabbetai’s family left Naples and came to Trani where they lived as Jews for a short time, all the while hiding their conversion from the local Christians. But then, still fearing the gentiles, they left Trani for Barletta. There too, fearing discovery and their branding as apostates, they left Italy altogether for Valona (Vlorë, now in Albania), then an Ottoman port. Then Elia died in Valona. In this case, it was clearly the French who forced them to convert, rather than local crowds. They tried to revert to Judaism in a place they would not be well known, fleeing Naples for the province of Apulia. But even there they feared discovery. Bearing in mind that at the time there was no effective inquisition in the kingdom of Naples, it is likely that they felt threatened by the local populace, or perhaps by the local clergy. Other cases are described in the re‑ sponsa of contemporary rabbis. Rabbi David ha‑Cohen of Corfu (d. ca. 1530) was asked to give his opinion on the case of a woman named Hannah from Strongoli in Calabria, where she and her family converted to Christianity, and then married another convert. Later Hannah left Italy and reverted to Judaism in Corfu. She then wished to be married to a Jew. Unsure of her status, the community of Corfu sent a letter to the Jewish community of Strongoli asking about Hannah and her family. The reply from Strongoli reveals important details on the conversion and marriage of the young woman: We, the signatories, are testifying that the young woman Hannah from the city of Istrugilu (Strongoli),47 is the daughter of an honored elder of our commu‑ nity whose name was Nissim bar Shabbetai. After the sack and the plunder,

48  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions the evil persecutions and the forced conversions that befell the Jewish communities and also this congregation, leaving us impoverished, those mentioned above, that is, father and daughter, were among those who were forced to convert from the Holy Faith, for their sins. The girl was sought out by a convert matchmaker who arranged her marriage to a convert of the holy community of Kitron (Crotone), and the matchmaker vowed to get her out of this province and bring her to Turkey where it is possible to worship the Divine Name as before…48 The letter quoted in the responsum refers to the forced conversions only in general terms and unfortunately omits such details as who forced the Jews to convert – the French, or the locals? Why was this family forced to convert while other members of the community remained Jews? The answer to these questions must await fur‑ ther studies. However, it confirms the forced conversion of Jews living in Strongoli. Before sailing to Corfu, Hannah’s husband helped her board the ship but then left her on the pretext that he forgot some of his baggage and never returned. And so she sailed without him. In other words, he decided to stay on to continue living as a Christian in Italy. Unfortunately, the query and responsum omit any reference to the exact time Hannah left Strongoli. The Jews of Strongoli were expelled by an order of King Ferrante II decreed in September 1495.49 A similar case concerning a converted woman from Apulia named Paloba (prob‑ ably Palomba or Paloma50) was addressed to R. Benyamin ben Matatya (ca. 1475– ca. 1539), rabbi of the community of Arta in the Epirus. Since this woman married a convert according to Christian rites and then reverted to Judaism, the rabbi was asked if she could remarry and be wed to a Jew. Her first husband, however, man‑ aged to bribe certain “men of the court,” probably local noblemen, to avoid the expulsion of 1511.51 Whereas some converts chose to emigrate, others stayed put and lived on as New Christians. And often certain members of the same family converted and some remained Jews. There are many such examples where families split into Christians and Jews in the aftermath of the conversions. Mosè de Balmes, son of the physi‑ cian Abraham de Balmes, converted to Christianity while his sister remained a Jew.52 Benedetta de Balmes, however, never converted as can be inferred from her petition addressed to King Federigo in 1497. Modern studies, as well as contempo‑ rary sources, give the impression that men accepted conversion more readily than women. This is apparently true for the mass conversions of 1391 and the conver‑ sions that occurred on the eve of the expulsion in 1492 in Spain; at the time of the general expulsion from Spain, women were praised for being more stalwart than men.53 The same trend can be discerned in Sicily on the eve of the expulsion as certain women chose to divorce their converted husbands rather than join them in their conversion.54 The sources cited above also indicate that in 1495, it was usu‑ ally men who converted, unless the entire family embraced Christianity. However, there is a caveat to these conclusions because we do not possess a census of the old neofiti or the New Christians present in the Kingdom of Naples in the aftermath of the events of 1495; therefore, the total number of conversions remains unknown,

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 49 and the same is true for gender distribution. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, men tend to be mentioned in official sources more than women, and therefore, it is dif‑ ficult to know the ratio of converted women as opposed to converted men. Were the newly arrived Jews affected more than the locals? Coniger’s narra‑ tive describes the forced conversion of the Jews of Lecce who were probably lo‑ cal Jews. The exception is the family of Spanish Jews who threw themselves into the well. Sicilian sources, rarely cited before in this context, naturally regard only Sicilian Jews, and so, Sicilian documents mention several Jews of Sicilian origins who converted at that time: Dominica who ended as a convert in Randazzo, Man‑ fredo La Muta who returned to Palermo, and Bernardo Russu of Seminara. The responsa of Rabbi Hayyim ben Shabbetai Yonah, himself a Sicilian, also mentions Sicilian Jews who converted during the French occupation. The women mentioned in the responsa of Rabbi David ha‑Cohen and Rabbi Benyamin ben Matatya appear to be members of the local communities, but since very little details are given, this remains uncertain. A contemporary Hebrew chron‑ icle simply states: And there were great congregations in Naples and the nearby towns, and in the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, and most of them were lost on account of our sins ‘and those destined for the sword, to the sword, those destined for captivity, to captivity’ (Jeremiah 43:11) and those destined for leaving the fold, to leave the fold [i.e. convert].55 The Hebrew text does not distinguish between newcomers and local Jews. Don Isaac Abravanel, who was in Naples until the French invasion and knew of the Jews’ sufferings, describes the disasters of 1495 in his introduction to his com‑ mentary on Deuteronomy: “…and the Lord will whistle to the fly (Isaiah 7:18), the king of France who destroyed us… conquered the land… Every man did as he pleased (Judges 17: 6), the Lord’s community was like sheep that have no shepherd (Numbers 27:17), and many of the people of the land professed to be Jews for the fear that had fallen upon them (paraphrase of Esther 8:17) for dread they trans‑ gressed teachings, violated laws.” (paraphrase of Isaiah 24:5)…56 The final sentence about the people professing to be Jews should be understood to mean exactly the opposite, namely that the Jews were professing to be Christians out of fear. One more reference to the events of 1495 comes from a colophon writ‑ ten by a Sephardic Jew, Isaac bar Abraham ben Khalilia on his copy of Nicolaus Praepositus’s Antidotarium57: [the copying of this work] was completed here in the city of Sora58 near the border of the kingdom of Naples, at the beginning of the rule of the abomina‑ tion on the 33rd [day] of the Counting of the Omer59 in the year 5255.60

50  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions This date according to the Common Era turns out to be 21 May 1495. Although the term “abomination” used by the copyist does not usually figure among the Hebrew terms applied to conversion, it is still associated with idolatry in the Bible and in medieval Hebrew writings.61 In my view, there is little doubt that the colophon refers to the forced conversions that took place in the kingdom of Naples during this period. The uprising against the Jews started in February 1495 and conversions took place all over the kingdom during the winter months. Moreover, one of the worst outbursts occurred in Lecce on 12 March 1495, so it stands to reason that, when the copyist wrote in May 1495, he knew about the forced conversions and applied the word “abomination” to these events. Charles VIII and the Conversion of the Jews Most contemporary sources (except for the case of Lecce) attribute the conversions to the French occupation but it is doubtful that a mass conversion of the Jews was actually planned by Charles VIII. Nevertheless, fear of the French and a general atmosphere of despair played a crucial role in the conversions. The anonymous He‑ brew chronicle cited above offers well‑reasoned arguments that explain Charles’s actions: “And that was because the French pillaged and destroyed them, and many were converted for fear of the French, even though the king of the French did not wish the Jews to be harmed, and he protected them whenever he entered the cit‑ ies.” But it does not overlook the effects of the general state of anarchy and the popular riots: “And the [local] crowds too lost their fear of the king of Naples’s government, and they stood up against the Jews to despoil them and force them to convert.”62 At most, the French king did too little to prevent acts of violence committed by either his own soldiery or the local inhabitants. Pressure to convert came from below, exerted by popular elements, whether local or French. Although no massacres are reported, violence and the threat of violence are present in all the extant narratives, and therefore, fear of death was likely a deciding factor in the resulting conversions. Despite the absence of reported massacres, many features of the events of 1495 are comparable with the riots of 1391 in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. In a recently published article, Benjamin Gampel has drawn attention to several cru‑ cial questions raised by the riots of 1391 in the Aragonese territories, arguing that none of the reasons given by modern scholars fully explains their virulence, rapid spread, and the resulting conversions.63 According to Gampel, the behaviour of the Jews’ protectors and their failure to act contributed to the proliferation and success of the riots. This argument is valid to some extent for all mass conversions which were brought about by popular pressure, or by groups acting in contravention of the traditional frameworks that regulated the status of the Jews in Christian Europe. Princes, bishops, and town elites failed to protect the Rhineland Jewish communi‑ ties during the First Crusade when confronted by crusading bands or town mobs; it was the lack of effective rule in Castile during the minority of King Henry II, and the weakness of King John I of Aragon, that failed to protect the Spanish Jewish communities against the rioters of 1391.64 It can similarly be argued that the lack

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 51 of government in the kingdom of Naples facilitated the spread and violence of the 1495 riots. Even before the fall of the Aragonese dynasty, Ferrante’s successors were unable, or unwilling, to protect the Jews. After the victory of King Charles VIII, the Jews’ fate depended on the French monarch’s decisions. But Charles’s policy regarding the Jews was never spelled out and he made no real effort to pro‑ tect them. Charles’s inconsistency is demonstrable also in regard to his attitude to‑ wards the marani (converted Jews, or Jews coming from the Iberian Peninsula). In some cases, New Christians too were robbed and forced to leave their hometowns. In a petition addressed to the Venetian ambassador in Trani (after the defeat of the French), the petitioners state that the mercanti christiani novelli (New Christian merchants) had left the city during the French invasion and moved to Barletta and other places throughout the kingdom.65 As noted by Vito Vitale in his study on Trani published over a hundred years ago, the use of this particular term mercanti christiani novelli, identifying the New Christians as “merchants,” indicates that these were the descendants of the neofiti who converted in the 1290s, rather than those recently converted.66 At first, Charles permitted the return of the marani expelled by Ferrante II and offered them safeguards, but afterwards he broke his promise and demanded that they pay him 12,000 ducats.67 But were his vacillation and complacent attitude towards the rioters motivated by anti‑Semitism or sincere support of forced conver‑ sions? Not necessarily. King Charles’s failure to protect the Jews should be com‑ pared with his lack of interest in the sufferings of the local population in general. As the French army descended on the Italian Peninsula, Charles made no effort to protect local people from the ravages and depredations wrought by his soldiers. Many contemporary sources describe the cruelty of the French soldiers who spared no one, took no prisoners, and did not hesitate to destroy a church if it was in their way.68 This assessment of the situation seems to confirm Gampel’s argument for lack of effective royal protection as an important, if not crucial, element in the unfolding of events. Whereas widespread conversion was the most striking result of the riots of 1391, there were massacres and manifestations of martyrdom and plunder.69 There are many, varied explanations for the outbreak of the riots in 1391: some focus almost exclusively on theological and religious aspects; others stress the role of so‑ cial and economic conditions in Castile and Aragon during the preceding period.70 The outbreak of 1495 incorporates most of these elements. Enmity towards Jews because of their role as moneylenders, pawnbrokers, and competitors in a variety of economic enterprises was certainly an important factor, but this state of affairs was characteristic of Jewish existence almost everywhere during the medieval and early modern periods. Without assigning too much weight to the economic factor, Sanuto clearly reports that one of the demands of the rioters in Naples in January 1495 was the cancellation of loans and the return of pawned items. Many com‑ plaints addressed to the Sommaria between 1497 and 1498 after the restoration of the Aragonese dynasty mention the seizing of pawned objects, bankruptcy, and loss of property.71 New Christians were also affected by the riots and disturbances that occurred during the French occupation and had their property seized.72 Complaints

52  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions and petitions demanding either the return of the goods or permission to keep what was looted or seized figure in many pleas addressed to the Sommaria or the Vene‑ tian authorities between 1496 and 1500. Although it is difficult to assess the importance of religious factors in the out‑ break of 1495, some religious aspects merit attention. It is possible that the sermons of the Franciscan Roberto Caracciolo of Lecce prepared the way for the outbreak of violence in that city. A stronger case can be made for the so called prophecy of St. Cathaldus. Ferrante I refused to consider it, but the fame of the prophecy spread far and wide, even worrying the pope, Alexander VI. And yet, according to Sanuto, the first riot broke out in Naples in January 1495 while King Ferrando (Ferrante II) was still the reigning monarch and was sparked by the arrival of two ships carry‑ ing new Jewish immigrants. This incident, as well as other complaints addressed to the former king, Ferrante I, and the Sommaria, shows that there was widespread resentment against the arrival of the first wave of refugees in the kingdom of Naples. To date, no study on the effects of such a large wave of immigration on the Neapolitan economy and society has been undertaken, but there can be little doubt that both were affected to some extent. The acts of robbery and violence committed by the French soldiery are not difficult to explain, as any invading army tended to pillage and destroy property. The soldiers targeted the Jews because they were a weaker element and because, as seen above, they did not enjoy local support. King Charles VIII could have intervened, but he did not prevent such acts. However, whereas robbery, violence, and even murder, can be understood as the unavoidable consequence of invasion, forced conversion is another matter. Charles VIII saw his invasion of Italy and the conquest of Naples as a religious mission and holy crusade whose ultimate goal was the recovery of the Holy Land. Given the prevailing atmosphere, it is not sur‑ prising that religious fervour played a role in the acts of the French soldiery, and this might explain the preference for conversion over the massacre. For their part, the Jews were probably demoralized by manifold disasters that occurred in such a short time: the expulsions from Spain and Sicily, the terrible plague that decimated the population of Naples in 1493, the death of Ferrante I, the French invasion, and the outbreaks of violence. The general state of anarchy in southern Italy in any case prevented effective interference by the authorities. No one attempted to quell the riots and there was no judiciary power in place to punish the offenders. If Gampel’s assessment that the main cause for the spread of the riots in 1391 was the weakness of the mon‑ archy, how much more would a total absence of central power have contributed to the disaster of 1495? Finally, an examination of the events of 1495 leads to the conclusion that many shared factors can be found in mass conversions fuelled by popular violence: economic resentment for the role of the Jews as moneylenders and pawnbrokers, popular religious fervour that overrides the more conservative attitudes of the established Church and, above all, the absence of a strong central power that permits deterioration into a general state of anarchy.

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 53 Notes 1 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno spagnolo, 58–59; Passero, Giornali, 64; on the other hand, Notar Giacomo, in Cronica di Napoli describes Ferrante II riding around the city and being acclaimed as king but makes no mention of a tumult: Ibid., 185. 2 “Napolitani vedendo che el populo havea fatto quelle moveste, a di 26 et 27 Zener [1495], contra zudei et marani, et che Ferando al meglio havea potuto tasentò quel pop‑ ulo, et a caso ivi era gionto do navilii di zudei… più el populo se inanimò, et parte fonno malamenati, et disseno al Re non volevano nè marani nè zudei più in Napoli. Et el Re ordinò dovesseno partirsi, et cussì nolizono navilii chi per Barbaria, chi per Alexandria, et chi per Constantinopoli. Li marani ricchi steveno in caxa. Or fu fatto uno editto che tutti li pegni che zudei si ritrovava in le man, et quelli tenivano banco, et cadauno doves‑ seno per obviar li scandoli render de chi erano, tamen che li fuesse uno scritto di pagarli lo cavedal et usura infra tanto termine, et non solamente in Napoli ma per tutto el Reame et in la Puia (=Puglia), dove in varii luogi contra zudei era fatto gran destrusione. Et ben che fusse fatto questa provisione, per questo non restò che non fusse sachizati,” Marino Sanuto, La Spedizione, 206. 3 According to Portuguese royal documents only 600 “casas” were allowed to settle in return for payment of an entry tax. Jewish writers, however, give estimates between 600,000 and 120,000 individuals, whereas the chronicle of the Castilian priest Andrés Bernáldez (a relatively reliable source) gives 93,000 as the number of exiles who crossed into Portugal in 1492. The chronicle of the Portuguese Damiăo de Góis mentions the number of 20,000 families, see: Maria José Ferro Tavares, Os Judeus em Portugal no século XV (Lisbon: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciencias Sociais e Hu‑ mana, 1982), 252–257. On the different estimates, see: François Soyer, The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal. King Manuel and the End of Religious Tolerance (1496‑7) (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2007), 102–107. 4 Soyer, Persecution of the Jews and Muslims, 116, 123–128. 5 Judah Ḥayyat, Minḥat Yehudah: Peyrush le‑sefer ma’arekhet ha‑elokut [Offering of Ju‑ dah: Commentary to the Book on the Divine Order] (Mantua: Meir ben Ephraim, 1558), 7–8. 6 Arturo Farinelli, Marrano (Storia di un vituperio) (Geneva: Olschki, 1925). On the meaning of the term marrano or marani in Italy, see also Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 32–35. 7 The confusion between Spanish Jews and Spanish conversos is particularly evident in Machiavelli’s The Prince when referring to the expulsion from Spain: “Oltre a questo, per potere intraprendere maggiore imprese, servandosi sempre della religione si volse a una pietosa crudeltà, cacciando e spogliando el suo regno de’ Marrani: né può essere questo esemplo più miserabile né più raro,” Niccolò Machiavelli, “Il Principe,” edited by Mario Bonfantini, in La letteratura italiana: Storia e testi, 72 vols., edited by R. Mattoli et al. (Milan: Riccardo Ricciardi Editore, 1954), vol. 29, 72. For an English translation, see Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, translated and edited by William Con‑ nel (Boston, MA: Bedford St. Martins, 2005), 109. At any rate, I followed the original Italian text and left “marrani” as it appears there. 8 “Achora [fu] contento Marani ritornasse, et li dé salvo condutto, poi lo rumpete, et li retene, et manzò zerca ducati 12 milia,” Sanuto, La spedizione, 241. 9 Nicolaus de Bottis, Privilegii et Capitoli con altre Gratie concessi alla fidelissima Città di Napoli et regno per li serenissimi ri di Casa di Aragona confirmati et di nuovo con‑ cessi per la Maestà Cesarea dell’Imperatore Carlo Quinto et re Filippo nostro signore (Naples: Pietro Dusinelli, 1588), articles XVIII–XXII, 22. These articles are cited and discussed by Francesco Senatore, “Menasse judio tedesco e Josep medico ebreo,” Sefer Yuhasin 8 (2020): 188–189.

54  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 10 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 41, fol. 208v: Cesare Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei a Napoli e in Campania nei secoli XV‑XVI,” Sefer Yuhasin 12 (1996): 30; Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 198. 11 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 38, fol. 199v: Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei a Napoli e in Campania,” 31–32. The document is dated 26 August 1495 but refers to the events of January or February that year (that is, shortly before the French took Naples). 12 Gallo, Diurnali, 27–28. 13 “Li Zudei sonno scaciati, et messi a saco quelli pochi erano restati, da Franzesi,” Sanuto, La spedizione, 246. 14 Probably the Swiss mercenaries who fought with the French army of invasion. 15 “Dove che innapoli ali XVIII defebrero de mercoridi 1495 foro sacchizati innapoli tucti li iudey et pertucto lo regno si ancho lo castello decapuana perche li gentilomini donaro ad intendere che ogni uno devesse andare alle mura per che li sguizari volevano intrare et dicti gentilomini se possero ad sacchizare dicti iudei et lo castello decapuana perelche ali XVIIII decto dicto re ferrando secundo retormo innapoli et incomenzo ad donare multi cavalli et muli ad piu gentilomini et fo sacchizata la cavallaricia si ancho lo ter‑ zanale et depo posto foco, adicto tarzenale et alla nave ferrandina,” Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 186. 16 The Jews of Naples were not confined to a ghetto, nor was there a well‑defined gi‑ udecca or Jewish quarter. During the fifteenth century, under the favourable rule of the Aragonese dynasty, there were several concentrations of Jews in Naples: the Via Giudeca Grande, the Giudechella a Vico Sinoca (the small giudecca in the street of the synagogue), and another Giudechella was founded in 1492 after the arrival of the exiles from Spain and Sicily. See Giancarlo Lacerenza, “La topografia storica delle giudecche di Napoli nei secoli X–XVI,” Materia Giudaica 11 (2006): 113–142. 17 “Die 16 Februari Napolitani se levaro a remore et saccheggiaro la Judeca, et in omne loco dove habitavano Judei, et peggio, che saccheggiaro tutto lo Castello di Capovana (=Capuana), la Cavallarizza, et l’arsenaru, e donca era robba de Casa de Ragona. Ve‑ dendo questo Re Ferrante secondo, et Don Federico se fero a cavallo avanti Napoletani pregandoli, che havessero pietate d’esso innocente, che se suo padre l’haveva offeso, chísso era per restaurare tutti, ma poco jurava tali parole,” Coniger, “Cronache,” 5, 30. 18 In the printed edition of Coniger’s chronicle the word appears as torni (see note 12 be‑ low) In Italian torno (pl. torni) can refer to “giro, torno di tempo, attorno a quel tempo,” translated as a period of time, at that time. See Vocabolario della lingua italiana, edited by Nicola Zingarelli (Bologna: Zanichelli, 1997). But this could be a misprint of the word “iorni,” days. 19 “Die 26 di febraro essendo in Lecce fama ch’el Re di Francia habia pilliato Napoli, se levò armata mano tutto lo populo, et saccheggiaro tutto il Castello dove erano andati la maggior parte de judei culloru facultate per essere salvi saccheggiando dopo tutto lo resto della judeca dove in tente spate non ci fo morto nullo et durò parecchi torni lo sac‑ cheggiamento, sempre trovando robba et denari sotterrati, Coniger, “Cronache,” 31. 20 Attacks on Jews during the Shepherds’ Crusade: Nirenberg, Communities of Violence, 73–78. 21 Hinojosa Montalvo, The Jews of the Kingdom of Valencia, 337. 22 Abraham ben Me’ir de Balmes, probably Benedetta’s father, was King Ferrante’s per‑ sonal physician from 1472 until his death in 1489. Appointment: Colafemmina, Puglia, 31–32. Date of Balmes’s death: NSA, Sommaria, Partium 31, fol. 48r; Colafemmina, Puglia, 73. On Balmes’s career, writings, and medical degree, see: Giancarlo Lacerenza and Vera Isabell Schwarz‑Ricci, “Il dipluma di dottorato in medicina di Avraham ben Me’ir de Balmes (Napoli 1492),” Sefer Yuhasin, Nouva Serie, 2 (2014): 163–193. 23 NSA, Cancelleria Aragonese, Part., 7, fol. 3, quoted in Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 200–201, 265–66.

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 55 24 Senato. Mare reg. 14, fol. 55v, published by Renata Segre, “Documenti di fonte venezi‑ ana sugli ebrei in Puglia,” Sefer Yuhasin 6 (2018): 93–121 (cited document: Ibid., 110). 25 According to Coniger’s chronicle, the crowd cried “mojarono, mojarono,” a dialectical form of the Italian verb “morire,” literally meaning “they should die.” 26 Bishop of Lecce from 1485 to 1498. 27 Cesare Colafemmina identifies the church as Santa Maria Annunziata, not the actual Santa Maria della Grazia, see: Cesare Colafemmina, “La Sinagoga rinascimentale di Lecce: una scoperta,” in Ebrei e Cristiani in Puglia e altrove: Vicende e problemi (Cas‑ sano delle Murge: Messaggi, 2001), 112 [originally published in La Gazzetta del Mezzo‑ giorno, 29 May 1994]. See also: Giovanna Rossella Schirone, who refers to a document of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano dated October 1507 mentioning that a certain cleric was appointed chaplain of L’Annunziata by the bishop of Lecce at the time the former synagogue was consecrated as church: Giovanna Rossella Schirone, Giudei e Giuda‑ ismo in Terra d’Otranto (Cassano delle Murge: Messaggi, 2001), 101. 28 “Die 12 Marsio se levò in romore tutto lo popolo di Lecce gridando mojarono mojarono tutti li Judei hover se facciano xpinani dove una gran quantità sende fero xpiani [=chris‑ tiani], et pilliaro cum gran furia lo Episcopo di Lecce portandolo di mezzo la piazza a consacrare la sinagogha delli judei dove in ditto jorno li fo miso de Santa Maria della gratia, et portato do mille figure de Santi, et celebrato messe,” Coniger, Cronache, 31. For identification of the synagogue turned church, see note 27 above. 29 Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta, 219. 30 “Essendo tutti judei reposti in casa de xpiani [=christiani] per paura non essere amaz‑ zati,” Coniger, Cronache, 31. 31 “certi Judei spagnoli stando in casa de uno Zentilomo nomine Pierri Sambiasi in quel dì, che se levò le grida moirano li Judei, ho se fazzano Christiani, questi tali che erano cinque fra mascoli e femine tutti se jettaro dentro un puzzo per non se fare Xpiani, [=christiani] el marito d’una di quelle che fo il quatro che se jettò dentro il pozo trovò la moliere, e due altri che surgeano nel cadire suo, e non soffondau nell’acqua dove havendose pentito se recuperò alli gradi del puccio el quinto che era suo figlio se jectau l’ultimo cascando… [here some words are missing in the published version] sopra il predetto tutti dui andara in acqua el Padre se recuperò, el figliolo havia acceccato il Padre per non morire, e ‘l Judeo arrecordandose d’un cortello che havia adosso donò la morte al filio per campare esso, quelli della casa subito corsero al rumore cacciarande l’Padre vivo e li quatro morti,” Coniger, Cronache, 31–32. 32 Sanuto, La spedizione, 247. 33 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 437–438, 446–447. 34 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 444. 35 “Yani de Cusencio eius procuratoris… narrando dixit cum sit quod existens ipsa Domi‑ nica in Iudayca perfidia fuit capta ab inimicis in regno Neapolis in partibus Calabrie et fuerat et erat detempta ab inimicis ad eo quod de vita periculabat et pro ut dicto placuit Deo novens se batizari,” Catania, state archive, section Notai de Randazzo, Ms. Notary Nicolo de Panhormo, reg. 24, fols. 39v–40v [dated 26 September 1496]), discussed in Nadia Zeldes, “The Former Jews of This Kingdom”: Sicilian Converts after the Expul‑ sion, 1492–1516 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 121–122. 36 Palermo, State Archive, Conservatoria di registro, reg. 874, fol. 40r [17 July 1495]). 37 “lu dictu Bernardu havirisi bactizato et essiri christiano, ad supplicacioni a nui di zo facta, havimo provisto et per la presenti vi dichimo et comandamo digiati a lo dicto Bernardo restituiri et dari tucti soi robbi di vestiri et altri cosi contenti in ipso inventario, non intendendo tamen certo argento contento in ipso inventario, si era di so fratri, iudei, lo quali argento dinirili nomine regie curie recuperando la presenti cum apoca de resti‑ tuto,” see the reference in note 36 above.

56  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 38 On the brothers Canet in Calabria, see Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 428. On the convert Pietro de Bologna (formerly Donato Canet), see Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 38, 184, 228. 39 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 42, fol. 1r; Colafemmina, Puglia, 181–82. 40 Palermo, State Archive, Notary Pietro Tagliante, reg. 1181 fols. 69r–71v. Published: Nadia Zeldes, “The Last Will and Testament of a Sicilian Converso,” Revue des Études Juives 159 (2000): 447–459; Idem, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 312–314. 41 On the return of Sicilian Jews from Naples to Sicily after their conversion, see: Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 18–126. 42 Nicolau tells the inquisitors that he left Naples “con intencion de yrse a tornarse xpiano y con esta intencion se fue a Trapana de Sicilia adonde los aporto el viento y alli se torno xpiano y se batizo,” Archivo Provincial de Zaragoza, Prov. Z. Sección Inquisición 20/17, in Zeldes, “The Case of Colau Aragones.” 43 On the 45% tax, see: Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 71–81; Idem, “Conver‑ sos, Finance, and Military Campaigns.” 44 A collection of rabbinic rulings is called in Hebrew She’elot u‑teshuvot (queries and replies). It comprises a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions concerning Jewish Law. For further information, see: Menahem Slae, “Responsa,” in Encyclopedia Judaica, 2nd edition, edited by Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2007), 17, 228–239. 45 The responsa collection of R. Ḥayyim ben Shabbetai Yona is at present preserved only in manuscript form: Biblioteca Medicea Laurentiana, Plut. 88.47 (microfilm number F 17971 at the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts). On Rabbi Yonah the Sicil‑ ian and his relationship with Abravanel, see Avraham David, “Don Isaac Abravanel and His Family in South Italy in the Last Decade of the Fifteenth Century and the Early Sixteenth Century” (in Hebrew), Hispania Judaica Bulletin 8 (2011), 36–48; David Ben Zazon, A Journey through Abarbanel’s Exegesis of the Guide of the Perplexed (Hebrew) (Jerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, 2015), 33–34; Nadia Zeldes, “Un rabbino siciliano in esilio: Rabbi Hayyim ben Shabbetai Yo‑ nah,” Rassegna Mensile d’Israel 87 (2021): 39–53. 46 Biblioteca Medicea Laurentiana, Plut. 88.47, fol. 24r–24v. The surnames of the pro‑ tagonists of this responsum are typically Sicilian. Tawil, spelled in Sicilian documents Taguil, is a common surname of Jewish families from all over Sicily, and so is Atun frequently spelled Actuni, Actano, Actono, etc. The Hebrew surname Diminshi (or Demmensi in the Latinized form) is also Sicilian but very rare. It probably indicates that the family originated from Demmena, identified by modern scholars as San Marco d’Alunzio in eastern Sicily. See Cesare Colafemmina, “Un copista ebreo a Demmena nel 1472,” in Gli ebrei in Sicilia dal tardoantico al medioevo: Studi in onore di Monsig‑ nor Benedetto Rocco, edited by Nicolo Bucaria (Palermo: Flaccovio, 1998), 89–98. See also Shlomo Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, 18 vols. (Boston, MA and Leiden: Brill, 2010, 18, 12413–124121 (Geographical Index). 47 In the local dialect the city is named Stro`nciulu, which may explain the Hebrew ren‑ dering of the name this way (I have this communication from the late Prof. Cesare Colafemmina). 48 Responsa of R. David ha‑Cohen: Ze sefer te’shuvot, Section 20. 49 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 436‑437; Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 203. 50 Palomba means “dove” in Italian and Paloma has the same meaning in Spanish, both well‑known female names, whereas Paloba has no meaning. The spelling can be ex‑ plained by a scribe’s error who either skipped the Hebrew letter “mem” when copying the name Palomba, or wrote the Hebrew letter “beit” instead of “mem” for Paloma in both cases not inconceivable copying mistakes. A correctly written name night have indicated whether the woman was of Spanish, or local origins.

Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 57 51 Responsa of David ha‑Cohen (see note 48 above). Responsa of Benyamin ben Matatyah: Sefer Benyamin Ze’ev, edited by Meir Benayahu (Jerusalem: Yad ha‑Rav Nissim, 1987) [photostat according to the first printed edition, Venice 1539]. The cases are discussed in Nadia Zeldes, “‘There Is No Greater Liberty Than That Given to Them by the King of Spain’: Jewish Converts to Christianity in the Aftermath of the Expulsion of 1510 According to Rabbinic Responsa,” in 1510/2010 Cinquecentenario dell’espulsione de‑ gli ebrei dall’Italia meridionale. Atti del convegno internazionale, Napoli, Università l’Orientale’ – 22–23 Novembre 2010, edited by Giancarlo Lacerenza (Naples: Univer‑ sità degli studi di Napoli, “L’Orientale”, 2013), 57–66. 52 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 42, fol. 1r; Colafemmina, Puglia, 181–82. 53 Baer, A History, II, 132–133, 443. 54 Nadia Zeldes, “ʻAs One Who Flees from a Snake’ ‑ Jewish Women in Sicily in the Gen‑ eration of the Expulsion Confront Their Husbands’ Conversions” (Hebrew), Pe’amim 82 (2000): 50–63. 55 Parma, Ms. Biblioteca Palatina, Cod. Parm. 2420; Marx, “Expulsion of the Jews,” 87, 97–98. My translation slightly differs from Marx’s. 56 Isaac Abravanel, Peyrush ha‑Torah le‑Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq ’Abravanel: Devarim [Commen‑ tary on the Torah: Deuteronomy], edited by Avishay Shotland (Jerusalem: Horev, 1999), introduction. 57 A compilation on pharmacology by Nicolaus Praepositus of Salerno (ca. 1140). 58 Sora, a town in Lazio, on the northern frontier of the kingdom of Naples. 59 Counting of the Omer (in Hebrew: Sefirat ha‑Omer), is the counting of the forty‑nine days between Passover and Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover (16 Nisan) and continues into the month of Iyyar. The thirty‑third day is Lag ba‑Omer, a Jewish holiday, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyyar. The Jewish year [5]255 corresponds to 1495. 60 Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Heb. e. 154 (microfilm F 24777 at the Institute of Micro‑ filmed Hebrew Manuscripts). 61 “You shall consign the images of their gods to the fire … you must not bring an abhor‑ rent thing into your house, or you will be proscribed like it; you must reject it as abomi‑ nation…” (Deuteronomy 7: 25–26); “has raised his eyes to the fetishes, has committed abomination” (Ezekiel, 18: 12). The term “House of Abomination” for a church appears in Solomon ibn Verga’s Shevet Yehudah as following : “stole from them a silver image from the house of abomination,” Ibn Verga, Shevet Yehudah, 162. 62 Hebrew chronicle, see note 55 above. 63 Benjamin Gampel, “‘Unless the Lord Watches over the City…’: Joan of Aragon and His Jews, June‑October 1391,” in New Perspectives on Jewish Christian Relations: In Honor of David Berger, edited by Elisheva Carlebach and Jacob J. Schacter (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 65–89. 64 On the attacks against the Jews during the First Crusade, see Robert Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987); for a general description of the events of 1391, see Baer, A History, 2, 95–110. 65 Petition: Vito Vitale, Trani dagli Angioni agli spagnuoli: contributo alla storia civile e commerciale di Puglia nei secoli XV e XVI (Bari: Editrice Vecchi, 1912), No. 81, cited by Benjamin Scheller, Die Stadt der Neuchristen. Konvertierte Juden und ihre Nachkommen im Trani des Spätmittelalters, zwischen Inklusion und Exklusion (Germany: De Gruyter, Akademie Verlag, 2013), 274, note 34. 66 Mercanti: Vito Vitale, “Un particolare ignorato di storia pugliese: Neofiti e Mercanti,” in Studi di storia napoletana in onore di Michelangelo Schipa (Naples: I.T.E.A [Industrie tipografiche ed affini], 1926), 233–246. 67 Sanuto, La spedizione, 241. 68 Denis, Charles VIII et les Italiens, 89.

58  Breakdown of Authority, Riots, Plunder, and Forced Conversions 69 On martyrdom during the attacks of 1391, see Ben Shalom, “Kiddush ha‑Shem.” 70 On religious aspects and anti‑Semitism, see Baer, History 2, 95–138; Ben Zion Netan‑ yahu, The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain (New York: Random House, 1995), 127–167; Philip Wolff, “The 1391 Pogrom in Spain: Social Crisis Or Not?,” Past and Present 50 (1971): 4–18; Jaume Riera i Sans, “Els avalots del 1391 a Girona,” in Jornades d’història dels jueus a Catalunya (Girona: Ajuntament de Girona, 1987), 95–159. 71 Silvestri, Il commercio a Salerno, 35 note 2; Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 466. 72 Vitale, Trani, No. 98 (see note 65 above).

