Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SAUDADE OF THE JEWS
Until the end of the 15th century, Jews enjoyed a prominent place in Portuguese society. The treasurer of King
Afonso V (1432-81) was Jewish, as were others who occupied diplomatic posts and worked as trade merchants,
physicians and cartographers. Jews from other countries were welcomed in Portugal, such as those expelled from
Spain in 1492. Eventually, pressure from the church and from neighbouring Spain forced the king's hand, and in
1497 Manuel I decreed that all Jews convert to Christianity or leave the country. A catalogue of horrors followed,
including the massacre of thousands of Jews in 1506 by mobs running riot and two centuries of bloody Inquisi-
tion that kicked off in 1536.
Aside from a secretive Crypto-Jewish group in Belmonte that managed to successfully preserve their faith, the
Judaic community slowly withered and perished. Those who converted felt the heart-rending
saudade
of deep
loss: essentially the loss of one's identity. Once flourishing Jewish neighbourhoods died as neighbours went into
exile or perhaps suffered arrest, torture and even execution. The personal losses paralleled the end of a flourishing
and tolerant period in Portugal's history, and effectively ended Jewish presence in Portugal.
