This book significantly revises the conventional view that the
Jewish experience in medieval Spain--over the century before the
expulsion of 1492--was one of despair, persecution, and decline.
Focusing on the town of Morvedre in the kingdom of Valencia, Mark
Meyerson shows how and why Morvedre's Jewish community revived and
flourished in the wake of the horrible violence of 1391. Drawing on
a wide array of archival documentation, including Spanish
Inquisition records, he argues that Morvedre saw a Jewish
"renaissance."
Meyerson shows how the favorable policies of kings and of town
government yielded the Jewish community's demographic expansion and
prosperity. Of crucial importance were new measures that ceased the
oppressive taxation of the Jews and minimized their role as
moneylenders. The results included a reversal of the credit
relationship between Jews and Christians, a marked amelioration of
Christian attitudes toward Jews, and greater economic
diversification on the part of Jews.
Representing a major contribution to debates over the
Inquisition's origins and the expulsion of the Jews, the book also
offers the first extended analysis of Jewish-converso relations at
the local level, showing that Morvedre's Jews expressed their piety
by assisting Valencia's conversos. Comparing Valencia with other
regions of Spain and with the city-states of Renaissance Italy, it
makes clear why this kingdom and the town of Morvedre were so ripe
for a Jewish revival in the fifteenth century.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!