4

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society

After the riots, the Jews who were converted by force in 1495 without the benefit of catechism and religious instruction, now represented a new category of Chris‑ tian, existing in an intermediary status between Jews and the so‑called cristiani de natura (natural Christians). The complexity of this process is described by David Nirenberg in the following terms: “the migration of such a large number of Jews into the body of Christ catalysed a series of reactions… underlying these reac‑ tions… was a crisis of classification and identity whose first symptoms became evident almost immediately.”1 Nirenberg argues that in Spain the mass conversions “raised, for the first time, systemic doubt about who was a Christian and who was a Jew” and with it, the need for a clear distinction between the groups. In the years that followed the events of 1391, converts were forbidden to live in proximity to Jews and have any contact with them, whereas the Jews “were to be made to wear more conspicuous badges and Jewish hats so that they appear to be Jews.”2 Similar forces were at work in the aftermath of the conversions of 1495. There is, however, one important feature that characterizes the convert popula‑ tion in southern Italy and should be taken into account in any comparative study. While Spanish sources rarely distinguish between individuals or families that con‑ verted to Christianity during the various waves of conversions, in southern Italy converts are often differentiated by the use of particular group names. The descend‑ ants of the Jews who converted at the end of the thirteenth century are usually described as neofiti or mercanti, regardless of the time elapsed from the original conversion. Local sources from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries use the terms “marani” and “cristiani novelli” when referring to recent converts or im‑ migrants. A passage from Passero’s journals offers the best example on how the contemporaries distinguished between these groups. Passero explains that King Ferdinand’s decision to import the Spanish Inquisition in 1509 was dictated by the presence of “the Jews, the New Christians who were living in that kingdom [of Naples], and also the Marani and the bad Christians that his majesty had expelled from the kingdoms of Spain and from the island of Sicily” (solo lo faceva per li Giudei, et christiani novelli, che erano in detto Regno, et anco per li Marani, et mali christiani che sua Maestà haveva cacciati dalli Regni di Spagna et dall’Isola di Sicilia).3 Thus, Passero carefully lists all members of the groups that can be considered as “other” in the kingdom, all potentially subject to discrimination, DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-5

60  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society harassment, and ultimately – expulsion. As it is often the case in medieval and early modern documents, the terminology is not consistently used in regard to each group. Whereas the term cristiani novelli usually refers to those who converted in 1495, there is some confusion and overlapping between all three categories. Indi‑ viduals who clearly converted during the riots of 1495 are sometimes described as neofito or neofita (also spelled neophitus or neophita) and official documents may refer interchangeably to marani et cristiani novelli, either as one and the same, or when they actually mean Spanish immigrants. To add to the confusion, Italian liter‑ ary sources often use the term marani indiscriminately, sometimes even in regard to Spanish figures that were clearly of Old Christian origins.4 The exact meaning of each term can be discerned only by taking context into account. The Monarchy and the New Christians In April 1495, barely a month or two after the riots, the city of Barletta petitioned King Charles VIII to approve their demands regarding the Jews and New Chris‑ tians living in the city. Unsurprisingly, they asked to be allowed to keep the prop‑ erty formerly owned by the city’s Jews, presumably looted and taken by force a short time before. But, Barletta also asked the French king to expel the Jews to prevent them from giving a bad example to the recently converted: Your Majesty is asked to grant this community a special privilege so that no Jew should be allowed to stay in Barletta, and they should be chased from this land for being enemies of the Christians and because they serve as a bad example for the recently converted Christians. Approved by His Majesty (Placet Regiae Maiestati).5 The demand and its reasoning echo the very reasons that were used to justify the expulsion from Spain in 1492, namely, that the Jews’ continued presence served as bad influence on the conversos.6 But the survival of the Jewish community of Barletta after the French occupation up to the expulsion of 1510 leads to the con‑ clusion that the French king’s order never took effect. Other attempts to segregate the Jews and separate them from the New Christians continued in the years that followed. The Christian commune of Cosenza in Calabria demanded in 1497 that the Jews living in the city should be compelled to wear the customary red badge arguing that it was necessary to distinguish them from the majority of local Jews who had become Christians.7 The then reigning monarch, King Federico, approved these measures but again, it is doubtful that they were actually carried out during his reign. In 1504, when the kingdom came under Spanish rule, Cosenza stubbornly repeated their demands asking Viceroy Gonzalo de Cordóba to enforce them.8 But despite the city’s persistence, the Jews were ordered to wear the discriminating badge only in 1509 which leads to the conclusion that the Gran Capitán was just as reluctant to apply these measures as were his predecessors.9 King Ferrante II’s victory over the French put an end to the anarchy, but his return to power did not necessarily prove favourable to the Jews or the New

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 61 Christians. According to Notar Giacomo, in May 1496 King Ferrante II decreed the expulsion of the Jews from Naples and other places “for the people of Naples didn’t want them, and so they embarked upon ships and grippi (a type of vessel) and they left” (per che lo populo de Napoli non ncelli voleva et cossi dicto di mon‑ taro sopra a nave et ad grippi etsi senne andaro). Giuseppe Galasso, in his history of Naples, interprets Ferrante’s order as an attempt to win popular support.10 But this might have been only a reiteration of the order given by Alfonso II on the eve of his abdication (see Chapter 3). At any rate, the only documented expulsion or‑ dered by King Ferrante II concerns the Jewish community of Strongoli in Calabria. The order of expulsion from Strongoli was decreed in September 1495 and put into effect in March 1496.11 The story of Hannah of Strongoli, discussed in the previous chapter, is probably connected to this expulsion. However, the responsum of Rabbi David ha‑Cohen mentions the exit of converts rather than Jews: “when many of the forced converts (Anusim) of this province [Calabria] arranged to travel to the east‑ ern lands, she [Hannah] asked to go with them.”12 The responsum indicates that the expulsion order also applied to New Christians. Since the original text of this edict has not survived, such an interpretation cannot be ruled out. A possible explanation for Notar Giacomo’s report on a general expulsion of the Jews may either refer to the partial expulsion decreed by Alfonso II or Ferrante II shortly before the French conquest,13 or to a new order that was never fully implemented, possibly because the young king died in 1496. In any case, there is no evidence that the king’s decree that affected the Jews of Strongoli was extended to other places. Ferrante II’s policies were not particularly favourable for the New Christians either. During his reign a number of New Christians of Trani were tried by the local inquisition and condemned for heresy and their property confiscated. Given the timeline, the trial must have been conducted by either Franciscan or Domini‑ can inquisitors who were responsible for investigations in matters of faith during the Aragonese rule.14 The trial and confiscation of property are mentioned in a complaint dated 1499 at a time when the city of Trani was under Venetian rule but it refers to past events. The city claimed that King Ferrante II had already issued an order forbidding the “dicti marani” from entering the city or engaging in trade there, therefore the trial took place sometime in late 1495 or in 1496. After Fer‑ rante’s death in September 1496, the Venetian authorities, with the agreement of King Federico, permitted the New Christians to recover their property and return to the city, but their official banishment from Trani apparently remained effective for years to come. A petition addressed in 1509 to the Spanish Viceroy Don Ramón de Cardona confirms Ferrante’s original order and thus proves that it was still in force under the new administration. The petition refers to the expulsion of the marani and the New Christians “for their notorious heresy” (per la loro notoria heresia), prohibiting their return to that city because of their inherently “bad nature” (per la loro mala natura).15 The Viceroy approved the petition. Even during the reign of Federico, it should be noted that the Venetian authorities agreed to let the city of Trani take over anything that was left by absent converts and only those who still lived there were permitted to keep their property.16 This cautious approach shows an unwillingness to antagonize the local population while trying at the same time

62  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society to protect the New Christians. Trani tried again and again to rid itself of the local converts. In 1504, shortly after the victory of the Spanish and the beginning of the viceroyal regime, the New Christians of Trani who fled to Molfetta petitioned Gonzalo de Córdoba to be allowed to ply their trade throughout the kingdom, be assured of their personal safety, and given time to prepare in case of expulsion: It is petitioned by the said community [of Molfetta] that the merchants of Trani (li mercanti di Trani) known as New Christians, who reside in Molfetta with their property, dwellings, possessions, wives and children, would be protected and their personal safety assured as well as their possessions, and that they be allowed to use their companies (brigate) to transport merchan‑ dise and goods, live, settle and ply their trade throughout the kingdom, safe and sound, without being molested for any reason. And if their majesties the king and queen of Spain17 should decide to molest [=expel] them,18 they would be given four months to arrange their leaving and transport themselves and their goods in safety outside the kingdom.19 The petition, officially addressed by the commune (università) of Molfetta was obviously formulated by the New Christians living in that city, formerly citizens of Trani. Their description as “mercanti” and the stress on their activity as traders, clearly on a relatively large scale since they are organized as companies or trading societies, indicate that these were members of the “old” neofiti population, rather than the recently converted. The petition sheds light on the commercial activities of the neofiti of Trani: the existence of trade companies and far reaching busi‑ ness deals, as well as traveling with merchandise throughout the kingdom. But it also shows that they were forced to leave Trani and remove themselves with their families to Molfetta. Another contemporary document mentions their removal to Barletta.20 But other sources indicate that at least some New Christians continued to live in Trani despite local opposition. Generally speaking, local Christians tried to prevent the return of property that was seized by force during the French occupation to its rightful owners, whether Jews or New Christians. In August 1496 the commune of Trani sent four repre‑ sentatives to Venice demanding the expulsion of the marani; the Signoria refused, claiming that the city was held in pawn (in pegno) and therefore it could not make such a political decision without consulting King Ferrante II. Monopoli and Pulig‑ nano, also held by Venice, petitioned the Signoria to permit them to postpone paying the debts they owed their Jewish and marrano creditors. On a different oc‑ casion, the commune of Monopoli complained to Venice about the usurious rates demanded by certain marani. Venice agreed to grant the debtors a deferral of five years to allow them to pay their debts, and a deferral of six years to return loans they have taken from the Jews.21 The petitions and complaints show that the com‑ munes tried to eschew their obligations to Jews and New Christians. The authori‑ ties, be they Venetian or Aragonese, preferred to compromise rather than confront the debtors and uphold the Jews’ or the converts’ just claims. Even King Federico refrained from the unpopular action of forcing local Christians to return property

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 63 they had unlawfully seized during the riots. In a decision dated November 1497 the king ordered to return to the archpriest Valentino of Prata certain costly items origi‑ nally held in pawn by a Jew: a silver belt, and a sum of money. The king’s order demonstrates how such cases were resolved. To support his decision, the king cited a law that had been recently passed by the Neapolitan Parliament prohibiting Jews and New Christians from bothering or harassing anyone who had taken property or pawns that used to belong to either group.22 Federico clearly preferred to bow to popular demand and refrain from attempts to redress the material injustices suf‑ fered by Jews and New Christians during the riots. In June 1498 Federico acknowledged and approved a series of petitions by the Jews of the realm. It is worthy of note that the articles of 1498 address the demands of Jews and converts alike. The latter are defined as “New Christians who were baptized since the coming of the French” (li Cristiani novelli baptizati dala ve‑ nuta deli Francesi in qua). Both groups ask first and foremost for royal protection which demonstrates its crucial importance, especially in view of the destruction and suffering that occurred during the period of anarchy. New Christians and Jews share the same concerns: they demand royal pardon for all offences that they may have committed in 1495 and during the following years, permission to return to their places of origins that they had to abandon during the disturbances, recovery of goods and immoveable property, and recovery of debts owed to them. The arti‑ cles demonstrate the extent of the disruption and displacement caused by war and occupation. Apparently, converts had their property looted and confiscated along with that of the Jews. Jews and New Christians claim that they were forced to sign contracts and give promises out of fear of the French and certain local powerful people and therefore they both petition the king to cancel these forced agreements. The looting caused Jews and New Christians to lose the pawns they held from Christians and now they ask the king to put a stop to the owners’ harassments.23 The articles of 1498 may indicate a certain gender disparity in the numbers of Jewish men and women who converted to Christianity. This can be inferred from the following statement: since many Jews have been baptized, and yet their wives remained in the Jewish faith, they are petitioning Your Majesty to order the said New Chris‑ tians to grant bills of divorce to their wives so that they can marry other Jews according to their Law.24 The Jews’ petition demonstrates the community’s concern for these women lest they become ‘agunot, i.e. abandoned wives who according to the Halakha cannot remarry unless their husbands grant them bills of divorce. But in most matters, Jews and converts seem to have acted in accord, both groups hoping for royal pro‑ tection and economic recovery. For the most part, Federico’s policy towards the New Christians was guided by his wish to restore order, ensure economic prosperity, protect Jews and New Chris‑ tians alike, and generally avoid strife. Several acts show that he tried to facilitate the return of New Christians to their cities of origin after being forced to leave them

64  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society during the riots. The king also ordered the recovery of their property, particularly when this property was seized or sequestered by local officials. In a letter addressed to Pietro Marcello, the Venetian governor of Trani, the king gave him orders to re‑ turn the sequestered property of New Christians who had escaped to Barletta. When petitioned by two recently converted brothers, Ioan Francisco Guidaczo of Naples and Jacob de Angelo of Cosenza, King Federico ordered the officials of Naples and other places to allow them to recover pawns and money because at present they were impoverished after having been robbed during the French occupation.25 In 1496, New Christians appealed to the king to protect them from harassment by inquisitors and other officials. In response to the complaints of the New Christians of Catan‑ zaro, King Federico wrote to his lieutenant general, Cardinal Louis de Aragon (a grandson of Ferrante I) and ordered him to appoint certain boni cristiani to instruct the New Christians in the faith. But he warned them that after the passage of two years, they would be liable for punishment if they did anything against the faith.26 In 1497 the Jews and New Christians of Cosenza were granted protection by the Camera Sommaria against the abuses and harassments by barons, royal officials, and private citizens. The Sommaria also promised to put a stop to the sequestration of goods taken by creditors in order to collect debts. The New Christians, surpris‑ ingly, appear to be in a worse situation than the Jews. Following a number of com‑ plaints, the Sommaria informed the king that “the New Christians of this province (Calabria) are being maltreated and vexed by many gangs over various matters, and it is said that they are very much disheartened and almost desperate” (che da multe bande li Cristiani Novelli di questa provincia siano molestati sopta diversi et varii coluri, per lo ché se dice steano multo male contenti et quasi in desperacione). The king was therefore asked to safeguard their property and ensure their well‑being.27 The New Christians’ complaints and the king’s response hint at the problematic reception of this group which is reminiscent of the spread of anti‑converso attitudes in Spain a generation earlier. And yet, despite the similarities, there are significant differences between the fate of Jews and conversos in Spain and that of the Jews and converts in the Kingdom of Naples. On the one hand, in southern Italy there was no attempt to promote additional conversions either by preaching or coercion, but on the other, there was little opportunity for a fuller integration of the neofiti into the surrounding society. The expulsion of 1510–1511 prevented even the for‑ mation of a second or third generation of converts. It is probable that the death of Ferrante II in 1496 was fortunate for the Jews and the New Christians as Federico proved to be much more tolerant and pragmatic. Even so, help and royal protection came hand in hand with attempts to restrict the movement of this profitable sector of the population and the possible drainage of goods; to this end, Federico issued an order that prevented the Jews and the newly converted Christians from leaving the country and prohibited transportation of goods and merchandise out of the kingdom.28 The original order has not survived but it is mentioned in relation to an exemption granted to the merchants of Trani, then under Venetian rule. The king had to specify that the order affected only Jews and newly baptized Christians, and the other merchants of Trani, that is the Old Christians, could freely exercise their trade as before.

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 65 New Christians and Jews In the aftermath of the events of 1495 converted Jews were still in close contact with their former brethren and identified themselves as “baptized Jews” rather than regular Christians. This impression is reinforced by Gonzalo de Córdoba, who as viceroy of Ferdinand the Catholic, wrote in 1504 “although there are few overt Jews (judíos de señal) in the kingdom [of Naples], there are many who still are in essence… and they call themselves baptized Jews.”29 Jewish sources confirm this observation. The rabbinic responsum regarding Hannah of Strongoli suggests that the converted family continued to live in the same place and still maintained close ties with the Jewish community. The community leaders knew the head of the family, Nissim bar Shabbetai and his daughter, and could vouch for them. Also, a responsum of Rabbi Ḥayyim Yonah shows that a family of converts blended rather easily into the Jewish community of Trani where the son Elia married a local Jewish girl named Mazal Tov. Such a marriage is not valid according to strict Halakhic ruling, but apparently the young people were able to meet and perform some sort of ceremony that could have been interpreted as marriage.30 The Jews of Trani and Barletta did not chase away these converts nor did they question their re‑ ligious standing. There is some evidence that confirms the accusations of insincere conversion and as well as the lenient attitude of the surviving local communities towards the converts. Rabbi David ha‑Cohen of Corfu, whose responsum on Han‑ nah of Strongoli was discussed in Chapter 3 above, remarked that he had received a query from the community of Arta in the Epirus concerning the converts in Apulia and their customs: and those who were converted by force from the Jewish religion to that of the worshippers of the Ba’al (a biblical term for a pagan deity)31 in the kingdom of Apulia, we have not seen them eat any kind of forbidden food… neverthe‑ less they bow to the Ba’al for fear of being killed and thus they violate the command of sanctifying the Lord’s name, and by remaining there, they are as if they stay there for their pleasure, similarly to a convert who eats carrion out of spite.32 The responsum offers a few insights on the customs and self‑perception of Pugliese converts: they consider themselves forced converts (anusim), they avoid eating non‑Kosher food, and they observe Christian practices unwillingly and out of fear (bow to the Ba’al for fear). These traits conform to a passive type of resistance, all based on inner attitudes, outward submission, and avoidance (of non‑Kosher food). The list does not include any tactics that would have allowed these converts to actively observe certain Jewish rites, such as fasts. Fasting was in fact one of the safest tactics since it was easy to conceal that from surrounding neighbours.33 The Judaizing traits attributed to the converts of Apulia were far from satisfactory from a halakhic point of view, but it was probably enough to earn them a sure condemna‑ tion by the inquisition were they to be discovered and tried. Rabbi David ha‑Cohen denounces the converts for remaining in the land of idolatry and does not give

66  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society much credit for their attempts to cling to their Jewish identity. Harsh condemnation of converts for staying in place instead of fleeing Judaism was, as shown by the studies of Dora Zsom and others, the norm among rabbinical authorities from the early fifteenth century onwards.34 And so, in spite of showing a certain amount of sympathy, Rabbi David ha‑Cohen still condemns the New Christians for remaining in place instead of escaping or choosing self‑sacrifice. This responsum indicates, by the way, that the Arta community’s query on the converts and their customs was sent before 1511 and the general expulsion of the New Christians. The main tools for preserving group identity in southern Italy were endogamy and continuing ties with other converts along with continuing close ties with pro‑ fessed Jews. As demonstrated by the cases discussed above, the New Christians of the late fifteenth century tended to keep the same tradition. Judaizers or not, ordinary day-by-day life brought converts in close contact with the Jews and ap‑ parently the Jews themselves did not avoid ties and connections with their former brethren. In 1497 David, his son Ioana, and his brother Salamone de Pascali, pe‑ titioned the Camera Sommaria to issue an order to the governor of Cosenza to let them divide and share the property they had in common with their brothers Elia and Josep who had converted to Christianity, taking the names Francisco de Allegro and Ioan Bernardino.35 In the same vein the brothers Yuse Aurifice Iudio and Petrus Aurifice Neofitus of Cosenza, a Jew and a convert, agreed to equally divide their entire property between them.36 Also in Cosenza, two relatives, one Francisco de Liancza a “neophyte,” and the Jew Samuel de Turano acted together as guardians of the Jewish girl Rael (Rachel), daughter of the late Gaudio Liancza. The two guardians arranged to sell a vineyard so that Rael’s mother, Iona, could provide her with a dowry. In 1510 the same guardians, also acting for Rael, sold another vineyard (or part of the same one as before).37 These examples do not necessarily point at cordial relations but they show continuing ties between family members, possibly because financial affairs and other obligations forced both par‑ ties to maintain their former connections. In fact, modern studies indicate that the survival of close ties based on kinship was a persistent element in Jewish‑converso relationships in Spain, Sicily, Provence, and in southern Italy as it is plainly dem‑ onstrated by the cases listed above.38 This phenomenon can, perhaps, be attributed to the importance of blood ties and kinship typical to Mediterranean societies. New Christians and Old Christians: Between Segregation and Inter‑marriage The separate existence of the neofiti in Southern Italy had a long tradition going back to the end of the thirteenth century. In 1413, more than a hundred years after their initial conversion, the neofiti were still considered a legally distinct group as attested by the city ordnances of Trani. Out of sixteen representatives of the city commune (universitas), eight were chosen from among the nobles, six from the popular class, and two from the neofiti.39 Many neofiti earned their living as traders who frequented the regional fairs. Because of their mercantile activities they were also known in southern Italy as mercanti a term that became analogue to neofiti.40

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 67 This identification of christiani novelli with mercantile activity persisted up to the sixteenth century, as evidenced by the plea addressed by the commune (univer‑ sitas) of Molfetta to the Gran Capitán (cited above), they are still identified as mercanti and Christiani novelli.41 This petition is astounding for several reasons. It clearly refers to the neofiti of old, that is, the descendants of the converted Jews of the 1290s who are still regarded as “newly converted,” and still identified as trad‑ ers (mercanti), and it also indicates that they continued to act as a recognized legal entity and organized themselves in trading companies (brigate) along ethnic lines. And lastly, this is one of the few petitions dating from this period that acknowl‑ edges their presence in a positive way and expresses a wish for their presence in the city. But perhaps the key to understanding this unusual attitude is that it concerns the neofiti who were a well‑known entity and recognized as a local phenomenon that endured for more than 200 years. Apparently, the commune of Molfetta wanted to ensure their continuing presence as traders whose activities were advantageous to the city. Nothing is said about the after‑effects of the riots of 1495: demands to return Jewish property, compensation, and the like. Although the term neophyti or neofiti meant “newly planted,” derived from the Greek νέος (neos) meaning “new” and ϕυτόν (phyton) meaning “plant,” in time it became a legal classification as well as a social and religious category, regardless of the time of conversion. In 1453, 150 years after their original conversion, the descendants of the Jews who were baptized towards the end of the thirteenth cen‑ tury were still “known as neofiti” (neophiti nuncupati), as expressed in a bull issued by Pope Nicholas V. According to the papal bull, they still practiced endogamy, prayed together, and refrained from mixing with the general population. In order to prove the sincerity of their conversion, they were bidden to marry “true Chris‑ tians” (cum veris Christianis).42 However, as shown above, in time they gained some acceptance both as a group and as individuals. Certain “old neofiti” occupied prestigious posts, such as Dario de Florio of Manfredonia who in 1447 served as consul (representative) of Ragusa in his home city and was later appointed by King Ferrante I in 1472 as consul of the Neapolitans in Ragusa. Another success‑ ful neofito was Gaytano de Zardullo, who served as procurator of the church of St. Stefano in Trani in 1498.43 However, none of the neofiti or the newer converts ever attained high offices in the Church as in Spain, nor did they join the ranks of nobility. The precedent of the medieval neofiti did not augur well for the integration of the new group of cristiani novelli who converted during the riots of 1495. Most complaints regarding the presence of New Christians in various cities refer to this group, and so are petitions that demand their expulsion. Most cases of intermarriage between men and women of Jewish descent and veri Christiani come to light when the former try to earn an exemption from the expulsion of 1510. In 1515 several New Christians hailing from Santa Severina and Cirò (both in Calabria) claimed that they had married women who were christiane de natura and fathered children with them. The petitions were addressed to the Consiglio Collaterale. Modern historiography attributes the founding of this ad‑ ministrative organ to Ferdinand the Catholic in 1507, but it may have had its begin‑ nings already in 1504 as it presumably supplanted the Royal Chancery. There are,

68  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society however, indications that it did not truly supplant the Chancery but overshadowed it as the main administrative council whose function was to assist the viceroys of Naples. In time, this organ of state became the Supreme Court of Appeal, which decided upon petitions presented by the subjects.44 It was therefore the Consiglio Collaterale that dealt with the pleas of the New Christians who claimed that they should be exempted from the expulsion of 1510 because they married Old Chris‑ tians. Such claims were carefully investigated, but when proven, the Consiglio agreed that their plea was justified: we were informed that they [men of Jewish descent] were married to true Christian women and had fathered children with them and that it would be crazy (dà impaczo) for them to be made to go away from the kingdom ac‑ cording to the royal edicts.45 Ioan Baptista Cimino from Squillace won exemption from the expulsion after pro‑ viding proof that he was indeed married to an Old Christian woman. The same hap‑ pened in Cosenza where the Consiglio Collateralle permitted certain New Christians who married women who were Christiane de natura to remain in the kingdom.46 After considering multiple petitions of this type, the Consiglio Collateralle ruled that all men who were married to Old Christian women should not be harassed in any way and nor forced to leave the kingdom. But the ruling was only valid when it could be proved that the wives themselves were not descended from the Jews and the claim was not fraudulent (non discendenti ex linea iudayca et senza fraude). Women of Jewish descent who married Old Christians were also allowed to remain. Such was the case when in 1515 Gerolamo Vespasiano de Gerace, inhabitant of Manfre‑ donia, petitioned the authorities to exempt his wife Camilla Comita from the expul‑ sion decree although she was not of old and natural Christian lineage (benche dicta soa mogliere non venga de lignagio naturale et antique christiano). This served to stay her expulsion until her case could be investigated.47 As a rule, couples who were able to prove that they had been married for several years before the publication of the edict and had had children born to them were allowed to remain in the kingdom. Inter‑marriage, while apparently not very common, nevertheless took place at all social levels. The marriage of a young neofita to one of the sons of Duke Belisario Acquaviva is pivotal to the letter De Neophitis penned by the humanist Antonio de Ferrariis (Galateo), to be discussed presently. Suffice here to conclude that New Christians did marry into the Old Christian population, and the latter willingly con‑ tracted such marriages. On the other hand, the exhaustive examination of ancestry introduced an element of racial discrimination and notions of purity of blood, alien to the local conception of the social and religious boundaries between old and new Christians that were formerly defined only by legal status and popular bias.48 Galateo’s De Neophitis and the Debate on Converso Acceptance As noted at the beginning of this chapter, Jews who turned Christians as a result of mass conversion were not easily accepted by the surrounding Christian society. In the Spanish kingdoms, the conversos’ presence raised a fierce debate around

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 69 questions such as the sincerity of their conversion and the validity of their baptism, whether or not these New Christians were tainted by their ancestral Jewish blood, accusations of Judaizing (i.e. observing Jewish customs and rite in secret), and more. These aspects of marrano existence in Spain were and still are subject to numerous studies.49 It is important to note that during the last twenty years or so, a younger generation of scholars has turned its attention to the changing attitudes towards conversos during the fifteenth century. David Nirenberg underscored the positive reception of the new converts immediately following the events of 1391 when the conversion of the Jews was met with wonder and perceived as almost miraculous; at the same time, Nirenberg remarks that at that stage there was almost no questioning of the sincerity of their beliefs.50 Later, although conversos seemed to successfully integrate in Castilian and Aragonese societies, or perhaps because of their marked success, their Christian identity began to be questioned, doubted, and the calls for excluding them from positions of power became more and more vociferous.51 By mid‑fifteenth century this turned into a raging debate between those who defended the New Christians by pointing out the Jewishness of Jesus and the apostles and stressing their nobility as descendants of the heroic biblical Jews, and those who denigrated conversos as insincere Christians of a debased bloodline. This debate is aptly defined by the title Stefania Pastore chose for her book: Il vangelo e la spada (the Gospel and the Sword).52 Pro‑converso arguments tended to rely on the New Testament, and particularly on Paul’s letters, whereas the opponents wanted to combat conversos’ insincerity of belief and suspect behaviour with the inquisitorial sword. One of the best examples for pro‑converso apologetics is the treatise titled Defensorium unitatis Christianae (The Defence of the Unity of the Church) by Bishop Alonso de Cartagena (1384–1456), himself a converso. Cartagena composed this work in response to the statutes passed by the Toledo rebels in 1449 that excluded conversos from ecclesiastical and public offices.53 A prominent exponent of the opposite approach is Alonso de Espina’s Fortalitium fidei written around 1458, but published between 1464 and 1476.54 Towards the end of the fifteenth century, after the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition and the firm entrenchment of converso persecution, it is clear that the Gospel approach was considerably weakened (though not totally eradicated) and the Sword had won.55 Little, if anything, is known about the different approaches to the integration of New Christians of Jewish origins in southern Italy in the period under discussion. The old neofiti group was kept apart either by legislation or by self‑isolation and endogamy. The New Christians who converted in 1495 were still a very new group who had no opportunity to climb the social ladder and thus promote resentment and jealousy. However, there are a few indicators that demonstrate their lack of inte‑ gration in the general population. In transactions vis à vis the authorities, they are usually grouped together with the Jews, are subject to similar restrictions, and do not enjoy the same freedoms as the Old Christians. The case of the New Christians of Trani who and barely escaped an inquisitorial trial proves that their conversion was suspected as insincere. Echoes of the ongoing debate regarding the New Chris‑ tians in southern Italy come to light in the letter penned by Antonio de Ferrariis (Galateo) and titled De Neophitis. Galateo follows in the footsteps of the Spanish defenders of the conversos, bringing his own views into play. His arguments in

70  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society favour of a Judeo‑Christian identity combat the views of the advocates of purity of blood notions and the opponents of integration. Antonio de Ferrariis (1448–1517), who chose to be known as Galateo for Gala‑ tone, his place of birth, was born to a family that belonged to the old Greek com‑ munity in southern Italy. He was educated at the Greek Basilian monastery of St. Nicola di Casole, near Otranto. Later, he studied Latin and Greek at the humanistic academy of Nardò. As a young man, he studied medicine at Ferrara where he got his degree in 1474. After his return to south Italy, he joined the Neapolitan hu‑ manistic academy headed by Giovanni Pontano (secretary of King Ferrante I), and throughout his lifetime Galateo corresponded with prestigious humanists of his time.56 In 1490 he was accorded the position of royal physician by King Ferrante I. In 1495, during the French invasion, he left Naples for Lecce. Together with other humanists, he founded the academy of Lecce, known as the Academia Lupiense. After the Aragonese dynasty was reinstated, Galateo was recalled to Naples but his stay there was not long. In 1501 Galateo left Naples for good and returned to Apulia. Around 1503, he settled in Bari under the protection of Countess Duchess Isabella d’Aragona.57 Galateo was a prolific writer. He authored several philosophical‑theological trea‑ tises, among them Dialogus de Heremita (Dialogue of the Hermit).58 The dialogue, perhaps Galateo’s most daring work, is adduced by modern scholars as proof of the scholar’s anti‑dogmatism, a satirical criticism of the hypocrisy and rigidity that characterized the established church, but in fact most of his works display a marked originality and a spirit of non‑conformism. Galateo also authored the Esposizione del Pater Noster (Exposition of Our Lord’s Prayer), De nobilitate (On Nobility), De Educatione (On Education), and De Neophitis (On the New Christians) to be examined in the following pages.59 Galateo’s treatises and letters have been the subject of numerous studies but the majority of scholars framed his work within the Italian humanistic‑literary context, and less attention has been paid to the political and religious elements.60 The context of Galateo’s De Neophitis is in fact ignored and its message largely misunderstood. This epistle was brought to public attention by the philosopher Benedetto Croce who published it in 1938 order to contest the Italian racial laws.61 However, Croce presented the text as a “defence of the Jews,” whereas in fact it is a letter written “in defence of the New Christians,” that is, con‑ verted Jews.62 Lately there has been a renewed interest in De Neophitis but most recent publications still fail to fully analyse the text of the epistle and its context, preferring to dwell only on its spirit of humanity and tolerance.63 Galateo’s letter is undated. There is, however, a terminus post quem for this let‑ ter since the author refers in it to his second treatise on nobility that he had written “under the porch of Hieronymus” (sub hieronymiana portico), meaning the Lecce academy founded in 1495 whose members used to meet at the house of Girolamo Ingenuo (or in Latinized form: Heronimo Ingenuo), hence the name.64 The letter was, therefore, written after the mass conversions of 1495. Galateo’s De Neophi‑ tis is addressed to Belisario Acquaviva d’Aragona (1464–1528). Belisario Acq‑ uaviva became lord of Nardò in 1497, first as count and later, from 1506 onward, as duke. He was one of the most powerful princes in southern Italy. Like Galateo,

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 71 Acquaviva is known as a man of letters, the author of several treatises and epistles written to well‑known humanists of this period.65 Galateo’s letter to Acquaviva was apparently penned in response to the criticism voiced in certain circles over the marriage of one of Acquaviva’s sons, probably a natural son (i.e. illegitimate) to a neofita. The letter offers no clue as to the woman’s family or connections beyond the statement that she “was born to a worthy father of good reputation and an hon‑ est mother,” with whom Galateo says he was well acquainted. Galateo’s defence of the New Christians rests on several elements: rejection of contemporary notions of inherited nobility while stressing individual achievement and personal responsibility, criticism of the Renaissance fascination with classic heroes and Greek culture, opposition to the popular tendency to perceive Jewish origins as dishonourable or even a stigma, and emphasis on the Jewish roots of Christianity. The issue of nobility, which had already preoccupied Galateo in his two letters On Nobility,66 is brought up in De Neophitis in order to combat in‑ grained prejudice against converted Jews. Galateo ridicules his contemporaries’ fascination with noble ancestry and Greek mythology67: I think that the human race (genus) has many confused ideas, and there‑ fore it often confers honours upon the unworthy, and stupidly lets itself be enchanted by fame. It denigrates as New Men (homines novi) those who should be praised, being ignorant of the fact that one who has been the first to achieve a title of nobility, or he who has already produced wealth is more praiseworthy than he who uses it… A wise woman said these words to the king of the Romans: ‘Consider what you are, not where you were born.’68… Many take pride in their Gallic origins, others in their German origins, and the most famous claim to be of Trojan descent… every nation should exam‑ ine it own roots, and they would find many Laomedonts, many Tantali, many Gyges, many Sisyphi, a number of Dionysi and Autolychi (from whom it is said that the famous Ulysses, who is sung by the Poet [Homer] in so many books, has descended), many Medeas, many Phaedras, many Helens, many Deianiras, Pasiphaës, Ariadnes, Tarpeias, Lupas, Ilias, and their detestable descendant [Romulus, killer of Remus],69 and the honour of the kidnapped Ganymede.”70 Galateo applies the same logic to New Christians by contrasting popular attitudes with his own admiration for those who convert out of their free will: “But those who are descended from the Jews, we detest, and offensively call them neophiti… But if one who is descended from the most noble and ancient nation of the Jews should accept the true orthodox faith, I would consider him to be more noble than one descended from barbarians, even if his ancestors were kings.” This particular passage echoes Juan Ramírez de Lucena’s Tractado de Vita Beata (written in 1463) in the complaint he attributed to the bishop of Burgos, the

72  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society converso Alonso de Cartagena: “The bishop – don’t think to shame me by calling my ancestors Jews… although they are [descended] from the Davids, the Levites, the Maccabees, or the twelve tribes of Israel, no matter how virtuous they are, how far are they from vice, [they say] go, go, you are marrano.”71 Galateo had, in fact, read the Vita Beata and praised its author. In his De Educatione, where he openly states his contempt for anything Spanish, he concedes that: certain Spaniards are among the few that I sincerely value, who I consider not being descended from the Goths or the Hispanics, but from the Romans: Juan de Mena, and Villena in The Labours of Hercules, and Lucena in the Vita Beata.72 It is, then, quite plausible that De Neophitis is inspired by the latter, but Galateo goes much farther than the Vita Beata. Galateo insists on the debt Christianity owes to the Old Testament and points out the Jewish elements still extant in the Roman Catholic rite: From where have we gotten our laws? Who has taught us to worship the true God? Who has taught us to observe good and holy customs? Who has freed us from horrid and detestable rites? Who has opened for us the way to the King‑ dom of Heaven? Was it not the Jews? What do we read in our churches? … We read and chant the Pentateuch, the sacred history replete with salutary and divine precepts, and the admonishments of the holy prophets, the Psalms and the Writings, the Acts of the Apostles, and the divine Christian doctrine of the four gospels, which cannot be compared to the laws of the Athenians… That same holy Pentateuch, accepted by all men… [this book] which is the most ancient among the books of the nations, is the first work ever written in the world, the source of all laws.73 Galateo tries to convince his readers that they cannot endorse Christianity’s Jewish roots and at the same time despise the Jews themselves: If we are Christians, and each day we openly profess in our churches being descended from Abraham’s seed, if we worship Christ as our Teacher and Lord, why do we hold the Jewish nation to be an abomination, although it surpasses all the barbarous nations in every virtue, and is the most just of them all?74 Thus, Galateo’s most compelling arguments focus on the Jewishness of Christ, the Virgin, and the first apostles: Is our Lord and God not born of a blessed virgin, and a Jewess, the noble descendant of David? Peter, the first apostle, and the rest of the apostles and evangelists, were not Trojans, nor Greeks, nor Latins, nor Gauls, nor Ger‑ mans, but Jews.75

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 73 This is a recurrent theme in De Neophitis: We Christians must openly acknowledge that all that we possess is derived from Jewish sources; that is, if we do not wish to be ungrateful for the good that we have been given. And it is the duty of the honest man to recognize from whom he has benefitted. Therefore, we should cease to denigrate the Jews, our forefathers, whose precepts we follow.76 The arguments and ideas that appear in De Neophitis are in concordance with the ideas expounded in Galateo’s other works but only this epistle is concerned with Jews, Judaism, and conversions. This begs the question of why did he concern himself with this particular issue? If he only meant to support Acquaviva’s decision to let his son marry a neofita, Galateo could have penned a shorter and a more inti‑ mate letter. Only at the end of De Neophitis he becomes more personal and specific, praising the duke for his warm welcome of the young neofita: “You offer to love and hold dear that young virgin you have happily joined to your son in marriage, and you are teaching her good manners and the true orthodox faith.” Thus, in his view, the right way to treat new converts is to teach them the tenets of Christianity and welcome them into the Christian family. In other words, the Gospel should be used, not the sword. But despite these words of encouragement at the end of the letter, the text is more of a treatise rather than a personal epistle. Here I would like to offer an explanation that might narrow the timeline for dating De Neophitis. Since it was written after 1495, the New Christians it is concerned with must have been those who converted during the riots, rather than the old contingent of medieval neofiti. And beyond the obvious addressee, Duke Belisario, it is important to understand who else Galateo was trying to convince. It should be noted that the search for noble or mythical ancestors was a common preoccupation in the Renaissance period. Claiming distinguished ancestry, whether derived from classical mythology, the Bible, or some ancient heroic figure, could bestow considerable prestige on a city or a group of people.77 The Florentines claimed that Florence had been founded by Julius Caesar, the French claimed de‑ scent from Trojan refugees, biblical Tubal was considered the founder of Spain, and so on.78 Certain Italian pseudo‑scholars like the Dominican Johannes Annius de Viterbo (ca. 1432–1502) became famous for the spurious tales they manufac‑ tured. In 1498 Annius published his Antiquitates,79 a collection of texts attributed to ancient writers, to which he added his own commentaries. Later revealed as a forgery, and not even a very convincing one in modern eyes, Annius nevertheless skilfully wove his stories in such a way that they seemed to conform to, and com‑ plement, well‑known excerpts from the writings of classical authors. In order to en‑ hance the prestige of his native city Viterbo (Italy), he claimed to have discovered a text making it one of the oldest cities in the world, founded by Janus–Noah.80 In the Spanish kingdoms, though, genealogy and lineage of individuals and families became an all‑encompassing concern. It led to genealogical “creativity” in Castile, and in Aragon to “an explosion of procesos de infanzonía” (processes for proving noble descent).81 While such concerns were not totally alien to Italians, the spirit

74  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society of Renaissance humanism stressed individual achievement over the importance of ancestry. In view of the great value Spaniards attached to lineage, it stands to reason that Galateo’s mordant criticism is connected to the new Spanish rule over Naples. If this conjecture is correct, then we can date De Neophitis to 1503 at the earliest. But the letter’s strong defence of the converts, its stress on the Jewish roots of Christianity, and the sense of urgency it evokes, could be a specific response to the attempts to introduce the Spanish Inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples in 1509. Galateo’s views on religion, nobility, and the Spanish character, place him squarely in the party that opposed the inquisition. Peter Mazur in his study on the New Christians of Naples, although focused on a later period, briefly discusses Galateo’s De Neophitis. Mazur too proposes the dating of the letter to the time of the controversy surrounding the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition.82 More‑ over, Duke Belisario Acquaviva, the addressee of this letter, was in fact among those who openly protested the establishment of the inquisition in Naples.83 Acq‑ uaviva’s actions may have been dictated by his political and religious convictions, but it is more likely that they were influenced by his family ties with conversos. If Galateo’s letter is in any way connected to Acquaviva’s position on the inquisition, then it should be dated to 1509. The question of inter‑marriage between converts and the noble families of the Neapolitan kingdom finds an unexpected echo in Samuel Usque’s Consolação ás Tribulações de Israel (Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel) printed in Ferrara, in 1553.84 Usque explains the Jews’ sufferings throughout the ages as punishment for their sins, principally for the sin of assimilation to gentiles and for relying on the favours of gentile rulers instead of trusting in God. His view is well illustrated in the Third Dialogue of the Consolação where Usque recounts the story of the late‑thirteenth‑century mass conversion of the Jews of Naples and Trani, condemn‑ ing their supposed inter‑marriage as a means for integration of the converts: In the thriving communities in Naples and Trani and in other cities of the Kingdom my children suffered a misfortune far worse than violent death … then the king issued a proclamation stating that all Jews were to become Christians, or face death. The converted Jews became wealthy and success‑ ful, the king united them in marriage with the nobles and leading citizens, and he converted the great synagogue of Naples into a church.”85 Inter‑marriage was in fact rather rare among the converts of the thirteenth century, as demonstrated by Pope Nicholas’s bull of 1453, but in the sixteenth century, it became a means for exemption from expulsion. Moreover, it is central to Galateo’s letter. It is possible that Usque, writing fifty years later, knew about the New Chris‑ tians in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Naples but preferred to attribute the story to the conversion of the thirteenth century (or he may have confused between the two events). It also cannot be ruled out that he was aware of Galateo’s letter. The aftermath of 1495 and the appearance of large numbers (probably thou‑ sands) of new converts to Christianity forced the authorities to choose between their full integration into the surrounding society, and according to them a special status,

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 75 more similar to that of the Jews than the cristiani de natura. In most cases, they chose the latter option. As opposed to the treatment of the old group of medieval neofiti that was entrenched in the local tradition and the legal system, the new con‑ verts were not given an official standing. And yet, while they were not openly dis‑ criminated against, their complaints show that they had not been compensated for losses suffered during the riots, they were subject to certain restrictions (such as be‑ ing forbidden to travel outside the kingdom), and they were grouped together with the Jews and similarly affected by the king’s decisions. In the years that followed the mass conversion event, converts still maintained a close relationship with the Jews. It is probable that ongoing economic transactions, various obligations, and family ties, made close relationships unavoidable, but it is also possible that these “baptized Jews” still felt close to their former coreligionists, and vice versa. At any rate, there was not enough time for the creation of two separate populations. The mass conversion occurred at a time of great political and military upheaval which did not augur well for social change and peaceful integration of strangers, particu‑ larly former Jews, and to render things even more difficult, many of them were im‑ migrant foreigners who had been expelled from the territories held by the Catholic monarchs. But beyond the unwillingness to accord New Christians the same status enjoyed by the Old Christians, there was probably an economic factor at play. Most complaints against New Christians and the attempts to expel them or restrict their freedom come from the urban sector. As shown in Chapter 3, local townspeople were involved in most of the attacks against the Jews. After the restoration of order, they did not want to be forced to restore the property they had seized by violence or pay their debts to either Jews or New Christians. Moreover, as Christians, the former Jews were now freed from restrictions that formerly limited their participa‑ tion in certain economic activities and could have easily become competitors. Such reasoning might explain the negative and suspicious attitudes of urban elites. But Galateo’s letter hints at a deeper divide between those who welcomed the new converts and those who did not. Spanish ideas of purity of blood infiltrated both popular and intellectual circles in southern Italy and Galateo set out to combat them. And yet, Galateo’s views, the opinions of certain members of the nobility and the local elites, apparently found support among the larger masses, enough to successfully prevent the establishment of a Spanish‑style Inquisition in Naples, a topic to be discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Notes 1 David Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities: Jews and Christians in Fifteenth Century Spain,” Past and Present 174 (2002): 10; Idem, “Enmity and As‑ similation: Jews, Christians and Converts in Medieval Spain,” Common Knowledge 9 (2003): 137–155. 2 Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities,” 10–11. 3 Passero, Giornali, 172. 4 See notes 6, 7 in Chapter 3 above. 5 Barletta, Pergammena of Carmine de Martino. The document was originally pub‑ lished by Sabino Loffredo, Storia della città di Barletta, 2 vols. (Trani: Cav. V. Vecchi, ­Tipografo‑Editore, 1893), 2, 488–502, No. XLIV; it is republished: Cesare Colafemmina,

76  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society Ebrei a Trani. Fonti documentarie, edited by Mariapina Mascolo (Bari: CeRDEM, 2013), 260. The bold letters are mine. 6 Compare with Beinart, Expulsion, 42, 44, 49–54. 7 Privilegi et capitoli della città di Cosenza, fols. 67r–68r, published: Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 445–446. Also mentioned by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 209. 8 From Privilegii et capitoli della città di Cosenza, in Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 489. 9 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 528; Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 217; Ruiz Martín, “La Expulsión de los judíos,” 50. 10 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 203; Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 131. For a description of the grippo (a cargo ship of small capacity), see: Gerassimos Pagratis, “Ships and Shipbuilding in Corfu in the First Half of the Sixteenth Century,” Storia Mediterranea 22 (2011): 237–246. 11 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 436–437. 12 David ha‑Cohen, Ze sefer te’shuvot, section 20. 13 See notes 9, 10 in Chapter 3 above. 14 Medieval inquisition during the Aragonese period: Amabile, Il santo officio, 79–83. 15 BCTR, Liber Rubeus, Ms. C 20, cc. 219, rogatario: Pietro Lazzaro de Xea, published: Colafemmina, Ebrei a Trani, 297–298. 16 BCTR, Liber Rubeus, Ms. C 20, cc. 289 from the register of a notary of the ducal chan‑ cery, published: Colafemmina, Ebrei a Trani, 293–294. 17 In 1504, when this document was produced, Queen Isabella was still living. 18 It is interesting to note the double meaning of the Italian verb “molestare” which usually means to harass, but here it is also used as a synonym for expulsion. 19 “Item, si supplica al prefato Ill.mo S.nor per parte de dicta Universita, che li mercanti de Trano chiamati christiani novelli, quali stanno in molfechta (Molfetta) con loro robbe, casamente, possessioni, mogliere et figlioli siani assicurati in havere et in persona, et che possano con loro brigate et robbe stare, et habitare, et traficare con loro mercantie, per tucto el regno, salvi et securi, sensa esserno molestati per qualsivoglia causa…,” Domenico Magrone, Libro rosso: privilegi dell’Università di Molfetta (Trani: V. Vec‑ chi, 1899–1905), III, 103, cited by Vitale, Trani, 565, note 1; Scheller, Die Stadt der Neuchristen, 273, note 29. 20 Vitale, Trani, No. 81 (Chapter 3 above, note 65). 21 Sanuto, I Diarii, I, coll. 276, col. 626; Senato. Mare reg. 14, fols. 124r–124v, June 2, 1497, published by Segre, “Documenti di fonte veneziana,” 111–112. 22 “Et perche per lo parlamento facto in li misi paxati per la maiesta del Signor Re soa maiesta vole che ad instancia de qualsivoglia iudio o cristiano novo non se possa donare impazio ne molestia alcuna ad qualsivoglia persona che havesse sacohazati o tenesse pigni deli dicti iudei o cristiani novella si como in dicto parlamento se contene, per‑ tanto ve facimo la presente…,” NSA Sommaria, Partium 43, 202r, published by Cesare Colafemmina, “Per la storia degli ebrei in Campania (III),” Sefer Yuhasin 4 (1988): 125–136 (quote: 135). 23 Biagio Ferrante, “Gli statuti di Federico d’Aragona per gli ebrei del regno,” Archivio Storico per le Province Napoletane 97 (1979): 131–84; the text of the statutes has been re‑published by Cesare Colafemmina, Gli ebrei a Taranto: Fonti documentarie (Bari: Messaggi, 2005), 149–161. See also Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 195, 200–206. 24 “Item perché multi Iudei se sonno baptizati, et le mogliere sonno restate in la loro fede iudayca, supplicano Vostra Maiestà se digne ordinare che dicti Crystiani novelli habiano da dare repudio a loro mogliere…,” Ferrante, “Gli statuti,” 131–184, and Colafemmina, Gli ebrei a Taranto, 149–161. 25 Colafemmina, Ebrei a Trani, 267. Concerning the fortunes of the two converted broth‑ ers, see: Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 442–444. 26 NSA, Cancelleria, Commune 9, fol. 10 (original lost): Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 437–438.

