Expulsion of the Jews from Spain

The forced departure of Jews from the Crowns of Castile and Aragon after the Alhambra Decree of 1492 required them to convert to Christianity or leave.

Alhambra Decree: The 1492 edict ordering Jews in Castile and Aragon to convert to Christianity or leave their kingdoms. This decree set the expulsion’s deadline and terms.
Sephardic Jews: Jews whose heritage is rooted in the medieval Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula. The expulsion scattered these communities and helped define Sephardic history.
Ottoman Jews: Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire, including communities established by immigrants from Iberia. Ottoman rulers admitted many Jews fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese expulsions.
Forced conversion: The coerced adoption of another religion, often under threat of violence, punishment, or expulsion. The decree offered conversion as the alternative to leaving Spain.
Spanish Inquisition: A tribunal established in 1478 to investigate and punish heresy among baptized Christians in the Spanish kingdoms. Its scrutiny of converts was the decree’s stated justification.
Portuguese expulsion and forced conversions: The 1496–1497 measures in Portugal that ordered Jews to convert or leave, followed by mass forced baptism. Many expelled from Spain sought refuge in Portugal before facing similar coercion.
Salonika: The historic name of Thessaloniki, a major Ottoman port that became a prominent center of Sephardic Jewish life. Its Jewish community grew substantially through Iberian migration.
Alhambra Decree (Portugal): A common but imprecise name for Portugal’s 1496 order requiring Jews to convert or leave; it was distinct from Spain’s 1492 decree. Portugal’s later policy resembled Spain’s order but followed a separate political course.
Ferdinand II of Aragon: King of Aragon from 1479 until 1516 and co-ruler of Spain with Isabella I of Castile. He issued the expulsion decree jointly with Isabella.
Marranos: A historical term, often pejorative, for Jews who converted to Christianity under pressure in Iberia and their descendants. The decree forced Jews to choose exile or conversion, expanding the population described by this term.

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