A. C. 1492. Jews ba- THIS dreadful edict was issued out against them by Fer nifhed out dinand and Isabella, foon after he had happily ended his war of Spain, with the Moors, and obliged the whole Jewish nation to quit Spain in four months after the date of it (in March, A. G. 1492). Turre Cremata, who was the foul of this perfecution, advised the king to fhorten that term, and forbad the people, under the feverest penalties, to afford either victuals, or any other affistance, to fuch às were found in the kingdom after the month of April. Some hiftorians likewife think that they were forbid, by a new order, to carry away either gold or precious ftones, or any thing but a few cloaths, wine, and fuch other merchandize (B). If fo, it is plain that order was not punctually executed, fince they found means, we are told, to convey away thirty thousand millions of ducats f. The Spaniards tell us, that 70,000 families, or 800,000 perfons, left the kingdom pursuant to this edict; and the Jews make them to amount to 160,000 families, or 600,000 perfons 8, and even some of those who had been most in credit at court, (among whom was the learned Abravanel, who had been a long while a favourite of the king and queen (C),) were ob The num ber of them, liged f BASNAG. ub. fup. c. 25. §. 1. 8 ABRAVAN. CARDOSO las Excellencias, &c. (B) We are told that many of them who had courage enough to leave the country, found themselves obliged to ftay and be fold for flaves for want of a few ducats, which every one that embarked was obliged to pay to the captain of the veffel; and to fuch a degree of ftrictnefs were the king's orders executed, that two veffels, loaded with Jewish families, not having been able to fail before the time prefixed, fet them on fhore again, where they were unmercifully feized and fold, and all their goods confifcated. (C) We took notice lately that this learned rabbi pretended to be lineally defcended from king David, and as fuch was in great esteem among his nation, as well as for his learning, riches, and employment; not- Being obliged to leave Spain, with the reft of his nation, he embarked for Naples, where he foon recommended himself to the favour of the king, and did him confiderable fervice. But that liged to embark for foreign countries; and none permitted to stay, but thofe who preferred Christianity to banishment, which were likewife very numerous. that prince dying, and Charles VIII. having feized on that kingdom, he was forced to flee into Sicily, with Alphonfo II. who had fucceeded his father. His faithfulness to him, in the midst of his misfortunes, which had deprived him of his riches and crown, obliged him again, after his death, to leave that ifland, and fail to Corfu, and thence into Puglia; where haying refided fome time, he went and died at Venice. His corpfe did not reft there, but was conveyed to Padua, and there interred. He was no lefs efteemed for his learned works, and we may truly fay that he is, of all the Jewish doctors, the moit clear and ufeful for the right underftanding of the facred text. His ftile is pure, and easy to be understood; and only fometimes rather too fwollen, and more like that of an orator than a commentator. He explains the literal fenfe of the facred volumes, and learnedly handles those questions that fall in his way in those books he hath commented upon. He was moreover of a sweet and affable difpofition, and lived in a friendly and familiar manner with the Chriftians. One fault, however, is commonly found in his writings, that he frequently inveighs against them, particularly against the pope and his clergy; on which account THE fome are of opinion that the Jews ought to be debarred from the reading of them (19). Among other learned Jews that followed Abravanel's fate, were R. Ifaac Ben Aruma a great philofopher and cabbalift, whofe expofition of the Mofaic law is highly esteemed by the Jews, though fome critics (20) think it too diffuse, allegorical, and full of a moral altogether Jewish. He took with him his fon R Meir, one of the greatest rabbies of that age, and author of a comment upon Job, which Buxtorf hath attributed to his father. Another was Jofeph Gigatella, furnamed the divine Cabbalift; and Taumaturgus, who, during his exile, applied himself to the expofition of the divine Attrie butes and Names, and of the ten Sephiroth; that is, of the most mystical, and at the fame time of the most admired part of the Jewish theology. Ifaac Karo was another learned exile: he retired at firft into Portugal, and thence to Jerufalem, but loft his children and books in his paffage. He lived a perfect reclufe there, and compiled his book of generations (or of the fons of Ifaac, to comfort himself for the lofs of his own) which is only a comment or clear folution of fome doubtful questions on the Pentateuch, partly cabba liftical, and partly literal (21). (19) De boc, vid. Bartolec. ub. fup. tom. iii. p. 857. Simon Critic. Ant. Test, lib. iii. c. 6. Banag. ub. Sup. c. 25. §. 4, &c. (25) Simon ub. fup, (21) Bartol. ub. fup. Wolf Bibl. Hæbr. N. 1266. p. 689, & feq. MOD. HIST. VOL. XIII. A 2 Abraham and griev THE mifery of those who imbarked is almost inexpreffious mifery. ble. In fome the veffels took fire, and they either perished in the flames, or were drowned; others were fo loaded that they bulged and funk with them to the bottom. Others were fhipwrecked on fome foreign coafts, and either perished with hunger and cold, or were expofed to fome new difafters. In fome the plague began to rage, and they were fet down at the next shore, where those that outlived it perished with want; others reached the city of Fez, where the inhabitants, being frighted at their vaft number and mifery, shut their gates against them; fo that they were forced to spread tents Learned in the fields, and to live upon fuch few herbs as that dry and men ba- barren ground afforded. And this might even pafs for a mercy, in comparison of the infults and horrid hardships which they were forced to undergo from fome barbarians there, who thought they might impunely commit any inhumanities against thofe