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 77 27 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 42, fols. 74v–75r: Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 441–442. 28 NSA, Collaterale, Partium 7, c 214v, Colafemmina, Ebrei a Trani, 240. 29 Letter of the Gran Capitán: “Aviso a vuestras magestad que en el reyno ay muy pocos judios de señal aunque ay muchos en eser, por que quando vino el rey Carlo en este reyno todos los tornaron xpianos por fuerça e llamanse ellos mysmos judios bateados,” New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, MS NH 23. 30 See nn. 45, 46 in Chapter 3; Zeldes, “Un rabbino siciliano in esilio.” 31 Worship of the Ba’al is a euphemism for the Christian religion, considered by rabbinical authorities tantamount to idol worship. 32 David ha‑Cohen: Ze sefer te’shuvot, section 24, fols. 55–56. 33 On conversos observing fasts in Spain and elsewhere, see: David M. Gitlitz, Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto‑Jews (Philadelphia, PA and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 391–402. 34 For example, the opinion of Rabbi Shemuel de Medina (Maharashdam) who actually quotes R. David ha‑Cohen of Corfu: “And this is according to the great rabbi of that generation, our teacher Rabbi David Cohen of blessed memory who wrote that any apostate, even a forced one (Anus), who was able to save himself and come under the wings of Divine Presence and did not come, is to be considered evil; he is like a dog who returns to his vomit and should be called a worshipper of idolatry… …”, She’elot u‑Teshuvot Rabbi Shemuel de Medina (Salonika: Avraham Yosef mi‑geza Bat Sheva, 1594–1595), II: Even ha‑’ezer, 10. Dora Zsom, “The Return of the Conversos to Juda‑ ism in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 7 (2010): 235–347 (esp. 338–341); Rebecca Wartell, “Rabbis on Refugees: Theological Re‑ sponses to the Treatment of Converso migrants in Candia,” Mediterranean Historical Review 15 (2019): 165–179. 35 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 42, fol. 74r, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 440. 36 ASCS, Notary Benedetto Arnone, prot. Aa. 1506–1507, fol. 95v, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 495. 37 NSA, Notary Benedetto Arnone, reg. 1510, fols. 169r, 112v, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 544–545. 38 Family ties across the religious divide in Spain: Eliezer Gutwirth, “Elementos étnicos e históricos en las relaciones Judeo‑Conversas en Segovia,” in Jews and Conversos, ed‑ ited by Yosef Kaplan (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1985), 83–102; for Sicily, see: Zeldes, The Former Jews of this Kingdom, 263–264. Provence: in Aix a newly converted father wills books and property to his Jewish daughter: Danièle Iancu Agou, “Le Neophyte aixois Jean Aygosi (1441‑1488),” Michael XII (1991): 157–212. 39 “ac libere universitas ipsa possit et valeat sexdecim ex suius concivibus octo videlicet ex nobilibus, sex ex popularibus et duos ex neophidis,” Giovanni Beltrani, Il Libro Rosso dell’Università di Trani, edited by Gerardo Cioffari and Mario Schiralli (Bari: Bari Levante Editori, 1995), 35–36. See also: Zeldes, “Evolution and Survival of Convert Community”; Idem, “Legal Status of Jewish Converts in Southern Italy and Provence,” California Italian Studies 1, 1 (2010), Electronic Journal http://escholarship.org/uc/ item/91z342hv. 40 Mercanti: Vitale, “Un particolare ignorato di storia pugliese,” 234. On their economic ac‑ tivities and survival as a distinct group, see: Scheller, “The Materiality of Difference,” 407. 41 See note 19 above. 42 Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, II, No. 814, 997–998. 43 Cesare Colafemmina, “Cristiani novelli a Manfredonia nel secolo XV,” in Atti del 11 Convegno Nazionale sulla Preistoria – Protostoria della Daunia Dicembre 1989 (San Severo: Gerni, 1990), 274, 277–278; Scheller, Die Stadt der Neuchristen, 273. 44 On the founding of the Consiglio Collateralle, see: Giovanni Muto, “Tensioni e as‑ pettative nella società napoletana nei primi decenni del cinquecento,” in Il tratado de Tordesillas, 3, 1793–1804 (esp. 1796–1798); Eleni Sakellariou, “Institutional and Social

78  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society Continuities in Naples between 1443‑1528,” in The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 331–332; Galasso, Il regno di Napoli. Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 208; Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 305. 45 NSA, Collateralle, Partium 12, fols. 54v–55r, Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 611. 46 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 611–612, 614, 617. 47 Colafemmina, Puglia, 269. 48 Zeldes, “Legal Status of Jewish Converts in Southern Italy and Provence.” 49 Here are a few examples for studies on the ambiguous status, the problematic reception, and self‑perception of the conversos: Israel Salvator Révah, “Les Marranes,” REJ 108 (1959): 30–77; Ben Zion Netanyahu, Marranos of Spain (New York: American Acad‑ emy for Jewish Research, 1973); Idem, The Origins of the Inquisition; Haim Beinart, Conversos on Trial. The Inquisition in Ciudad Real (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1981); Renee Levine Melammed, Heretics Or Daughters of Israel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998); Natalia Muchnik, “Being against, Being With: Marrano Self‑identification in Inquisitorial Spain (Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries). An Essay,” Jewish History 25, 2 (2011): 153–174. However, studies on this topic are so numerous that any attempt to provide a comprehensive bibliography, or even a limited list of the most recent publica‑ tions, is bound to fail. 50 Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities”; Idem, “Conversion, Sex, and Segregation: Jews and Christians in Medieval Spain,” American Historical Review 107 (2002): 1065–1093. 51 Demands to exclude conversos from public offices were first raised by the rebels of Toledo in 1449: Eloy Benito Ruano, Los origenes del problema converso (Barcelona: Ediciones El Albir, 1976); Dayle Seidenspinner‑Núñez, “Prelude to the Inquisition: The Discourse of Persecution, the Toledan Rebellion of 1449, and the Contest for Ortho‑ doxy,” in Strategies of Medieval Communal Identity. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, edited by Wout J. van Bekkum and Paul M. Cobb (Leuven: Peeters, 2004), 47–74. 52 Stefania Pastore, Il vangelo e la spada. L’inquisizione di Castiglia e i suoi critici (1460‑1598) (Rome: Storia e letteratura, 2003). 53 Alonso de Cartagena, Defensorium unitatis Christianae, edited by Manuel Alonso (Ma‑ drid: Publicaciones de la escuela de estudios hebraicos, 1943); On Alonso de Cartagena, see: Luis Fernándo Gallardo, Alonso de Cartagena: una biografía política en la Castilla del siglo XV (Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León, 2002); Bruce Rosenstock, “Alonso de Cartagena: Nation, Misgenetation, and the Jew in Late‑Medieval Castile,” Exemplaria 21, 1 (2000): 185–204, https://doi.org/10.1179/exem.2000.12.1.185, accessed April 28, 2022; Claude B. Stuczynski, “From Polemics and Apologetics to Theology and Poli‑ tics,” Conflict and Religious Conversation in Latin Christendom. Studies in Honour of Ora Limor, edited by Israel Jacob Yuval and Ram ben Shalom (Turnhout: Brepols 2014), 253–275; idem, “Pro‑Converso Apologetics and Biblical Exegesis,” in The He‑ brew Bible in Fifteenth Century Spain, edited by Jonathan Decter and Arturo Prats, EJM 54 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 151–176. 54 Alisa Meyuhas Ginio, La fortressse de la foi. La vision du monde d’Alonso de Espina, moine espagnol (? ‑ 1466) (Paris: Cerf, 1998). 55 The debate regarding converso integration and the sincerity of conversion went on in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Albert A. Sicroff, Los estatutos de limpieza de sangre: Controversia entre los siglos XV y XVII (Newark: de la Cuesta, 2010); Jocelyn N. Hillgarth, The Mirror of Spain, 1500‑1700. The Formation of a Myth (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000), 125–143, 160–240; Claude B. Stuczynski, “Henri Mauroy’s Judeo‑Christian Apology,” Forthcoming. See also Carlos Gilly, “The Council of Basel’s “De Neophytis” Decree as Immediate Cause of and Permanent Antidote to the Racial Purity Statutes,” in The Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond, edited by Kevin Ingram (Brill, Leiden and Boston, MA: 2020), 13–44.

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 79 56 For an English summation of Galateo’s intellectual profile and his works, see: Jerry H. Bentley, Politics and Culture in Renaissance Naples (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer‑ sity Press, 1987), 268–275. 57 For a biography of Galateo, see: Angelo Romano, “De Ferrariis, Antonio,” in Dizion‑ ario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 33 (1987), https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ antonio‑de‑ferrariis_%28Dizionario‑Biografico%29/, accessed November 25, 2021. 58 In this long treatise, written in the form of a dialogue, the protagonist is the Hermit, whose soul faces the punishments of Hell. Nonetheless, thanks to his dialectic arguments and his reason, he succeeds in convincing his celestial judges to permit him to enter Para‑ dise: Antonio Galateo, “Eremita,” Latin original and translation into Italian by Leonardo Stampacchia, Prosatori latini del quattrocento, edited by Eugenio Garin (Milan‑Naples: R. Ricciardi, 1952), 13, 1068–1125 (all further references are to this edition). According to Eugenio Garin, “Eremita” was written in 1496: Ibid., 1067. In a more recent study, Pol Tordeur sees in L’Eremita “the spirit of religious reform” but considers it still part of the medieval tradition describing the peregrinations of the soul after death: Antonio de Fer‑ rariis, dit Galateo, De Educatione (1505), Texte établi et introduit par Carlo Vecce. Tra‑ duction française de Pol Tordeur. Notes de Carlo Vecce et Pol Tordeur (Bruxelles‑Leuven: Peeters, 1993), 17. On the Dialogue of the Hermit, see: Paola Andrioli Nemola, “Lettera‑ tura e contestazione nel dialogo «L’Eremita» di Antonio de Ferrariis detto Galateo,” Gior‑ nale storico della letteratura italiana 169 (1992): 481–509. Galateo’s letters: Antonio de Ferrariis Galateo, Lettere. Edited and translated by Amleto Pallara (Lecce: Conte editore, 1996). All references to the Latin text of De Neophitis are to this edition. 59 An old but still relevant study is that of Dina Colucci, who examined several of Galateo’s letters and treatises: Dina Colucci, “Antonio de Ferrariis detto il Galateo,” Rinascenza Salentina 5 (1937): 2, 97–128; 6 (1938): 1, 1–44, e 2, 212–255; 7 (1939): 1, 24–50. For a biography of Galateo and the full list of writings, see: Angelo Romano, “De Ferrariis, Antonio” (note 57 above), 738–741. 60 There are several relatively recent publications of specific works: Galateo’s letters on nobility are published in English translation with commentary: Albert Rabil, Knowl‑ edge, Goodness, and Power: The Debate over Nobility among Quattrocento Italian Hu‑ manists (Binghamton, NY: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1991), 316–362; Galateo’s letter “On Education” is published in French translation alongside the original Latin De Educatione op. cit. (see note 58 above). 61 Benedetto Croce, “Un’epistola del Galateo in difesa degli ebrei,” La Critica 36 (1938), 71–76; Idem, “Un’ epistola del Galateo in difesa degli ebrei,” in Aneddoti di varia let‑ teratura (Naples: R. Ricciardi, 1942), 104–110. 62 All references to the text of De Neophitis are from the edition of Pallara, Lettere, 173– 175 (Latin text), 177–181 (Italian translation). For the full bibliographical details, see note 58 above. English translation: Nadia Zeldes, “Arguments for a Judeo‑Christian Identity in the Writings of Antonio de Ferrariis,” Cadernos de Estudos Sefarditas 20 (2019): 55–79. 63 Vittorio Zacchino, “Uno scritto di Antonio de Ferrariis Galateo in difesa degli ebrei: De Neophitis (1511),” Sefer Yuhasin 13 (1997): 23–33 and more recently: Antonietta Orrico, “Antonio De Ferrariis Galateo, il duca Bellisario Acquaviva, e gli Ebrei nella Nardò quattro‑cinquecentesca,” L’Idomeneo 23 (2017): 125–152. 64 Pallara, Lettere, 173. On the academy of Lecce, see: Shulamit Furstenberg‑Levi, The Accademia Pontaniana. A Model of a Humanist Network (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016), 162. 65 On Belisario Acquaviva and his humanistic writings, see: Domenico Defilippis, Tradizione umanistica e cultura nobiliare nell’opera di Belisario Acquaviva (Galatina: Congedo editore, 1993). Several letters of Acquaviva are published in an Appendix to this book.

80  The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 66 On Nobility: “Almost all nobility had its beginnings in wicked and disgraceful behaviour [including] slaughter and pillage…”: Rabil, Knowledge, Goodness, and Power, 343. 67 Pallara, Lettere, 173. 68 The wise woman is Queen Tanaquil, wife of Tarquinius Priscus (616 to 579 BCE), fifth king of Rome, and mother Tarquinius Superbus. Tanaquil was born to an important Etruscan family, but her husband was of lowly origins and a foreigner. 69 Refers to the murder of Remus by Romulus. 70 All figures are from Greek and Roman mythology, see: Dictionaire de la Mythologie Grecque et Romaine, edited by Pierre Grimal (Paris: Presses universitaire de France, 1958). Ganymede, Laomedon’s son, was kidnapped by Zeus, who had fallen in love with the beautiful boy, hence Galateo’s condemnation of this figure. On the Renais‑ sance conception of Ganymede as symbol of homoerotic love, see: James M. Saslow, Ganymede in the Renaissance: Homosexuality in Art and Society (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986). 71 In the Vita Beata: “El Obispo – No pienses correrme por llamar los ebreos mis padres… y si de los davitas, de los levitas, de los machabeos ó de los doce tribos de Israel, sea quant virtuoso, quant lexos de vicio sea, Vaya, vaya, qu’es marrano,” Juan Ramírez de Lucena, Tractado de Vita Beata (Medina de Campo 1543), 29–30. On the Vita Beata, see: Juan Carlos Conde López, “El siglo XV castellano a la luz del Diálogo de Vita Beata de Juan de Lucena,” Dicenda. Cuadernos de filologia hispánica 4 (1985): 11–34. 72 “Hispani quidam, qui inter caeteros plusculum ingenio valuere, et quos puto non a Go‑ this aut Hispanis, sed a Romanis ortos, Iohannes Mena, et Villena in Laboribus Her‑ culis, et Lucena in Vita Beata…,” Galateo, De Educatione (1505), 108. Juan de Mena (1411–1456) was one of the most important Spanish poets of this period; Enrique de Aragón, marquis of Villena (1384–1434) author of Los doze trabajos de Hércules (mod‑ ern edition), edited by M. Morreale (Madrid: Real academia española, 1958), and Juan Ramírez de Lucena (1430–1506), author of the Vita Beata (see note 71 above) 73 “Unde leges habuimus? Qui nos cultum veri numinis docuerunt? Qui nos bonis et sanc‑ tis moribus instruxerunt? Qui nos ex foedis sacrorum ritibus liberaverunt? Qui nobis viam ad regnum caelorum aperuerunt? Nonne Iudaei fuerunt? Cur igitur abominamur et turpi nescio qua appellatione notamus quod re et factis probamus? Quid in templis legimus? …Legimus, cantamus Pentabibulum et sacram illam historiam salubribus et divinis praeceptis plenam, et sanctorum prophetarum et vaticinia et monita, Psalmos et Epistolas, et Actus Apostolorum, et divinissimam christianam philosophiam quat‑ uor Evangelia, quibus nec Atheniensium… Pentabibulus illa sacratissima, cui omnes homines consentiunt… prima scriptura omnium quae in orbe terrarum habentur, unde tanquam e fonte leges omnes emanarunt,” Pallara, Lettere, 174–175. 74 “Si Christiani sumus, si semen Abrahae nos esse quotidie palam in templis profitemur, si Christum magistrum et dominum colimus, quare iudaicam originem, inter omnes barba‑ ros in omni virtute praestantissimam et iustissimam, abominamur? ” Pallara, Lettere, 174. 75 “Nonne Dominus et Deus noster ex beatissima Virgine, et tamen iudaea, ex Davidis inclyta prole natus est? Princeps apostolorum Petrus ceterique apostoli et evangelistae, non troiani, non graeci, non latini, non galli, non germani fuere, sed iudaei,” Pallara, Lettere, 174. 76 “Omnia, quae nos Christiani habemus, a fontibus Hebraeorum nos illa hausisse ingenue fateri necesse est, si ingrati esse bene merentibus nolumus. Ingenui viri est fateri per quem profecerit. Desinant igitur lacessere Iudaeos, patres nostros, quorum dogmata se‑ quimur,” Pallara, Lettere, 175. 77 Peter G. Bietenholz, Historia and Fabula: Myths and Legends in Historical Thought from Antiquity to the Modern Age, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 59 (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 189–219.

The New Christians and Their Reception by the Surrounding Society 81 78 On the Franks’ descent from Troy, see Jean Lemaire de Belges, “Des Illustrations de Gaule et singularitéz de Troye,” in Oeuvres de Jean Lemaire de Belges, published by J. Stecher (Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1969), 1 (earliest printed edition from 1511). On Tubal as king of Spain in biblical times, see Robert B. Tate, “Mythology in Spanish Historiography of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,” Hispanic Review 22 (1954): 1–18. For other examples see Peter Burke, The Renaissance Sense of the Past, Docu‑ ments of Modern History (London: E. Arnold, 1969), 7–13. 79 Johannes Annius (Nanni), Antiquitatum variarum volumina XVII (Rome, 1498). On An‑ nius, see Anthony Grafton, Defenders of the Text: The Traditions of Scholarship in an Age of Science, 1450–1800 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991), 80–103. 80 Bietenholz, Historia and Fabula, 193–194. 81 Nirenberg, “Mass Conversion and Genealogical Mentalities,” 8. For the notion of nobil‑ ity in Spain, see: Adeline Rucquoi, “Être noble en Espagne aux XIVe‑XVIe siècles,” in Nobilitas :Funktion und Repräsentation des Adels in Alteuropa, edited by Otto Gerhard Oexle and Werner Paravicini (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997), 272–298; and Antonio Ferros’s analysis: “Since the medieval period, theories had been circulating that linked nobility and blood, and in fact race was a term originally associated with the nobility…,” Antonio Ferros, Speaking of Spain. The Evolution of Race and Nation in the Hispanic World (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017), 56. 82 Peter Mazur, The New Christians of Spanish Naples, 1528‑1671. A Fragile Elite (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 2013), 15. 83 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 274. 84 A facsimile reprint of the original publication of 1553 was published in 1989 with an introduction by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi: Consolação às Tribulações de Israel: Edição de Ferrara, 1553, with introductory studies by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi and José V. de Pina Martins, 2 vols. (Lisbon: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1989). The complete work was translated into English by Martin A. Cohen, Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, translated Martin A. Cohen, Judaica Texts and Translations, Second Series 1 (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1965). For new data on Usque, as well as an updated study of the sources used by the author, see Samuel Usque, Consolation aux tribulations d’Israël, translated by Lúcia Liba Mucznik et al., introduction by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, annotated and updated by Carsten L. Wilke (Paris: Chandeigne, 2014). 85 Usque, Consolação (Ferrara edition), 1, 171–174; Usque, Consolation (Cohen), 178– 180 (here my translation differs slightly from that of Cohen).

5

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition

In his now classic study, Luigi Amabile traces the history of the inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples from the high Middle‑Ages to the early modern period. Amabile cites documents that show that the old, diocesan inquisition, continued to be active even under the Aragonese kings of Naples, despite the limited support of the latter.1 It was obviously still active in the last decade of the fifteenth century as evidenced by the trial of the neofiti in Trani held during the short reign of Fer‑ rante II. Even as late as 1506, when Naples was already under Spanish rule, the Dominican inquisitor Barnabas de Capograsso of Salerno tried several women for witchcraft.2 After the failure to introduce the Spanish Inquisition in 1510, the same Barnabas de Capograsso was entrusted with the investigation of heresy among the New Christians and other groups.3 Despite the enduring presence of a still active medieval type inquisition at least up to 1506, the efforts to bring in the Spanish In‑ quisition can be traced to the earliest years of Spanish rule. These sustained efforts, which encountered many setbacks and were strongly opposed by various sectors of the Neapolitan population, beg the question of why was Ferdinand the Catholic so determined to install the Spanish Inquisition in this newly acquired kingdom. Modern studies offer manifold reasons for the creation of the new inquisition in Castile and Aragon in the second half of the fifteenth century. These reasons range from attributing the decision to a deep seated Anti‑Semitism, the need to bind to‑ gether the different and disparate groups under the banner of a common religious devotion, use of the inquisition as a political instrument effectively controlled by the Crown, and in a recently published study, Fernando Ciaramitaro argues for the inquisition’s function as a binding and unifying element that ensured religious uniformity and compliance.4 The insistence on extending the jurisdiction of the Spanish state inquisition to the Aragonese Italian dependencies, first Sicily and then Naples, is harder to explain. The Spanish historian, Antonio Domínguez Or‑ tiz, remarked that Queen Isabella considered the inquisition solely in its religious dimension, whereas the “political Don Fernando” also saw the possibilities of its political exploitation.5 This observation provides an explanation that takes into ac‑ count Ferdinand’s insistence on expanding inquisitorial powers and prerogatives beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Taking this reasoning one step further, it is useful to cite Francesco Renda’s study on the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily. Renda stresses the political meaning of the inquisition’s presence and authority in Sicily: DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-6

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 83 the inquisitors, send to exercise their Holy Office in the various kingdoms and dominions of the Crown, were serving officials belonging to a specific group whose income, salaries and appointment… were decided [solely] by the state and the royal administration. The functionaries enjoyed an excep‑ tional authority that derived from both papacy and king and the local institu‑ tions had to demonstrate their obedience and lend their collaboration any time they were requested to do so. The authority of the Spanish inquisition, therefore, overruled that of the entire public administration on the island, and its decisions became ipso facto operative, and no one, including the viceroy, could put conditions or impose limits.6 Setting aside the question of the original motivation for establishing the Spanish Inquisition in the Iberian Peninsula, Renda emphasizes the advantages it offered the Crown in the colonial context. The considerations of the crown in the Neapoli‑ tan case were probably similar to the Sicilian, but ended differently. The reasons for this are examined in the next pages. As noted above, since the Spanish victory in 1501, royal policy was consistently favourable to the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Naples. However, a series of unexpected political events forced Ferdinand the Catholic to prioritize other issues before tackling this problem. Still, his coming to Naples in 1506 and his stay there for almost a year led to an increased pressure on Jews and converts and strengthened his determination to introduce the Spanish Inquisition. But in 1509 the plan was met with strong popular opposition to the inquisition. Possibly, Spanish involvement in the campaign in North Africa at the same time prevented military intervention in Naples. At any rate, whereas the perilous political situation in 1510 forced King Ferdinand to abandon his plans for the inquisition, this deci‑ sion was counter‑balanced by an unprecedented action – the expulsion of the New Christians along with the Jews. The Early Years of Spanish Rule The first Spanish Viceroy, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, better known as the Gran Capitán, is often accorded a crucial role in preventing the immediate estab‑ lishment of the Spanish Inquisition. Amabile cites a petition addressed by the city of Naples that pleaded with the new viceroy not to introduce the Spanish Inquisi‑ tion obtaining from him a promise to fend off such an attempt, adding that there were rumours that the Gran Capitán had in fact sworn an oath on that matter. Ama‑ bile concedes that he was unable to find the original document. Nonetheless, Ernest Beleguer accepts this premise and believes that such a promise had indeed been given by the Gran Capitán.7 The rumour about the oath fits in with other stories and myths involving the figure of the Gran Capitán. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba is often depicted in both modern and contemporary historiography as favourable to the Jews and a stalwart opponent of the inquisition. In Capsali’s Seder Eliyahu Zuta he is described as “the Gran Capitano de Spagna, a great warrior, a descendant from a family of forced converts (Anusim).”8 Capsali’s attribution has no historical

84  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition basis since the Spanish viceroy had no Jewish roots.9 The correspondence between the Gran Capitán and the Catholic monarchs in 1504 offers a better clue to his views on Jewish presence and the inquisition.10 In a letter dated the 2nd of March 1504, shortly after being appointed viceroy, the Gran Capitán was ordered by the Catholic monarchs to expel the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples: …as you know, several years ago we have ordered to expel all the Jews from our kingdoms and dominions to prevent the damages caused by their contacts with the Christians and for the offense they gave to Our Lord. And because we wish that there should be no Jews in any part of our kingdoms and par‑ ticularly in this one… we are sending you a letter ordering you as Viceroy [to make sure] that after a certain period of time all the Jews residing in it would leave so that there shall be no more Jews in this realm…11 The order of expulsion is acknowledged by the Gran Capitán: “your highnesses are commanding me to immediately make the Jews leave this kingdom” (coman‑ dan me vuestras altezas que luego salgan los judíos deste reyno).12 But he contests it by responding that it would be better to bring in the inquisition and investigate the Bad [Christians] rather than expel the few Jews that still remain in the kingdom: “although there are few overt Jews (judíos de señal)13 in the kingdom, there are many who still are [Jews] in essence, because all of them had been forced to become Christians when King Charles [of France] came to this kingdom and they call themselves baptized Jews… In my opinion, God and your maj‑ esties would be better served by the coming of the Holy Inquisition to this kingdom, as had been done in other places. In this manner the bad ones will be investigated and your majesties better served than they would be by expel‑ ling these few Jews, especially because they are so few.”14 The Gran Capitán’s response shows that he was indeed opposed to the expulsion of the Jews but at the same time recommended that the Spanish Inquisition be brought in to investigate the “bad ones,” that is, the New Christians suspected of Judaizing. These arguments are mentioned and discussed by Zurita in his Historia del rey Don Hernando el Catolico. Quoting the text almost word by word, Zurita comments “as there were few of those who needed to wear the badge (como eran muy pocos los de señal)… and they were referring to themselves as baptized Jews, it was clear that they were living as before, Christian only by name…”15 And if they could not be expelled as Jews, they could and should be punished for being bad Christians. And therefore the Holy Office of the inquisition should be introduced in that kingdom as had been done for Spain.16 Given the correspondence cited above and Zurita’s interpretation, it is doubtful that the Gran Capitán ever swore an oath to oppose the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples. Perhaps a better understanding of the political and religious situation during the governorship of the Gran Capitán can be gained from Luis de Páramo’s Origine et progressu Officii Sanctae Inquisitionis who quotes many original documents

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 85 that shed light on the history of the Spanish Inquisition in the Italian Spanish dominions. According to Páramo, by 1504 the Catholic monarchs had already extended the powers of the Sicilian Spanish Inquisition to Naples by appointing Pedro Belorado, archbishop of Messina, as inquisitor responsible for Naples as well as Sicily.17 This decision was communicated to Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba in a letter dated 30 June 1504. The Gran Capitán is informed that the inquisitor general, Diego de Deza, formally extends the authority of Archbishop Belorado to the King‑ dom of Naples.18 Further developments indicate, however, that the appointment had no immediate effect. The situation can be compared with that that existed in the Kingdom of Sicily up to 1500. The Spanish Inquisition was formally established there in 1487 but became truly effective only in 1500.19 But from 1501 onwards, the Sicilian branch was usefully employed by King Ferdinand in the Neapolitan provinces well before he attempted to establish a local Holy Office.20 For example, in 1501 King Ferdinand ordered Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, who was then governor of Calabria, to cooperate with the inquisitor of Sicily and permit the entry of agents coming from Sicily to investigate the Jews and New Christians living in Calabria.21 At that point the Gran Capitán made no objection. A few years later, the account books of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily record an investigation con‑ ducted by agents sent in 1505 to Reggio Calabria in order to gather evidence against two Sicilian neofiti who came there a few years earlier.22 This piece of information demonstrates that the Gran Capitán did not oppose such initiatives and had in fact cooperated with the Sicilian branch of Spanish Inquisition as long as it concerned itself mainly with Sicilian affairs. However, when in July 1504 a group of fifteen families of Sicilian neofiti crossed the straits of Messina seeking refuge in the King‑ dom of Naples, the Gran Capitán refused to return the fugitives to Sicily claiming that such an order from Archbishop Belorado, inquisitor of Sicily, infringed upon his own authority as viceroy.23 An examination of the position displayed by the Gran Capitán in the correspondence cited above, the permission he gave to agents of the inquisition to conduct their investigations in Calabria, and his refusal to ex‑ tradite the fugitive Sicilians, all indicate that he did not oppose the inquisition’s actions out of principle but reacted as he did because he was jealous of his authority and would not take orders coming from the inquisitor of Sicily. This interpretation of the events fits well with what is known about the character of the Castilian gen‑ eral. But the semi‑independent governorship of the Gran Capitán was brought to an end in 1507 by King Ferdinand following the latter’s sojourn in Naples. The Crisis of the Spanish Monarchy and Ferdinand’s Stay in Naples On the death of Queen Isabella of Castile in November 1504 Ferdinand confronted several political and dynastic problems. A series of tragic deaths – the untimely demise in 1497 of Prince Juan (son and heir of Ferdinand and Isabella), the death of the monarchs’ eldest daughter Isabella and her son in Portugal, and the death of Queen Isabella herself in November 1504 – created a dynastic crisis. The prospect of a permanent union of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile disappeared with the death of Prince Juan, and hopes for a union with Portugal were dashed too

86  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition following the death of the young Isabella and the heir to the throne of Portugal. King Ferdinand was still the ruler of Aragon but it was his daughter Juana and her husband Archduke Philip the Handsome (el Hermoso) who were now the rulers of Castile. The Treaty of Blois signed on September 1504 between the Catholic monarch and France stipulated that Naples would go to the Archduke Philip and Charles, his eldest son by Juana (the future Charles V), would marry a French prin‑ cess. But after Queen Isabella’s death, Archduke Philip claimed Castile by right of his wife, Queen Juana. The threatened separation of Castile and the strained relations with Queen Juana and Philip forced Ferdinand to create new alliances and give more weight to his Neapolitan dominion.24 Ferdinand’s marriage to the French princess Germaine de Foix offered an opportunity to produce a new heir for his kingdoms but it was above all a calculated political move intended to create an alliance with Louis XII of France and at the same time appease the Neapolitan nobility. Germaine represented a renewed French claim to the throne of Naples and the Neapolitan barons, who were previously exiled or punished for supporting the Angevin cause, were reinstated. A new Treaty of Blois signed in October 1505 included a clause that Naples should be returned to France in case Germaine had no surviving children. It is more than probable that Ferdinand never intended to respect the treaty, much less that particular clause. At any rate, he repudiated it in a secret document dated 19 April 1506.25 Meanwhile Archduke Philip was consoli‑ dating his hold on Castile forcing Ferdinand to remove himself and his new queen. In July 1506 they both sailed to Naples. Fortunately for Ferdinand, his troublesome son in law, Archduke Philip, died in September 1506. The period of time between Isabella’s death and that of Archduke Philip was perceived by Ferdinand as potentially dangerous for his rule because of the political conflict between Castilian elites who supported Philip, and those who still proved loyal to him. Stefania Pastore underscores the fact that conversos who achieved a prominent position at the court of Isabella later supported Philip and Juana and at the same time joined the anti‑inquisition party. Ferdinand responded by encourag‑ ing the inquisition to investigate and punish their families.26 It is therefore possi‑ ble that the news on the merciless treatment of conversos in Castile hardened the Neapolitan resolve against the inquisition. But the political situation in Spain was perhaps less important than the rumours on inquisition activity in nearby Sicily, as will be shown presently. Philip’s death proved the last straw for Queen Juana and her mental instabil‑ ity became obvious. Juana ended her days imprisoned in the castle of Tordesillas, and King Ferdinand of Aragon became the sole ruler of Castile. But instead of immediately returning to the Iberian kingdom, he decided to prolong his stay in Naples and appointed Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros regent of Castile. Among Fer‑ dinand’s crucial decisions while in Naples was the dismissal of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.27 King Ferdinand spent his time in Naples reorganizing the administration, re‑ viewing the monarchy’s relations with the high nobility and the cities, and also reinstating measures that ensured the traditional segregation of the Jews. Notar Giacomo reports that in November 1506 the king issued an order threatening to

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 87 fine Jews who were not wearing the red badge,28 but this could have been no more than a remainder to apply an old rule that apparently fell into disuse or was not rigorously carried out. In fact, the decree was published again in 1509 by Giovanni d’Aragona Count of Ripacorsa, the second viceroy appointed to the Kingdom of Naples, probably because it was not yet put into effect.29 Neapolitan sources are si‑ lent regarding the efforts to establish a local Spanish Inquisition between 1506 and 1507, during Ferdinand’s stay in Naples. In his Ferdinand e Isabella, Belenguer argues that Ferdinand decided at that stage to refrain from further efforts to estab‑ lish the inquisition because he wanted to avoid a volatile situation in Naples while still combating political instability in this other dominions.30 Among the possible reasons for avoiding the thorny question of the inquisition and risking popular ire against the monarchy were the natural disasters that befell southern Italy between 1507 and 1509: a plague of locusts, a devastating earthquake that affected Calabria and Messina (on the other side of the strait), a bad draught, etc.31 It cannot be ruled out that at some point Ferdinand considered the expulsion of the New Christians as an alternative. According to Notar Giacomo, an edict of expulsion was proclaimed on Saturday, 19 June 1507. The chronicler describes the public criers blowing their trumpets and announcing that “all Marani and no‑good Christians should leave the kingdom within six months and they would not be permitted to live in any kingdom belonging to the said majesty [Ferdinand the Catholic], and they are allowed go wherever they wish.”32 The fact that June 19 of that year indeed falls on a Saturday lends verisimilitude to this notice. However, no other source mentions this order or confirms it. If it was indeed issued, it may have been an early attempt to resolve the converso question in Naples by expelling the New Christians and thus removing the main reason for bringing in the Spanish Inquisition. But the converts were not forced to leave the kingdom until 1511, following the publication of the edicts of November 1510. Meanwhile, the king decided to proceed with his plans to estab‑ lish a Spanish‑style Inquisition and made the first concrete moves in 1509. Until then, the Sicilian branch was relied upon to fulfil that role. Inquisition and Royal Policy across the Straits of Messina On 5 December 1506, King Ferdinand received a letter from Pedro Belorado, arch‑ bishop of Messina and Inquisitor General of Sicily, informing him of the capture of a vessel carrying hundreds of Portuguese conversos on their way to the Ottoman Empire.33 The archbishop complained that the jurati (elected members of the city council) of Messina refused to permit the unloading of the ship, thus preventing him from exercising his duties as inquisitor. It should be noted that these conver‑ sos were coming from Portugal and had no intention of settling in Sicily or in the Kingdom of Naples, and were not even subjects of the Catholic king. The problem was complicated by the fact that it was not an isolated incident; Ferdinand’s letters reveal that the ship held in Messina’s harbour was one of several vessels that had passed through the straits on their way to the Ottoman Empire. At that time, any ship sailing from the Iberian Peninsula to the Ottoman Em‑ pire had to pass through the straits of Messina or else sail along the North African

88  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition shores, which was rather risky because of pirates’ attacks. Jewish exiles and conversos wishing to reach the Ottoman Empire had little alternative but sail close to Sicily. King Ferdinand was very much aware of this when he wrote to Belorado “many ships have passed and still do pass through these seas loaded with New Christians who go to Constantinople in order to become Jews…”34 But most of his efforts were directed at the city council in an attempt to convince them to cooperate with the inquisition and prevent the free passage of these ships “…we charge you and order you to favour the said archbishop and the other officials most attentively in all matters concerning the operations of the said holy office of the Inquisition, because it is said that these ships are carrying New Christians and other suspicious persons in matters of faith, and [they carry] goods and personal effects of heretics, and continually pass through this port on this side of the Faro [the city of Messina], we order you to do your utmost to catch and deliver them to the inquisitors so that they can per‑ form justice.”35 The letter also reveals that Belorado gave the order to chase all suspect vessels that were passing through the straits It is our understanding that on the coming of certain ships from Portugal carrying New Christians and other suspect persons in matters of faith, the Reverend Archbishop of this city [Messina] acting as inquisitor of this realm and wishing to perform his duties, has zealously pursued those ships that car‑ ried more than three hundred souls.36 The archbishop was clearly fulfilling the role he was assigned by King Ferdinand, to act as inquisitor even beyond the territory of Sicily. But Ferdinand left southern Italy without attempting to formally change the situation. Bringing the Spanish Inquisition to Naples On 31 August 1509, King Ferdinand appointed two inquisitors for the Kingdom of Naples: the Bishop of Cefalù, Raynaldo Montoro (formerly inquisitor in Sic‑ ily), and the theologian Andrés de Palacio.37 Attempts to vilify the New Christians and justify the plan to establish a local branch of the Spanish Inquisition started several months earlier. In January 1509 the viceroy, Count Giovanni de Ripacorsa, was informed that in Apulia certain converts performed a mock ceremony on Holy Thursday (the commemoration of the Last Supper)38 and committed acts of in‑ cest: “Men and women…together holding lit candles, after having heard a certain sermon, extinguished the candles and… men and women performed carnal acts, even fathers and daughters, and others with their sisters…” Having heard such a horrific description, the viceroy immediately appointed the jurist, Doctor Antonio de Baldaxino, to carry out the arrest of the culprits and bring them to Naples to be tried and punished.39 Whereas it is not inconceivable that converts would parody

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 89 a Christian ceremony, it is extremely unlikely that they would have performed incestuous sex on that occasion. Nevertheless, such accusations were sometimes brought up in inquisitorial trials in Spain and elsewhere.40 The timing suggests that the decision to inform the viceroy and publicize the story in January 1509 was deliberate and well‑calculated to shock the Neapolitans and convince them of the need to bring in the Spanish Inquisition. Given that Giovedi Santo (Holy Thursday) is celebrated on 14 April, and the incident in question would have occurred in April 1508 (if it occurred at all), it is hard to believe that the news took nine months to reach the viceroy! Even though the Kingdom of Naples extended over a large area and travel was difficult, news from Apulia usually didn’t take nine months to reach Naples. One can compare this with the time it took the news of Charles VIII’s entry in Naples on February 22 to be known in Lecce (Apulia): “On 26 February, as ru‑ mours that the king of France had taken Naples reached Lecce…”41 In other words, the timing of this accusation seems too convenient to be a coincidence. Ernest Belenguer compares this affair and its significance to the ritual murder accusation in the case of the Holy Child of La Guardia (1490–1491) and the anti‑Jewish and anti‑converso outrage it produced in Castile at the time.42 A Neapolitan Black Legend? By the beginning of the sixteenth century the Spanish Inquisition has acquired in Italy a horrifying image that was possibly the basis for what was later known as the Black Legend (la leyenda negra).43 And to quote Benedetto Croce: the more fearsome the news touted about the severe repression carried out in Spain by the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, [the more] were the Italians moved to logically conclude that it proved that the Spaniards really needed such severe repression in order to safeguard the purity of faith, whereas the Italians themselves had no need for such vigilance and punishments.44 Croce’s interpretation, particularly the second part of his argument, echoes the ploy (or stratagem) used by Viceroy Ramón de Cardona to justify abandoning the plans to import the Spanish Inquisition to Naples, to be discussed in greater detail in the following pages. But is Croce’s interpretation of Italian attitudes towards the Span‑ ish Inquisition relevant to the creation of the Black Legend? In fact, the origins of the Black Legend are still strongly debated, and determining whether or not it had its beginnings in Italy, the Low Countries, or the Spanish colonies in the New World is outside the scope of the present study. It is clear enough, though, that the Neapolitans living in the first decade of the sixteenth century had ample reason to fear the Spanish Inquisition, particularly in view of the circulating rumours. The black image of the Spanish Inquisition is nowhere exposed as brutally as it is in Tristano Caracciolo’s treatise titled De inquisitione. Caracciolo (ca. 1437– 1522) was the scion of a noble Neapolitan family, much impoverished at the time. Lack of means forced Caracciolo to take upon himself the care for his family and prevented him from fulfilling his wish to study and become a man of letters at a

