Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1411-1415 · 4 years · show in timeline

Spain 1411 to 1415: mass conversions by Vicente Ferrer, exclusion law at his request, the forced Disputation of Tortosa and a papal bull against the Jews

After the pogroms of 1391 the Dominican friar Vicente Ferrer travelled through all of Spain baptising Jews by the thousand; in Toledo he seized the great synagogue and turned it into a church. At his request the regency issued a law in 1412 that confined Jews to enclosed quarters, barred them from almost all occupations and forbade emigration on pain of slavery; according to Lea the aim was to drive them to despair and to baptism. Benedict XIII forced Jewish scholars into the Disputation of Tortosa and in 1415 issued a bull that gave the law the sanction of the Church and banned the Talmud. Martin V ratified this act.

Period
1411-1415 (4 years)
Country
Spain
Institutions
Vicente Ferrer
Dominican Order
Benedict XIII (pope of the Avignon obedience)
Pope Martin V
Bishop Pablo de Santa María
Category
Anti-Judaism, Persecution, Censorship
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Persons
Vicente Ferrer (Dominican friar, mass conversions, obtained the law of 1412)
Benedict XIII (pope of the Avignon obedience (Pedro de Luna), Disputation of Tortosa, bull of 1415)
Pablo de Santa María (baptised rabbi, Bishop of Burgos, drafted the law of 1412)
Gerónimo de Santa Fe (baptised rabbi, physician to Benedict XIII, spokesman at Tortosa)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. During and after the pogroms the Dominican friar Vicente Ferrer traversed Spain from end to end, preaching, baptising and numbering his converts by the thousand. According to Lea, he was on hand in Valencia on the day of the massacre (9 July 1391), which may indicate that the affair was prearranged. In July 1411 he invaded the great synagogue of Toledo and transformed it into the Church of Santa María la Blanca; there he is said to have baptised more than 4,000 Jews.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Rise of the Conversos“
    „traversed Spain from end to end, with restless and indefatigable zeal, preaching, baptizing and numbering his converts by the thousand“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Rise of the Conversos“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Rise of the Conversos“
    „the fact that he was on hand in Valencia on the fatal 9th of July, may perhaps be an indication that the affair was prearranged“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Rise of the Conversos“. Original
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer
    „He spent the month of July, 1411, in Toledo; he invaded the large synagogue, which he transformed into the Church of Santa Maria la Blanca, and he is said to have baptized more than 4,000 Jews in that city.“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer. Original · Archive copy
  2. During the disputation some 200 Jews of Saragossa, Calatayud and Alcañiz professed conversion in 1413, and in 1414 whole communities, according to Lea about 3,500 souls. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia this was due less to the disputation than to the forcible conversions by Ferrer. The total number of Jews converted by Ferrer is given very differently: 35,000 according to Mariana, more than 200,000 according to Zacuto (greatly exaggerated according to the Jewish Encyclopedia).
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „amounting to about thirty-five hundred souls“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa
    „this probably was not due so much to the disputation as to the forcible conversions by Vicente Ferrer, who had returned to Aragon“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Number of Converts
    „The total number of Jews converted by him in Spain was, according to Mariana, 35,000; according to Zacuto ("Yuḥasin," p. 225), more than 200,000. The latter statement is greatly exaggerated“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Number of Converts. Original · Archive copy

