Introduction: Sources, Methodology and Chronology

During the 13th century − in the case of Portugal, mainly from the 14th century onwards − a number of discriminatory measures were imposed on ethnic-religious minorities. These minorities, identified as different from other social groups, suffered progressively violent attacks that would culminate in the well-known massacres of 1391 and the various attacks on Iberian Jewry throughout the 15th century. In addition to the physical violence and deaths, the consequences of these attacks were also felt in the context of religious conversions. Many Jews were forced, in a more or less coercive manner, into conversion to Christianity, which brought about a change in Iberian social reality. A situation of social conflict and growing distrust led to critical events such as the expulsion of 1492, the forced conversion in Portugal in 1497, and the establishment of the inquisitorial courts in the different peninsular territories from the end of the 15th century up to the first three decades of the 16th century.

This is the social and religious context on which our analysis is based: a changing world in which religious diversity was not tolerated. In the Iberian Peninsula of the 14th and 15th centuries, we can find two strong trends. On the one hand, a growing segregation of minorities motivated by the implementation of the decrees emanating from the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), and, on the other, a growing anti-Jewish mind-set experienced in the Iberian Peninsula that sought − at least in theory − not only to identify the Jews, but also, or even above all, with this ability to identify, to segregate them. These anti-Jewish attitudes, fuelled by rumours circulating orally in the streets, made it difficult for Jews and Christians to coexist in daily life. The identification of the Jews as ‘the other’ made the population look upon them as dangerous and subversive elements. In that perception of difference, some elements were fundamental, including clothing or publicly visible religious practices.