90  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition young age. He therefore completed his education only at the age of 35. Despite his late learning he is considered a brilliant scholar who, like many humanists of his day, joined the famous Neapolitan academy of Giovanni Pontano. Similar to Galateo, he is the author of several humanistic treatises such De prudentia (On Prudence), Defensio nobilitatis neapolitanae (Defense of Neapolitan Nobility), a biography of Giovanni Pontano, and more. In 1509 Caracciolo composed De inquisitione, a harsh denunciation of the Spanish Inquisition.45 The treatise reflects popular notions of the horrors suffered by victims of the Spanish Inquisition: “It has become known in what manner the Spanish Inquisition conducts it‑ self, and how it inflicts the most cruel tortures and deaths for the least cause, how it sentences even the dead and orders their bones to be exhumed from their graves and burned, thus shaming the dead and terrorizing the living; and they kill pregnant women without waiting for them to give birth, children and infants are disinherited because of the alleged crimes of their fathers, young girls and virgins, guiltless of any transgression of their own or that of others, are deprived of their dowries and driven around naked in the cities with no regard for their modesty.46 This image, an exaggerated mixture of true and false attributions, along with many rumours and personal testimonies, played a crucial role in fomenting the riots and the fierce popular opposition that prevented the establishment of the Spanish In‑ quisition in Naples. A number of modern scholars, including Croce, attribute the spread of the so called black image of the Spanish Inquisition to the influence exerted by Jews or marranos who came to Italy.47 This view can perhaps be traced back to the Aragonese chronicler Zurita who accused Spanish Jews and conversos of instigating the anti‑inquisitorial riots in Naples: “there was a great rebellion and tumult over this [the inquisition] among the people who were agitated and aroused by the Jews and conversos fleeing from Spain.”48 Whereas many horror stories were undoubtedly told by immigrant Spanish Jews and conversos, it should be pointed out that the main source of information on the methods employed by the Spanish Inquisition was nearby Sicily where the Spanish Inquisition was arresting and trying suspects since 1500. The news from Sicily served to confirm the worst fears of the Neapolitans. A case in point is the arrival of about 400 fugitives from Sicily in September 1510, whose plight is described in the most dramatic terms by Giuliano Passero “In the month of September 1510 it became known in Naples that the in‑ quisition in Sicily was acting with great cruelty and for that reason more than four hundred Sicilians came in the course of a few days, men of good character, priests and friars among them, who escaped from the said island of Sicily because the inquisitor required that monks and priests reveal the sins that they had been told in confession, and the inquisition had already pub‑ licly denounced certain priests and martyred them, breaking their fingers and

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 91 torturing them in other ways to force them to reveal the sins they had heard in confession, in such manner that all Sicilians are trying to run away, some here and some there.”49 Was the Spanish Inquisition actually forcing priests and friars to break the seal of confession? This allegation should, in my opinion, be treated with due caution. Al‑ though most of the information given by Passero is reliable and confirmed by other sources, his is the only source for this particular story. Sicilian petitions and protests list numerous complaints against the Spanish Inquisition but make no mention of forcing priests to reveal the secrets of confession. Moreover, no such complaint fig‑ ures among the objections and demands the Sicilian Parliament presented to the king in 1514. On that occasion, the Sicilian Parliament complained that the Office of the Holy Inquisition proceeds more rigorously than it is ordained by Canon Law, some of the people accused of heresy confess under torture although they are good Chris‑ tians, contracts made with neofiti in good faith are not honoured, and so on.50 Nothing is said about priests or friars; this would have probably topped the list, had it been true. On the other hand, the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily became much more rigorous as time passed, more neofiti and other suspects were arrested and subjected to torture and had their property confiscated. Given this sort of news and rumours, there is no wonder that the intention to bring in the Spanish Inquisition terrified the Neapolitans. The Failure to Establish a Spanish Holy Office in Naples As noted above, Raynaldo Montoro and Andrés de Palacio were the first inquisitors Ferdinand appointed for the Kingdom of Naples. In 1509 the entire inquisitorial apparatus was put in place: a judge in charge of confiscations, a procurator fiscal (a prosecutor), three notaries, a treasurer, an alguacil (Spanish term indicating the officer in charge of arrests), a prison guard, etc. The prosecutor, Diego de Bonilla, formerly served as procurator fiscal in Sicily.51 The set up was very similar to that of Sicily in the first years of inquisitorial activity there; as Valeria La Motta has noted in her study on the inquisitorial organization in Sicily, this arrangement represented the hacienda de la Inquisición, that is, the legal and financial establishment of the inquisition, modelled on the Castilian precedent.52 In Naples, the inquisition offi‑ cials were given an enclosed compound near the church of L’Incoronata where they were granted the use of the church and several houses.53 The establishment of the inquisition was followed by an order to prevent the flight of heretics: “…since we know that once this is published the heretics who live in this kingdom will be trying hard to leave and go to other kingdoms and lands so that their sins will go unpunished. For that reason we ask you, charge you, and command you to act with the utmost diligence and take care that no one of these heretics should escape by way of the sea, nor send their goods or merchandise before they or their goods come into your hands, and you should deliver them without delay to the said inquisitors or their officials.”54

92  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition Similar terms – prevention of flight of suspects and controlling the exit of any person of Jewish descent – appear in the edict that announced the effective establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily on 8 November 1500.55 The orders issued by Ferdi‑ nand to the inquisitors and officials stress the importance of having the heretics suffer for their transgressions and preventing the export of their goods outside the kingdom. But the expulsion edict of 1507, as reported by Notar Giacomo, ordered the converts to leave and go wherever they wished and did not forbid them to take along their own goods. Drawing attention to the apparent vacillations is important because even if the edict of 1507 was never issued, the final edict of 1510 offered the same terms and per‑ mitted converts to leave and go where they wished taking along most of their goods. In Naples, the newly established inquisition encountered setbacks from the very beginning. In a letter sent in March 1510 Ferdinand responds to the grievances and complaints of the inquisition’s officials as were enumerated in a letter origi‑ nally addressed to Juan de Enguera, bishop of Vich and inquisitor general of Spain. The letter reveals the inquisitors’ frustration about the locals’ lack of obedience that kept interfering with the exercise of their duties. Ferdinand counters these complaints by arguing that God’s work always entails certain repugnant acts and for that reason one achieves greater merit for performing them (que las cosas de Dios siempre tienen alguna repugnancia y por ello se gana en ellas mas merito). He then reassures them and promises that their salaries are going to be paid.56 The letter also mentions the coming of a special messenger sent by the city of Naples to negotiate with the king. In fact, Francesco Filomarino, the city’s emissary to the king, left Naples only on 25 April 1510, but the letter shows that he was expected even before he set out. However, though Filomarino was well received by Ferdi‑ nand and was able to convey the city’s complains, the monarch responded with his own explanation why it was necessary to establish the inquisition, without directly addressing the worries that preoccupied the Neapolitans.57 In October 1509, Raynaldo Montoro, bishop of Cefalù in Sicily, returned from Rome after receiving his powers from the pope.58 But Montoro was invested only with the authority of the Church and therefore could not exercise lay powers, such as ordering the sequestration and confiscation of property and inflicting capital punishment. On 29 December 1509, he was joined by the second inquisitor, the jurist Andrés de Palacio, representative of the bishop of Vich, the inquisitor gen‑ eral of Spain. As a layman Palacio could impose capital punishment and seize and expropriate property. Giuseppe Galasso, in his analysis of the events, argues that Palacio’s arrival signalled the beginning of effective inquisitorial activity. This development was feared ever since the Spanish victory in 1503 and the realization that the coming of the inquisition was now imminent triggered the famous Neapoli‑ tan tumult of 1510.59 It began with the assembly of all the elected administrative bodies of the city of Naples, locally known as Seggi or Sedili (seats). At the begin‑ ning of the sixteenth century, the period under discussion, there were six Seggi, five for the aristocracy, and one for the people.60 On 7 January 1510, all Seggi convened at the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples and debated whether to demand the expulsion of Andrés de Palacio or let him stay. After a long discussion, the noblemen (gentilomini) and the people agreed to act together and according to

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 93 Notar Giacomo they all declared that they preferred to risk their property and their lives rather than permit the establishment of “such an inquisition.” Passero draws a convincingly graphic picture of the people’s determination by describing how all those assembled at San Lorenzo kissed each other on the mouth (se basaro in bocca) to seal their accord.61 The rising opposition is noted by Marino Sanuto in his Diarii: “Item. A certain rumour was spreading in Naples, namely that the king of Spain sent there an inquisitor to investigate the marani of that kingdom and having carried out certain inquisitions, the people of Naples and the upper classes (primi) arose against him…”62 Sanuto states the obvious, namely that the inquisitor was sent to investigate the marani. Again, when describing the gatherings of September 1510 Sanuto explains that “the land of Naples is ablaze because of the inquisition against the marani” (per la inquisition contra i marani, la terra di Napoli è in com‑ bustion).63 Curiously, none of the Neapolitan contemporary sources such as Notar Giacomo, Tristan Caracciolo, or Giuliano Passero, explicitly mention marranos or neofiti or even the Jews in this context. All they show is that the Neapolitans and the rest of the kingdom perceived the inquisition as a foreign institution that endan‑ gered the freedom of the entire Christian population, rather than an organ of state whose main function was to investigate and harass converts. The gathering of January was the first of several such assemblies that became increasingly assertive and united in their demands. As noted above, in April the city sent Francesco Filomarino as envoy to the king but his mission ended incon‑ clusively. On 23 September of that year, a gathering of 4,000 people listened to the reading of a letter sent by Filomarino announcing that the inquisition was going to be activated in the near future. Fear of the inquisition led to other gatherings. At that point, all the Seggi and the barons decided to send a delegation headed by Belisario Acquaviva, Duke of Nardò, to express the determined opposition of the city as well as that of the entire kingdom to the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. Viceroy Ramón de Cardona received the delegation but denied having orders to activate the inquisition and promised to address the king on this matter. However, on 21 October, the union of people, nobility, and the great barons was convoked and solemnized by the attendance of 7,000 participants. Again they gathered at San Lorenzo Maggiore, moved by a great emotion, the assembled people cried, embraced, and kissed each other promising that they were all good sons, fathers and brothers, and whatever touched one of them, touched them all.64 Galasso notes the presence of the greatest barons of the realm in this gathering: Ferdinando de Aragona duke of Montalto, the princes of Bisignano and Melfi, the dukes of Atri, the duke of Nardò, and many others who attended the gathering beside the elected representatives of the Seggi. These nobles, according to Galasso, represented the “flower of the nobility” of the kingdom and their participation in the protests was traduced into a strong and powerful opposition to the king’s policies. The com‑ motion and discontent were not confined to the capital. Cosenza too sent its rep‑ resentatives to the king following the spread of a rumour that the inquisitors were planning to visit Calabria. Similar fears affected Apulia.65 According to Zurita, many converts left Apulia and went to Valona and other places in the Ottoman Empire for that reason, and some found refuge in the lands belonging to Venice.66

94  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition The Failure to Suppress the Neapolitan Opposition Notwithstanding the determined actions of the local opposition the Neapolitan “tu‑ mult” was not the only reason for the failure to establish a Spanish‑style Inquisition in southern Italy. In his discussion of the events of 1509–1510, Galasso draws at‑ tention to the lack of Spanish forces in Naples during the assemblies against the in‑ quisition.67 The absence of an army in place meant that there was no realistic option for the use of force in order to put down the popular uprising. This is an important factor previously given little weight in studies concerning the Neapolitan crisis. In fact, shortly after the conclusion of the political crisis in Castile with the death of Philip the Handsome, Ferdinand became involved in a series of military conflicts in Italy and in North Africa. In the early years of the struggle to wrest the Kingdom of Naples from the French, King Ferrante II accepted Venice’s appropriation of several cities on the Apulian coast in return for a considerable loan. At first Ferdinand the Catholic did not oppose this arrangement because he needed Venice as ally against King Louis XII of France. But afterwards, he repaid the loan in order to repossess the Apulian cities.68 His position vis à vis Venice changed with the formation of League of Cambrai in 1508, an anti‑Venetian alliance consisting of Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Ferdinand the Catholic, and Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor. It is probable that Ferdinand was motivated by his wish to recuperate the Apulian ports rather than a genuine enmity towards Venice.69 At any rate, in the summer of 1509 Viceroy Giovanni de Ripacorsa headed a military expedition against the Venetian held territory in Apulia and took back the city ports of Monopoli, Mola, and Polignano. Interestingly, Notar Giacomo reports that as the viceroy approached Trani, the locals, who remained within the city walls, expressed their support by crying “Aragona, Aragona” and arming themselves they sacked houses that be‑ longed to Jews and Marranos. The Venetians, however, ordered their men to render themselves to the Spanish and thus ended the conflict without drawing arms and without bloodshed.70 The story evinces the state of continual military engagement by the Spanish forces in this period. But at the same time it highlights the uneasy coexistence between Jews, converts, and the local population. As shown in the previous chapters, Venetian rule was generally favourable to Jews and converts. Therefore, the local population of Trani assumed, rightly or wrongly, that the Jews and the converts automatically supported Venice. Hence, probably, the violent out‑ burst. But the conflict in Apulia was only part of the Spanish military effort. In 1509 Ferdinand’s forces were battling the Muslims in North Africa as part of an ongoing crusade which was not devoid of economic interests. Moreover, after the rebellion of the Moriscos in the Alpujarras (1499–1501), Ferdinand feared further uprisings that entailed the risk of their being joined by Muslim corsairs, or even by military forces coming from North Africa. So far, Ferdinand’s involvement in the Italian wars prevented him from fulfilling his Crusade vision of establishing a Spanish empire in North Africa and he limited his efforts to the conquest of the coastal cities.71 The campaign was entrusted to Count Pedro Navarro.72 An army of about 15,000 headed by Navarro disembarked at Mers El Kébir in September 1509.

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 95 This force was needed to occupy he city of Oran. Shortly after, the Spanish took Bugia and Argel. In 1510, Tripoli fell to Navarro’s forces. However, the Spanish forces suffered heavy losses and setbacks when they tried to invest Djerba (off the Tunisian coast).73 Contemporary writers were not unaware of the military situation and the Span‑ ish involvement in these enterprises. Notar Giacomo reports the arrival of Spanish envoys in June 1509 announcing the victory over Oran that he describes as “a city of the Moors as populous as Naples.” Passero describes the joy and festivities that took place in Naples in August 1510 following the news of the successful conquest of Tripoli.74 Sanuto too notes the conquest of Tripoli by Count Pedro Navarro, and the start of the campaign in Djerba, which ended in disaster for the Spanish army; at the same time Sanuto mentions the arrival of the inquisitor “who having come to Naples, wanted to perform his duties, but as they [the Neapolitans] refused to comply, he wrote to Spain about that.”75 The politically astute Sanuto rightly made the connection between the Spanish intervention in North Africa and the attempt to establish the inquisition in Naples, and the strong local opposition to this move. The lack of armed forces in Naples provides, therefore, an alternative explanation for the success of the Neapolitan opposition and somewhat compromises the old myth that attributes the failure to establish the inquisition solely to popular resistance.76 The Spanish army was fully engaged in wars in Italy and North Africa and therefore could hardly find additional resources to put down a determined Neapolitan revolt. In November 1510 the Viceroy backed off, abandoning the plan to establish an inquisition modelled upon that of Spain. The overt reasons given for the decision appear in the edicts of expulsion, in the version intended for the Jews and in the version ordering the expulsion of the New Christians. Both edicts will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6. The official explanation for withdrawing the inquisition is the following: Our lord and king, having recognized the age old religious observance of the most loyal city of Naples, and the entire kingdom’s devotion to the holy Catholic faith, His Highness has ordered and decreed to remove the inquisi‑ tion from that city and from all the said kingdom for the general well being of all… Having considered in our royal heart the excellence of this kingdom of ours and the particular grace and benefice that God our Lord in his mer‑ cifulness and compassion has since olden times bestowed on its inhabitants for their clear cognizance of our Holy Catholic Faith which our most loyal city of Naples has received even before other many provinces, even before the city of Rome; therefore, since our city of Naples is the most ancient city that had embraced the Christian religion, and is, and always has been, held in great esteem and honor by all Christendom, we believe that it is all the more necessary for us to act with special care and vigilance in order to preserve the distinctive fame and purity of that city and kingdom.77 The king and viceroy appear to be persuaded by these claims, namely that Naples and the entire kingdom were exceptionally devout Christians, having embraced

96  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition Christianity in olden times, even before the city of Rome did. Therefore, as good Christians, they should be exempt from inquiries into their faith. This argument is reiterated by Benedetto Croce who generalizes it and attributes it to the Italians’ suspicion of Spain and its inquisition. However, it was the first (and only time) that such reasoning served to convince the Spanish monarchy to renounce its vision of extending inquisitorial powers over all their dominions. It is important to draw attention to the fact that throughout their struggle to ward off the Spanish Inquisi‑ tion, the Neapolitans never refer to the presence of the New Christians, nor do they argue that the latter are good and faithful Catholics. When Passero describes the plight of the priests and friars in Sicily, he omits any reference to the persecution of the Sicilian neofiti. It is thus not inconceivable that the monarchy found it easier to address the fears of the Neapolitan Old Christians who were careful to distance themselves from the converso question (with the notable exception of Galateo). Far from defending the New Christians, they conveniently accepted the offered compromise: cancelation of the inquisition in return for the expulsion of baptized Jews. On the other hand, the Neapolitans were very careful of their formal rights and refused to approve the publication of the edicts unless they were shown the texts beforehand.78 In an attempt to explain the failure to establish the Spanish Inquisition in Na‑ ples, Galasso argues for the crucial role played by the aristocracy (il baronaggio) and the support they had from both the local church and Rome.79 Even if true, this factor is omitted from any and all contemporary sources. The role of the papacy in this affair is mentioned almost a hundred years later by the Jesuit historian Juan de Mariana (1536–1624). Although Mariana cites Zurita in most of his references to Neapolitan history in this period, the Jesuit’s brief account of the revolt against the inquisition includes the following observation: “the pope himself was of that opinion, that for the time being there was no need to upset the people and install the new and severe tribunal in that kingdom.”80 This could have been De Mariana’s own view of the papacy’s attitude, but he may have seen documents that have been lost since. It should be stressed that ever since the founding of the Spanish Inquisi‑ tion in the fifteenth century the popes were wary of its powers and tried to mitigate its harsh sentences by allowing appeals and granting pardons.81 King Ferdinand was opposed to papal exemptions and pardons and tried to press Pope Julius II to produce a brief that circumvented papal restrictions on inquisitorial investigation.82 And yet, it should be taken into account that at the same time Ferdinand had Pope Julius II as ally in his Italian military and political enterprises and probably pre‑ ferred not to antagonize him. Galasso takes into account several factors that have been ignored by previous scholars, yet I would like to add an observation of my own. There is little doubt that the determination of the nobility (and that of the Neapolitan middle class) played a crucial part in preventing the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Naples, but it is important to take into consideration the political and military circumstances of 1509–1510 that created a unique opportunity for thwarting the monarchy’s policy of extending inquisitorial control over all their territories.

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 97 Galasso raises another important consideration that may have proved favourable to the Neapolitan protest and its success, namely, that rejecting the inquisition was the only goal of the united front that faced the Spanish government; there was no concomitant demand for political autonomy, much less secession from the Spanish crown.83 For comparison, despite a much fiercer opposition in Sicily that evolved into open rebellion and demands for autonomy in 1516, Ferdinand and his suc‑ cessors forced the Sicilians to resign themselves to the continuing presence of the inquisition.84 The inquisition in Sicily was only abolished in 1782.85 Notes 1 Amabile, Il santo officio, 79–83. 2 Witches’ trial: Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 286. 3 Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 71–75. 4 The number of studies on the Spanish Inquisition is enormous therefore no attempt shall be made here to provide a comprehensive bibliography. I shall confine my refer‑ ences to a few examples that represent some of the major trends in modern historiog‑ raphy on this topic. Attributing the inquisition’s origins to Anti‑Semitism: Netanyahu, The Origins of the Spanish Inquisition; an instrument for unification and consolidating political power: John H. Elliott, Imperial Spain 1469‑1716 (London: Penguin Books, 2002), 96–97, Hillgarth, The Mirror of Spain, 160–161, and to some extent also William Monter, Frontiers of Heresy, The Spanish Inquisition from the Basque Lands to Sicily (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1990), 1–28; focusing on the Castilian debate regarding converso Christian identity: Pastore, Il vangelo e la spada. Stressing the in‑ quisition’s importance for ensuring religious unity and compliance: Fernando Ciarami‑ taro, Santo Oficio imperial. Dinámicas globales y el caso siciliano (Barcelona‑México: Gedisa, 2022). 5 “Parece indudable que la reyna Isabel consideró a la Inquisición sólo en su dimensión religiosa, mientras que el polítco don Fernando… vio en seguida sus posibilidades de explotación política,” Antonio Domínguez Ortiz, “Las presuntas ‘razones’ de la inqui‑ sición,” in Estudios de la inquisición española, edited by Antonio Domínguez Ortiz and Ricardo García Cárcel (Granada: Comares, 2010), 122. 6 Francesco Renda, L’inquisizione in Sicilia. I fatti. Le persone (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 1997), 17. 7 Amabile, Il santo officio, 93; Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 342. 8 Capsali, Seder Eliyahu, I, 220. 9 For a biography of the Gran Capitán, see Luis Maria de Lojendio, Gonzalo de Córdoba El Gran Capitán (Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1952). 10 Letter of the Gran Capitán to Ferdinand and Isabella: New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, MS NH 23. On the appointment of the Gran Capitán as viceroy of Naples and the politics of this period, see Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 292–302; Hernando Sánchez, “El Gran Capitán y los inicios del virreinato de Napoles,” 1817–1854. 11 Originally published: Luciano Ildefonso Serrano y Pineda, “Correspondencia de los Reyes Catholicos con el Gran Capitán durante las campañas de Italia,” in Revista de Ar‑ chivos, Bibliotecas y Museos 21 (1909): 568; the monarchs’ letter is reproduced by Ruiz Martín, “La expulsion de los judíos,” 45, note 55. The words in brackets were added by me for better clarity. 12 New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, MS NH 23, fol. 3. 13 Judíos de señal: Jews who ought to wear the special red badge that identifies them as Jews in the kingdom of Naples, a sign in the shape of the Greek letter θ. Converts did not wear any distinguishing marks.

98  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 14 Quote: “Al lo que parece que sera mas servicio de Dios y de vuestras altezas seria que la santa ynquisicion venyese a este reyno como alla ha estado. Que desta manera serian los malos instigados y vuestras altezas mas servydos que de echar agora estos pocos judios. asy por ser pocos,” New York, Jewish Theological Seminary, MS NH 23, fol. 3. 15 Jeronimo Zurita, Historia del rey Don Hernando el Catolico: de las empresas y ligas de Italia, Electronic edition by José Javier Iso, Pilar Rivero and Julián Pelegrín, Zaragoza, 2004, book 5, cap. 70, https://ifc.dpz.es/publicaciones/ebooks/id/2423, accessed August 16, 2022. 16 Zurita, Historia del rey Don Hernando, book 5, Ibid. 17 Luis de Páramo, Origine et progressu Officii Sanctae Inquisitionis (Madrid: J. Fla‑ menco, 1598), 191; Amabile, Il santo officio, 94–95. 18 The letter was published by Luigi Amabile, Il tumulto napoletano dell’anno 1510 contro la santa inquisizione (Naples: Tipografia della Regia Università, 1888), 7–9, cited by Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 271. 19 Francesco Renda, L’Inquisizione in Sicilia (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 1997), 27–51; Zeldes, The Former Jews of this Kingdom, 127–157. 20 Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 342. 21 Letter of King Ferdinand to the Gran Capitán concerning Jews and New Christians in Calabria: Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional (hereafter AHN), Inquisición, libro 242 fol. 298r. 22 Palermo, State Archive, Tribunale del Santo Ufficio, Ricevitoria, reg. 4 fol. 55r; Zeldes, The Former Jews of this Kingdom, 162. 23 The escape of the neofiti is noted by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 215, n. 4. For the archbishop’s demand, see: Amabile, Il Santo Officio, 95–96. 24 On the dynastic crisis and political moves of Ferdinand between 1504 and 1507, see: Belen‑ guer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 263–307; Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms, II, 550–558. 25 Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms, II, 559–560. 26 Stefania Pastore, Un’eresia spagnola. Spiritualità conversa, alumbradismo e inqui‑ sizione (1449‑1559) (Florence: Olschki editore, 2004), ch. 3 (particularly 70–73). 27 Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 289–298. 28 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 294. 29 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, no. 449. 30 Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 343. 31 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 262–263. 32 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 303. 33 For the full story, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Incident in Messina: Letters of Ferdinand the Catholic Concerning Portuguese Conversos Caught on Their Way to Constantinople,” Sefarad 62 (2002): 401–427. 34 Letter of Ferdinand to the archbishop: “por essos mares han passado y passandos mu‑ chas navyos cargadas con xpianos nuevos que se iban a tornar judios en Constantino‑ pla,” Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, libro 243 fol. 419v. 35 Letter of Ferdinand to the jurats (councilmen) of Messina: “y assi vos lo encargamos y mandamos con mucha atencion favorezcais al dicho arçobispo y otros officiales en todas las cosas tocantes al exercicio y buena expedicion del dicho santo officio de la inquisi‑ cion y por se dize que por esse puerto passo del far (i.e. Messina) continuamente passan naos con xpianos nuevos y personas sospechosas de la fe, bienes y ropas de hereges, vos mandamos que con mucha diligencia entendays en poner tal recaudo que pueden ser presos y entregados a los inquisidores para que fagan justicia,” Madrid, AHN, Inqui‑ sición, libro 243 fol. 413v. 36 “…entendiendo havemos que viniendo de Portugal ciertas naos cargadas de xpianos nuevos y otras personas sospechosas de la fe, el reverendo arçobispo de essa ciudad como inquisidor en esse reyno puso mucha diligencia en que las dichas naos con trezien‑ tas animas o mas.” Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, libro 243 fol. 413v.

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 99 37 Madrid, AHN Inquisición, libro 244, fols. 7r–9v; Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 56–57. 38 Giovedi Santo: Holy Thursday, better known in English as Maundy Thursday. 39 The viceroy’s letter ordering Baldaxino to arrest the suspect heretics was originally published by Henry Charles Lea, The Inquisition in the Spanish Dependencies (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1908), 524–525. See: Amabile, Il santo officio, 100; also cited by Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 54. 40 Mockery of Christian practices and beliefs: Gitlitz, Secrecy and Deceit, 159–182. 41 Coniger, Chronache, 31. 42 Child of La Guardia: Baer, A History, 2, 398–423; Belenguer, Ferdinando e Isabella, 344. 43 On the image of the Spanish inquisition in Italian circles, see: Stefania Pastore, “Im‑ magini dell’Inquisizione spagnola in Italia,” in Roma y Espagna. Un crisol de la cultura europea en la edad moderna, edited by Carlos José Sánchez (Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Acción Cultural Exterior, 2007), II, 815–830; Farinelli, Marrano (Storia di un vituperio). 44 Benedetto Croce, “Lo spirito militare e la religiosità spagnuola,” in La Spagna nella vita italiana durante la rinascenza (Bari: Laterza, 1949), 226. On the Black Legend, see: Hillgarth, The Mirror of Spain, 232–236, 296–297, 309–327. For a revisionist but all encompassing view of the Black Legend, see: Rereading the Black Legend: The Discourses of Religious and Racial Difference in the Renaissance Empires, edited by Margaret R. Greer, Walter D. Mignolo, and Maureen Quilligan (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2007) and the articles published in this collection. 45 For a biography of Caracciolo, see: Stefania Pastore, “Caracciolo, Tristano,” in Dizion‑ ario storico dell’inquisizione, edited by Adriao Prosperi (Pisa: Edizioni della Scuola Normale, 2010), 1, 264; Frank Rutger Hausmann, “Caracciollo, Tristano,” in Dizion‑ ario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 19 (1976), https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ tristano‑caracciolo_%28Dizionario‑Biografico%29/, accessed December 4, 2022; for Caracciolo’s other works, see: Antonieta Iacono, “Autobiografia, storia e politica nella trattatistica di Tristano Caracciolo,” Reti Medievali Rivista 13, 2 (2012), http://rivista. retimedievali.it, accessed December 28, 2021; Luigi Tufano, “Tristano Caracciolo e il suo ‘discorso’ sulla nobiltà. Il Regis servitium nel Quattrocento napoletano,” Reti Me‑ dievali Rivista 141 (2013), http://rivista.retimedievali.it, accessed January 31, 2022. On Caracciolo, see also: Bentely, Politics and Culture, 276–283. 46 Tristano Caracciolo, “Epistola de Inquisitione,” in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, edited by G. Paladino (Bologna: Zanichelli), 22.1, 109–117 (quote: 111); see also Amabile’s Italian translation of this passage: Amabile, Il santo officio, 105, note 1. 47 Ruiz Martín, “La expulsion de los judíos,” 56–61; Mazur, The New Christians in Na‑ ples, 14–16; Croce, “Spirito militare e religiosità spagnuola,” 224–226. 48 “hubo sobre ello gran rebelión, y tumulto en el pueblo, alterándolo, y comoviéndolo, los judíos, y conversos que se fueron de España huyendo,” Zurita, Historia del rey Don Hernando el Catolico, Ibid., Book 9, cap. 26. 49 Passero, Giornali, 170–171; Amabile, Il santo officio, 109. 50 Francisco Testa, Capitula regni Siciliae quae ad hodiernum diem lata sunt (Palermo: Angelus Felicella, 1741), I, 582–584; Renda, L’inquisizione, 44–46. See also, Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 201–203. 51 The inquisition personnel in Naples: Ruiz Martín, “La expulsion de los judíos,” 55; inquisitorial organization in Sicily: Zeldes, The Former Jews of this Kingdom, 157, 171–172. 52 For Sicily, see: Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 149–154; Valeria La Motta, “Ministri e ufficiali dell’inquisizione spagnola durante il tumulto di Palermo del 1516,” in Imperial. Il ruolo della rappresentanza politica informale nella construzione e nello svilupo delle entità statuali (XV‑XXI secolo), edited by Giuseppe Ambrosino and Loris de Nardi (Verona‑Bolzano: Qui.Edit, 2018), 139–157.

100  The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 53 Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, libro 244, fol. 126v; Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 55. 54 “porque sabemos que luego que esto se publique los hereges que estan en el dicho reyno trabajaran dese absentar e passarse en otros reynos y tierras y sus delictos quedavan in‑ punidos. Porende rogamos vos y encargamos y mandamos que con la mayor diligencia que pudiedes entendays en proveher que por via de la mar ninguno delos dichos hereges se puedan yr ni absentar ni enbiar ropa o mercaderia alguna antes veniendo vos a las ma‑ nos algunos dellos o cosas suyas los entregareys sin delacion a los dichos inquisidores o sus officiales,” Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, libro 244, fol. 7r. 55 Vito La Mantia, Origine e vicende dell’inquisizione in Sicilia (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 1977 [reprint]), 28–29; English translation: Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 144–145. 56 Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, Libro 244, fol. 68v, dated March 17, 1510. 57 Amabile, Il Santo Officio, 108. 58 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 321. 59 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 273. 60 Camillo Tutini, Dell’origine e della fondazione dei Sedili di Napoli, edited by P. Piccolo (Naples: Luciano Editore, 2005). 61 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 322; Passero, Giornali, 171. 62 “Item, che a Napoli è seguido certo rumor: che havendo il re di Spagna mandato lì uno inquisitor per inquerir contra marani sono in quel regno, et fato certe inquisitione, par il populo di Napoli et quelli primi se siano sublevati contra di lui…,” Sanuto, I Diarii, XI, Coll. 193. 63 Sanuto, I Diarii, XI, Coll. 705–706. 64 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 328–329. 65 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 274–275. 66 Zurita, Historia del rey Don Hernando el Catolico, Ibid., Book 9, cap. 26. 67 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 274–275. 68 Kidwell, “Venice, the French Invasion and the Apulian Ports.” 69 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 222–223. 70 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 318. 71 Mercedes García Arenal and Miguel Ángel de Bunes, Los Españoles y el Norte de África. Siglos XV‑XVIII (Madrid: Editorial Mapfre, 1992), 37–67. 72 Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto (ca. 1460–August 28, 1528), was a Spanish military commander who served under Gonsalvo de Córdoba (the Gran Capitán) in Italy. Na‑ varro supervised the construction of the field fortifications at the Battle of Cerignola (southern Italy) and was created count of Oliveto for his services. On Navarro and the campaign in North Africa, see: Cesáreo Fernández Duro, Historia de la armada espa‑ ñola desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón (Madrid: Imprenta real, 1895– 1903), 1, 33–35, 41, 65–89, http://www.armada.mde.es/html/historiaarmada/tomo1. html, accessed March 22, 2022. 73 Arenal and Bunes, Los Españoles, 57–59. 74 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 319; Passero, Giornali, 170. 75 “l’inquisitor, venuto lì a Napoli, vol far l’oficio suo; quelli non voleno fazi, et hanno scrito in Spagna di questo,” Sanuto, I Diarii, XI, Coll. 638–639. 76 As extolled by Amabile, “Tumulto Napoletano.” 77 The edict of expulsion (for the Jews): New York, The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, published: Cesare Colafemmina, “1510, Novembre 21: le pram‑ matiche di espulsione degli ebrei e dei Neofiti da regno di Napoli,” Sefer Yuhasin, 26 (2010), 3–17; Idem, The Jews in Calabria, No. 476, 552–556. English translation of this section is by the author of this book. For the translation of the edict concerning the New Christians, see Chapter 6.

The Failure to Establish a Spanish‑Style Inquisition 101 78 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 332–336; Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzo‑ giorno Spagnolo, 275–276. 79 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 276–277. 80 “El mismo Papa era de este parecer, que por entonces no debian alterar la gente, y com‑ poner en aquel Reyno aquel nuevo, y severo Tribunal,” Juan de Mariana, Historia gen‑ eral de España divida en tres tomos (Madrid: En la imprenta de la viuda de Geronymo Roxo, 1734), 2, 704–705. 81 For the papacy’s position on converso discrimination and harsh treatment by the inquisi‑ tion: Beltran de Heredia, “Las bulas de Nicolas V acerca de los conversos de Castilla,” Sefarad 21 (1961): 22–47; Simonsohn, Apostolic See, 1, 366–379. 82 Jesús Manglano y Cucaló de Montull, Baron de Terrateig, Política en Italia del Rey Católico, 1507‑1516: Correspondencia inédita con el embajador Vich, 2 vols. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1963), II, 102–103. 83 Galasso, Il regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 276. 84 Sicily: Rosella Cancila, “Congiure e rivolte nella Sicilia del cinquecento,” Mediterra‑ nea 4 (2007): 47–62; Simona Giurato, La Sicilia di Ferdinando il Cattolico. Tradizioni politiche e conflitto tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento (Soveria Manelli: Rubettino, 2002), 267–324; Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom, 144–216. 85 La Mantia, Origine e vicende, 225–244.

6

The Expulsions of 1510–1511

The expulsion of the New Christians from the Kingdom of Naples was unprecedented yet not truly unexpected. Ever since the arrival of the refugees in 1492, and with increasing insistence after 1495, city communes kept pressuring the authorities to expel the Jews and the marani. Sanuto’s description of the popu‑ lar riot in Naples, on the eve of Ferrante II’s defeat, between 26 and 27 January 1495, is the first indication that the marani were as undesirable as the Jews.1 In October 1495, a few months after the re‑instatement of Aragonese rule, Federico de Aragona, acting in the name of his nephew Ferrante II, approved the petitions addressed by the commune of Martina (in the province of Taranto), and agreed to forbid New Christians from ever living and settling in that city because “it had already been proved in past times that they were hated in that land.” The commune claimed that their return would cause great disturbance.2 From 1496 onwards, the “people” (popolo) made it clear that they wished Jews and marani to be gone from the cities. An entry in Sanuto’s Journals mentions that in January 1496 the “wise” king (i.e. Ferrante II) sided with the nobles who were complaining about the peo‑ ple of Naples and adds “it is also said that he [King Ferrante II] was debating a lot about the Jews and the “maran” who should have been expelled, because the people did not want them at all in the land.”3 A number of complaints and demands to expel the Jews and the marani come from the cities of Apulia that were under Venetian rule at the time. In August 1496, the city of Trani sent four ambassadors to Venice (two representing the nobles and two for the people); the ambassadors presented a series of petitions to the Serenissima and among them a plea asking to expel the marani (che fosseno discaziati li marani).4 As shown in Chapter 3, Ferrante II tried to win the people’s support by ordering the expulsion of the Jews from Naples, just as he later approved of ridding Martina of New Christians. It is therefore plausible to assume that the order of expulsion issued in September 1495 to expel the Jews from Strongoli applied to converts as well. The responsum of Rabbi David ha‑Cohen specifically mentions their organized exit: “when many of the forced converts (anusim) of this province [Calabria] arranged to travel to the eastern lands…”5 The same responsum indicates that the port of exit was Cro‑ tone, in Calabria. The inclusion of New Christians in the expulsion from Strongoli is confirmed by the permission given in 1496 to the noble Giovanni Serragli of Cosenza, a ship owner, to transport Jews and “cristiani novelli” away from the DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-7

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 103 kingdom, and particularly from Calabria.6 Capsali too mentions the flight of Jews (and possibly New Christians) by sea, and reports the interception of ships full of refugees at the port of Messina. The ships were forced to wait there for two months while waiting for permission to continue their voyage eastwards.7 These testimo‑ nies indicate that a movement of migration from the Kingdom of Naples started well before the official expulsion. In view of the numerous petitions, arguments, and popular displeasure at the presence of marani or New Christians in cities and towns, their expulsion from the kingdom at any point would have probably been welcomed by the majority of the populace. Notar Giacomo’s description of the royal proclamation ordering “all Marrani and no‑good Christians to leave the kingdom within six months” shows that a total expulsion of the converts was considered by King Ferdinand the Catho‑ lic already in 1507.8 The Edicts of Expulsion Notar Giacomo wrongly dates the publication of the edicts to 24 November 1510, as these were signed already on 21 November and published on 23 November.9 Giuliano Passero offers a more accurate description and gives the correct dates in his Giornali. According to Passero, on 19 November, Viceroy Don Ramón de Cardona invited five representatives of each Seggio, various noblemen, and people of the city to his residence at Castel Nuovo and showed them King Ferdinand’s let‑ ter in which the king announced his decision to grant the kingdom the grace of not bringing in the inquisition (come detto signore Re faceva gratia allo Regno che non se ce habbia da fare l’inquisitione). According to Passero, the king’s letter recog‑ nized their being devout Christians since antiquity, and that it [the inquisition] was needed only for “the Jews, and the New Christians living in that kingdom, and for the marani and bad Christians that his majesty had already expelled from the king‑ doms of Spain and the island of Sicily.”10 Passero reports that the letter concluded with the decision to expel all those who were not excluded by a different order and all expellees were given four months to prepare for leaving. Passero’s wording is somewhat ambiguous as to the identity of those affected by the edict and I shall return to the questions raised by this passage. There is, however, no ambiguity in Passero’s description of the public proclamation in Naples that took place on 23 November whereby five public criers sounded their trumpets and read aloud two edicts, one for the Jews and the other for the converts. This description generally agrees with that of Notar Giacomo, though he offers a slightly different interpreta‑ tion to the audience of the Neapolitans at the viceroy’s residence. According to Notar Giacomo, the city representatives, learned doctors, noblemen, and members of the people, demanded to read the text of the documents before they could be en‑ dorsed and implemented.11 Only after the reading were edicts officially published. Although Notar Giacomo inaccurately dates the publication of the edicts, his de‑ scription of the public announcement agrees with that of Passero. The edict ordering the expulsion of the Jews, written in the Castilian language, survives to this day in a printed copy.12 The original edict that concerned the

104  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 converts is lost and only an incomplete text, also in Castilian, is intercalated in the chronicle of Notar Giacomo. The date and contents, however, are confirmed by the testimony of an eye‑witness, the notary Francesco Giacomo Filippucci of Bari who comments that: on the same day another royal proclamation written in Spanish was an‑ nounced by the public crier and hung in the same place, and it was read aloud by the said Notary Berardino who let it be known that all “conversi” and de‑ scendants of the Jews would have to depart by the month of March [1511].13 Filippucci’s description attests to the simultaneous publication of the two expulsion edicts, one regarding the Jews and the other concerning the conversos. Tristano Caracciolo also confirms the contents of the edict in his treatise on the inquisition: in addition, there were the proclamations that ordered the Jews to exit the kingdom without delay within four months till the coming March… and a similar proclamation ordered the neophiti who are known to be of Jewish descent and live in Apulia and Calabria to leave the kingdom under the same conditions.14 There is, therefore, no reason to doubt the authenticity of the text preserved by Notar Giacomo who proves to be a reliable source of information on most events of this period. The sources cited above also confirm that both edicts were published on the same date, contradicting earlier studies that speculate that the neofiti were expelled only a few years later, in 1514, 1515, or 1517.15 These speculations are easily explained by the fact that the expulsion of 1510–1511 was far from total. Not all the Jews left, and some returned after a year or two (see in Chapter 8), and the Abravanel family was granted a special privilege that allowed them to remain. New Christians remained in Manfredonia at least until 1517, and their presence in several places in Apulia is noted at least until 1515.16 These apparent inconsisten‑ cies will be discussed in greater detail in Chapters 7 and 8. The monarchy’s decision to abandon the plans for establishing a Spanish‑style Inquisition in the Kingdom of Naples and opt for expulsion of the converts is usu‑ ally presented as an ad hoc resolution motivated by inability to maintain the inquis‑ itorial apparatus in place in such adverse circumstances and unwillingness to clash with the local opposition. A more recent analysis of the events adds other factors that may have influenced Ferdinand the Catholic such as papal opposition, Spain’s political involvement in the Italian wars and in North Africa, and so on (discussed in Chapter 5). And yet, the expulsion and its terms were probably planned long before that. The careful construction of the text demonstrates forethought and preparation and even if it was modeled in general lines on the previous orders of expulsion of 1492, the versions published throughout the Kingdom of Naples had to take into account local conditions, and they needed to address the unprecedented fact that it was the first time such an edict was applied to New Christians as well as Jews. The information provided by Notar Giacomo regarding the proclamation of