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. At the instigation of his physician, the baptised rabbi Gerónimo de Santa Fe, Benedict XIII in November 1412 summoned the Jewish communities of Aragon to send their most learned rabbis to a disputation at San Mateo near Tortosa. The pope opened it himself and declared that the truth of Christianity was not to be discussed but only Gerónimo's propositions, placing the rabbis wholly on the defensive. The sources date the opening differently: 7 February 1413 according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, 7 February 1414 according to Lea.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „who, on November 25, 1412, summoned the aljamas of Aragon to send, in the following January, their most learned rabbis to San Mateo, near Tortosa, for a disputation with Gerónimo on the proposition that the Messiah had come“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „The debate opened, February 7, 1414, under the presidency of Benedict himself, who warned them that the truth of Christianity was not to be discussed but only sixteen propositions put forward by Gerónimo, thus placing them wholly on the defensive.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa
    „This disputation, the most remarkable ever held, commenced on Feb. 7, 1413, and lasted, with many interruptions, until Nov. 12, 1414.“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the law of January 1412 was issued at Ferrer's request. Jews had to move into enclosed quarters within eight days, could not be physicians, craftsmen or traders, could not eat or converse with Christians, had to wear coarse clothing and were forbidden to leave the country on pain of loss of property and slavery. According to Lea, the only escape from this wall was through the baptismal font.
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer
    „At Ferrer's request a law consisting of twenty-four clauses, which had been drawn up by Paul de Burgos, was issued (Jan., 1412) in the name of the child-king John II. The only object of this law was to reduce the Jews to poverty and to further humiliate them.“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer
    „On pain of loss of property and even of slavery, they were forbidden to leave the country“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Vicente Ferrer. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „in fine, a wall was built around them from which their only escape was through the baptismal font“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original

Background

Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)

  1. After an alleged desecration of the host in Segovia in 1410, according to Lea, Ferrer became convinced of the advisability of forcing the Jews into the bosom of the Church by reducing them to despair. In 1411 at Ayllón he urged the regents to pass further repressive legislation. The law of 1412 (Ordenamiento de Doña Catalina) was drawn up by Pablo de Santa María, a baptised rabbi who later became Bishop of Burgos.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „convincing him of the advisability of forcing the Jews into the bosom of the Church by reducing them to despair. At Ayllon, in 1411, he represented to the regents the necessity of further repressive legislation and his eloquence was convincing.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „promulgated in 1412 and drawn up by Pablo de Santa María as Chancellor of Castile“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „rising to the see of Cartagena and then to that of Burgos“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original

Response of the Church

  1. On 11 May 1415 Benedict XIII issued a bull (Etsi doctoribus gentium) which in the main took over the law of 1412 and thus, according to Lea, gave it the sanction of the Church. It forbade possession of the Talmud, obliged bishops and inquisitors to carry out semi-annual inquests, barred Jews from handicrafts and the healing professions, and compelled all Jews over twelve to listen to a Christian sermon three times a year.
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa
    „In the hope of mass-conversions, Benedict issued, on May 11, 1415, a bull consisting of twelve articles, which, in the main, corresponded with the decree ("Pragmatica") issued by Catalina“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „thus giving to its system of terrible repression the sanction of Church as well as of State. He further forbade the possession of the Talmud or of any books contrary to the Christian faith, ordering the bishops and inquisitors to make semi-annual inquests of the aljamas“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905), Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa
    „thrice a year all Jews over twelve, of both sexes, were required to listen to a Christian sermon on the Messiah“
    Spain, Artikel Spain, Abschnitt Disputation at Tortosa. Original · Archive copy
  2. Benedict XIII was pope of the Avignon obedience and later counted as an antipope. His triumphant rival Martin V, however, confirmed the charge given to the Bishop of Sigüenza and thereby the bull. Eugenius IV (1442) and Nicholas V (1447) issued similar and even more rigorous bulls. Lea writes that all factions of the Church cheerfully united in rendering the life of the Jew as miserable as possible.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „As the utterance of the Anti-pope Benedict, this searching and cruel legislation, designed to reduce the Jews to the lowest depths of poverty and despair, was current only in the lands of his obedience“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „but when his triumphant rival, Martin V, confirmed the charge confided to the Bishop of Sigüenza he accepted and ratified the act of Benedict“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „in 1442, Eugenius IV issued a bull which was virtually a repetition of the law of Doña Catalina and of the constitution of Benedict XIII, while this was followed, in 1447, by an even more rigorous one of Nicholas V“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“
    „Thus all factions of the Church, however much they might wrangle on other points, cheerfully united in rendering the life of the Jew as miserable as possible and in forbidding princes to show him favor.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906), Bd. 1, Buch 1, Kap. 3, „Oppression of the Jews“. Original

See also

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Scholarly literature
    Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 43296): Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 1 (New York 1906). Original (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
  2. Reference work
    The Jewish Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1905): Spain, 1 January 1905. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 23 Oct 2026)
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