Spanish intolerance, a history of bigotry

[Zainab_M]

Spanish history is filled with forced conversions into Christianity.

The terms “Marrano” and “converso” were applied in Spain and Portugal to the descendants of baptized Jews suspected of secret adherence to Judaism.  The laws in 14th and 15th century Spain became increasingly oppressive toward practicing Jews, and conversion was provded as an alternative to death. There were large numbers of middle class Jews outwardly adopting Christianity to avoid the laws, while secretly practicing Judaism.

"New Christians" was a term applied specifically to three groups of Jewish converts to Christianity.  The first group converted in the wake of the massacres in Spain in 1391.  The second, also in Spain, were baptized following the decree of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 expelling all Jews who refused to accept Christianity.  The third group, in Portugal, was converted forcibly by royal decree in 1497.

New Christians began to leave Spain in the wake of the mass conversions of 1391, and Portugal after the forced conversions in 1497. The tide of emigration ebbed and flowed, but heightened during the Inquisition in Spain in 1481, and Portugal in 1536 and after 1630. To slow the continuing exodus, as early as the last decade of the 15th century, the authorities in both countries issued decrees prohibiting the emigration of New Christians. These decrees were frequently evaded, however, and Marranos regularly left clandestinely.

The protection which these new Jewish converts received from the Christian state depended on how zealously they adhered to Christianity.  In Majorca, Spain, the community was converted in the 1430's and called Chuetas, from "pork lard" since they regularly kept pork lard boiling in cauldrons on their porches. They still called themselves "Israelitas" in private, and families typically gave their first born son to the Catholic priesthood as a means of gaining protection from Church persecution.

The infamous Spanish inquisition is known to be the worst form of religious intolerance ever experienced by humans on planet earth. Notorious for its brutalities, it displayed the most grotesque disregard for human lives.  It began around 1252 when Pope Innocent IV authorized the use of torture by the Inquisitors.   The Inquisition in Spain not only involved forced conversions of Jews and Muslims into christianity but also kidnapping of Jewish and Muslim children by Papal orders who were raised within the premises of the Church and thus grew up as Christians after being torn away from their families.  This trend was borrowed from Italy where the story of the kidnapping of a 6-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortarda, is one of the most talked about among many such incidents.

Here's a brief video clip on the Spanish Inquisition taken from the 'Secret Files of the Inquisition.'  From links in this video, you can watch many more on the Inquisition.




During the Spanish inquisition, the Jews (Marranos) mostly fled to Muslim lands - North Africa and Turkey.  Muslim countries were the most natural places of refuge for them seeking to live openly as Jews, for Christians were the arch enemies of the Muslims, with Spain and Portugal being the citadel of anti-Muslim feelings. 

At the end of the 14th century, many Jews were attracted to the Ottoman Empire.  Sultan Bayazid II (Bajazet II; 1481–1512) mocked King Ferdinand for impoverishing Spain and enriching the Ottoman Empire through his expulsion of so many people. In the 16th century, numerous cities in the Ottoman Empire had Jewish settlements, among them Cairo, Jerusalem, Safed, Damascus, Constantinople with some 50,000 Jews, and Salonika where the population of the Marranos exceeded that of the other Jews and the non-Jews as well.  This also indicates that none of those Jews living in the Middle-East had their roots in Palestine.  Almost all of them were the descendents of the European Jews, living in Europe since centuries and being forcibly converted to Christianity, then fleeing the tyranny of the Catholic church and taking refuge in Muslim territories. 

Spanish colonizers were known for their intolerance as much as saffron is known for its unique flavor in foods.  Unlike the present propaganda, the well-known 'Black Legend' is not history-writing to demonize the Spanish.  On the other hand, its backlash, 'Black Legend and Historical Truth' is the embarrassing exaggeration and an attempt to refute the facts of Spanish intolerance and atrocities on the subjects of its colonies to make the Spanish imperialists look benevolent .. a far cry from "historical truth."  There were several more books penned later on by European historians to discredit the 'Black Legend' with contradictory stories and hyperbole on how "humane" the Spanish were .... an attempt to bring a more civilized image of Europe at large.  Unrealism again!

The Spanish colony in the Philippines has an interesting story which is by no means flattering for the Spanish.  Though present-day European history books desperately struggle to conceal this information and most online search engines are also embarrassed to portray truthful accounts, the conversion of almost the whole of Philippines into Christianity by its Spanish colonizers was done by force.  However, it was only the Muslim community of Philippines that strongly resisted Spanish intolerance and interference.  The Spanish gained foothold in Philippines by the mid 1500s.  There were frequent uprisings by the Filipinos who disliked the encomienda system enforced by the Spanish through which they controlled the natives and used them for cheap labor.  By the end of the 16th century with the commericialization of Manila by the colonizers, the locals unwillingly caved in to foreign domination and also converted to Christianity en masse.   It was only the Philippino Muslims who continued in armed rebellion to get back their freedom. The Muslims, in response to attacks on them from the Spanish and their native allies, raided areas of Luzon and the Visayas that were under Spanish colonial control. The Spanish conducted intermittent military campaigns against the Muslims, but without conclusive results until the middle of the 19th century.  Even at present, the Muslim commnity of Philippines is the most discriminated one in that country.

The Spanish conquered vast areas of North, Central and South America, and like other European powers, were involved in the Atlantic slave trade.

Spain's obsession with Christianity continued in other lands during and after the Inquisition.  One of Spain's primary endeavours of colonial expansion in South-East Asia and South America was to convert people to Christianity. 

A spectacular example of circulating completely false and contradictory history in response to the facts highlighted in Black Legend and other sources of Spanish brutalities is the myth on Spain's Queen Isabella's "last will" ordering the "colonial authorities to treat native Americans with respect and dignity."  The Spanish inquisition was the worst at the time of Queen Isabella I of Spain. She collaborated completely with the inquisitors .. to such an extent that it was no difficult task for the chief inquisitory of Spain, Torquemada, to convince Isabella and her husband Ferdinand, that forcibly converting the Jews was not enough.  They still posed to be a threat to their kingdom.  Thus, in 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand ordered all Jews to leave Spain or be put to death.  This same ruthless woman suddenly becomes so benevolent some years later when Columbus returned from the Americas that she is quoted as mentioning in her last will that the American natives should be treated humanely.  How brazenly the Spanish historians insult the intelligence of readers!

Not to mention, Columbus and "explorers" and "discoverers" like him were actually no explorers nor discoverers.  They were plainly criminals and thieves.  They were people who failed in making a respectable life for themselves in their own lands and thus embarked in stealing other lands by bribing their rulers.  It was the kind of brigandry for which they were rewarded rather than punished.  When Columbus, during the reign of Queen Isabella I, returned from America, he brought with him endless riches.  As a result, Spain thrived in agriculture and was filled with manufacturers of clothes, silk, glass, steel weapons and leather goods.  Western historians shamelessly use such information of imperialistic robbery as "great success" and showering praise on the unscruplous Spanish Queen who was the symbol of bigotry because she was able to perceive the potentials of murderers like Columbus.

Yet, today if you talk to a loyal European of the Islamic era in Spain which is well-known even in Western history for his egalitarian values and peaceful atmosphere where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in harmony for centuries until the Muslims left, the loyal European will ignore this reality and somehow turn around matters to point a finger of "intolerance" at Islamic Spain.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Thanks for posting this, sis.  It's a perfect one to throw at the faces of those idiots who still insist that the Spanish history was humane.