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 105 1507 hints at the possibility that the text had already been drafted at that time and for various reasons its publication was deferred or put on hold until considered to be appropriate. The actual process of expulsion corresponds to the typical “corpo‑ rate expulsion,” a term coined by Benjamin Kedar, intending the “banishment of an entire category of subjects beyond the physical boundaries of a political entity… ordered and executed by the legitimate rulers of that entity.”17 The text published in November 1510 displays all the elements usually found in expulsion edicts: a reason for justifying the expulsion, the grant of a period of grace that allows the ex‑ pellees to sell their property and conclude their affairs and punishment unto death for those who remain in contradiction to the order. It also promises royal protection for the affected persons and their property until the final date of deportation. The Texts The edict ordering the Jews to leave the Kingdom of Naples echoes the well‑known versions published in Castile and the Aragonese lands in 1492.18 Similarly to the Castilian version, it accuses the Jews of encouraging converts to revert to Judaism by teaching those who are the descendants of Jews how to observe Jewish rites and ceremonies. A significant difference, however, is the inclusion of a passage that refers to the conversos: “and in order that the said conversos and conversas could safely dispose of their goods and business operations during that period of time, we are placing their goods and real estate… under our royal protection, so that for the dura‑ tion of the said month of March they can dispose of their goods and business affairs, buy, sell, barter, take out all their portable goods and [sell] real estate and freely dispose of everything…and no harm shall be done to their persons or goods…19 There is no explanation for the intercalation of this clause in the edict for the Jews. It was perhaps an intentional addition placed there in order to alert the Jews (and perhaps the audience hearing the public crier) that the converts too are being ex‑ pelled. However, given the haste and the unusual circumstances surrounding the publication of the edicts, a copyist’s mistake cannot be ruled out, nor a printing error. The only extant version of the edict explicitly ordering the expulsion of the “conversos” from the Kingdom of Naples is the copy intercalated in Notar Gi‑ acomo’s chronicle. Here is the complete text of the edict in English translation: Band and commandment issued by the illustrious lord, the viceroy and dep‑ uty general. Our lord and king, having recognized the age old religious observance of the most loyal city of Naples, and the entire kingdom’s devotion to the holy Catholic faith, his highness has ordered and decreed to remove the inquisi‑ tion from that city and from all the said kingdom for the general well being

106  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 of all. And in addition to this, his highness has ordered the publication of the following edicts. Signed at Castelnuovo in Naples on 22 November 1510. Ramón de Car‑ dona, deputy general (viceroy). Seen by Montaltus, Regens. Seen by de Colle, Regens. Stea, secretary. Don Fernando by the Grace of God king of Aragon etc. To our illustri‑ ous, venerable, respected, magnificent, and beloved councillors, Don Ramón de Cardona etc. Having considered in our royal heart the excellence of this kingdom of ours and the particular grace and benefice that God our Lord in his mercifulness and compassion has since olden times bestowed on its inhabitants for their clear cognizance of our Holy Catholic Faith which our most loyal city of Naples has received even before other many provinces, even before the city of Rome; therefore, since our city of Naples is the most ancient city that had embraced the Christian religion, and is, and always has been, held in great esteem and honour by all Christendom, we believe that it is all the more necessary for us to act with special care and vigilance in order to preserve the distinctive fame and purity of that city and kingdom. And it is publicly and notoriously well known that conversos of Jewish descent native to this kingdom who live and reside in the provinces of Calabria and Apulia live publicly as Jews, performing and observing many Jewish rites and cer‑ emonies, and it is [also] well known that in the times of the former kings of this kingdom, certain conversos native to the kingdoms of Spain came to this kingdom, because some of them absconded after being condemned or investigated by the inquisitors of the heretical perfidy and since they did not appear [before the courts to be tried], they are rightly considered suspect heretics. And because every communication or cohabitation between those described above and faithful Christians can result in contagion and stain for the aforementioned faithful Christians, and because we greatly love our king‑ dom of Naples, and desiring to ensure its state of well being, its peace and quietude and that of our subjects who live there, particularly in regard to the good of Christianity and the exceptional fame and purity of that city and kingdom, and in order to save and preserve them from such contagion and stain, desiring to provide a remedy in such a way that it would ensure the ef‑ ficacy of the aforesaid remedy to preserve the honour and reputation of that city and kingdom, so that it remains free of all pollution of heresy, and the purity of its Christian religion becomes much clearer, after much deliberation and serious consideration, we have reached this [decision]. We decided to is‑ sue an order to expel from this kingdom all the aforesaid conversos who live and reside in the said provinces of Calabria and Apulia, along with the tried and condemned conversos who in the times of the former kings [of Naples] came from Spain to this kingdom. Therefore, based on our royal decree, in accordance with our order and statute, knowingly, after consultation and de‑ liberation, we wish, order and demand that all those aforesaid conversos of Jewish descent that live and reside in those aforesaid provinces of Calabria and Apulia, and the conversos who had already been tried and condemned by

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 107 the inquisitors of the heretical perfidy in the kingdoms of Spain, those who never appeared before the courts in order to defend themselves, and had in the times of former kings [of Naples] left Spain and came to this kingdom, they are ordered to leave it [the kingdom of Naples] from the day of this proclamation till the month of March in the coming year of 1511. And if it happens that these conversos and conversas should disregard our royal decree, edict and statute, and remain past the time [of the expulsion] in what‑ ever part of our aforesaid kingdom, or come [back] to it in whatever manner, they shall incur the pain of death and confiscation of all their property for the benefit of our chamber and treasury, and they shall incur these punishments without further trial, sentence, or declaration. And in order that the afore‑ said conversos and conversas be able to dispose of their goods and property during the prescribed time for the entire aforesaid month of March, we are taking them and all their moveable and non moveable property under our guardianship and royal protection and we assure them that during the entire month of March they can buy, sell, barter and transfer all their moveable and non‑moveable goods and dispose of them freely.20 The text begins with an announcement intended to reassure the Neapolitans that the king, after having recognized the kingdom’s perennial devotion to the Catholic faith, orders the removal of the inquisition. The rationale of the king’s declaration is that the inquisition is needed to investigate “bad Christians” and suspect heretics. The king’s concession is therefore linked to his decision to expel the Jews and the converts, presumably the only justification for bringing in the Spanish Inquisition. Once this potential danger is removed the king concedes that there is no need for inquiries into the religious purity of the local Old Christians. The edict also ex‑ plains that the removal of the inquisition is “for the general well being of all.” The general well being meant that the main motive for the king’s decision was the need to put a stop to the disruption, agitation, protests and political gatherings described in the previous chapter that were disturbing the public peace. The edict is addressed to the viceroy, Don Ramón de Cardona, seen, and signed by the highest officials of the Neapolitan administration. It is worthy of note that all signatories were officials directly appointed by the king, and none were local Neapolitans. The viceroy himself, Don Ramón Folch de Cardona, was the scion of a great noble family from Catalonia and before his appointment as viceroy of Naples he held the same office in Sicily. Ramón de Cardona had proved his loyalty and military prowess in the conquest of Naples from the French and during the North African campaigns. In 1502, he was awarded the title of Duke of Soma, and in 1505 he acted as admiral, taking part in the capture of Mers‑el‑Kébir in North Africa.21 Ludovico Montalto, a Sicilian, was formerly a highly placed of‑ ficial in the Sicilian administration. Montalto was appointed director (reggente) of the royal Neapolitan chancery in 1508 together with Girolamo de Coll, a Catalan. The third signatory of the edict is the secretary Pietro Lazzaro Xea, also a Catalan. All three were appointed by King Ferdinand following his reorganization of the royal administration, and personally chosen by him. Galasso remarks that these

108  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 offices were transformed on that occasion from personal appointments into a more institutionalized administration of the kingdom.22 However, it is obvious that by appointing administrators of foreign origins Ferdinand ensured their loyalty and prevented their being influenced by local politics and interests. It is therefore note‑ worthy that none of the figures involved in the decision to expel the Jews and the converts were Neapolitans. The introductory part of the edict, called Arenga in medieval phraseology, is usually inserted in order to set a charter or any other officially issued document within a religious, moral, or legal framework.23 In this case, the arenga spells out the reasons for the proclamation of the edict that describes the Judaizing behaviour of the converts: And it is publicly and notoriously well known that conversos of Jewish de‑ scent native to this kingdom who live and reside in the provinces of Calabria and Apulia live publicly as Jews, performing and observing many Jewish rites and ceremonies. It then accuses Ferrante I and his successors of welcoming conversos from the kingdoms of Spain despite their being already condemned or investigated by the inquisitors in their native lands. The next phrase reiterates the fundamental ideol‑ ogy that permeates the earlier edicts published in 1492, namely that any communi‑ cation or cohabitation between the dangerous element, then the Jews and now, both Jews and converts of Jewish origins “can result in contagion and stain for faithful Christians.” The decision to expel the “conversos and conversas” is justified by the need to protect the honour and purity of the city [Naples] and the kingdom, so that it should remain free of all pollution of heresy. As in all expulsion edicts, the order is accompanied by a promise ensuring that the converts’ property would be taken under royal protection and guardianship. The edict specifies who is going to be affected by the royal decision and names certain categories of converts: conversos of Jewish descent that live and reside in the provinces of Calabria and Apulia, conversos who had already been tried and condemned by the inquisitors in the kingdoms of Spain, or have never appeared before the courts in order to defend themselves, yet came to the Kingdom of Na‑ ples in the times of former kings of the Aragonese dynasty, i.e. Ferrante I and his heirs. There is, however, no clause that explicitly states that the edict affects all the converts living in the kingdom. So far, no study has noted this omission. All extant sources confirm the expulsion of the neofiti from Apulia and Calabria, but what about the rest of the kingdom, were they spared, or had they already been expelled? There are several possible explanations to this riddle. The simplest is to take liter‑ ally the wording of the text: the order of expulsion affected only the converts living in the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, and foreign conversos who came from Spain or Sicily. Caracciolo, cited above, mentions only the expulsion from Apulia and Calabria. Writing about a hundred years later, Juan de Mariana also describes the expulsion as following:

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 109 The Viceroy published an edict that ordered the expulsion of the Jews and those who were recently converted, having come in great numbers after flee‑ ing Spain, and they had to leave that kingdom [Naples] and had to get rid of everything until the month of March.24 Reference to the month of March as the final date for leaving the kingdom dem‑ onstrates Mariana’s familiarity with the terms of the expulsion. But Mariana ap‑ parently concluded that the expulsion applied only to the recently converted from among those “who left Spain and found refuge in the Kingdom of Naples,” that is the refugees of 1492. His account overlooks the expulsion of the local converts, the neofiti. According to Passero, one of the best sources for this period, the expel‑ lees were “the New Christians living in that kingdom [Naples]… marrani and bad Christians that his majesty had already expelled from the kingdoms of Spain and the island of Sicily.” Passero too does not specifically refer to the expulsion from Apulia and Calabria, but lets it be understood that the expulsion affected the entire kingdom. Implementation of the Edicts Whereas the expulsions of the Jews from the Spanish kingdoms and Sicily are well documented even as to the names of individuals and ports of departure, surviv‑ ing testimonies on the expulsion of the Jews and converts from southern Italy are fragmentary and do not include all or even most localities. The best documented is Trani and so are several cities in Apulia and Terra d’Otranto. Clearly an effort had been made to register the number of hearths affected by the expulsion in each and every locality. The main reason for these efforts was the need to collect accurate data on the remaining hearths subject to taxation while eliminating those of the departing Jews and New Christians. There is no question as to the expulsion of converts from Apulia and Calabria. Trani lost 120 households of New Christians in 1511.25 The commune of Montalto in Calabria was assessed in 1509 for 710 households, and among them 102 neofiti. In March 1511 an inventory was made listing the property and the donations made by the neofiti of Montalto to Ferrante d’Aragona, duke of Montalto. The inven‑ tory mentions the donation made by the local Universitas Neophitorum of all their property, moveable goods as well as real estate, animals, gold and silver, debts, and more, in order to comply with the royal edict expelling the neofiti.26 We can safely conclude that all members of the 102 households left Montalto. In the case of Cerignola, the authorities noted the departure of only one household of New Christians, that of Ioanne Perfetto and his family. The city’s tax burden was re‑ duced therefore by one household.27 There were about fourteen households of New Christians in Monopoli (Apulia) on the eve of the expulsion as attested by an order of the Sommaria to deduct the taxes paid by those families as they left and were no longer part of the city’s population.28 In December 1511 the Sommaria ordered the deduction of five paying hearths of neofiti from the tax roll of Gravina (Apulia).29

110  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 It is surprising how little information survived on the Jews and New Christians of Lecce, the scene of forced conversions in 1495. In 1511, at the time of the expul‑ sion, a total of 109 households of Jews and converts were registered for Lecce.30 In 1512 it is stated that thirty‑one hearths belonging to Jews should be deducted from the 1905 tax paying hearths of the city of Lecce.31 Does this piece of information indicate that out of 109 households that departed in 1511, only thirty‑one were Jewish? In that case, the New Christians of Lecce would have numbered about seventy‑eight households at the time of the expulsion. Actual numbers of households or name lists survive for a few localities but in most cases this information is missing. For example, in June 1511 the Camera Sommaria ordered the provincial treasurer to make inquiries into the situation in the city of Cosenza in Calabria and eliminate from the tax rolls all the households of Jews and New Christians who left the kingdom. The letter even demands the names and surnames of the “said Jews and New Christians,” but if such informa‑ tion was ever provided, it did not survive.32 Again, all we know about the departure of Jews from Abruzzo are inquiries of the Sommaria. In July 1511 the treasurer of Abruzzo informed the Sommaria about the Jews of Campli who left the place and as a consequence the tax assessment needed to be adjusted accordingly. The Jews of Lanciano, also in Abruzzo, were counted and registered before leaving the king‑ dom and their hearths were deducted from the tax rolls.33 However, actual numbers are missing. Strangely enough, there is no reference to the presence of converts at the time of the expulsion in the other Neapolitan provinces, or in the large cities such as Naples, Gaeta, Capua, and Salerno. Were they expelled by previous orders as were the Jews? Was their number so insignificant that it did not merit expulsion? These questions must await further studies. Destinations and Resettlement There was no particular port of exit. Jews and New Christians left the kingdom by diverse routes chosen depending on destination or convenience. One of the destinations was the Ottoman port of Valona, a preferred destination ever since the catastrophic events of 1495. The responsa of Rabbi Hayyim ben Shabbetai Yonah mentions both Jews and converts who went there at the time.34 Zurita too mentions the flight of conversos from Apulia to Valona in 1509.35 By 1511 there was a flourishing Jewish community in Valona formed up by numerous Spanish, Sicilian, and Portuguese refugees. Some aspects of community life and the in‑ evitable internal disputes are thrown into evidence in the Hebrew compilation ti‑ tled Kevod Hakhamim authored by David Ben Judah Messer Leon.36 Although the refugees from Sicily and southern Italy are not explicitly mentioned in David Ben Judah’s book, the coming of exiles from both places to Valona must have created a congregation or a recognized group of Sicilians as well as refugees from Apulia and Calabria prior to the publication of the expulsion edicts of 1510. At any rate, in 1511 the existing community was joined by additional exiles. An order of the Sommaria dated October 1520 concerning the town of Roca in Terra d’Otranto,

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 111 mentions the migration of the local Jews to the Golfo (the gulf), a term usually employed for the Adriatic sea, and to La Velona (Valona).37 In July 1511 some Jews departed from Reggio Calabria sailing to Messina from which they went to Rome or Livorno.38 More evidence on the migration of the Jewish exiles in this period comes from Francesco Grassetto’s account of his voyage in the Mediterranean. In July 1511, upon leaving Corfu, Grassetto’s vessel, a Venetian galley, encountered five Spanish ships carrying refugees: “that day, at about the third hour, five Spanish barze39 carrying Jews and Marani expelled from Apulia and Calabria were heading there (i.e. Zante, today Zakynthos), and others to Turkey” (Circa hore III de zorno zonseno cinque barze spagnole carge de zudei et mazani (sic.), scapati dela Puglia et Calabria andavano quivi, et altri per la Turchia).40 Venetian Corfu was among the preferred destinations. Up to modern times there were Jewish communities in Corfu who used a Pugliese dialect. In an article published in 1902, Herbert Adler remarked that Even at the present day the Jews of Corfu are divided as to Minhag (religious rite) and even as to language into Greeks and Pugliesi, as the Italian section is called. The latter is now the more important of the two communities, and its members, as indeed many other Corfiotes, speak a bastard Italian called “Pugliese,” representing the Apulian dialect of the fugitives from Italy.41 More recently, Giuseppe Sermonetta and Fabrizio Lelli discussed this particular di‑ alect that attests to the Italian origins of these Jewish communities.42 Corfu served as destination for converts even earlier, around 1495, as evidenced by the story of Hannah of Strongoli, discussed in Chapter 3. Other groups of exiles headed northwards, to Rome and other places in main‑ land Italy. Several sources mention the Schola siculorum de urbe, that is, the Si‑ cilian congregation in Rome. Although Sicilian exiles came to Rome already in 1492, apparently the Schola was founded around 1522, after the expulsion from the Kingdom of Naples.43 Sicilian families appear in notarial registers in Terracina, in the Patrimony of St. Peter and other places in the lands of the papacy. However, most entries in these registries belong to the second half of the sixteenth century and therefore it is hard to determine when exactly they settled there.44 North Africa does not figure among the destinations of the refugees at this time, probably because of the war waged by Ferdinand the Catholic against the Muslims of the coastal areas. Oran and Bougie were taken by the Spanish in 1509, and Tripoli fell in July 1510.45 Other exiles came to Arta in the Epirus in the wake of the expulsion. A rab‑ binic responsum of Rabbi Benjamin ben Matatyah mentions the case of a con‑ verted woman from Apulia named Paloba who came to Arta. Her first husband, a convert, apparently managed to bribe certain “men of the court,” probably local noblemen, to avoid the expulsion of 1511.46 Another responsm of Rabbi Benjamin ben Matatyah mentions the formation of four congregations of immigrants in Arta: Sicilian, Apulian, Calabrese, and Sephardi. It is more than probable that most im‑ migrants arrived in the aftermath of the expulsion of 1511. Aware of the expulsion

112  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 of conversos from the Kingdom of Naples, Rabbi Benjamin of Arta reprimands those who had an opportunity to leave yet tried to avoid the expulsion by observ‑ ing “no one has greater liberty than that given to them by the king of Spain who allowed them to leave and join their people and their law.”47 This striking comment shows that he was well‑aware of the terms of the expulsion, namely that the edict allowed converts to leave the land without any repercussions. Rabbi Benjamin seems to echo Notar Giacomo’s description of the terms of the attempted expul‑ sion of the marani in 1507 that permitted them to go wherever they pleased (et andassero dove allo piacesse). Which implies that they could revert to Judaism, if they wished to do so. The edict of 1510–1511 is particularly noteworthy inasmuch that it was the first order of expulsion whose terms allowed converts to leave and forsake their Chris‑ tian identity, invalidate in fact their baptism. Such a reversal of both church and lay tradition begs an explanation. In the next chapter I shall attempt to provide some answers to this conundrum. Notes 1 Marino Sanuto, La Spedizione, 206 (and see Chapter 3 above). 2 “Item se supplica per detti Cristiani Novelli per niun tempo vengono ad abitare, et stan‑ ziare in Martina, et questo per haverno loro per li tempi passati portato male, et odeose in detta terra, et che tornandose ad abitare sempre se staria con grande divisione…,” NSA, Privilegiorum 1, 247, published: Colafemmina, Gli ebrei a Taranto. Fonti docu‑ mentarie, 148–149. 3 “Se dice che molto se dubita de li iudei e maran che non sian scazati, perché li populi non li volle in terra per niente,” Marino Sanuto, I Diarii, I, Coll. 32. 4 Marino Sanuto, I Diarii, I, Coll. 276, 626; cited by Segre, “Documenti di fonte venezi‑ ana,” 111–112. 5 David ha‑Cohen, Ze sefer te’shuvot, Section 20. 6 NSA, Collaterale, Curie, vol. 3, fol. 2; NSA, Collaterale, Comune, vol. 10, fol. 1, cited by Vitale, Trani, 563. Also cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 206–207, and 216. 7 Capsali, Seder Eliyahu, 1, 218. 8 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 303. 9 The expulsion edicts: Cesare Colafemmina, “le Prammatiche di espulsione degli Ebrei e Neofiti dal regno di Napoli,” 3–21; Idem, “Gli ebrei in Puglia sotto Ferdinando il Cat‑ tolico (1503‑1516),” 26–27. 10 Passero, Giornali, 172. 11 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 332–333. 12 Text of the edict regarding the Jews: New York, Library of the Jewish Theological Semi‑ nary of America, published by Colafemmina, “Le Prammatiche,” 11–15; Idem, “Gli ebrei in Puglia sotto Ferdinando,” 34–37. 13 Text published by G. Summo, Gli ebrei in Puglia dall’XI al XVI secolo, (Bari, 1939), No. XXVII, citted by Colafemmina, “Gli ebrei in Puglia sotto Ferdinando,” 26–27. 14 “Habere insuper pragmaticas, quibus imperat Iudaeos cuncto hoc suo abire Regno: ad quorum abitum martium mensem proximum terminum imposuit… Eademque prag‑ matica omnes neophitos, qui in Apulia Calabriaque degunt, quique ex Iudais ibi oriundi cognoscebantur, intra terminum Iudaeis datum iisdem condicionibus Regno abire man‑ dat,” Caracciolo, “Epistola de Inquisitione,” 116.

The Expulsions of 1510–1511 113 15 Dating the expulsion of the neofiti: Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 219–220; Ruiz Martín, “La ex‑ pulsión de los judíos del reino de Napoles,” 69–70; Scheller, Die Stadt der Neuchristen, 307–310. 16 Jews and converts after 1511: Ruiz Martín, “La Expulsión de los judíos,” 70–75; Co‑ lafemmina, “Cristiani novelli a Manfredonia”; Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 219–236. 17 Kedar,“Expulsion as an Issue of World History,” 167. 18 The Edict for Castile was published several times by modern scholars, among them: Suárez‑Fernández, Documentos acerca de la Expulsión, 391–395; Beinart, Expulsion, 49–54. Edict for Aragon: Rafael Conde y Delgado de Molina, La Expulsión de los Judíos de la Corona de Aragón (Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico, 1991), 41–44; Edict for Sicily (similar to the Aragonese version): Simonsohn, Between Scylla and Charybdis, 12243–12247. For a comparison between the Castilian and Aragonese versions, see: Moise Orfali and Angel Motis Dolader, “An Examination of the Texts of the General Edict of Expulsion,” (Hebrew) Peamim 46/47 (1991): 148–168. 19 Colafemmina, “Gli ebrei in Puglia sotto Ferdinando,” 36. 20 Notar Giacomo, Cronica di Napoli, 334–336. My thanks to Dena Ordan for helping render this text into fluent and comprehensible English. 21 On Ramón Folch de Cardona y Anglesola: https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/14377/ ramon‑folch‑de‑cardona‑y‑anglesola, accessed November 2, 2022. See also: Cesáreo Fernández Duro, Historia de la armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Cas‑ tilla y Aragón (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1895–1903), I, 48–53, https://armada.defensa. gob.es/html/historiaarmada/tomo1/tomo_01_04.pdf, accessed November 2, 2022. 22 Identification of the officials: Galasso, Regno di Napoli: Il Mezzogiorno Spagnolo, 211. 23 Hans Hummer, “Arenga,” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle‑Ages, edited by Rob‑ ert B. Bjork (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), I, 127–128. 24 “El Virrey publicó un edicto, en que mandava que los Judíos, y los nuevamente converti‑ dos, que vinieron en gran numero de España, saliessen de aquel Reyno, y desembarazas‑ sen por todo el mes de Março,” Juan de Mariana, Historia general de España, II, 705. 25 Vitale, Trani dagli Angioni agli spagnuoli, No. 98; NSA, Sommaria, Tesoreri e Percet‑ tori, 5386, fol. 24r, published: Colafemmina, Trani, No. 270. 26 Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 537–538, 565, 580. 27 Colafemmina, Puglia, 238, No. 256. 28 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 578, 175r–176r, Colafemmina, Puglia, 257–258, No. 280. 29 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 79, 183r: Colafemmina, Puglia, 245, No. 264. 30 NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 79, 157r–v–159r, published by Colafemmina, Puglia, 243– 244, No. 263. 31 NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 87, 6r–v, published by Colafemmina, Puglia, 248, No. 268. 32 NSA, Sommaria, Partium, 83, fol. 147r, published by Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 577–578, No. 496. 33 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 79, 23v; NSA, Sommaria, Partium 79, 29r, published: Cesare Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei in Abbruzzo (III),” Sefer Yuhasin 3 (1987): 89–90. 34 Valona in the responsa of R. Hayyim Yonah: Biblioteca Medicea Laurentiana, Plut. 88.47, fols. 17r–18v, 24r–24v. 35 Zurita, Historia del rey Don Hernando el Catolico, Book 9, cap. 26. 36 On Valona: David ben Judah Messer Leon, Kevod Hakhamim, edited by Shimon Bern‑ feld (Jerusalem: Makor, 1970), and see: Hava Tirosh‑Rothschild, Between Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon, SUNY Series in Judaica (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991). 37 Migration to the Adriatic Golf and Valona: NSA, Sommaria Partium 105, fols. 206–207, Colafemmina, Apulia, Doc. 317, 292–293; cited by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 214, 218.

114  The Expulsions of 1510–1511 38 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 214. 39 Boats, barges. Flat bottomed vessels. 40 A. Ceruti, “Viaggio di Francesco Grassetto da Lonigo. Lungo le coste dalmate greco‑venete ed italiche nell’anno MDXI e seguenti,” Miscellanea publicata dalla dep‑ utazione veneta di storia patria, Monumenti storici publicati dalla deputazione veneta di storia patria 4 (1887): 3–91 (quote Ibid., on page 14). 41 Herbert Adler, “The Jews in Southern Italy,” JQR O.S. 14 (1902): 111–115. On the set‑ tlement of Jewish refugees in Venetian Corfu, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Jewish Settlement in Corfu in the Aftermath of the Expulsions from Spain and Southern Italy, 1492–1541,” Mediterranean Historical Review 27 (2012): 177–190. 42 Giuseppe Sermoneta, “La cultura linguistica e letteraria. I testi giudeo‑pugliesi,” in L’ebraismo italiano nell’Italia meridionale Peninsulare dalle origini al 1541, edited by Cosimo Damiano Fonseca et al. (Potenza: Galatina, 1996), 161–168; Fabrizio Lelli, “L’Influenza dell’ebraismo italiano meridionale sul culto e sulle tradizioni linguistico‑ letterarie delle communità greche,” Materia Giudaica 11 (2006): 201–216. 43 Angela Scandaliato, “From Sicily to Rome: The Cultural Route of Michele Zumat, Phy‑ sician and Rabbi in the 16th Century,” in The Italia Judaica Jubilee Conference, edited by Shlomo Simonsohn and Joseph Shatzmiller (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2013), 199–211; Anna Esposito, “Gli ebrei nel Viceregno di Napoli profughi nello Stato Pon‑ tificio: la situazione nel Lazio meridionale e a Roma,” in 1510/2010 Cinquecentenario dell’espulsione degli ebrei dall’Italia meridionale. Atti del convegno internazionale, Napoli, Università l’Orientale’ – 22–23 Novembre 2010, edited by Giancarlo Lacer‑ enza (Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli, “L’Orientale,” 2013), 45–56; Idem, “La via dell’esilio: ebrei siciliani nel Lazio meridionale e a Roma nel primo Cinquecento,” Rassegna Mensile d’Israel 87 (2021): 19–38. 44 Pier Luigi de Rossi, La comunità ebraica di Terracina (sec. XVI) (Cori: Moderata Du‑ rant, 2004). 45 García Arenal and De Bunes, Los españoles y el Norte de África, 52–66. On the settle‑ ment of Sefardic refugees in North Africa in this period and the difficulties they faced, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Tunis in Abraham Zacut’s Day: A Safe Refuge for Exiles from Spain and Portugal?,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 13 (2017): 85–100. 46 Responsa of Benyamin ben Matatyah: Sefer Benyamin Ze’ev, Section 101, fol. 165v. On this case, see: Zeldes, “‘There Is No Greater Liberty Than That Given to Them by the King of Spain’,” 57–66. 47 Benyamin ben Matatyah: Sefer Benyamin Ze’ev, Ibid.

7

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians”

The edict ordering the expulsion of the New Christians in 1510 is unprecedented and so is the permission (or liberty) granted to the departing exiles to go wherever they wished, thus implying their eventual return to Judaism. Moreover, the deci‑ sion to expel them “en masse” challenged Church doctrine on baptism and conver‑ sion as formulated in the course of the ages, principally the validity of baptism and its irreversibility. A fundamental tenet of the Christian Church since its inception holds baptism as irreversible; once a person is baptized, there is no way that he or she can revert to his or her former religious condition – Judaism, Islam, or Paganism. Can the decision to expel converts be interpreted as a rejection of a fundamental point of doctrine? In the following pages I intend to call attention to the legal opinions that determined Church position regarding Jewish converts, their protection and defence, and the rulings regarding those who were subject to forced baptism. But popular views and lay perceptions concerning conversion veered away from the traditional stand of the papacy and in time gained strength and the support of the lower echelons of the Church. I mean to show how these popular notions of race and blood and doubts about the sincerity of conversion undermined the value at‑ tached to baptism and affected the converts’ status. Finally, I shall attempt to iden‑ tify the parallels between the expulsion of 1510–1511 and that of the Moriscos, another group of New Christians, about a hundred years later. The Indelibility of Baptism and the Question of Coercion Baptism, one of the seven sacraments, is considered as the first sacrament or the “door of the Church”; by baptism one is made member of Christ and incorporated in the Church.1 It was Augustine of Hippo who established the validity of baptism regardless of the faith or worthiness of the minister and maintained that one of the chief effects of Sacrament of Baptism was the removal of the stain of Original Sin on the soul. The infusion of grace and the incorporation into the Church had been generally recognized as results of Baptism.2 According to Church tenets, a baptized person, even if he wishes it, cannot lose grace, no matter how much he (or she) sins.3 Then again, baptism is valid only if voluntarily accepted, or in the case of DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-8

116  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” infants, by parental consent.4 Forced baptism, on the other hand, was, and still is, considered to be invalid. The prohibition on the use of force or other forms of coercion in baptism goes back to Pope Gregory the Great (590–604). In a letter addressed to the bishop of Arles, Gregory the Great condemned the use of force, explaining that anyone who approached the baptismal font under duress, eventually returned to his earlier su‑ perstition. Nevertheless, he argued, even insincere conversions would eventually lead to Christ’s grace “because, even if they themselves come with little faith, those who shall be born of them will already be baptised with more faith. So we gain either them or their children.”5 It is clear that Gregory the Great envisaged a fast assimilation of these converts in Christian society, but whereas individual converts were easily assimilated by the Christian community, later developments show that large numbers of forced or insincere converts posed a social and legal problem as well as a religious one. Moreover, there was no remedy for those baptised by force or unwillingly. According to Church doctrine, once a person is baptised, there is no way of changing that person’s status as Christian and Catholic. This notion is found in the legislation of the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633. Among its many decisions there is the decree stating that even “those coerced to become Christians, having received the sacrament of baptism [at the time of King Sisebut (612–621)], should be forced to keep the faith they had undertaken it under duress…”6 This view was reinforced during the High Middle‑Ages by legal argumentation that closed every loophole that might have allowed unwilling converts to revert to Ju‑ daism. The new rulings distinguished between absolute coercion and conditional coercion. Absolute coercion was interpreted as a situation whereby a person was physically restrained (i.e. held by another and tied down), so that there was nothing that person could do to prevent the pouring or sprinkling of holy water. But in con‑ ditional coercion, that is whenever a person was being threatened with death unless he consented to be baptized, there was, they argued, an element of free choice, and that individual should be constrained to hold the faith. In his Bull Maiores issued in 1201, Pope Innocent III accepted the distinction between conditional and absolute coercion stating that even: he who is dragged violently by torture and fear and accepts the sacrament of baptism to avoid loss, receives the impressed character of Christianity, as does one who comes to baptism in dissimulation. Such a person has to be compelled to observe the Christian Faith as one conditionally willing… He, however, who never gave his consent, but wholly objected, receives neither the character, nor the grace of the Sacrament.7 The papacy’s official position never changed and once a person was baptized, he or she were considered to have undergone an indelible change and perforce became Christian. This remained the traditional stand of the Christian Church. Hand in hand with this position, the Church considered its duty to draw new converts to the faith by offering them material benefits, protect them, and ensure their acceptance on equal footing with “Old Christians.”

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 117 Encouraging Conversion and Protecting the New Christians Church policy in favour of rewarding new converts was explicitly formulated for the first time in the ruling of the Third Lateran Council (1179) which de‑ creed that: “converts ought to be in better circumstances than they had been before accepting the Faith.” This position was reinforced by Pope Innocent III (1198–1216) who argued that “a new plant should not only be strengthened by the dew of doctrine, but also nourished by temporal benefits.” Later papal letters and conciliar decrees insisted a convert should not lose property rights because of his (or her) conversion.8 This policy worked for individuals or families who converted and were then easily absorbed into the surrounding Christian society. Mass conversions were another matter. As shown in the previous chapters, the neofiti of southern Italy never lost their particular identity even 200 years later and were never really integrated as “normal” Christians. Spanish Jews who con‑ verted in 1391 and during the successive decades were distinguished by epithets that indicated their difference: conversos, marranos, confesos, cristianos nuevos, etc. The official Church tried to counter this prejudice, protect New Christians from persecution and discrimination, and promote their full integration. One of earliest attempts to normalize the status of the converts and their descendants fol‑ lowing the mass conversions of the late fourteenth century and the early fifteenth, was the decree known as “De Neophytis” passed in 1434 by the Ecumenical Council of Basel. Its main purpose was to ensure the full and equal rights of New Christians and their descendants: “Since by the grace of baptism converts are made citizens of the saints and members of the household of God (1 Ephesians, 2:19), and since regenera‑ tion in the spirit is of greater worth than birth in the flesh, we determine that these [conversos] should enjoy all the privileges and immunities and exemp‑ tions of the cities and places where they received holy baptism which the others [i.e. old Christians] enjoy for reason of their birth.”9 On the same session the Council of Basel also endorsed several anti‑Jewish measures, some reiterating former restrictions intended to promote segregation such as particular dress, prohibition on close relations with Christians, and the like, and some meant to encourage conversion, such as forcing the Jews to listen to sermons in order to learn about their errors and be exposed to the truth of the Catholic faith. Here, however, our discussion focuses on the sections concerning the New Christians. In his analysis of the Basel decree, Carlos Gilly underscores the favourable attitudes towards New Christians, drawing attention to the guar‑ anties regarding the converts’ possessions to the extent that they were allowed to keep property or moneys acquired through usury, and even going so far as promise them financial help if they were poor. But far from being something new, the offer of material help simply reiterates the traditional stand of the papacy.10 The real innovation of the Bassel decree is the promise to uphold the principle of equality of all Christians, whether New or Old. Another point of importance

118  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” is the recommendation for mixed marriages between New and Old Christians. Gilly remarks that by encouraging inter‑marriage the council’s decree was sig‑ nalling a rejection of any notion of racial purity. But, again, this has always been the Church official position and initiatives for the discrimination of converts, or opinions regarding them as being of impure blood, usually came from popular circles and only slowly gained the support of members of the clergy (though never that of the papacy). The Church fundamental position is plainly expressed in regard to the neofiti of southern Italy, who are encouraged to reinforce their adherence to the Christian faith by marrying outside their group. In 1446 Pope Eugenius IV promises absolution to the neofiti of Trani if they repent, cease their Judaizing practices, and marry other “Christifideles” according to their status and condition. In 1453 the bull of Pope Nicholas V concerning the same neofiti addresses similar issues and again advocates inter‑marriage.11 Taking into con‑ sideration the Basel decree and the bulls issued by two different popes, Galateo’s defence of the New Christians and his encouraging words to Belisario Acquaviva for accepting a neofita into his family reveal his own religious adherence to the traditional teaching of the Church. Obviously the Basel decree was meant to combat the discrimination of converts and buttress their social standing. The prelates present at the Basel council, who probably played a part in drafting the decree, were Juan de Torquemada, Juan de Cervantes, Juan de Segovia, and a few others. It is unclear how many of them had a personal interest because they were the descendants of converts or related to them. Juan de Torquemada was known to have been of converso origins and pos‑ sibly so was Juan de Cervantes.12 But the anti‑converso party had already started using purity of blood criteria for accepting converts and their descendants into religious colleges, religious orders, and prestigious positions. In 1435, in Seville, Archbishop Diego de Anaya Maldonado changed the statutes of the College of St. Bartholomew by introducing a clause that denied entry to those who were of Jew‑ ish origins (de genere Judaeorum).13 Popular attitudes also made the converts’ lives miserable. In 1436 Pope Eugenius IV had to respond to the complaints sent by the conversos of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia who were claiming that the Old Christians treated them “as infidels” and were telling them that it would have been better if they had remained Jews.14 From the mid‑fifteenth century onwards various writers expressed their doubts regarding the validity of the conversos’ bap‑ tism and the sincerity of their conversion. These views gained support towards the middle of the fifteenth century and became dominant at the end of it, although they still contradicted the basic tenets of the Church. The reasoning was somewhat paradoxical: on the one hand, the anti‑converso thinkers questioned the use of co‑ ercion in the mass‑conversions in Spain and in Portugal dismissing it altogether by arguing that all Jews (and Muslims) accepted baptism voluntarily, on the other hand, they claimed that their initial acceptance of baptism was insincere and they never adhered to the true faith. At the same time they denied unwilling converts the permission to revert to their original religion. Similar opinions later played a role in the decision to expel the moriscos.