unfortunate fugitives. The reader may fee fome inftances of it in the margin (D). All this while nished. ་་ Abraham Zacchut flourished likewise about the fame time. Bartolocci hath confounded him with Abraham the Jew, who tranflated an Arabic treatife on the virtue of remedies. Both of them were good aftronomers, and publifhed a perpetual almanac. Zacchut was a native of Salamanca, and taught at Saragoffa; but being obliged to leave the country, pursuant to Ferdinand's edict, retired into Portugal, where king Emanuel made him his hiftoriographer. And here it was that he compiled his famed book of Juchafin, or genealogies from the creation to the year of Christ 1590. We omit many more, for want of room; but these are the moft celebrated ones that underwent this dreadful exile. (D) One of these wretches, we are told, ravished a Jewish virgin before her parents; and returned presently after and cut her throat, for fear the fhould have conceived, and should bring forth a Jew. A feaman feized on a number of Jewish children, who were gathering of cockles and other fhell-fish on the fhore, at low water, and brought them to his ship, where he gave them fome bread; which brought many more thither, with whom he failed away, and fold fome of them to perfons of quality, and the reft he made flaves of. The captain of a veffel that was tranfporting a number of them, took one day a refolution to murder them all, and thereby, as he pretended, revenge the death of Chrift, whom they had crucified; upon which they reprefented to him that the blood which Chrift had shed was for the fins of mankind, and did not want to be revenged; and that he did not defire the death but falvation of the finner. The brutish failor being fomewhat foftened by this reply, forbore indeed murder while the king and queen were highly blamed by all sober Christians, not only for depopulating their dominions, but for running the rifque of involving them in a civil-war; for whatever precaution he might have taken against it, the refentment and defpair of 800,000 fubjects, fo cruelly used, might, not unlikely, have defeated all his measures; and Abravanel had reafon to extoll their fubmiffion and fidelity, for not oppofing fo fevere and unjuft a decree. What induced that monarch to it, whether avarice, and profpect of feizing upon their immenfe riches, or religion and the notion of gaining heaven by the perfecution of the enemies of Christ, or the hopes of ingratiating himself with his clergy, we leave to our readers to guefs. However, he foon after re- Ferdiceived the title of Catholic for it, from pope Alexander VI. nand filed who probably laughed at his zeal, whilst himself received Catholic. those fugitives which he had banished. BUT a good part of them met with a much nearer refuge Received from John II. king of Portugal, who had already done him in Portufome great fervice (E); and tho' he did not love them, yet, gal upon found it his interest to receive them into his dominions; and hard con tho' upon very hard conditions, yet fuch as they chose to submit ditions. to, rather than expofe themselves to new misfortunes. ing them, but caufed them to be ftript naked, and fet down on the next fhore; where part of them perished with hunger, others were torn in pieces by lions, that came out of a neighbouring cavern; and the reft were faved by the humanity of a mafter of a veffel, who feeing them in that dismal plight, took them in, and cut his fails to cover their naked nefs. Those who failed for Italy, being arrived at Genoa, found that country afflicted with a fore famine, which made all victuals exceedingly dear. The Genoefe beholding them fo macerated by fufferings, and deftitute of money to buy food, met them in the streets, with bread in one hand, and a crofs in the other, and gave the one to thofe that would worship the other; which His temptation proved fo powerful, (E) That monarch had for- Thefe to them, B.XVL fon and fucceffor Emanuel, feemed indeed at firft to pity them, but was foon induced to facrifice them and the Moors to his intereft, and the alliance he made with Ferdinand and Isabella. He accordingly banished both nations by an edict; and as he feared reprisals from the Moors, he fuffered them to go with their effects; but doubly broke his promife to the Jews, firft, The king's by detaining their children that were under 14 years of age, reachery which piece of treachery drove them into fuch defpair, that fome of them killed themselves, and others, facrificing their natural affection to religion, became the executioners of their own children: and, fecondly, by reducing the three ports which he had affigned them to embark in, to one, by which many of them were forced to make a kind of double journey, to take quite new meafures, and exhaust their purfes ; to which we may add, the delay which was caufed to their embarkation, which increased their poverty and mifery. Those that had the good fortune at length to embark, were neverthelefs obliged to bear very fevere hardships and infults from the ship-captains and feamen, even to the deflowering of their wives and daughters, or exacting large fums to preserve them from being fo. Even among those that turned Christians, to avoid fuch a train of miferies as they faw before their eyes, many of them were very harshly used from a too just mistrust of their fincerity, and a great number of them were massacred upon the firft, tho' but flight, occafion that offered itfelf (F). All which feemed but too well encouraged by the cruelty and their fad mife ries. They These were, that every per (F) there was, it seems, in a church at Lisbon, a crucifix, the bloody wound of which was covered with a glass, out of which fome fanciful devotees thought they faw an extraordinary light emanating; which made them cry out, a miracle! One of thefe converts having imprudently denied the fact, gave occafion to this bloody uproar, which lafted three days; during which, the zealots, headed by two Dominican friers, ftirred up the populace, and maffacred above 2000 of them. They broke into their houses, plundered and unmercifully |