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 119 Undermining Baptism and Denying Coercion in the Aftermath of 1391 Once baptized, regardless of circumstances, the Jews who converted in 1391 be‑ came Christians and were nominally on equal footing as the surrounding “Old” Christian population. Since the key to acceptance and integration was baptism, some of the anti‑converso rhetoric focused on undermining its significance. One of the compelling arguments used against conversos was that their baptism was insincere because even after receiving that grace they continued to behave as Jews (or Muslims), therefore they never became truly Christian. Such reasoning ran con‑ trary to the basic tenets of the Church, but more and more supporters of the Spanish monarchy used it to justify the discrimination of converts and the reluctance to ac‑ cord them full Christian status. This was met with a counter‑argument, often voiced by critics of Spain, that the conversions were forced and therefore the converts should not be compelled to remain Christians, again contrary to Church doctrine. The question of voluntary baptism is brought up in the historiographical work authored by the Sicilian humanist Lucio Marineo Sículo (1444–1533).15 In an ear‑ lier work, De Laudibus Hispaniae (printed ca. 1496), Marineo mentions Jews and converts, but in his monumental Opus de rebus hispaniae memorabilibus (printed in 1530) he added an entire chapter dedicated to the history of Jews and conversos in Spain and the problems raised by their presence. Lucio Marineo’s appointment as royal chronicler in 1499 lends a particular importance to his narrative since it represents, at least to some degree, the official position of the monarchy.16 In the chapter titled “On the punishment of the heresy of those who were Jews and converted to the Christian religion and later turned to observe Jewish rites in secrecy,”17 Lucio Marineo offers an explanation for the Jews’ conversion at the beginning of the fifteenth century attributing it solely to the persuasive powers of Fray Vincent Ferrer whose missionary efforts and anti‑Jewish activities in 1411–1414 brought about numerous conversions: “We [can] explain the reason for their conversion in few words. In the past years of our century,18 there was a certain man in Spain of Valencian origin named Vincent Ferrer of the Preaching Order, a well‑known theologian, a forceful orator, of perfect life and morality. Who, as long as he lived, never ceased to rekindle the cult of Christ and the Catholic faith… being of so much eloquence and such an expert in doctrine, that by reasoning and pow‑ erful arguments, he demonstrated to the Jews all errors and mistakes that they were steeped in like blind men; he converted many of them to the cult of Christ and the Catholic faith.19 And when they came to know our true and holy Christian religion and faith, they accepted the holy baptism and all the other Church sacraments… (lavacro sancti baptismatis et aliis omnibus ec‑ clesie sacramenis acceptis).20 The Castilian version of Marineo’s book printed in 1539 goes further than the Latin original by stressing the voluntary aspect of conversion: “and of their own free

120  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” will they were baptized” (y fuessen de su propria voluntad baptizados…).21 It is important to underscore Marineo’s omission of the events of 1391 and the mass conversion they brought about, years before the appearance of Vincent Ferrer on the scene. But Marineo’s emphasis on the successful persuasion of the Dominican friar was designed to construct an apologetic narrative that accused the Jews of insincere conversion. In a similar manner, the Milanese Pietro Martire de Angheria (1457–1526) argued for a voluntary conversion of the Muslims. During 1501 and 1502 Pietro Martire de Angheria acted as ambassador of the Catholic monarchs to Mamluk Egypt. Upon his return he wrote an account of his journey to Egypt and his encounters with the Sultan Qansuh al‑Ghuri (1501–1516), titled the Legatio Babylonica which was printed in Sevilla in 1511.22 One of the is‑ sues raised in de Angheria’s embassy was concern for Mamluk retaliation on behalf of the Moors of the Iberian Peninsula. In a letter sent by the Catholic monarchs to de Angheria, he is advised to tell the sultan that the Moors are treated humanely and none are forced to convert to Christianity.23 When the Mamluk Sultan finally received de Angheria (in secret, according to his account), the first subjects he raised were the conquest of Granada, the expulsion of the Jews, the oppression of the Moors, and forced conversions. The ambassador denied that there ever had been forced conversions among Muslims or Jews. He argued that the fact that thou‑ sands of Moors have already passed through the Sultan’s own lands, as had a great number of exiled Jews, was proof enough that there had been no coercion. Those who refused to be converted had been free to leave Spain.24 Lucio Marineo and Pietro Martire, both Italians in the service of the Catholic monarchs, had to respond to international criticism by denying any use of coercion and arguing for voluntary conversions, only. This was the official position of the Spanish monarchy at the time, and it served to counter objections that ranged from accusing the Spanish Inquisition of employing excessive cruelty to contravening fundamental Christian doctrine. Even when a better case was made for the Jews who were clearly baptized by force in 1497 in Portugal, the legal stand regarding the validity of forced baptism remained the same. In 1533 an attempt was made to rule otherwise. The legist Pier Paolo Pariseo (1473–1545) stands out in a consilium (legal advice) where he rejected the validity of the forced baptisms effected in Portugal in 1497 by declar‑ ing that they had indeed been coerced (coacti). His conclusions, that theoretically would have allowed these baptized Jews to return to Judaism, were in the end dismissed by the papacy.25 The controversy regarding the forced conversion of the Jews in Portugal and the papacy’s decision represents one more phase in the legal battle surrounding the definition of forced baptism and the question of its validity. One more step towards delegitimizing the baptism and Christian status of the converted and their descendants is spelled out in the memorandum of the jurist Tristan de León addressed in 1525 to Emperor Charles V. The memorandum de‑ scribes the hasty conversions at the time of the expulsion and the mass conversion in Portugal arguing that none were genuine: Neither the ecclesiastic magistrates nor the lay ones cared to take charge in order to acknowledge or give warning, and so they remained Jews as they

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 121 were before, pretending to be Christians, and based on this false religion they have lived and are still living among true Christians in contempt of honor and the fear of God, disobeying the Divine laws and the human ones… and so death is the corporal punishment that they merit…26 The memorandum also offers an economic incentive, advising the monarch to consider the confiscation of the conversos’ goods in order to enrich the treasury. This is a far cry from the earlier rulings that favoured offering economic benefits for encouraging conversion, or the Basel decree that promised to safeguard the converts’ property. De León concludes his plea with an attempt to persuade the emperor that acting against the conversos would not cause any economic loss, on the contrary, he points out that doing God’s work brought the Catholic monarchs considerable economic success and they enjoyed great achievements such as the discoveries of Columbus. De León’s reasoning is definitely paradoxical, claiming on the one hand that all conversions and baptisms performed at the time of the expulsions (in Spain and in Portugal) were insincere and invalid and therefore conversos only pretend to be Christians but actually remain Jews, but on the other hand, he advocates their treatment as heretics  –  subject to confiscation of their property and punishment with death. As an additional inducement he calculates that given the number of converts, the confiscations would bring about 700,000 ducats to the treasury.27 The main point of this harangue is that baptism of the conversos shouldn’t impede their consideration as Jews. The memorandum is in‑ novative inasmuch as it condemns all conversos as Judaizers, foregoing any at‑ tempt to distinguish between true believers, heretics, and secret Jews. In his view, there is not much point to inquisitorial careful examination and trial – they are all guilty. This reasoning, as will be shown presently, was applied to the case of the Moriscos about eighty years later. Doubting and Excluding New Christians Mercedes García Arenal has recently observed that “forced conversion changed not only the idea of belief, but also that of conversion itself. From the outset forced converts were not expected to be good Christians… a presupposition that under‑ mined belief in the transforming capacities of Baptism.”28 This agrees with our efforts to identify the forces that strove to undermine the meaning and importance of baptism. Mass conversion destabilized traditional categories of religious difference by producing novel forms of social and political identity, such as the transformation of Iberian Catholics into Old Christians, and one can argue that the Neapolitan Catholics were transformed into Cristiani de natura, deemed particularly faithful for having embraced Christianity in the first centuries.29 As a consequence, Old Christians questioned the very possibility of the converts’ inclusion in the corpus mysticum, a metaphor understood to mean the Christian society in a theological sense, as well as the body politic.30 A new and separate category of “Old Chris‑ tians” was created and now they perceived themselves as community of blood in which notions of religion and race became intertwined.

122  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” Modern historians consider the publication of the anti‑converso statutes by the rebels of Toledo in 1449 as a turning point.31 There is indeed an increasing pro‑ liferation of anti‑converso literature in Castile from the mid‑fifteenth century on‑ wards, but overt rejection of the conversos’ Christian identity comes later, towards the end of the century and increasingly during the sixteenth. A recent study traces the origins of the term “conversos” in Castile and Aragon, first as a convenient collective category to indicate former Jews, and in time, an almost legal definition that accords them a corporate status. Later, the term took a derogatory meaning that turned the appellation of “converso” into a tool that served to “lock in” even the descendants of the Jewish converts who could have been otherwise easily and in‑ visibly assimilated into Christian society. Attempts to prevent Christians of Jewish origins from holding public offices, accusations of “heretical” tendencies, should be understood as reflections of socio‑political conflicts.32 But this was also a way to mark conversos as a separate class, to make them socially visible. In the Iberian kingdoms this trend necessitated special efforts and changes in legislation that took a long time, about a century, in fact. In the Italian south, however, converts have al‑ ways been visible and their status was spelled out in legal terms as well as socially. This holds true for the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. In both places they are consistently identified as neofiti in all official documents, whether these are issued by the royal administration, in petitions addressed by complainants against the converts, in pleas addressed by the converts themselves, or in docu‑ ments of a more private nature such as contracts signed by a notary, wills, etc.33 Benjamin Scheller’s study on the neofiti of the city of Trani is a case in point since the author was able to trace the descendants of the original neofiti who converted towards the end of the thirteenth century up to the early sixteenth century, relying in most cases on their continuing identification as neofiti (and later as cristiani novelli).34 As opposed to the situation in Spanish kingdoms, the question of full acceptance of converts and their descendants, their incorporation into the surround‑ ing society or in the “corpus mysticum,” never arose. On the other hand, there was little opposition to their presence or demands to undermine their position either by enacting blood purity laws or inquisitorial investigation and punishment. Popular opinion changed only when confronted with a huge influx of Jewish (and convert) immigrants to Naples. Enmity towards converts was motivated in most cases by economic considerations, especially in the aftermath of the mass‑conversions of 1495. And yet, Viceroy Ramón de Cardona’s solution to the dilemma – expulsion of both Jews and converts – seems a breach of an almost sacrosanct stand regarding those who embraced baptism or were born and raised in the Christian faith regard‑ less of their origins. But, as noted in the previous chapters, the relatively neutral reference to converts as neofiti or cristiani novelli was by the early sixteenth cen‑ tury supplanted by epithets such “mali cristiani,” “marani,” “non boni christiani,” (no‑good Christians) or baptized Jews.35 Lay attitudes regarding forced conver‑ sions overcame Church doctrine. Whereas the rulings of Pope Gregory the Great stress the importance of encouraging the children or descendants of the original converts to become full members of the Christian community, an opinion endorsed by his successors, few still believed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 123 converts or their descendants could become truly Christian. But whereas in Castile rejection of the conversos’ Chritian identity prevailed only after a heated debate lasting over fifty years, in southern Italy it took little more than a decade to become entrenched. By the time Don Ramón de Cardona decided to expel all converts there was little opposition to this move. In her study on the Iberian expulsions, Isabelle Poutrin draws attention to a common denominator of the expulsions ordered in the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries – conversion was always offered as an alternative. This obser‑ vation holds true for the expulsion of the Jews from Castile and Aragon in 1492, the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1496, of the Muslims in 1502, and again in 1525 for the Muslims of Castile and a few months later, for the Muslims of Valen‑ cia and the entire Kingdom of Aragon. Poutrin argues that these expulsions were a means for achieving conversion, or rather forced conversion.36 Her arguments are valid for all the expulsions that precede that of the Moriscos in the early seven‑ teenth century. But the edict issued in Naples in November 1510 cannot be grouped together with the Iberian expulsions described by Poutrin since it offers no alter‑ native to expulsion. It posits the heretical tendencies of the converts as a fact and at the same time recognizes only the local “Old” Christians as true believers who therefore need no inquiries into their religious practice, yet a discussion of the theo‑ logical implications is totally absent. It fits Kedar’s definition of “corporate” expul‑ sions. The order was issued by the viceroy (a lay authority), an explicit reason was given for the expulsion of the New Christians, namely that “every communication or cohabitation between those described above and faithful Christians can result in contagion and stain for …faithful Christians,” and the banishment is final, and well‑organized by the authorities.37 As in the earlier edicts of expulsion published in 1492, the monarchy justifies its decision by raising the fear of contamination that might endanger the faith and purity of the faithful Christians. Only in this case, it is not only Jews who effect such contamination but also New Christians who be‑ have like Jews. There were other reasons, unvoiced, that justified the expulsion and much can be learned from the expulsion of another group of New Christians whose faith and baptism were called into question: the Moriscos of Spain. The Case of the Moriscos: Legal Arguments, Religious Justification and Reasons of State Shortly after the conquest of Granada the prevailing attitude towards the defeated Muslims was that effective missionary activity would eventually turn them into genuine and faithful Christians. Hernando de Talavera (1428–1507), the first bishop of Granada, believed that it was a question of employing the right tactics such as slow, patient evangelization, and a careful distinction between religious practice and ingrained cultural customs. Talavera accepted the use of the zambra (a typically Muslim musical instrument) during Christian religious ceremonies and he permitted the Muslim converts to Christianity to pray in Arabic.38 But Tala‑ vera’s approach was thwarted already in his lifetime, and Muslims were given little time or opportunity to adjust. The continuing pressure to convert met with outward

124  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” success inasmuch as thousands of Muslims in Castile and Aragon converted to Christianity. Early hopes for a genuine conversion were dashed by the realization that Moriscos continued to keep Islamic customs, wore traditional garments and gave Muslim names to their children; they even kept performing the prescribed Islamic daily prayers known as “çala” (from the Arabic salah, or salat).39 Towards the end of the sixteenth century the commonly held view was that Islamic ten‑ dencies could not be eradicated from the Morisco community and most of them were in fact “bad Christians.” Between 1580 and 1609 the Morisco question be‑ came subject to fierce debate. Despite the intervention of a few apologetics, such as the Jesuit Ignacio de Las Casas or Pedro de Valencia, who opposed these gen‑ eralizations and argued that there were good Christians among the Moriscos, the pro‑expulsion stance prevailed.40 The notion that a lay ruler, a king or a prince, is entitled and perhaps even obliged to expel undesirable elements was not new. The fourteenth century legist, Oldradus de Ponte, argued that although Jews and Saracens ought to be tolerated and not be expelled without cause, the ruler had a right to confiscate property or expel Jews and Saracens. Jews and Saracens alike, according to Oldradus, are al‑ lowed to stay in Christian lands only as long as they live peacefully, but they can be expelled whenever they abused their privileges, persecuted Christians, or deceived “simple Christians to follow the cult of their vile Muhammad.”41 In time, jurists added various justifications for the expulsion of minorities or certain well‑defined groups. Nevertheless, the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 was strongly debated. The points of debate are relevant for the reasons and justifications that led to the expulsion of the New Christians from Naples. The debate ranged between religious considerations and a pragmatic approach. Rafael Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco offers the following argument that reflects the dominant religious considerations: the Moriscos are apostates and heretics, yet they are Christians and the Church is duty bound to convert them, strive to reintegrate them, correct their errors and also punish them, but it cannot abandon them. This represents the traditional stand of the Christian Church, and the main instrument for achieving religious conformity was the inquisition. Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco maintains that in view of the huge numbers involved, about 300,000 Moriscos, an individual examination of each and every one of them was not feasible. Inquisito‑ rial procedure was slow and complex. The inquisitors needed to hear testimonies, evaluate them, try the accused, and sentence the guilty but such an elaborate and in‑ tricate process took too long and therefore was impossible in this case. Here I tend to disagree with Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco’s view. Conversos of Jewish descent also numbered many thousands – Benzion Netanyahu and Norman Roth concluded that the total number of converts lay between 600,000 and 750,00042 – but sheer num‑ bers never prevented minute and thorough investigations of suspect heretics in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The case of the Moriscos was different because from a religious point of view they were all deemed guilty of irremediable heresy as maintained by Jaime Bleda in his Defensio fidei.43 Was Bleda aware of Tristan de León’s memorandum? Given that their opinions are very similar, further study would perhaps shed more light on Bleda’s Spanish sources. At any rate, Bleda cites

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 125 a number of venerable Church authorities, among them writings by the Fathers of the Church, the Corpus juris canonici, the Decretum Gratiani, the Summa Theo‑ logiae by Thomas Aquinas, and more.44 Bleda seeks out as many authorities and precedents as he can find in order to build up his case against heretics and apos‑ tates. Basing his argument on Aquinas’s Summa, he concedes that infidels, Jews, or pagans who do not recognize Christ, remain outside the Church and therefore are not to be considered heretics. Infidels, who receive the Faith and then deny it or refuse to conduct themselves as devout Christians, are considered heretics and deserve punishment. In his view, baptism dictated the Church’s treatment of each group. One who reverted to his former state after baptism was an apostate and a heretic and the prevailing opinion of the theologians was that heretics deserved the death punishment. According to Bleda, the Moriscos were infidels who had been baptized and embraced the Faith, therefore they were heretics and apostates. As such, they were subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, and so were their children. Bleda’s conclusion was that the Moriscos should be physically eliminated, that is, killed en mass. Such views were not exceptional and Bleda’s arguments found sup‑ port in the writings of other contemporary authors. José Esteve in his treatise De Bello Sacro (On Sacred War) cited the biblical Book of Maccabees to justify the execution of idolaters, and concluded that the ruling monarchs were duty bound to kill the “Moors,” or expel them from the entire land of Spain.45 In the same vein, several contemporary theologians cited authorities that supported the killing of her‑ etics, and consequentially the Moriscos, but having established that, they pushed for expulsion rather than extermination. The rationale for preferring expulsion over extermination was not only because it was more humane, but also because such an extreme measure had no historical precedent. On the other hand, tolerance was not a viable option in the religious climate of seventeenth century Spain. According to Isabelle Poutrin, the intrinsic deep religious character of the Catholic monarchy in the reign of King Felipe III rendered tolerance of the Moriscos impossible. Moreo‑ ver, the expulsion of the Moriscos ensured the purity of the “Christian body,” or as noted above, the “Corpus mysticum.”46 It is important to follow the reasoning of Bleda and other contemporary theo‑ logians who shared his views. Since the ruling of eminent authorities permitted and even encouraged the extermination of heretics, and the Moriscos were deemed heretics and apostates, and given that a Christian prince was within his rights to kill them all, he could certainly expel them as a more humane alternative. The religious problem posed by the Moriscos was compounded by practical and political considerations. Politically and militarily their presence endangered the security of Spain because of the risk of an uprising, or worse, their joining forces with the enemies of Spain, either Muslims from North Africa and the Ottomans, or the French and the English. There was also an unfounded demographic fear that the Moriscos might in time outnumber the Old Christians. But it was mainly the politi‑ cal situation in 1609 that determined the king and his council to make the move against the Moriscos. According to Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco, around that time the Spanish monarchy experienced setbacks in the Low Countries, and the expulsion of the Moriscos was intended as a religious show of force, an act of Catholic zeal

126  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” in compensation for the losses to Protestantism.47 And yet, the theological founda‑ tions so carefully raised by Bleda paved the road to the final decision that practi‑ cally obviated all previous thinking regarding baptism and its indelibility. The Expulsion of the 1510: An Early Manifestation of the Changing Attitudes towards Converts As shown above, given the growing numbers of Jewish and Muslim converts, in time baptism seemed to have underwent a certain devaluation. Early attempts to counter accusations of forced conversion, as manifest in the efforts of Lucio Mari‑ neo Sículo and Pietro Martire de Angheria, maintained that all so‑called forced con‑ verts accepted baptism out of their own free will. Church jurists such as those who discussed the opinion of Cardinal Pariseo regarding the converted Jews of Portugal, still upheld the traditional position of the papacy, namely that once given, baptism conferred Christian identity and consequently, no baptized individual could revert to his or her former religious identity. Nor could their children. Spanish jurists began questioning the validity of baptism especially when conferred on unwilling “infidels” and concluded that it did not necessarily create a true Christian identity. It is difficult to argue backwards, risking the accusation of anachronism, but I think that the arguments of Tristan de León, Jaime Bleda and his contemporaries, reflect popular or even learned opinions that circulated long before they were put on pa‑ per. Discussing the memorandum of Tristan de León, Beatrice Perez maintains that his views were neither new nor revolutionary because they represent the thinking of a political party whose ideology can be traced to 1449 and the Toledo rebels.48 We can push these opinions to an even earlier period given the concerns implicit in the Basel decree, the purity of blood clause introduced by Diego de Anaya Mal‑ donado in 1435, and the efforts of the papacy to efface racial concerns by urging converts and their descendants to marry into Old Christian families. The expulsion of the New Christians from the Kingdom of Naples exempli‑ fies this mode of thinking. But were the architects of this expulsion influenced by the opinions that circulated in Spain? The viceroy, Don Ramón de Cardona was a nobleman close to the royal court and the circles of power and therefore undoubt‑ edly very much aware of the anti‑converso propaganda and the views that denied them true membership in the Christian society. But the ongoing debate regarding the status of converts was not totally foreign to the Neapolitans as demonstrated by Galateo’s De Neophitis. He addresses many points of the religious debate such as the Jewish roots of Christianity, praise for Jews who convert, mockery for claims of noble blood, and so on. Just as Galateo was aware of the pro‑converso argu‑ ments because he read certain Castilian authors, others read or knew about the anti‑converso arguments promoted by different Spanish authors and jurists. The popular clamor against the marani and the demands to banish them from the cities show that anti‑converso attitudes indeed permeated Neapolitan society along with distrust of their Christianity. Baptism and status as Christians meant little for the popular elements as well as the Spanish monarchy and even the Church. It is worth noting that no local cleric, jurist, or chronicler protested this expulsion. They were

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 127 all “bad Christians” or “baptized Jews” and as such could be expelled, anticipating the arguments that called for the elimination of the Moriscos. Yet, by considering the New Christians of southern Italy to be “bad Chris‑ tians,” the edict of 1510 allowed them to return to their former faith. As ex‑ pressed by Rabbi Benjamin ben Matatyah “no one has greater liberty than that given to them by the king of Spain who allowed them to leave and join their people and their law.”49 Notes 1 J.A. Jungmann and K. Stasiak, “Baptism,” in The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edi‑ tion (Washington, DC: Gale, 2003), II, 61–80, https://www.pdfdrive.com/new‑­catholic‑ encyclopedia‑vol‑2‑baa‑cam‑d164829400.html, accessed January 11, 2023. 2 “Baptism,” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 150–152. 3 Jungmann and Stasiak, “Baptism,” see note 1 above. 4 By the high Middle‑Ages and especially in the Early Modern period the legal debate focused on the definition of who was the parent qualified to authorise the baptism of a child, was it only the natural parent, or the “spiritual parent,” such as a godfather, another relative, and so on. On this topic, see: Kenneth Stow, “Papal Power, the Por‑ tuguese Inquisition, and a Consilium of Cardinal Pier Paolo Pariseo,” Journal of Le‑ vantine Studies 6 (2016): 89–105 (esp. 91); on baptism of Jewish children and parental consent, see also: Isabelle Poutrin, “La capitation de l’enfant de converti. L’evolution des norms à la lumière de l’antijudaïsme des XVIe‑XVIIIe siècles,” Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine 62 (2015): 40–62. 5 Letters of Gregory the Great opposing forced conversion: Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, I, No. 5, 4–5. Concerning the children of baptized parents: Simonsohn, The Ap‑ ostolic See, I, No. 14, 11. On the forced conversions under the Visigoths, see: Raúl Gonzáles Salinero, Las conversiones forzosas de los judíos en el reino visigodo (Rome: CSIC, 2000). 6 Fourth Council of Toledo: Amnon Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997), 486. 7 Aviad Kleinberg, “Depriving Parents of the Consolation of Children: Two Legal Consi‑ lia on the Baptism of Jewish Children,” in De Sion exibit lex ttempts et verbum domini de Hierusalem, Essays on Medieval Law, Liturgy, and Literature in Honour of Amnon Linder, edited by Yizhak Hen (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers: 2001), 128–144 (quote: 132). 8 Salomon Grayzel, The Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century, revised edition (New York: Hermon Press, 1966), I, 16–19. Decree of Third Lateran Council: Ibid. Doc. No. 1. 9 Gilly, “The Concil of Basel’s ‘De Neophytis’,” 13, 15; Monumenta Conciliorum Gener‑ alium saeculi decimi quinti edited by František Palacký et al. (Vienna and Basel, 1857– 1935), vol. 2, 757–760, https://books.google.co.il/books/content?id=yfi9exDzgBcC&p g=PA757&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3c9yFOFoODrgPQpV9XS7kJ8ms1 jw&w=1025, accessed February 15, 2023. 10 Gilly, Ibid., 15. On economic benefits granted to converts, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Offering Economic and Social Benefits as Incentives for Conversion – The Case of Sicily and Southern Italy (12th–15th Centuries),” in Atti del convegno internazionale Ravenna 30 settembre – 2 ottobre 2013: Strategie e normative per la conversione degli ebrei dal me‑ dio evo all’età contemporanea, edited by Mauro Perani, Materia Giudaica, 19 (2014): 55–62. 11 Pope Eugenius IV: Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, II, No. 750, 889; Pope Nicholas V: Idem, The Apostolic See, No. 814, 997–998. And see Chapter 4 above, note 42.

128  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 12 Gilly, “The Council of Basel’s ‘De Neophytis’,” 20–25. 13 Gilly, “The Council of Basel’s ‘De Neophytis’,” 25–26. 14 Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, II, No. 721, 845–847. 15 On Lucio Marineo, see: Stefano Benedetti, “Marineo Luca, detto Lucio Marineo Sículo,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol.70 (2008), https://www.treccani.it/en‑ ciclopedia/marineo‑luca‑detto‑lucio‑marineo‑siculo_%28Dizionario‑Biografico%29/, accessed January 16, 2023. The Opus was printed twice in Latin in 1530 and 1533, and twice in Castilian translation, in 1533 and 1539. For the different editions, see: Teresa Jiménez Calvente, “Nebrija en los ‘virorum doctorum elogia’,” Revista de filología es‑ pañola 74 (1994): 41–70 (esp. 44, note 8). For Marineo Sículo’s treatment of Jews and conversos, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Jews and Conversos in the Writings of Lucio Marineo Sículo: Historiography and Propaganda,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 7 (2010): 193–209. 16 The royal chronicler was not only an exponent of official policy, he also acted as an ambassador or even as a sort of missionary (“evangelista”) or advocate of the king’s policies: Brian Tate, “La histiografía del reinado de los reyes católicos,” in Antonio de Nebrija: Edad media y renacimiento, edited by Carmen Cordoñer and Juan Antonio González Iglesias (Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1994), 19. 17 “De animadversione in haeresim eorum qui cum Iudae fuissent et ad relligionem Chris‑ tianam conversi postea rursus in occulto Iudaicii ritum servabant,” L. Marineo Siculo, Opus de rebus Hispaniae memorabilibus (Alcalá de Henares: Miguel de Eguía, 1533), 108. All further references to the Latin text are to this edition, unless indicated other‑ wise. The Castilian translation gives a shorter title: Del castigo y iusticia de los Reyes Catholicos contra los hereges, Las cosas memorables de España (Alcalá de Henares: Miguel de Eguía, 1539), Libro XIX, 163 (again, all references to the Castilian version are to this edition). 18 Although Opus de rebus Hispaniae was first printed in 1530, it is probable that Marineo began writing it much earlier, possibly as a draft of De Hispaniae Laudibus (printed Burgos, ca. 1496); in any case, he clearly refers to events that occurred during the fif‑ teenth century rather than the beginning of the sixteenth. 19 On the missionary activity of Vincente Ferrer and his efforts to convert the Jews, see: Baer, A History, II, 166–169; Ram ben Shalom, “The Disputation of Tortosa, Vincente Ferrer and the Problem of the Conversos according to the Testimony of Isaac Nathan,” (Hebrew) Zion 51 (1991): 21–45. 20 Opus de rebus Hispaniae memorabilibus, 109. The bold lettering is mine (the author). 21 Las cosas memorables de España, 164r (on this edition see note 15 above). 22 Pedro Mártir de Anglería, Una Embajada de los Reyes Católicos a Egipto, según la le‑ gatio Babylonica y el “Opus Epistolarum” edited by Luis García y García (Valladolid: Instituto Jerónimo Zurita, 1947). The Latin text reproduced in this modern edition is that of the first printed edition of the Legatio Babylonica (Sevilla: Jacobi Corumberger, 1511). 23 Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó, Cancelleria Reial, reg. 3669, fols. 145–146, published by Antonio De La Torre, “La embajada a Egipto de Pedro Mártir de Angle‑ ría,” in Homenatge a Antoni Rubio i Lluch. Miscellània d’estudis literaris històrics i linguistics (Barcelona, 1936), I, 446–449. 24 For a discussion of Martire’s embassy and questions regarding Spanish attitudes towards the emigration of converts, see: Nadia Zeldes, “Spanish Attitudes toward Converso Emigration to the Levant in the Reign of the Catholic Monarchs,” Eurasian Studies II (2003): 251–271. 25 Stow, “Papal Power.” See also: Giuseppe Marcocci, “Per capillos adductos ad pillam: Il dibattito cinquecentesco sulla validità del battesimo forzato degli ebrei in Portogallo (1496‑1497),” in Salvezza della anime, disciplina: un seminario sulla storia battesimo, edited by Adriano Prosperi (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2006), 324–418. 26 “Las justicias eclesiasticas ni seglares no curaron de tomar cargo delp saber ni alertar y asi se quedaron judios como primero simulando ser xpianos y de baxo desta falsa

An Expulsion of “Bad Christians” 129 religion simulada han vivdo y viven entre los verdaderos xpianos en menosprecio de la honra y del temor de dios en desobediencia de las leyes divinas y humanas... de‑ mas de la pena corporal que meresten que es muerte,” Simancas, Archivo General de Simancas, Patronato Real Leg. 28, DOC.31, Memorial del Licenciado Tristan de León sobre los judíos falsamente convertidos, http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas/servlets/ Control_servlet?accion=4&txt_accion_origen=2&txt_id_desc_ud=2214660, accessed February 6, 2023. 27 On the memorandum, see: Beatrice Perez, “Maldades y tiranías de sus oficiales versus falsa religión simulada y mal vivir. Conflictividad social en torno a la Inquisición na‑ ciente,” in En el primer siglo de la Inquisición española: Fuentes documentales, edited by José M. Cruselles Gómez (Valencia: Universidad de Valencia, 2013), 317–332. 28 Mercedes García Arenal, Activity Report, paper presented at the weekly seminar of “New Christian and New Jewish Discourses of Identity between Polemics and Apolo‑ getics” research group at the IIAS, Jerusalem, Israel, 17 January, 2023‫‏‏‬. 29 For the developments in the Iberian kingdoms, see: After Conversion. Iberia and the Emergence of Modernity, edited by Mercedes García Arenal (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2016), Introduction. 30 Stuczynski, “From Polemics and Apologetics to Theology and Politics.” 31 Benito Ruano, Los origenes del problema converso; Alisa Meyuhas Ginio, Together Yet Apart. Jews and Christians in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula (Hebrew) (Tel‑Aviv: University Publishing Projects, 1999), 122–132. 32 Yosi Ysraeli and Yanai Israeli, “Defining “Conversos” in Fifteenth Century Castile,” Speculum 97 (2022): 615–617. 33 Zeldes, The Former Jews of This Kingdom; Idem, “Sicilian Converts after the Expul‑ sion: Inter‑Community Relations, Acculturation and the Preservation of Group Iden‑ tity,” in Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond, edited by Kevin Ingram (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2009), 143–159; Idem, “Legal Status of Jewish Converts in Southern Italy and Provence,” California Italian Studies 1, 1 (2010), Elec‑ tronic Journal, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/91z342hv, accessed February 7, 2023. 34 Scheller, Die Stadt der Neuchristen, and see the appendix to this book: 385–476. 35 “los tornaron xpianos por fuerça e llamanse ellos mysmos judios bateados”: Letter of the Gran Capitán, see Chapter 4 above, note 25. 36 Isabelle Poutrin, “Éradication ou conversion forcée? Les expulsions ibériques en dé‑ bat au XVIe siècle,” in Les expulsions de minorités religieuses dans l’Europe des XIIIe‑XVIIe siècles, edited by Isabelle Poutrin and Alain Tallon (Pompignac: Editions Bière, 2015), 45–67. 37 See Kedar, “Expulsion,” 170. 38 Isabella Iannuzzi, El poder de la palabra en el siglo XV: Fray Hernando de Talavera (Salamanca: Junta de Castilla y León, 2009), 397–400. 39 Accusations of persistent Islamic behaviour: Isabelle Poutrin, “La conversion des mu‑ sulmans de Valence (1521‑1525) et la doctrine de l’Église sur les baptêmes forcés,” Revue Historique 648 (2008): 819–855; Rafael Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco, “La expulsión de los Moriscos: el triunfo de la razón de Estado,” in Refugiados, exiliados y retornados en los mundos ibéricos (siglos XVI‑XX), edited by José Javier Ruiz Ibáñez and Bernard Vincent (Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica de España, 2018), 175–194. 40 Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco, “La expulsión de los Moriscos,” 177. 41 Norman Zacour, Jews and Saracens in he Consilia of Oldradus de Ponte (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1990), 28, 54–58, 62–67 (translation). See also: Kedar, “Expulsion,” and Isabelle Poutrin, “Los derechos de los vencidos: las capitula‑ ciones de Granada (1491),” Sharq al‑Andalus 19 (2010): 11–34 (reference to Oldradus’s opinion: 11). 42 Netanyahu, The Origins of the Spanish Inquisition, 1095–1102. See also Norman Roth who calculates that the total Jewish population in the Spanish kingdoms was about

130  An Expulsion of “Bad Christians”

43

44 45 46 47 48 49

250,000, while “there must have been at least three times that number of conversos” (in other words, approximately 750,000 converso individuals): Norman Roth, Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (Madison: University of Wiscon‑ sin Press, 1995), 332. Jaime Bleda, Defensio fidei in causa neophytorum sive Morischorum totius Hispaniae (Valencia: Ioannem chrysostomum Garriz, 1610). For an analysis of Bleda’s treatise, see: Isabelle Poutrin, “Ferocidad teológica o estrategia política: la exterminación de los Moriscos en la defensio fidei de Jaime Bleda (1610),” Áreas. Revista Internacional de Ciencias Sociales 30 (2011): 111–119. Poutrin, “Ferocidad.” Poutrin, “Ferocidad,” 116. Ibid., 118. Benítez Sánchez‑Blanco, “La expulsión de los Moriscos,” 179–182. Perez, “Maldades y tiranías,” 321. On the rebels of Toledo, see note 31 above. Benyamin ben Matatyah: Sefer Benyamin Ze’ev, section 101, fol. 165v. Zeldes, “‘There Is No Greater Liberty Than That Given to Them by the King of Spain’,” 57–66.

8

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples

The expulsion of the Jews and the conversos or neofiti ordered by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1510 was far from total for both groups. It is an accepted premise that 200 Jewish families were allowed to remain in the kingdom of Naples following the general expulsion, but the only source is Nicola Ferorelli’s Gli ebrei nell’Italia meridionale and the author provides no reference.1 There is, however, an indication that such a privilege was granted to certain Jews and it allowed them to reside in Naples. The Jew Aaron Canzola or Cagiola is described in a document dated Feb‑ ruary 1526 as a citizen of Naples who enjoys the same rights as the other citizens of that city by virtue of a privilege he was granted by Ferdinand the Catholic that permitted him as well as certain other Jews to remain in the city.2 Another official document that recognizes the presence of Jews after 1511 is a privilege granted in 1512 to Don Jacob Abravanel and his family for services rendered to the vice‑royal court that permits him and his family to live in the city of Naples.3 There are, however, multiple testimonies for continuing Jewish residence and activity in the decade that follows the expulsion although no numbers are mentioned. In 1520 Emperor Carlos V issued a writ that officially allowed Jews to live in the King‑ dom of Naples under certain conditions. This policy change and its significance shall be discussed in the following pages. All Jews, however, were expelled in 1541. Converts too remained in southern Italy after the expulsion of 1510–1511. Although modern scholars tend to agree with contemporary sources that the expul‑ sion mostly affected the “marani” of Apulia and Calabria, various types of converts still survived in these provinces as well as elsewhere in the kingdom. The converso problem persisted even after the complete disappearance of the Jews. Certain ne‑ ofiti managed to avoid the expulsion of 1510–1511 and some returned from exile; in time, a different type of conversos – of Spanish and Portuguese origins – came to the kingdom of Naples, welcomed by the viceroys in order to fulfill certain economic and political functions. The inquisition, first the old medieval institu‑ tion headed by Dominican inquisitors and later the Roman Holy Office founded in 1542, investigated and persecuted all categories of converts, as well as other groups suspected of Judaizing or heresy. The readmission of the Jews and the renewed presence of the converts beg the question: why was there a reversal of royal policy in such a short time, from a de‑ termination to eliminate Jewish presence and the “stain” of heresy, to a conditional DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-9

132  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples acceptance? What changed? As I intend to show in this final chapter, the key for understanding this apparent reversal is the changing terms for residence that deter‑ mined the legal, economic, and political status of both groups. Readmission of Jews and New Christians The Jews’ departure in 1511 was soon regretted by the local urban elites. In 1514 the city of Lanciano (in Abruzzo) asked for permission to allow Jews to come yearly in order to participate in the local fairs.4 In 1515, Pugliese Jews, who were expelled from Ragusa and Dalmatia, were allowed to return to Apulia.5 In 1520 the Christian inhabitants of Naples complained to the sovereign (Emperor Charles V) that they had “a great need for the Jews” (il bisogno grandissimo che teneno de li ebrei).6 As can be deduced from the petitions, demands to allow the return of the Jews were generally motivated by economic considerations such as the need for affordable loans, wish for the Jews’ contribution to the tax burden, and their benefi‑ cial impact on trade across the Adriatic.7 In fact, Jews had already returned to trade in cities of the kingdom as early as 1512. In March that year the Camera Sommaria informed Antonio de Vitulo, an official responsible for the revenues of Abruzzo Citra and Ultra and the Terra di Lavoro, about the Jews who came to Pontecorvo carrying various types of merchandise for export outside the kingdom. Vitulo was ordered to impose taxes but refrain from harassing them in any way (non fareli dare impaczio alcuno).8 Ferorelli also cites the case of Rabbi David son of Rabbi Joseph Aben Jacob (of Portuguese origins) who transferred to Naples from Imola around this time.9 Over the years, Jews found their way back to the kingdom of Naples as individuals or families, some only to trade, others to settle without of‑ ficial authorization, but by doing so they risked fines or other forms of punishment. In the years following the expulsion, King Ferdinand attempted to rout the re‑ maining New Christians. In a letter dated 31 December 1513, the king wrote Vice‑ roy Ramón de Cardona about a complaint sent by a certain Jacobo de Manfredonia regarding the neofiti in Apulia and Calabria who “live like Jews and keep a pub‑ lic synagogue, and doing many things that are offensive to God and the Catholic faith.” The king therefore instructed the Dominican Barnabas de Capograsso of Salerno to exercise his duties as inquisitor to investigate and punish those who de‑ served punishment. Ruiz Martín reproduces this letter and suggests that the neofiti it mentions were foreigners, but there is no indication in the text that that was the case.10 On the contrary, contemporary sources refer to New Christians that some‑ how avoided the expulsion, or returned during the years that followed. In April 1515, the Consiglio Collaterale ordered the governor of Calabria to expel the New Christians of Cosenza who apparently had failed to obey the original expulsion order, and therefore they were given fifteen days to depart. Around the same time, the captain of Crotone received similar orders regarding the New Christians of that city.11 These were among the last efforts to expel New Christians. In 1516, the Camera Sommaria demanded tax payments from cristiani novelli who returned to Altamura. The same document states that the commune informed the Sommaria

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples 133 about the hearths belonging to New Christians that had been deducted from the total number of tax‑paying hearths after their departure from the city following the royal edict, but some of them returned in the past four years and remained in the city for a certain time (et de poy da quactro anni in qua alcuni de ipsi retornaro in dicta cita et ce demorano certo tempo). They were, of course, added to the tax‑paying hearths. The Sommaria issued a similar order for the city of Manfre‑ donia, where about sixty New Christians returned.12 Also in Calabria in the years 1517 and 1518, certain neofiti, such as Thomas de Le Rose and his wife, and An‑ tonius Riccais, all three of Rende, are mentioned in regard to the purchase or sale of the property. Ioannes Baptista de Mayo neofitus is granted a perpetual lease on a tannery located in the quarter called le Conczurie in Cosenza.13 As far as the au‑ thorities are concerned with these neofiti and New Christians, they simply mention their presence or their return without making any attempt to punish the returnees or the cities that had welcomed them back. Neither the royal administration nor the local communes reacted to such a blatant contravention of the royal edict of expul‑ sion. The seemingly erratic vacillations of policy regarding New Christians can be explained, in my opinion, by the waning power of the Catholic king close to his death (January 1516), and even more so in the tumultuous years that followed it. The presence of New Christians in the kingdom of Naples became more of a local issue than an intractable state policy. The Jews’ renewed presence up to 1520 can be likewise explained as the result of local interests. On 23 November 1520, exactly ten years from the publication of the edict of expulsion by Ferdinand the Catholic, his grandson, Emperor Charles V issued an order permitting Jews to reside in the kingdom under certain conditions. The arti‑ cles of the imperial edict are reported by Ferorelli and others14: The Jews who already live in Naples are allowed to reside in the city, trade, open banks, and lend money inasmuch as they have license from the Apos‑ tolic See, and enjoy all the privileges they had been granted by King Ferrante I. They are given a safe‑conduct to stay in the country for five years, and can remain for a year and a half after that privilege is revoked. They need to pay a yearly tax of one thousand and five hundred ducats to the Royal‑Court, to be paid in three installments. Because of the poverty of those who remained in the kingdom after 1510 (!), another forty or fifty wealthy families are invited to enter it in order to contribute to the taxes, and they are promised the same privileges as the local Jews. The payment of one thousand and five hundred ducats and other taxes will be apportioned by the proti (community leaders) and other community officials as was done in the past, taking into considera‑ tion the financial situation [of each household], and setting a tax of no more than forty ducats on each family. The physician Leone (Judah) Abravanel will be exempt of any tax. The tax will be requisitioned by the provincial officers in charge of taxation at the time they are due, and the Giudecca will pay for any Jew who missed his payment. The payment will be exacted a year in advance. The viceroy forbids barons, city communes, or any other body

134  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples to intervene in order to exempt Jews from contribution to said taxes. The Giudecca can expel any Jew who refuses to pay taxes, and is allowed to sub‑ stitute him with another, subject to the viceroy’s agreement, on condition that the newcomer pays the tax owed by the expelled person. As regards money lending, they need to reach an accord with the cities as to the site where they permitted to establish a bank. The Christian protector and judge of the Jews is the cavalier Joan Hannart viscount of Lambec, as it was in the times of King Ferdinand, and he can appoint someone else if he wishes. The viceroy will publish these articles when he finds it suitable along with the necessary warnings and vigilance in order to ensure compliance. Here I would like to draw attention to the emphasis on the financial contributions demanded of the Jews to the exclusion of any other consideration. The religious element is totally absent. In a recent publication, David Abulafia suggests that the terms offered by Charles V to the Jews  –  placing a time limit on their stay and exacting payment for or the right of residence  –  are similar to the terms of the condotte granted to individuals and Jewish communities in northern and central Italy. The condotte were bilateral contracts of limited duration, usually lasting from three to five years, and in rare cases for fifteen or more. The contract could be renewed when it expired, thereby establishing a certain continuity of Jewish pres‑ ence in many centers. Although Jews might have lived in the same place for a long time, their status remained precarious and temporary, always subject to expulsion.15 From 1520 onwards, the Jews living in the kingdom of Naples shared the same fate. Permission to stay on was renewed during the government of Don Pedro de Toledo (1532–1553)16 until their final and permanent expulsion in 1541. After 1520 the number of Jews increased. As shown above, some families re‑ turned from exile, new immigrants came from Northern Italy, Germany, and other places. In July 1520 Isaac de Carnale Hebreus of Fano who was living in Naples, entrusted a sum of one hundred ducats to Angelus Russus from Cosenza who was also living in Naples.17 Former communities were re‑established, such as that of Bari and Naples. Letters, orders, and disputes concerning payment of taxes indicate that Jews continued to reside in various places including Naples as confirmed by the case of Aaron Canzola. In 1522 Isabella d’Aragona, duchess of Bari, issued a series of “capitoli” in favour of the Jews of Bari. It addresses the representatives of the Bari Jewish com‑ munity headed by Ruben Zizo. The writ ensures their safety and right of residence and specifies the terms and conditions for engaging in money lending.18 In fact, money lending and trading at the famous fairs of the kingdom were the principal economic activities of the Jews in this period. Members of the Abravanel family were involved in diverse commercial enter‑ prises and in money lending. In 1526 Don Samuel Abravanel complained that he had already paid the duty on the sugar imported from Madeira that he had bought at the fair of Lanciano with the intention to export it overseas. In 1538 Samuel Abravanel, together with two partners, bought a large quantity of grain at the fair

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples 135 of San Giovanni Rotondo, a transaction that led to a price dispute between him and his associates and certain farmers of Foggia.19 The readmission of the Jews did not sit well with the more religion minded. The Franciscan friar Francesco di l’Agnelina preached against the concessions and demanded that the Jews be forced to wear a yellow beret as it was customary in Venice. The friar’s zeal bore fruit and on 28 April 1521, viceroy ordered the Jews to wear yellow berets.20 And yet, Christian‑Jewish relations were not as acrimoni‑ ous as might have seemed since Diomede Carrafa, the bishop of Ariano (Campa‑ nia) issued a decree ordering Christians to avoid conversations with Jews, visit them, and dance with them. As in most prohibitions, they only prove that Chris‑ tians actually used to hold conversations with Jews, visited them, and even liked dancing together (or employing Jewish masters of dance).21 Such cordial relations were frowned upon while religious disputes were encouraged instead, and so was preaching to the Jews and forcing them to listen to Catholic religious sermons. The anti‑Jewish tract Opus de arcanis catholicae veritatis (Treatise on the Hidden Truth of the Catholic [faith]) authored by the Franciscan Pietro Colonna Galatino (1460–1540) represents one more facet of anti‑Jewish polemics in the kingdom of Naples in this period. Galatino wrote this work in 1516 at the behest of Pope Leo X in support of Johannes Reuchlin, a known German Hebraist, who was involved in a controversy regarding the authority of Jewish writings. Galatino used Jewish writ‑ ings, including the Talmud, to demonstrate that they contain hidden messages that prove the truth of Christianity and that various interpolations and interpretations were introduced to the original texts in order to confuse non‑Jewish readers and obfuscate the true meaning of certain passages.22 Giancarlo Lacerenza exemplifies the mounting religious tensions in the times of Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo by analyzing the writings of the Franciscan friar Antonio de Guevara (ca. 1481–1545). His study shows that despite the apparent acceptance of the Jews’ return, enmity to‑ wards them did not cease nor did the efforts to bring about their conversion, either by disputation or by forcing them to attend missionary sermons.23 Spanish, Sicilian, and Portuguese Conversos in Naples after 1511 Peter Mazur, in his The New Christians of Spanish Naples, distinguishes between three distinctive waves of migration by New Christians of Iberian origins that ar‑ rived in Naples. The first wave, largely made up by conversos of Aragonese ori‑ gins, came at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. They were fleeing the hostile climate in Spain, drawn to the kingdom of Naples where there they encountered a much less hostile environment and were welcomed by the Aragonese monarchs. A second wave arrived later, after the expulsions of 1510–1511. They too offered their services to the Spanish viceroys who welcomed their financial acumen and administrative skills. In the seventeenth century, the process repeated itself as a new wave of conversos, this time of Portuguese origins, arrived in Naples in the wake of the unification of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns in 1580.24

136  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples Mazur proposes a re‑evaluation of the conversos’ position in the kingdom of Naples arguing that there was “almost no time in which conversos were not pre‑ sent in the city, and no time in which their relationship with the viceroy did not represent a key element in its political equilibrium.” In his view, the conversos were an élite within the kingdom, deemed necessary by its rulers.25 Whereas this argument might be held for the conversos who came from the Iberian Peninsula, it was never true for the old contingent of neofiti who survived ever since the mass conversion of the late thirteenth century, nor was it so for the cristiani novelli who converted in 1495. In fact, the edict of 1510 targets the neofiti and the cristiani no‑ velli failing to directly address the presence of Spanish conversos in the kingdom of Naples. Despite their inclusion in Passero’s list of groups affected by the edict “the Marani and the bad Christians that his majesty had expelled from the king‑ doms of Spain,” there is little evidence that they were forced to leave, particularly the members of the elite. Mazur uses the career of Alfonso Sánchez (d. 1564) who served as treasurer general of the kingdom as an example for the continuing in‑ volvement of certain “clans” of Spanish conversos in the royal administration thus persevering in their roles as financiers, treasurers, and trusted officials despite their well‑known converso origins. Alfonso Sánchez was a scion of a converted Jewish family of Saragossa. One of its members, Aloysio Sánchez, moved around 1485 from Aragon to Sicily to serve as treasurer of King Ferdinand the Catholic and his sons and grandsons continued to hold prestigious positions in the kingdom of Sicily, in spite of their Jewish heritage. Even investigations by the inquisition did not undermine their position.26 A branch of the Sánchez family established itself in Naples. After participating in the conquest of the kingdom of Naples in 1503, Alfonso’s uncle Francisco was named treasurer general. Alfonso too distinguished himself in the diplomatic service and in 1525 Emperor Charles V nominated him to succeed his uncle.27 A lesser figure, but still an important player in the financial af‑ fairs of the Catholic, was the Sicilian convert, the physician Ferrando de Aragona. He was a central mover in arranging the return of Sicilian converts to Sicily after 1495. In 1502 he was arrested and tried by the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily. Ac‑ cording to inquisitorial records, he was “punished in body and property,” meaning that he was fined and suffered some kind of corporal punishment.28 And yet, in 1509 he was still a wealthy man capable of carrying out a considerable transaction in the grain trade, which proves that the fine he was forced to pay was not so large as to ruin him. Around 1512, fearing a new inquisitorial investigation, Ferrando de Aragona and his wife escaped from Sicily forfeiting a pledge of 300 onze offered as surety by some of the highest officials of the Sicilian treasury. The couple came to Naples and apparently enjoyed the protection of the viceroy. Two letters written by King Ferdinand in 1512 shed light on the affair. One letter was addressed to the inquisitor of Sicily, at the time Alonso Bernal, and the other to the Ramón de Cardona, viceroy of Naples, both expressing the king’s concern as to the manner in which Ferrando and his wife were allowed to leave Sicily for Naples. Apparently, Ferrando had received permission from the inquisitors to go to Naples on condition

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples 137 that he would return when asked to do so. Since he did not, Inquisitor Bernal de‑ manded his return to Sicily.29 It is remarkable that King Ferdinand personally in‑ volved himself in this matter, but what is even more surprising is that Ferrando and his wife managed to remain in Naples. They were not expelled along with other converts even during the final routing of the neofiti in 1512 and 1513. In October 1516 Ferrando de Aragona and his wife Beatrice were granted a general amnesty in a sentence pronounced by Pope Leo X, through the intervention of Francisco de Remolino, Cardinal Sorrentino. Later that year the young Charles V, together with his mother, Juana, endorsed the sentence.30 Here it is useful to cite Francisco Márquez de Villanueva on the state of perpetual vulnerability that characterized converso existence: though they often could and did enjoy a tranquil and prosperous life, as long as they were prudent and had the good fortune to avoid creating too many en‑ emies who could, one day, bring an accusation of Judaizing, or testify against them claiming that they practice some vague or folkloric Jewish custom.31 This observation is pointedly true because it takes into account the darker side of converso existence, namely their precarious position, which could always be un‑ dermined by accusations of heresy, whether true or false. Converso officials were, therefore, useful to the rulers of Spain and the viceroys of Naples alike for several reasons: they were chosen for their abilities to perform various functions, regard‑ less of feudal, political, or familial considerations (as opposed to the high nobility or even ordinary Old Christians), they were vulnerable and therefore loyal, and finally, they could be easily eliminated by accusations of heresy. This was indeed a Fragile Elite as evidenced by the waves of inquisitorial perse‑ cution directed at this minority time and again. Mazur only discusses the investiga‑ tions conducted by the Roman Inquisition in 1569–1581, and in mid‑seventeenth century, overlooking the preceding persecution of converts in the final years of the Aragonese dynasty, and during the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic (mentioned and discussed in the former chapters of this book). Mazur draws attention to the continuing presence of the Iberian conversos and their ascent within the administration of the kingdom and the Neapolitan society. As the Spanish monarchy worked to erode the power of the landed aristocracy (much like King Ferrante I and his heirs) it encouraged the rise of other educated and ambitious men in the bureaucratic hierarchies. Moreover, Spanish New Chris‑ tians were familiar with Spanish practices of government and maintained social and financial networks making use of familial ties in the Iberian Peninsula and in Italy that enabled them to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the royal administration.32 Unencumbered by the restrictions placed on Jews, they replaced them as financiers of the Spanish government, also achieving a measure of politi‑ cal influence that the Jews were prevented from ever acquiring as long as they re‑ mained a barely tolerated minority, always in danger of expulsion.

138  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples The Jews during the Government of Don Pedro de Toledo As noted above, the privileges granted by Emperor Charles V in 1520 were intrinsi‑ cally of a limited duration. Therefore, it is not surprising that on 5 January 1533, Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo declared that: for a long time has His Imperial Majesty tolerated the Jews and allowed them to reside in the kingdom of Naples, believing and being convinced that by staying in close contact with Christians, they would come to be cognizant of the Truth and be converted to the Catholic Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But “experience shows that His Majesty’s considerations had no good effect; and so, their contacts (conversaciune) [with Christians] caused much harm (multi danni) to this kingdom and they have sowed usury and damned the conscience of many Christians.”33 To remedy this state of things, Don Pedro ordered the expul‑ sion of the Jews within six months unless they converted. Interestingly, the terms of this edict signal a return to the option of conversion as an alternative to expulsion. Ruiz Martín explains this apparent inconsistency by placing the blame on Don Pedro de Toledo and his attempts to work in concert with the local institutions. The viceroy, argues Ruiz Martín, decided on his own accord to consult the Consiglio Collaterale and showed them the text of the edict seeking the best way for execut‑ ing his orders. Since the Collaterale was opposed to these measures, it countered with the proposal that the Jews should not be expelled without being sermonized and asked to embrace the Catholic Faith. Ruiz Martín is right inasmuch that the original order omitted the option of conversion, but after being asked, the emperor left the decision in Don Pedro’s hands.34 However, the order was never put into ef‑ fect. It was met with strong local opposition and complaints were sent to Madrid. Initially, it was postponed because it clearly violated the terms of the privileges of 1520 that allowed a year and a half for the implementation of the expulsion. The expulsion was therefore deferred to 5 July 1534. Meanwhile, the Jews, supported by local interests, fought the decision. The petitions and the intervention of Don Samuel Abravanel helped conclude a new agreement, signed in February 1535. The Jews, both those living in the kingdom and those who arrived from outside it, were assured of their safety and allowed to reside there for ten years. They would continue to enjoy the terms of the privileges of 1520, but the annual tax would be increased from 1,500 ducats to 2,000 ducats, to reach the sum of 10,000 within ten years; other articles also concern additional payments and fines for non‑compli‑ ance.35 Ferorelli attributes Don Pedro’s change of mind to the pressure exerted by the Jews’ leaders and the locals. Ruiz Martín accuses the viceroy of naïveté, lack of familiarity with the Italian milieu, and inexperience. Giuseppe Paladino offers a different explanation for the viceroy’s volte face that takes into consideration the current political and military situation.36 In the 1530s the Ottoman corsair Khayr ad‑Din known as Barbarossa raided the Habsburg Mediterranean holdings (Apulia, Calabria, Sicily and its islands). After Barbarossa captured Tunis in 1534, the Hafsid sultan Mulei Hassan asked

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples 139 Emperor Charles V for assistance to recover his kingdom, and in 1535 the emperor led a Spanish‑Italian force that recaptured Tunis as well as Bone and al‑Mahdiya.37 Paladino posits that it was the need for the financial contributions of the Jews that determined the change of policy. In his view, even the little loans that the Jews pro‑ vided to the needy poor indirectly helped the treasury because they permitted the poor to pay their taxes. In fact, Jewish money lending was on the one hand strongly resented, but on the other it was necessary for covering small debts and providing cash money when needed.38 On 25 November 1535, the viceroy published the toleration edict this time tak‑ ing care to ensure its diffusion throughout the kingdom.39 The renewal of the privi‑ lege of residence is closely connected to Charles’s victory in the Tunisian campaign and his triumphal entry in Naples. According to the chronicle of Gregorio Rosso (d. 1540) in his Historia delle cose di Napoli: On the occasion of the emperor’s presence in Naples, citizens incurred great expenses, particularly the nobles and the great lords, as many of them pledged their pawns and were indebted to the Jews, and the latter were enriched by their usury, and their gains were enormous, and kept growing so long as the emperor remained in Naples.40 The passage is far from complementary to the Jews by portraying them as greedy usurers who profit from the locals’ need for cash money. But clearly the Jews con‑ tinued presence was needed in order to cover the expenses incurred first by the military campaign, and then by the festivities and the sumptuous displays neces‑ sitated by the emperor’s presence. Rosso’s comment echoes contemporary thinking that considered the Jews as important players in the economy, even if they were detested for their apparent greediness. Thus, the viceroy could not expel the Jews so long as their loans and pawn brokerage were so much in demand. This view is corroborated by Ruiz Martín who refers to Collaterale’s assessments that the ex‑ penditures exceeded the revenues and expelling the Jews would have a detrimental effect on the kingdom’s economy.41 The war against the Ottomans strengthened the Jews’ position as money lenders and men of finances but it also entailed unexpected and burdensome costs. Many Jewish captives were taken in 1532 during the campaigns in the Peloponnese and in North Africa, and the burden of ransoming them fell on the communities of Italy, and the Jews living in the kingdom of Naples were asked to contribute considerable sums for the ransom. Some insight into the rescue efforts and the involvement of the Jews living in south Italy is provided by the letters of Joseph ha‑Cohen (1496– 1575) of Genoa, best known for his historical works Divre ha‑Yamim le‑Malke Zarfat we‑‘Otoman (Chronicles of the Kings of France and Turkey) and Emeq ha‑Bakha (Valley of Tears).42 In a letter written after the Genoese Admiral Andrea Doria (1466–1560) took Coron (Koroni) and Patras, ha‑Cohen pleads with the Jew‑ ish communities to give money to ransom the Jews of these places who were cap‑ tured during the campaign. The letter reveals that by common consent the sum set on the Jews “living in the kingdom” [of Naples] reached 2,000 ducats in addition

140  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples to the sum of 700 ducats collected in Naples alone. The letter also mentions the captives sold in Sicily, Calabria, and Lecce. According to ha‑Cohen’s letter, they were beaten and abused by their captors in order to pressure the Jews to speed up the ransom collection. Ha‑Cohen adds that the captives were not allowed to keep Kashrut laws and were forced to work on the Shabbat.43 Another letter concerns the Jewish captives taken during the fall of Tunis in 1535. Don Samuel Abravanel took part in the efforts to collect the ransom for a number of captives that were brought to Sicily by the vessels of Andrea Doria, and he promised a hundred scudi towards the ransom collection that amounted to 200 scudi.44 The sums mentioned in ha‑Co‑ hen’s letters indicate that the Jews of the kingdom, and particularly Don Samuel Abravanel, were indeed wealthy, perhaps better off than other Italian Jewish com‑ munities in this period. I would like to draw attention to the fact that the ransom offered by the Jews of the kingdom of Naples for rescuing the Jews of Coron and Patras equals and perhaps even exceeds the annual tax imposed by Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo in 1535. The privileges were renewed in November 1536. But only three years later, on 10 November 1539, the viceroy published a new edict ordering the expulsion of the “perfidious” Jews under the pretext that their cohabitation with Christians caused perilous and immoral actions. Till the implementation of the order, the Jews should be made to wear a red or a yellow (or saffron coloured) beret as a distinc‑ tive sign (and the women – a scarf of the same colours). The edict was contested by the Jews and the people of Naples, the latter demanding to convene a general parliament. The mayor of Naples and the deputies decided to appeal and petitioned the viceroy for a postponement of five years thus letting the Jews stay until 1545.45 Don Pedro de Toledo informed the petitioners of the negative reply he had received from Spain. Despite the intervention of the leaders of the Jewish community, Don Samuel Abravanel, Don Abramo Zerfati, and Don Navarro, the edict of expulsion was published in May 1541. The original text, seen by Ferorelli, has been destroyed since. A related doc‑ ument survived among the copies and documents collected by the historian Giovanni Beltrani (1848–1932) now kept in the Biblioteca de Gemmis in Bari. The documents have recently been reproduced and published by Diego de Ceglia.46 The exact date for the publication of the edict remains unknown, but according to the data provided by other sources, such as the petition addressed by the Jews to the Gran Corte de la Vicaria on 20 May 1541 that mentions September 22 as the final date of departure (four months later), it can be reasonably concluded that the edict was officially published on 22 May 1541. In subsequent petitions, the Jews asked for a postponement of the date of expulsion and demanded the restitution of the sums of money still anticipated by the Crown. They also calculated the sum total they had paid to the treasury since 1528.47 As noted above, the original text of the edict is lost. Little is known about the process of departure, either. In their petition of 20 May, the leaders of the Jewish community complain that the short interval between the publication of the edict and the final date or departure entails multiple dangers, especially during the sum‑ mer. They fear being robbed and plundered (sachegiati et consumati) and that

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples  141 they would risk their health as well. Leaving during the summer months would be dangerous because of the “change of air” (per lo mutare de lo ayro) when they take the road from the kingdom to Rome, and if they leave by sea, they would be in danger because of the ships of the Moors and the corsairs that roam the seas. Health risks were higher in the summer because of the prevalent malaria and various epi‑ demics, and the seas in this period were infested by pirates and warring fleets. The plea reveals the destinations of the exiles. Rome and the papal lands still welcomed the Jews. Contemporary sources confirm the arrival of exiles from the kingdom of Naples as well as Sicilians in the patrimony of St. Peter.48 Sea routes brought the exiles to the Ottoman Empire, or the colonies of Venice. North Africa was less sought after in this period because of the ongoing war. The fate of the Abravanel family is better documented. After the expulsion, Don Samuel Abravanel and his wife Benvenida ended up in Ferrara where he died around 1547.49 His testament was contested by an illegitimate son and subse‑ quently discussed by several rabbis to determine who should be the beneficiaries. In an article on Jewish wills, David Malkiel identifies the testator as Don Samuel Abravanel. The rabbis’ discussion of the testament reveals that the testator drew up his will when the edict of expulsion was announced and died six years later after a sudden illness. The contested testament was copied in August 1550. This date of the copy, the realization that the original testament was drawn up in 1541, the death of the testator six years later, all indicate that Don Samuel’s time of death occurred three years earlier than previously believed.50 Unfortunately, there is little informa‑ tion on the fate of less‑known exiles. The expulsion of 1541 should be viewed as a tragedy whose outcome was de‑ termined well beforehand. The readmission of the Jews was formulated much like the condotte granted to the Jews in other parts of Italy, carrying the built‑in notion of precariousness. In other words, Jewish presence after 1520 was by definition precarious and needed to be reaffirmed time and again. The repeated attempts at ordering the expulsion of the Jews, in 1533, 1534, and 1539, show that the Spanish monarchy – first Ferdinand the Catholic and then Charles V – were determined to rid their lands of the Jews, always considering them a danger to the purity of faith. Tolerance, or rather pragmatic considerations, played a lesser role, though not a negligible one. Jews were tolerated as long as they were needed to supply funds especially in times of military or economic crisis. But religious considerations pre‑ vailed. An analysis of the actions of Don Pedro de Toledo regarding the Jews leads to the conclusion that he was motivated by practical considerations, principally a wish to work in tandem with the Neapolitan administration rather than antagonize them. His policy was not dictated by inexperience or naïveté. Still, the viceroy was a conscientious and obedient servant of the crown, always seeking the emperor’s consent on important decisions and never contravened or contested his orders. His stand was very different from that of the first viceroy of Naples, the famous Gran Capitán. Jewish presence in the kingdom of Naples between 1520 and 1541 was de‑ pendent on the Jews’ ability to function as an economic asset, taxed for enormous sums that fed the kingdom’s treasury. Wealth was a condition for the acceptance

142  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples of immigrants, Jews and conversos alike. The Jews of the kingdom were probably wealthier than those of the other Italian communities as suggested by the yearly sums exacted from them and their share in the ransom efforts in 1532 and 1535. Wealth was also the key for the integration of conversos. The affairs of the Sánchez “clan” are a case in point. Later, the Catalans, the Portuguese merchant bankers, and the Vaaz family (also of Portuguese origins) were welcomed for their wealth and financial acumen.51 Notes 1 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220. 2 “Aron Caiola.. che tene privilegio concesso tanto ad ipso exponente como ad tucti li altri iudey dal Catholico Re… visto et reconosciuto il privilegio de dicta cittadinanza concesso ad dicti iudey per Catholico Re…,” NSA, Sommaria Partium, 109, fol. 57r–v, published: Cesare Colafemmina, “La storia degli ebrei in Campania (1),” Sefer Yuhasin 1–2 (1985–1986), 42–43. 3 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220, note 4. On Abravanel: NSA, Cancelleria, Collaterale, Partium, 9 fol. 85t. 4 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220; Corrado Marciani, “Ebrei a Lanciano dal XII al XVIII secolo,” ASPN serie III 2 (1963): 167–196, cited by Bonazzoli, Gli ebrei nel regno, 204. 5 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220. 6 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220 (quoting a petition that was preserved among the articles ad‑ dressed by the Parliament of St. Lorenzo to the monarch in 1540). See also Bonazoli, Gli ebrei nel regno, 204. 7 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220–221. 8 NSA, Sommaria Partium 84, 115r, published: Colafemmina, “Documenti per la storia degli ebrei a Napoli e in Campania,” Sefer Yuhasin 12 (1996), 36. 9 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220. Rabbi David son of Joseph, a Portuguese Jew, was granted a condotta in 1529 valid for sixteen years that permitted him to lend money at interest in Imola and its county, see: Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, 4, doc. 1411, 1753. 10 Madrid, AHN, Inquisición, libro 244, fol. 260, cited by Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión,” 69–72. 11 NSA, Collaterle Partium 11, fol. 77v; Collaterale Partium 12, fol. 104, published: Co‑ lafemmina, Calabria, docs. 536, 537, 615–617. 12 Altamura: NSA, Sommaria Partium, 92, 163r, published by Colafemmina, Apulia, Doc. 307, 279–280; Manfredonia: NSA, Sommaria Partium 95, 209–211, published by Colafemmina, Apulia, Doc. 308, 280–282. 13 Colafemmina, Calabria, 623–624. 14 NSA, Sommaria, Communae 66 fol. 155, summarized by Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 221–222 and 234; Bonazzoli, Gli ebrei nel regno, 204; for a very concise summary of the order, see: Giuseppe Paladino, “Privilegi concessi agli ebrei dal vicerè Don Pedro di Toledo,” Archivio Storico per le Province Napoletane 38 (1913): 611–638 (discussion and sum‑ mary of the 1520 edict in 619–620). See also: Ruiz Martín, “La expulsion de los judíos,” 181–182. 15 Abulafia, “Jews, conversos, and cristiani novelli,” 262–263. On the terms of the con‑ dotta, see: Bonfil, Jewish Life in Renaissance Italy, 85–90. 16 On Don Pedro de Toledo’s biography and his activity as viceroy of Naples, see: Gi‑ useppe Coniglio, I vicerè spagnoli di Napoli (Naples: Fausto Fiorentino Editore, 1967), I, 38–78. 17 Colafemmina, Calabria, 625.

The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples  143 18 Diego de Ceglia, “I capitoli di Isabella d’Aragona per gli ebrei di Bari,” Sefer Yuhasin 8 (2020): 218–219. 19 Filena Patroni Griffi, “Una controversia tra Samuele Abravanel e i massari di Foggia (1538‑1540),” Sefer Yuhasin 13 (1997): 35–44. 20 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 223. 21 Adoption of Renaissance culture had many manifestations among the Jews of Italy, including the practise of dancing, and the profession of a dance teacher: Giancarlo Lac‑ erenza, “Sulla figura del maestro di danza Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro, alias Giovanni Ambrosio, e la sua permanenza alla corte di Ferrante d’Aragona,” in Le usate leggi‑ adrie. I cortei, le cerimonie, le feste e il costume nel Mediterraneo tra XV e XVI se‑ colo, edited by Gemma Colesanti (Montella: Centro Francescano di Studi Mediterranei, 2010), 355–375. 22 On Pietro Colonna Galatino and his treatment of Jewish writings, see Wilhelm Schmidt‑Biggeman, “Political Theology in Renaissance Christian Kabbalah: Petrus Galatinus and Guillaume Postel,” in Political Hebraism: Judaic Sources in Early Mod‑ ern Political Thought, editing by Gordon Schochet, Fania Oz‑Salzberger, and Meirav Jones (Jerusalem: Shalem, 2008), 3–28; Alba Paladini, “Divinità del messia e ‘traditio’ giudaica nel ‘De Arcanis’ di Pietro Galatino,” in Gli Ebrei nel Salento (secoli IX–XV), edited by Fabrizio Lelli (Galatina, Lecce: Congedo: 2013), 315–342. 23 Giancarlo Lacerenza, “Ebrei e dispute religiose nella Napoli del cinquecento: dalle Epístolas Familares di Antonio de Guevara,” in Fra Italia e Spagna: Napoli crocevia di culture durante il vicereame, edited by Pierre Civil, et al. (Naples: Liguori editore, 2011), 131–149. 24 Mazur, The New Christians of Naples, 3–4. 25 Mazur, Ibid. 26 Zeldes, The Former Jews, 44–47; Idem, “Conversos, Finance, and Military Campaigns in the Reign of Ferdinand the Catholic: A View from Sicily,” Journal of Levantine Stud‑ ies 6 (2016): 13–33. 27 Mazur, The New Christians of Naples, 23–25. 28 Zeldes, The Former Jews, 160. 29 Letters to the inquisitor, and Viceroy Cardona: Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Cédulas reales, Libro 244, fols. 193v–194r. From letter to the viceroy of Naples: “supra maestro Ferrando fisico… para que maestre Ferrando de Aragon y su muger pudiessen estar en Napoles donde vos estoviessedes y que tambien escriviessemos al inquisidor de Sicilia en su recomendacion despues havemos recibido cartas del dicho inquisidor en las quales dize que al tiempo que el dio licencia al dicho maestre Fernando para yr de Palermo a Napoles, fue porque vos se lo screvistes e assi le permetistes con vuestra carta que cada e quando el lo pidiesse y elo embiariades e porque agora tiene necessidad de los dichos maestre Fernando e su muger e con buena conciencia no podeys vos en ninguna manera tenerlos.” For further discussion of these documents, see Zeldes, “Con‑ versos, Finance, and Military Campaigns.” 30 Letter in favour of Ferrando de Aragona the physician and his wife, December 20, 1516, Ms. Conservatoria de Registro, reg. 105 c 431r–432r, ASP, Palermo, published in Nadia Zeldes, “The Singular Career of Ferrando de Aragona ‑ A Sicilian Convert in the Service of Fernando the Catholic,” Hispania Judaica Bulletin 3 (2000): 97–125 (document: 124–125). 31 “En realidad, los conversos pudiero llevar casi siempre … una vida bastante tranquila y decidamente próspera, a condición de que tuviesen la prudencia y la buena fortuna de no crearse demasiados enemigos que algún día les pudieran empatar las probanzas de algún hábito o testimoniar contra ellos la práctica de algún vago y casi folklórico de judaísmo.” Francisco Márquez de Villanueva, “Conversos y cargos concejiles en el siglo XV,” Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos 63 (1957): 503–540 (quote: 540).

144  The Last Jews and Conversos in the Kingdom of Naples 32 Mazur, The New Christians of Naples, 20–21. 33 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 224. 34 Ruiz Martín cites the correspondence between Don Pedro de Toledo and the Emperor: Simancas, Archivo General, legajo 1.011, num. 62: Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 188. 35 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 224–227. 36 Ruiz Martín, “La expulsión de los judíos,” 189–190; Paladino, “Privilegi concessi agli ebrei,” 612–613. 37 Vincenzo D’Alessandro, La Sicilia dal Vespro all’Unità d’Italia, edited by Giuseppe Giarrizzo and Vincenzo D’Alessandro (Turin: UTET, 1989), 153–156. 38 On Jewish money lending in Naples, see: Avalone, “Nascita e diffusione dei Monti di Pietà nel Regno di Napoli”; Patroni Griffi, Il Banco di Gabriele e Mosè. 39 Paladino, “Privilegi concessi agli ebrei,” 623–628. 40 Observation of Gregorio Rosso on the role of the Jews as money lenders and pawn brokers during the emperor’s stay in Naples: “L’occasione della presentia dello impera‑ tore à Napoli fu di molta spesa à Cittadini, particolarmente à nobili, e Signori, de’ quali molti stavano con li pigni alli Giudei, e detti si erano fatti ricchi con le loro usure, che facevano, et il guadagno loro saria stato grandissimo, se più lungo tempo l’imperatore si trattenesse in Napoli,” Gregorio Rosso, Historia delle cose di Napoli, sotto l’imperio di Carlo Quinto. Cominciando dall’anno 1526 per insino all’anno 1537 (Naples: Gio. Domenico Montanaro, 1635), 135, https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TXtxRDcvUjcC/ page/n47/mode/2up, accessed October 5, 2023. The passage is cited by Giuseppe Pala‑ dino, “Privilegi concessi agli ebrei,” 621 (Paladino cited a different edition). On Gre‑ gorio Rosso, the author of this chronicle, see Girolamo Imbruglia, “Rosso, Gregorio,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 88 (2017), https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ gregorio‑rosso_%28Dizionario‑Biografico%29/, accessed October 5, 2023. 41 Ruiz Martín, “La expulsion de los judíos,” 190–191. 42 The most recent editions with commentary are: Josef ha‑Cohen, Chronicle of the French and Ottoman Kings (Hebrew), edited and annotated by Robert Bonfil (Jerusa‑ lem: Magnes, 2020), 3 vols.; Idem, Josef ha‑Cohen, Sefer Emeq Ha‑Bakha (The Vale of Tears) (Hebrew), edited and annotated by Robert Bonfil (Jerusalem: Magnes, 2020). For an English translation of this work, see: Josef ha‑Cohen, Sefer Emeq ha‑Bakha: The Vale of Tears: With the Chronicle of the Anonymous Corrector /Joseph ha‑Kohen; In‑ trod., Critical Ed., Comments by Karin Almbladh (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1981). 43 Letters of Joseph ha‑Cohen published by Abraham David: The Irascible Historian. New Light on the Personality of the Sixteenth Century Chronicler Joseph ha‑Kohen from His Personal Correspondence (Hebrew), edited and annotated by Abraham David (Jerusa‑ lem: Beit David, 2004), 58–59. 44 Ibid., 63, 68–69. 45 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 227–228. 46 Diego De Ceglia, “Copie ritrovate di documenti perduti sull’espulsione degli ebrei dal Viceregno di Napoli,” Sefer Yuhasin 10 (2022): 141–161. 47 Ibid., 145, 158–160. 48 Esposito, “Gli ebrei del Viceregno di Napoli profughi nello Stato pontificio,” 45–56. 49 On the Abravanel family, see: Meir Benayahu, “The House of Abravanel in Saloniki,” (Hebrew) Sefunot: Studies and Sources on the History of the Jewish Communities in the East 12 (1971–1978): 1–67. 50 David Malkiel, “Jews and Wills in Renaissance Italy,” Italia 12 (1996): 7–69. 51 Mazur, The New Christians of Naples.

Conclusion

The crisis precipitated by the arrival of about 20,000 Jewish refugees was exacer‑ bated by a series of unexpected events that affected the entire Kingdom of Naples: the outbreak of a deadly epidemic, the death of Ferrante I and the weakness of his successors, a foreign invasion, and years of war. As history shows us time and again, catastrophic events often lead to intolerance and persecution of the Jews and other minorities. The popular outbursts against the Jews in 1495 resulted in mass conversions that occurred throughout the Kingdom of Naples. Mass conversions from Judaism to Christianity were rare events in medieval Western Europe; they happened three times in the Iberian Peninsula, twice in south‑ ern Italy,1 and to a lesser extent, in late medieval Provence.2 In all cases there was an element of coercion, either initiated by the rulers (as in the forced conversions in Spain under the Visigoths, in south Italy by King Charles II, and in Portugal by King Manuel I), or instigated by rioters who forced Jews to convert, as in 1391 in Spain and in south Italy in 1495. The conversions of Jews in Provence fall in between these categories as they were encouraged by the rulers while popular pres‑ sure was an added factor.3 Popular elements played a crucial role in the conversion of the Jews in Ashkenaz (northern France and Germany) during the First Crusade, but for reasons that for lack of space cannot be discussed here, these forced conver‑ sions did not result in the formation of a significant “converso” group in Germany, or in Northern France.4 It is useful to add the conversion of the Muslims in Gra‑ nada and in the lands of Aragon to this list, although the context and consequences were significantly different. Mass conversions also occurred in times of great crisis as happened during the disputation of Tortosa (1413–1414), and again in 1492 in Spain and in Sicily to avoid the expulsion. Each mass conversion produced a large unassimilable group. There were many reasons that prevented the smooth absorption of new converts and their descend‑ ants into the majority. However, a distinction should be made between internal and external factors that promoted the continuing survival of a separate identity. Selfimposed boundaries such as adherence to former religious practices, lingering ties to the original community, endogamy, using Hebrew (or Arabic), avoiding certain types of food, all belong to the first category. Lack of social acceptance, brand‑ ing converts with specific epithets that singled them out – conversos, marranos, DOI: 10.4324/9781003082828-10

146  Conclusion marani, confessos, neofiti, moriscos – creating stigmas, deriding or fearing certain enduring cultural traits, etc., are external factors and therefore belong to the second category. Not all types of well‑noted converso/morisco behaviour should be necessarily interpreted as evidence for a conscious religious resistance. Whereas there is no denying that there were secret Jews and secret Muslims, any custom and mode of behaviour that differentiated members of these groups from the normative Christian was met with suspicion and considered on par with heresy. In fact, numerous studies show that former Jews and former Muslims found it hard to abandon old habits such as a culinary preference for vegetables (the eggplant eating converso as a literary trope), preparing couscous in the case of the moriscos, frequent washing, changing the linen and cleaning the house on Fridays, etc.5 Although we lack direct evidence on the type and extent of Judaizing practices among the New Christians in south It‑ aly, something can be gleaned from such diverse sources as papal bulls and rabbinic responsa. The papal bulls list a series of transgressions committed by the neofiti such as Sabbath observance, Jewish burial practices, endogamy, and writing bills of divorce (Catholic Christianity prohibits divorce). Avoidance of non‑Kosher food and reluctance to participate in Christian ceremonies are mentioned in a responsum of Rabbi David ha‑Cohen.6 All Judaizing customs listed above fit in the first cat‑ egory of self‑imposed boundaries that helps preserve group separateness. But the enduring distinct identity of the New Christians and their descendants was shaped by social rejection and legal branding augmented and reinforced by commonly held views that baptism cannot change or uproot the former non‑Christian nature of the converts. These popular attitudes persisted despite being in contradiction with the official stand of the Church. In the Iberian Peninsula they led to the enactment of Purity of Blood statutes, whereas in the Kingdom of Naples, the neofiti were never accepted as an integral part of the population and kept their separate identity for over 200 years! After the mass conversion of 1495, the old neofiti and the more re‑ cent cristiani novelli encountered popular enmity brought about by unwillingness to permit them free entrance into Christian society, a rejection coupled with economic interests. The result was a series of local expulsions. Contrary to Spain, it is hard to pin down any Neapolitan anti‑converso polemical literature, but one can dis‑ cern between the lines of Galateo’s De Neophitis the widespread prejudicial views against Jews, Judaism, and converts. To combat these sentiments Galateo begins by condemning the contemporary admiration for pagan classical culture, calls atten‑ tion to the debt of Christianity to Judaism, praises converts, and berates commonly held notions of nobility and race. But the opinions expressed by Galateo and a few leading intellectual figures, such as Tristano Caracciolo, represent an elite minority. The Neapolitans united against the introduction of a Spanish‑style Inquisition but never fought against the expulsion of the Jews or the New Christians. It is worth comparing their reaction with that of the Sicilian elite. On 20 June 1492, two days after the publication of the Sicilian edict of expulsion, the senior bankers and of‑ ficials of Sicily presented a memorandum to King Ferdinand describing the damage to the economy of the island resulting from the expulsion of the Jews. Later, after the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily, the parliament protested against the harsh treatment of the neofiti.7 Neither protest helped change the royal decision,

Conclusion 147 however. But to be fair about it, no New Christians were burned at the stake in the Kingdom of Naples, and despite popular prejudice and local expulsions, their suffer‑ ings cannot be compared with the fate of their brethren in Spain, Portugal, or Sicily. The expulsions of 1510–1511 were incomplete. A certain number of Jews were allowed to return after the official expulsion. According to Ferorelli, this privilege was accorded to only 200 Jewish families.8 In spite of that, numerous documents demonstrate the continuing economic activity of the Jews, notably members of the Abravanel family, but others too.9 In 1520 their presence was officially rec‑ ognized by Charles V who granted them the following privileges in return for the sum of 1,500 ducats to be paid yearly: permission to live and reside in Naples and elsewhere in the kingdom, buying and selling merchandise, open banks and lend money, and enjoyment of all the privileges formerly granted by King Ferrante I. But the Jews’ position remained precarious because the residence permit was valid for only five years, to be prolonged at the pleasure of the monarchy.10 The privileges were renewed again and again and yet the Jews’ situation remained unsettled until their final expulsion in 1541.11 In an article that sheds light on Jewish‑Christian re‑ lations in the1530s, Giancarlo Lacerenza highlights the mounting religious tension and continuing religious polemics. The writings of the Franciscan friar Antonio de Guevara (ca. 1481–1545) demonstrate that enmity towards the Jews did not cease with the expulsion of 1510–1511, and neither did the efforts to bring about their conversion, either by disputation or by forcing them to attend missionary sermons.12 In spite of the apparent totality of the expulsion order, New Christians too re‑ mained in various localities in southern Italy. Their presence and continuing eco‑ nomic activity are noted in several cities of Apulia. For example, the families of Agello and De Boctunis, who were registered among the expellees, returned to Apulia and continued to appear in local documentation for many decades.13 The authorities also note the presence of a number of New Christians listed by name in Manfredonia in 1516 and 1517. Some, or all of them, returned there after the ex‑ pulsion.14 Also in Apulia in 1513 the remaining New Christians were subjected to inquisitorial investigation. That year Jacobo de Manfredonia denounced the New Christians of Apulia and Calabria for “living as Jews, praying publicly in syna‑ gogue, and doing many things that are offensive to our Lord God and our Holy Catholic Faith.” King Ferdinand ordered the friar Barnabas de Capograsso, the local Dominican inquisitor, to investigate and punish them.15 But these are the last mentions of the neofiti and other New Christians of local origins. They probably survived unscathed for centuries. Nowadays, a number of local people living in various places throughout south Italy claim to be of Jewish descent, and they are possibly correct.16 But as fascinating as this centuries‑long survival of a separate identity, further investigation lies beyond the scope of the present book. The accusations and trials conducted against “Judaizers” between 1569 and 1582 concern Old Christians suspected of heretical tendencies rather than New Christians of Jewish origins. It is perhaps important to mention also the foreign conversos who came to Naples in the late sixteenth century to fulfil various func‑ tions, a group aptly named by Peter Mazur “A fragile elite.”17 The official readmission of the Jews in 1520 and their expulsion in 1541 re‑ flects a different situation than that encountered by the refugees of 1492 who were

148  Conclusion offered by King Ferrante I the opportunity to remain there permanently. For the most part, the Jews who came after the expulsion of 1511 were immigrants who were allowed to live in the Kingdom of Naples in exchange for their ability to pay taxes and function as a financial asset. Their stay was dictated by short term privi‑ leges bound to be reviewed every few years. Even so, religious considerations were never absent and played a crucial role in the decision to let them stay for a while, and finally to expel them permanently. To conclude, the last decades have produced a considerable number of studies on New Christians in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the New World. These works explore aspects of converso existence that go beyond questions of secret Jewish (or Muslim) practices and identity. Some of these have been discussed in the present book. In view of such a wealth of new research on this topic, what can another “converso” study add to the discourse? At the risk of seeming to defend my own work, I shall try to provide an answer. Most of the past and present research focuses on the Iberian Peninsula and insofar as it is concerned with converso existence beyond that geographical area, it usually extends to Iberian conversos who left their lands of origins and settled in other places: the Dutch Republic, France, Northern and Central Italy, and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New World. The early formation of New Christian col‑ lectives in the aftermath of forced conversions is considered a unique phenomenon particular to the prevailing conditions in the Iberian Peninsula. By drawing attention to the parallel formation of similar converso groups in southern Italy and in Sicily, this present study offers one more model for the study of the conversion phenomenon. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Naples, especially in this period, shared many features with the Spanish kingdoms, among them the fact that it was ruled by an Aragonese dynasty. The kingdom’s incorporation into the Spanish political sphere from 1501 onwards brings it even closer to the Spanish model. Yet, the specific conditions were different. An analysis of the similarities and the differences can be of value for com‑ parative studies and can refine the approach to converso studies by singling out some factors and eliminating others. It is useful, for example, to evaluate the forces at work that brought about the mass conversion of 1495 and compare them with the events of 1391. And was the use of the term “neofiti” comparable with the pejorative epithets attributed to conversos in the Iberian kingdoms? Above all, I believe that the present study is relevant for multiple issues that preoccupy us even nowadays: arrival of refu‑ gees and their reception, attitudes towards the “other,” the fate of minorities in a period of political instability, and lastly, had we been forced to grapple with the dilemma faced by the Neapolitans in 1510, would we have reacted differently and opposed the removal of the Jews and the converts? Or just like the Neapolitans, sacrificed a prob‑ lematic segment of the population for greater freedom for the majority? Notes 1 See Introduction, notes 1, 2, 3. And Chapter 3 above. 2 Provence: Danièle Iancu Agou, Les Juifs en Provence (1475‑1501): de l’insertion à l’expulsion (Marseille: Institut historique de Provence, 1981); Idem, Juifs et néophytes en Provence: l’exemple d’Aix à travers le destin de Régine Abram de Draguignan (1469‑1525) (Paris: Peteers, 2001).

Conclusion 149 3 Visigoth Spain: Salinero, Las conversiones forzosas; Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources; Southern Italy in the 1290s: Starr, “The Mass Conversion”; Scheller, “Die Bettelorden und die Juden”; Portugal: Soyer, The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims; Marcocci, “Per capillos adductos ad pillam.” 4 First Crusade: Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade; Jeremy Cohen, Sanc‑ tifying the Name of God: Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade, Jewish Culture and Contexts (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). 5 Juan Gil, “Berenjeneros: The Aubergine Eaters,” in The Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond, edited by Kevin Ingram (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2009), 121–142; J. Jiménez Lozano, “The Persistence of Judaic and Islamic Cultemas in Spanish Society, Or the Failure of the Inquisition,” in The Spanish Inquisition and the Inquisitorial Mind, edited by Ángel Alcalá (Boulder, Colo.: Social Science Mono‑ graphs, 1987), 401–420. Eating couscous: Henry Kamen, The Spanish Inquisition. An Historical Revision (London: Phoenix Press, 1997), 223. 6 Bulls of Pope Eugenius IV and Pope Nicholas V: Simonsohn, The Apostolic See, II, No. 750, 887–891, and 814, 997–998. Responsum: David ha‑Cohen: Ze sefer te’shuvot, Sec‑ tion 24, fols. 55–56. See also Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 above. 7 Memorandum against the expulsion: Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, 18, 12258–12260; memorandum: Ibid., 8 No. 5497, 4739–4744. For the protests of the Sicilian parliament, see: Testa, Capitula, I, 582; Zeldes, The Former Jews of this Kingdom, 201–203. 8 Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 220; Bonazzoli, “Gli ebrei nel regno di Napoli all’epoca della loro espulsione. Il Periodo Spagnolo,” 209–210. 9 Abravanel family: Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 99–100;Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, 50–51. On the continuing presence of Jews in the kingdom of Naples, see: Ferorelli, Gli ebrei, 214, 219–233; Bonazzoli, Ibid., 233–234; Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria, Nos. 548, 549, 553, 554; Idem, Puglia, Nos. 318, 319–339. Cesare Colafemmina and Diego de Ceglia, “Presenza ebraica in Ruttigliano e Conversano,” Sefer Yuhasin, New Series, 1 (2013): 163–199; Diego de Ceglia, “Christiani novelli di Terra di Bari nel secolo XVI in due privilege inediti di Giovinazzo e Bisceglie,” Sefer Yuhasin 3 (2015): 87–107. 10 G. Paladino, “I privilegi concessi agli ebrei dal vicerè Pedro de Toledo (1535‑1536),” Archivio storico per le province napoletane 38 (1913): 611–638. 11 Bonazzoli, “Gli ebrei nel regno di Napoli all’epoca della loro espulsione. Il periodo Spag‑ nolo,” 274–283; Diego de Ceglia, “Copie ritrovate di documenti perduti sull’espulsione degli ebrei dal Viceregno di Napoli,” Sefer Yuhasin 10 (2022): 141–161. 12 Giancarlo Lacerenza, “‘Ebrei e dispute religiose’ nella Napoli del cinquecento: dalle Epístolas Familares di Antonio de Guevara,” in Fra Italia e Spagna: Napoli crocevia di culture durante il vicereame, edited by Pierre Civil, et al. (Naples: Liguori editore, 2011), 131–149. 13 De Ceglia, “Cristiani novelli di Terra di Bari,” 99. 14 NSA, Sommaria, Partium 95, 209v–211r, published by Colafemmina, Puglia, No. 308, 280–282. 15 Madrid, A.H.N, Inquisición, Libro 244, fols. 260v–262r, and see Ruiz Martín, “La ex‑ pulsión de los judios,” 69–70. 16 An article about these presumed descendants of the neofiti was published in the He‑ brew Haaretz newspaper in 2010: https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/2010‑05‑21/ty‑article/ 0000017f‑dbb0‑db5a‑a57f‑dbfa903b0000, accessed February 20, 2023. 17 Pierroberto Scaramella, “La campagna contro i giudaizzanti nel regno di Napoli (1569‑1582): antecedenti e risvolti di un’azione inquisitoriale,” in Atti dei convegni Lincei No. 191: Le inquisizioni cristiane e gli ebrei (Rome: Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 2003), 358; Mazur, The New Christians of Naples.

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Index

Note: Page numbers followed by “n” refer to end notes. Aben Jacob, Joseph, rabbi 132 abomination see idolatry Abraham (biblical) 72 Abravanel, Benvenida 141 Abravanel, Isaac 12, 13, 22n8, 22n9, 23n19, 23n20, 47, 49, 56n45, 57n56 Abravanel, Jacob 11, 131 Abravanel, Joseph 15 Abravanel, Leone (Judah), physician 133 Abravanel, Samuel 134, 138, 140, 141, 143n19 Abruzzo 2, 3, 19, 26n62, 31, 110, 132 Abu Abdallah Muhammad V al‑Hasan (Mulei Hassan), sultan of Tunis 138 academies 22n3, 22n7, 70, 78n49, 79n64, 80n72, 90 Acquaviva d’Aragona, Belisario, duke of Nardò 70 Actant, Salomon 20 Actun, Menaḥem, convert 47 Agello family (converts) 147 ‘Aguna, ‘agunot (abandoned wives) 63 Alagon 13 Albanians 4 Alexander VI, pope 21, 27n68, 28, 29, 52 Alexandria 38, 53n2 Alfonso II, King of Naples 18, 21, 28, 29, 31, 37, 38, 40, 42, 61 Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Naples 2, 3 Allegro, Francisco de (convert) 66 al‑Mahdiya 139 Altamura 132, 142n12 Anaya Maldonado, Diego de, archbishop 118, 126 Ancona 4 Angelo, Jacob de 64 Angheria, Pietro Martire de 120, 126 Antidotarium 49

Antiquitates 73 anusim (forced converts) 61, 65, 83, 102 apothecaries 20, 26n63 Apulia 2–4, 20, 25n37, 32, 33, 35n23, 38, 41, 43, 44, 47–49, 65, 70, 88, 89, 93, 94, 102, 104, 106, 108–111, 112n14, 113n37, 131, 132, 138, 142n12, 147 Aquila (L’Aquila) 31 Aquinas, Thomas, theologian 125 Aragon 1, 3, 5, 7n1, 10, 13, 14, 18, 22n3, 23n15, 32, 35n24, 37, 38, 42, 46, 50, 51, 57n63, 64, 73, 80n72, 82, 85, 86, 100n72, 106, 113n18, 113n21, 122, 123, 124, 136, 143n29, 145 Aragona, Federico de see Federico, King of Naples Aragona, Ferdinando de, duke of Montalto 93 Aragona, Ferrando de, physician (convert) 46, 136, 137, 143n30 Aragona, Francisco de, Franciscan 18 Aragona, Louis de, cardinal 64 Argel 95 Ariano 135 Arles 116 Arta 48, 65, 66, 111, 112 Asti 29 Atri 93 Aurifice, Petrus (convert) 66 Aurifice, Yuse 66 Avignon 1 ‘Azaria ben Ephraim ben Joab 3 Ba’al, worshippers of (idolaters, intending Christians) 65, 77n31 badge 19, 26n57, 40, 59, 60, 84, 87, 97n13; berets 135, 140; hats 59; señal 65, 77n29, 84, 97n13; veil 19

170  Index baglio 15; see also taxes Bagnara 45, 46 Balmes, Abraham de, physician 20, 26n66, 46, 48, 54n22 Balmes, Abraham de, physician and kabbalist 26n66 Balmes, Benedetta de 42, 48 Balmes, Mayr de 20 Balmes, Mosè de (convert) 46, 48 banks 15, 17, 25n46, 38, 133, 134, 147 baptism, sacrament of 115, 116 baptized Jews 65, 75, 84, 96, 120, 122, 127 bar Abraham ben Khalilia, Isaac 49 bar Shabbetay, Nissim 47, 65 Barbary (North Africa) 10, 38 Barcelona 9n30, 10, 35n24, 78n51, 97n4, 128n23 Bari 2, 7n5, 23n12, 24n32, 57n65, 70, 76n5, 76n23, 77n39, 99n44, 104, 112n13, 134, 140, 143n18, 149n9, 149n13 Barletta 32, 33, 47, 51, 60, 62, 64, 65, 75n5 barons 15, 25n36, 45, 46, 64, 86, 93, 101n82, 133 barze (type of ship) 111 Basel, Ecumenical Council of 117 Basilicata 2 Basques 39, 97n4 ben Matatya, Benyamin, rabbi 48, 49, 57n51, 111, 114n46, 114n47, 127, 130n49 Benavente 39 Berardino, notary 104 Berberia see Barbary beret (distinctive head covering) 135, 140 Bernáldez, Andrés 10, 22n3, 22n7, 29, 34n6, 53n3 Bernardino, Ioan (convert) 66 bills of divorce 63, 146 Bisignano 93 Bitonto 3, 20 Black Legend 89–91, 99n44 Bleda, Jaime, inquisitor 124–126, 130n43 Blois, Treaty of 86 Bologna, Pietro de (convert) 4, 46, 56n38 Bone 139 Bonilla, Diego de, fiscal (prosecutor), inquisitor 91 Bosco, Bartholomeo 11, 13, 15 Bougie 111 Bova Marina 1 brigate (merchant companies) 62, 67, 76n19

Brindisi 19, 26n55, 32 Bugia 95 Bulgars 4 burial practices 146 çala (Muslim prayer) 124 Calabria 1–3, 7n5, 8n17, 9n22, 12–15, 20, 24n26, 24n31, 25n34, 25n40, 26n57, 26n63, 26n64, 29, 30, 33, 37, 44, 45, 47, 49, 55n33, 55n34, 56n38, 56n49, 58n71, 60, 61, 64, 67, 76n7–9, 76n11, 76n25, 76n26, 77n27, 77n35–37, 78n45, 78n46, 85, 87, 93, 98n21, 98n29, 100n77, 102– 104, 106, 108–111, 113n26, 113n32, 131, 132, 133, 138, 140, 142n11, 142n13, 142n17, 147, 149n9 Cambrai, League of 94 Camera Sommaria 6, 13, 15, 19–21, 23n11, 24n27, 24n31, 25n39, 40, 64, 66, 110, 132 Camilla Comita (convert) 68 Campania 2, 23n18, 24n33, 38, 40, 54n10, 54n11, 76n22, 135, 142n2, 142n8 Canet, Crixi 46 Canet, Donato 46, 56n38 Canzola (or Cagiola), Aaron 131, 134 Capistrano, Giovanni da, Franciscan 3, 8n17, 17, 23 Capitanata 2 Capograsso, Barnabas de, Dominican, inquisitor 82, 132, 147 Capsali, Elijah, rabbi 16, 21, 24n30, 44 Capua 32, 40, 110 Capuana, castle of 32, 41, 42 Caracciolo, Roberto, Franciscan 17, 25– 26n50, 52 Caracciolo, Tristano 89, 99n45, 99n46, 104, 146 Carafa (Carrafa), Diomede, bishop of Ariano 135 Carafa, Diomede, count 18 Cardona, Ramón Folch de, viceroy 5, 61, 89, 93, 103, 106, 107, 113n21, 122, 123, 126, 132, 136, 143n29 Carnale, Isaac de 134 Cartagena, Alonso de, bishop (convert) 69, 72, 78n53 Castel Capuano 33 Castel Nuovo 29, 32, 33, 103 Castellamare di Stabia 12 Castile 1, 5, 7n1, 22n8, 37, 39, 42, 50, 51, 73, 78n53, 82, 85, 86, 89, 94, 105, 113n18, 122, 123, 124, 129n32

Index 171 Catania, Tommaso de 14, 16, 24n28, 25n42, 55n35 Catanzaro 44, 45, 64 catechism 59 Catholic Church 3, 6, 12, 52, 67, 69, 92, 115–119, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127n2, 127n8, 146 Cerignola 100n72, 109 Charles I of Anjou, King of Naples 28 Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples 19 Charles V, Emperor 86, 120, 132–134, 136–139, 141, 147 Charles VIII King of France 21, 28–33, 34n2, 34n4, 34n9, 35n10, 35n14, 38, 40, 42, 43, 50–52, 57n68, 60, 89 Christiani de natura (natural Christians) 59, 67, 68, 75, 121 Christiani novelli see converts Cirò 67 Cisneros, Jiménez de, cardinal, regent of Castile 86 coins: ducats 12, 15, 25n47, 31, 32, 40, 42, 51, 121, 133, 134, 138, 139, 140, 147; florins 11, 47; grana 15, 25n39; onze 136; scudi 140 Colau Aragones (convert) 13, 24n25, 46, 47, 56n42 Coll, Girolamo de 107 Columbus, Christopher 121 Comita, Camilla (convert) 68 Commynes, Philippe de 21, 27n70 condotte 134, 141 Coniger, Antonello 18, 26n54, 26n56, 32, 35n22, 41–44, 49, 54n17, 54n17–19, 55n25, 55n28, 55n30, 55n31, 99n41 Consiglio Collaterale 67, 68, 132, 138 Consolação ás Tribulações de Israel 74, 81n84 Constantinople 7n7, 38, 88, 98n33 conversion 1–6, 7n3, 8n12, 8n13, 10, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23n23, 29, 30, 37–59, 64–70, 73–75, 75n1, 75n2, 78n50, 78n55, 81n81, 110, 115–124, 126, 127n5, 127n10, 129n29, 129n36, 129n39, 135, 136, 138, 145–148, 149n3; see also baptism converts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7n1, 8n13, 8n14, 9n31, 13, 15, 30, 39, 40, 43–51, 55n35, 56n38, 57n51, 59–67, 69–71, 73–75, 75n1, 76n25, 77n38, 77n39, 78n48, 83, 87, 88, 92–94, 97n13, 102–105, 107–112, 113n6, 113n24, 115–124, 126–127, 127n4, 127n10, 128n19, 129n26,

129n33, 131, 136, 137, 138, 143n30, 145, 146, 148; christiani novelli 51, 59, 67, 76n19, 149n9; neofiti 3, 4, 6, 9n31, 43, 48, 51, 57n66, 59, 62, 64, 66, 67, 69, 73, 75, 82, 85, 91, 93, 96, 98n23, 100n77, 104, 108, 109, 112n9, 113n15, 117, 118, 122, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 146–148, 149n16; marani 38–40, 43, 51, 53n2, 53n6, 53n8, 59–62, 87, 93, 100n62, 102, 103, 111, 112, 122, 126, 131, 136, 146; mercanti 51, 57n66, 59, 62, 66, 67, 76n19, 77n40 Corato 20 Córdoba, Gonzalo Fernández de Aguilar de, Gran Capitán, viceroy 5, 33, 35n24, 60, 62, 65, 83, 85, 86, 97n9, 100n72 Corfu 7n7, 47, 48, 65, 76n10, 77n34, 111, 114n41 Coron (Koroni) 139, 140 Corpus juris canonici 125 corpus mysticum 121, 122, 125 corsairs 94, 138, 141; see also pirates Cosen, Mayr 40 Cosenza 60, 64, 66, 68, 76n7, 76n8, 93, 102, 110, 132, 133, 134 Croce, Benedetto 70, 79n61, 89, 90, 96, 99n44, 99n47 Crotone 48, 102, 132 cruelty 29, 31, 38, 39, 51, 90, 120 Cusencio, Yani de 45, 55n35 Dalmatia 43, 132 Daniel (biblical) 30, 31 Dario de Florio (convert) 67 Darkhei Noam 3 David (biblical) 30, 72 David ben Judah Messer Leon, rabbi 9n24, 110, 113n36De Bello Sacro 125 De Boctunis family (converts) 147 De educatione 70, 72, 79n58, 79n60, 80n72 De inquisitione 89, 90, 99n46, 112n14 De Laudibus Hispaniae 119 de la Vigne, André 29, 30, 34n5 De neophitis 68–75, 79n58, 79n62, 79n63, 126, 146 De nobilitate 70 De prudentia 90 Decretum Gratiani 125 Defensio fidei 124, 130n43 Defensio nobilitatis neapolitanae 90 Defensorium unitatis Christianae 69, 78n53 Demmena (San Marco d’Alunzio) 56n46

172  Index Demmensi, Elia (convert) 47 Demmensi, Shabbetai (convert) 47 Deza, Diego de, inquisitor 85 Dialogus de heremita 70 Diurnali 32, 35n19, 41, 54n12 Djerba 95 Dominica (convert) 45, 49, 55n35 Dominicans 61, 73, 82, 120, 131, 132, 147 donativo see taxes Doria, Andrea (admiral) 139, 140 dowry 66 Dutch Republic 148 earthquake 24n26, 87 Easter 19 edicts of expulsion 9n31, 95, 103–105, 123 eggplants 146 Egypt 120 England 2 Enguera, Juan de, bishop of Vich, inquisitor 92 Enrique de Aragón, marquiz of Villena 80n72 Espina, Alonso de (Franciscan) 69, 78n54 Esposizione del Pater Noster 70 Esteve, José, bishop 125 Eugenius IV, Pope 118, 127n11, 149n6 expulsion 1–6, 7n7, 7n11, 9n31, 9n32, 10, 13, 17, 18, 22n1, 22n5, 23n15, 24n25, 24n30, 35n13, 35n17, 38–41, 46, 48, 52, 53n7, 55n35, 57n51, 57n54, 60–62, 64, 66–68, 74, 76n6, 83, 84, 87, 92, 95, 96, 100n77, 102–135, 137, 138, 140, 141, 145–148, 149n7 fairs 66, 132, 134 Fano 134 Federico King of Naples 33, 42, 54n17, 60–64, 76n23, 102 Ferdinand V King of Aragon (the Catholic) 28, 32, 33, 46, 103, 136, 137, 141, 143n26 Ferrandino see Ferrante II Ferrante I King of Naples 11, 13, 14, 17– 19, 21, 26n66, 28, 37, 40, 52, 64, 67, 70, 108, 133, 137, 145, 147, 148 Ferrante II King of Naples 21, 29, 30, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40, 42, 48, 51, 52, 53n1, 60–62, 64, 82, 94, 102 Ferrara 70, 74, 81n84, 81n85, 141 Ferrariis, Antonio de (Galateo), physician, humanist 68, 69, 70, 79n57–59, 79n62, 79n63

Ferrer, Vincent, Dominican 119, 120, 128n19 Fez 10, 22n7 Florence 8n15, 9n22, 26n51, 27n68, 28, 29, 30, 73, 98n26 Florio, Dario de (convert) 67 Foggia 135, 143n19 Fortalitium fidei 69 France 3, 11, 21, 28, 30–33, 35n14, 40, 42, 49, 84, 86, 89, 94, 139, 145, 148 Francesco di l’Agnelina, Franciscan 135 Franciscans 3, 17, 30, 52, 61, 135, 147 Frederick II, emperor 4 Frederick III, emperor 4 French 4, 6, 21, 26n51, 28–33, 34n2, 35n20, 35n23, 37–42, 45–52, 54n14, 60–64, 70, 73, 78n44, 79n60, 86, 94, 100n68, 107, 125, 144n42 Gaeta 12, 33, 110 Galateo see Ferrariis, Antonio de Galatino, Pietro Colonna, Franciscan, theologian 135, 143n22 galley (oar ship) 111 Gallo, Giacomo 32, 35n19, 41, 54n12 Garton, Abraham 3 Gaytano de Zardullo (convert) 67 Genoa 13, 23n23, 29, 139 Gerace, Gerolamo Vespasiano de 68 Germaine de Foix (wife of Ferdinand of Aragon) 86 Germany 3, 57n65, 134, 145 Giovanna II Queen of Naples 3 Giovanni Antonio del Balzo, prince 19 Giovanni d’Aragona Count of Ripacorsa, viceroy 87 Giovedi Santo (Maundy Thursday) 89, 99n38 giudecca 19, 24n26, 41, 42, 43, 54n16, 133, 134 Gozo 33 grain 134, 136 Gran Capitán see De Córdoba, Gonzalo Fernández de Aguilar Gran Corte de la Vicaria 140 Granada 7n3, 97n5, 120, 123, 129n41, 145 Granada, treaty of 33 Grassetto, Francesco 111, 114 Gravina 109 Greek: language 111; mythology 71; population 4, 9n26 Gregory I the Great, Pope 116, 122, 127n5 Guarino, Joanpaolo de 42, 44

Index 173 Guell, Jaymus 11 Guevara, Antonio de, Franciscan, bishop, humanist 135, 143n23, 147, 149n12 Guicciardini, Francesco 28, 34n1, 34n2 Guidaczo, Ioan Francisco 64 Gunzenhauser, Joseph ben Jacob Ashkenazi, printer 3 Ha‑Cohen, David, rabbi 7n7, 9n24, 47, 49, 56n48, 57n51, 61, 65, 66, 76n12, 77n32, 77n34, 81n84, 102, 112n5, 113n36, 142n9, 146, 149n6 Ha‑Cohen, Joseph, physician and chronicler 139, 140, 144n42, 144n43 Haggadah 12, 23 Ha‑Kohen, Isaac ben Hayim, rabbi 31, 35n17 Halakha (Jewish law) 63 Hamas ha‑Zeman 3, 8n19 Hannah (repentant convert), daughter of Nissim Bar Shabbetay 47, 48, 61, 65, 111 Hannart, Joan, viscount of Lambec 134 Hayyat, Judah 10, 39, 53n5 Hayyim Yonah see Yonah, Hayyim ben Shabbetai, rabbi Hebrew 1–3, 6, 7n1, 8n13, 9n23, 9n29, 13, 14, 16, 22n7, 23n15, 24n30, 25n46, 35n17, 44, 49, 50, 56n44–47, 56n50, 57n54, 57n59, 57n60, 57n62, 78n53, 110, 113n18, 128n19, 129n31, 144n42, 144n43, 144n49, 145, 149n16 Henry II King of Castile 50 heresy 13, 61, 82, 91, 97n4, 106, 108, 119, 124, 131, 137, 146 heretics 30, 78, 88, 91, 92, 99n39, 106, 107, 121, 122, 124, 125, 147 Historia delle cose di Napoli 139, 144n40 Holy Child of La Guardia 89 Holy Land 52 Holy‑Week 19, 20, 26n65 humanists 2, 17, 68, 70, 71, 79n60, 79n65, 90, 119 Ibn Habib, Moshe bar Shem Tov 3 Ibn Verga, Shelomo 2, 7n10, 57n61 idolatry 50, 77n34 idolatry (referring to Christian rites and faith) 65 Imola 132, 142n9 incest 88 Ingenuo, Girolamo, humanist 70 Innocent III, Pope 116, 117

inquisition 5, 6, 8n13, 9n30, 13, 47, 58n70, 59, 61, 65, 69, 74, 75, 76n14, 78n49, 78n51, 82–101, 103–105, 107, 112n14, 120, 124, 127n4, 129n42, 130n42, 131, 136, 137, 146, 149n5; medieval 76n14; Roman 137; Spanish 5, 59, 69, 74, 82– 85, 87–93, 96, 97n4, 99n43, 107, 120, 129, 136, 146, 149n5 inquisitors 45, 56n42, 61, 64, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 90–93, 95, 100n62, 106–108, 124, 131, 132, 136, 137, 143n29, 147 Iona (widow of Gaudio Liancza) 66 Ioan Baptista Cimino (convert) 68 Isabella d’Aragona, countess‑duchess 70, 134, 143n18 Isabella I Queen of Castile 35n24 Islam 78n51, 115, 124, 129n39, 149n5 Istrugilu see Strongoli Janus (Roman deity) 73 Jesus 69, 138 Jews 1–26, 29–31, 33, 35n13, 35n13, 35n24, 37–78, 83–88, 90, 93–114, 117–149 João II of Portugal, King 11, 22n8, 39 Johannes Annius de Viterbo, humanist, Dominican 73, 81n79 John I King of Aragon 50 Juan de Cervantes, bishop, theologian 118 Juan de Segovia, prelate, theologian 118 Juan, prince (son of Ferdinand and Isabella) 85 Juana Queen of Castile 86, 137 Judah ben Eliezer Minz see Minz, Judah ben Eliezer Judah Messer Leon, physician and rabbi 4, 9n24, 110, 113n36 judaizing 65, 69, 84, 108, 118, 131, 137, 146 Julius II, Pope 94, 96 Julius Caesar 73 jurati (members of the city council) 87 kashrut 140 Khalilia, Isaac bar Abraham ben 49 Khayr ad‑Din Barbarossa 138 Kitron see Crotone L’Argentière, Isaac 4, 20, 27n67 La Muta, Manfredo (convert) 46, 49 Lanciano 110, 132, 134, 142n4 Legonissa, Angelus Terzonis de 30 Las Casas, Ignacio de, Jesuit 124

174  Index Lateran, Third Council of 117, 127n8 Le Rose, Thomas de (convert) 133 Le Voyage de Naples 29, 34n5, 35n11 lead tablet (text of prophecy) 17, 18 Lecce 8n21, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26n50, 26n55, 26n56, 26n66, 27n66, 41–43, 44, 49, 50, 52, 54n19, 55n26–28, 70, 79n58, 79n64, 89, 110, 140, 143n22 Legatio Babylonica 120, 128n22 Leo X, Pope 135, 137 León, Tristan de, jurist 120, 124, 126, 129n26 Lesina (Hvar) 43 Liancza, Francisco de 66 Livorno 111 locusts 87 Lombardus, Petrus 3 Lorenzo de Medici 28 Los doze trabajos de Hércules 80n72 Louis XII King of France 33, 86, 94 Low Countries 89, 125 Lucena, Juan Ramírez de, humanist 71, 72, 80n71, 80n72 Lucera 4, 9n27 Machiavelli, Nicolo 39, 40, 53n7 Madeira 134 Malta 33 Mamluks 120 Manfredonia 33, 67, 68, 77n43, 104, 113n16, 132, 133, 142n12, 147 Manfredonia, Jacobo de 132, 147 Mantua 4, 39, 53n5 Marani, marranos 38–40, 43, 51, 53n2, 53n6, 59–62, 93, 100n62, 102, 103, 111, 112, 122, 126, 131, 136, 146; see also converts; neofiti, conversos; New Christians Marc Antonio Tolomei, bishop of Lecce 43 Marcello, Pietro 26n50, 64 Mariana, Juan de, Jesuit 96, 101n80, 108, 109, 113n24 Marineo Sículo, Lucio, humanist 119, 126, 128n15, 128n17 Marinis, Lucas see Marineo Sículo, Lucio, humanist Marpe Lashon 3 marriage 46–48, 65–68, 71, 73, 74, 86, 118; intermarriage 66–68, 74, 118 Martina 102, 112n2 martyrdom see self sacrifice matchmakers 48 Maximilian I, emperor 94

Mayo, Ioannes Baptista de (convert) 133 Mazal Tov 47, 65 meat (Kosher) 19 Medici, Lorenzo de 28 Medici, Piero de 29 Melfi 93 Mena, Juan de 72, 80n72 mercanti (merchants) see converts Mers El Kébir 94 messianic expectations 31 Messina 32, 33, 45, 85, 87–88, 98n33, 98n35, 103, 111 Milan 28, 32, 33, 34n1, 34n5, 53n7 Minḥat Yehudah 39, 53 Minz, Judah ben Eliezer of Padua, rabbi 47 mock ceremonies (of Christian rites) 88 Modena 3, 8n19 Mola 32, 94 Molfetta 20, 26n50, 62, 67, 76n19 Molise 2, 33 money‑lending 17, 20, 25n46, 25n47, 40, 134, 139, 144n38 Monopoli 12, 32, 62, 94, 109 Montalto 45, 93, 109 Montalto, Ludovico 107 Monte San Giovanni 31 Montecchio 4 Monti di Pietà 17, 25n48, 144n38 Montoro, Raynaldo, bishop of Cefalù, inquisitor 88, 91, 92 Moriscos 5, 6, 78n55, 94, 115, 118, 121, 123–126, 129n33, 129n39, 130n43, 146, 149n5 Morocco 10 Muhammad 124 Mulei Hassan see Abu Abdallah Muhammad V Muslims 1, 4, 5, 9n26, 9n27, 53n3, 94, 111, 118, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 145, 146, 148, 149n3 mythology 71, 73, 80n70, 81n78 Naples, city of 2, 11, 16, 30, 40, 42, 44, 83, 92, 95, 105, 106, 131 Naples, Kingdom of 1–7, 8n13, 9n29, 10– 14, 17, 24n29, 25n47, 25n48, 27n68, 29, 35n20, 44–52, 57n58, 64, 74, 82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 97n13, 102–109, 111, 112, 122, 126, 131–148, 149n9 Nardò 20, 70, 79n63, 93 Navarro (Jew) 140 Navarro, Pedro, count 94, 95, 100n72 neofiti see converts

Index 175 Nicholas V, Pope 67, 118, 127n11, 149n6 Noah (biblical) 73 nobles 41, 46, 66, 74, 93, 102, 139 North Africa 10, 22n7, 39, 77n34, 83, 87, 94, 95, 100n72, 104, 107, 111, 114n45, 125, 139, 141 Notar Giacomo 16, 18, 25n43, 34n8, 41, 42, 53n1, 54n15, 56n49, 61, 76n10, 86, 87, 92–95, 97n2, 98n28, 98n32, 100n58, 100n60, 100n64, 100n70, 100n74, 101n78, 103–105, 112, 112n8, 112n11, 113n20 Opus Davidicum 30, 35n10 Opus de arcanis catholicae veritatis 135 Opus de rebus hispaniae memorabilibus 119, 128n17, 128n18, 128n20 Oran 95, 111 Original Sin 115 Origine et progressu Officii Sanctae Inquisitionis 84, 98n17 Orthodox Christians 4, 71, 73, 78n51 Otranto 2, 19, 32, 70 Padua 4, 47 Paganism 115 Palacio, Andrés de, jurist, inquisitor 88, 91, 92 Palermo 23n13, 34n3, 45, 46, 49, 55n36, 56n40, 56n46, 97n6, 98n19, 98n22, 99n50, 99n52, 100n55, 143n29, 143n30 Paloba (repentant convert) 48, 56n50, 111 Páramo, Luis de, inquisitor 84, 85, 98n17 Pariseo, Pier Paolo, cardinal 120, 126, 127n4 Pascali, David 66 Pascali, Elia 66 Pascali, Ioana 66 Pascali, Josep 66 Pascali, Salamone de 66 Passero, Giuliano 16, 22n10, 31, 90, 93, 103, 109, 112n10, 136 Patras 139, 140 Paul the Apostle 69 pawn‑brokers 20, 139, 144n40 pawn‑shops 40 Peloponnese 139 Perah Shoshan 3 Perfetto, Ioanne (convert) 109 Peter the Apostle 111, 141 Philip I of Habsburg, King of Castile (husband of Queen Juana) 86 Philip (Felipe) III, King of Spain 125

physicians 20, 26n66, 46, 48, 54n22, 70, 114n43, 133, 136, 143n30 pirates 88, 141 plague 16, 21, 52, 87; see also epidemic Polignano 32, 94 Pontano, Giovanni (humanist) 15, 17, 18, 25n36, 26n51, 26n53, 70, 90 Ponte, Oldradus de, jurist 124, 129n41 Pontecorvo 132 Port dels Alfacs 10 Portugal, Portuguese 3, 5, 10, 11, 22n7, 22n8, 39, 40, 53n3, 85–88, 98n33, 98n36, 110, 114n45, 118, 120, 121, 123, 126, 127n4, 131, 132, 135–137, 142, 142n9, 145, 147, 148, 149n3 Pozzuoli 12, 23n18 Praepositus, Nicolaus 49, 57n57 The Prince 39, 53n7, 93 Principato 2 printers 3 privileges 3, 14, 15, 19, 21, 24n31, 60, 104, 117, 124, 131, 133, 138–140, 147, 148, 149n9 Protestantism 126 proti (Jewish community leaders) 133 Provence 1, 3, 66, 77n38, 77n39, 78n48, 129n33, 145, 148n2 Pulignano 62 purity of blood 68, 70, 75, 118, 126, 146 Qansuh al‑Ghuri, Sultan of Egypt 120 quarter, Jewish 20, 26n65, 29, 37, 41, 54n16, 91, 133 rabbis 3, 4, 31, 47, 48, 49, 61, 65, 66, 77n34, 102, 110, 111, 113n36, 114n43, 127, 132, 141, 142n9, 146 Rael (Rachel), daughter of Gaudio Liancza 66 Ragusa 67, 132 Randazzo 45, 49, 55n35 ransom 45, 139, 140, 142 Raphaele of St. Pietro della Porta, deacon 18 Rashi (R. Salomon Itzhaki), rabbi 3 Reggio Calabria 1, 3, 12, 13, 24n26, 33, 85, 111 Remolino, Francisco de, cardinal 137 Renaissance 2, 8n13, 25n46, 25n49, 25n49, 27n66, 35n20, 71, 73, 74, 78n44, 79n56, 79n60, 80n70, 81n78, 99n44, 142n15, 143n21, 143n22, 144n50 Rende 40, 53n2, 56n47, 75, 94, 113n20, 125, 131, 133

176  Index Requesens y Joan de Soler, Galceran de, count 33, 35n24 responsa (rabbinic legal opinions) 6, 7n7, 47, 49, 56n44, 56n45, 56n48, 57n51, 110, 113n34, 114n46, 146 Reuchlin, Johannes, Hebraist 135 Rhineland 50 Riccais, Antonius (convert) 133 riots 1, 3, 4, 6, 8n13, 17, 18, 21, 37–60, 63, 64, 67, 73, 75, 90 Rivalto, Giordano de, Dominican 3 robbers. robbery 13, 29, 30, 44, 52 Rome 7n4, 7n5, 9n30, 27n68, 29, 31, 34n5, 78n52, 80n68, 81n79, 92, 95, 96, 106, 111, 114n43, 127n5, 141, 149n17 Rosso, Gregorio 139, 144n40 Russu, Bernardo (convert) 45, 49 Russu, Esau, baron 45 Russus, Angelus 134 safe‑guards 29, 40, 51, 64, 89, 121 Sagunto (Morvedre) 10 Salento 3, 8n21, 18, 27n66, 143n22 Salerno 9n30, 12, 19, 24n33, 26n61, 57n57, 58n71, 82, 110, 132 Sambiasi, Pierri 44, 55n31 San Cathaldus, the prophecy of 17, 18, 21, 32, 52 San Giovanni Rotondo 135 San Lorenzo Maggiore, church of 92, 93 San Lucido 15, 20, 26n63 San Severo 20, 27n67, 77n43 Sánchez, Alfonso (of converso origins) 136 Sánchez, Aloysio, (of converso origins) 136 Sánchez, Francisco, (of converso origins) 7n3 Santa Agata 13, 24n25, 24n26, 46 Santa Severina 67 Sanuto, Marino 30, 31, 34n2, 35n12, 35n16, 35n18, 38–41, 44, 51, 52, 53n2, 53n8, 54n13, 55n32, 57n67, 76n21, 93, 95, 100n62, 100n63, 100n75, 102, 112n1, 112n3 Saragossa 13, 24n25, 46, 136 Scottish guard 29 scudi (coin) 140 Seder Elyiahu Zuta 13 Sefarad 22n4, 98n33, 101n81 Sefer ha‑Peliah 31, 35n14 Seggi (seats) 92, 93, 103 segregation 66–68, 78n50, 86, 117 self‑sacrifice 66 The Sentences 8n16, 137

Serenissima (honorific name for Venice) 32, 102 Sforza, Ludovico, duke of Milan 28, 32 Shabbat 140 Shepherds’ Crusade 42, 54n19 Shevet Yehudah 7n10, 57n61 ships 3, 10–13, 32, 38–41, 48, 52, 61, 76n10, 87, 88, 102, 103, 111, 140, 141 Sicily 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 13, 14, 23n15, 28, 32, 33, 34n3, 35n24, 45, 46, 48, 52, 54n16, 56n41, 56n46, 57n54, 59, 66, 77n38, 82, 85–88, 90–92, 96, 97, 97n4, 99n51, 99n52, 101n84, 103, 107–110, 113n18, 114n43, 122, 127n10, 136–138, 140, 143n26, 145, 146–148, 149n7 silk 14, 15, 25n39 Sisebut, Visigoth King 116 Slavs 4 Soma, Duke of see Cardona, Ramon Folch, viceroy Soncino, Joshua Israel Nathan 3 Sora 49, 57n58 Sorrento 40 Spain 3–6, 7n1, 7n11, 11, 14, 18, 22n1, 22n7, 23n15, 24n30, 31, 39, 48, 52, 53n7, 54n16, 57n51, 58n70, 59, 60, 62, 64, 66, 67, 69, 73, 75n1, 77n33, 77n38, 78n49, 78n50, 78n53, 78n5, 81n78, 81n81, 84, 86, 89, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97n4, 99n44, 103, 104, 106–109, 112, 114n41, 114n45, 114n46, 118–121, 123, 125–127, 129n33, 130n42, 130n49, 135, 136, 137, 140, 145–148, 149n3, 149n5 Specchio della fede 17 Squillace 68 St. Nicola di Casole, monastery 9n26, 70 Stanga, Antonio 16, 25n41 Storia d’Italia 28, 34n1, 34n2 Strongoli 7n7, 47, 48, 61, 65, 102, 111 sugar 134 Summa Theologiae 125 Swiss 41, 54n14 synagogues 1, 7n4, 29, 34n5, 43, 45, 54n16, 55n27, 55n28, 74, 132, 147 synagogues consecrated as churches 1, 7n4, 29, 34n5, 43, 45, 54n16, 55n27, 55n28, 74, 132, 147 Taguil, Moses (convert) 47, 56n46 Talavera, Hernando de, bishop 123, 129n38 Talmud 135 Taranto 1, 2, 17, 18, 26n54, 76n23, 76n24, 102, 112n2

Index 177 Tarragona 10 taxes: baglio 15; donativo 15; silk 14, 15; wine 15; tax, taxes 3, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 24n26, 25n39, 33, 35n24, 47, 53n3, 56n43, 109, 110, 132–134, 138, 139, 140, 148 Terra d’Otranto 2, 9n26, 55n27, 109, 110 Terra di Bari 2, 149n9, 149n13 Terra di Lavoro 2, 15, 33, 132 Terracina 111, 114n44 Tlemçen 10 Toledo, Fourth Council of 116, 127n6 Toledo, Pedro de, viceroy 134, 135, 138–142, 142n16, 144n34, 149n10 Toledo, rebels of 78n51, 122, 130n48 tolerance 53n3, 70, 125, 141 Torah 3, 23n20, 23n56 Tordesillas 36n27, 77n44, 86 Torquemada, Juan de, Dominican, theologian 118 Tortosa, Disputation of 128n19, 145 Tortosa‑Ampolla 10 torture 44, 90, 91, 116 Tractado de Vita Beata 71, 80n71 trade 3, 12, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 132, 133, 136 Trani 2, 19, 23n12, 32, 44, 47, 51, 57n65, 58n72, 61, 62, 64–66, 67, 69, 74, 75n5, 76n5, 76n15, 76n16, 76n19, 76n20, 76n25, 77n28, 77n39, 82, 94, 102, 109, 112n6, 113n25, 118, 122 Trapani 11, 13, 23n13, 23n15, 46, 47 Trojans 71–73 Troy 81n78 Tubal (biblical) 73, 81n78 Tunisia 10 Turano, Samuel de 66 Universitas (commune, legal body) 66, 67, 77n39, 109 Usque, Samuel 74, 81n84, 81n85 usury 38, 117, 138, 139

Vaaz family (Portuguese converts) 142 Valencia 10, 12, 22n2, 22n3, 22n7, 23n14, 23n21, 23n22, 54n21, 118, 123, 124, 129n27, 130n43 Valencia, Pedro de, humanist 124 Valentino of Prata, priest 63 Valla, Lorenzo, humanist 2 Valona 47, 93, 110, 111, 113n34, 113n36, 113n37 Vasto 3, 19 Venice 4, 26n66, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34n2, 35n23, 43, 57n51, 62, 93, 94, 100n68, 102, 135, 141 Venosa 2 vessels see ships viceroy 5, 33, 36n27, 60–62, 65, 68, 83–85, 87–89, 93–95, 97n10, 99n39, 103, 105–107, 109, 122, 123, 126, 131–141, 142n16, 143n29 vineyards 66 Virgin, (Mary), mother of Jesus 72 Viterbo 73 Vitulo, Antonio de 132 weavers 13, 46 wine 15 witches 97n2 Xativa 31, 35n17 Xea, Pietro Lazzaro 76, 107 Yonah, Hayyim ben Shabbetay, rabbi 47, 49, 56n45, 65, 110, 113n34 zambra (musical instrument) 123 Zante (Zakynthos) 111 Zardullo, Gaytano de (convert) 67 Zerfati, Abramo 140 Zevah Pesach (Passover Sacrifice) 23n19 Zizo, Ruben 134 Zurita, Jeronimo, chronicler 84, 90, 93, 96, 98n15, 98n16, 99n48, 100n66, 110, 113n35, 128n22