judaic portugal
timeline
early conquests
136 AD The Romans conquer the Iberian Peninsula after the native population, Luzitans, have already been occupied by Celts, Greeks and Carthaginians. They call the territory of present day Portugal Lusitania.
482 CE The only documented record of Jewish settlement although the Jews were in the Iberian Peninsula as traders etc. along with the Greeks, Carthaginians and certainly with the Romans.
5th century After the fall of Rome tribes of Swabians and Visigoths occupy the Peninsula.
Jews are persecuted by the Visigoths and other Christian rulers.
711 Moors from North Africa conquer the peninsula.
The Moorish invasion is seen by many of the Jewish population as liberation and it is marked as the beginning of the Golden Age of Jewish culture even though under Muslim rule Jews, as well as Christians, were considered Dhimmi and had to pay a special tax
christian return
718 The Christian war of Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula begins.
The Jews are used by the Christians both as spies and diplomats in the campaign that takes centuries. While subject to prejudice, they are respected.
By 9th century The region of Portucale, north of Mondego is liberated.
1087 King of Castille and Leon, Alfonso VI, asks French knights to help him reconquer Castile and La Mancha. After defeating the Moors he marries his daughter Tareja to the French king’s nephew, Henry of Burgundy who becomes the first Count of Portugal. After Henry’s death Tareja reigns, to be overthrown by her son Alfonso Henriques.
1139 Alfonso Henriques breaks the bonds of vassalage to Castille, proclaiming himself King Alfonso I of Portugal.
Alfonso I appoints Yahia Ben Yahi III as supervisor of tax collection and nominates him Chief Rabbi of Portugal. Alfonso’s son Sancho I of Portugal will make the grandson of Yahia Ben Yahi High Steward of the realm.
portuguese independence
1143 Castille agrees to Portugal’s independence.
1174 the Crown of Aragon recognised independence of Portugal
1279-1325 King Dinis I founds the University of Coimbra. While the monarch is protective towards the Jews, after the Fourth Lateran Council, the clergy starts to exert pressure on them. He also establishes what will become Lisbon's Large Jewish Quarter.
1373 First Treaty of Alliance with England is signed in London.
1383 King Ferdinand I marries his only daughter Beatriz to the King of Castile Juan I.
the age of discovery
1383 After Ferdinand I’s death his son-in-law, Juan of Castile, claims the succession but his bastard brother is proclaimed King of Portugal under the name Joao I by the Cortes in Coimbra and defeats Juan in battle. Joao marries Philippa of Lancaster which seals the alliance with England.
Up to the 15th century some Jews achieve prominence in Portuguese political and economic life. Isaac Abarbanel is treasurer to King Alfonso V. Many are important in Portuguese cultural life and are recognised as skilled diplomats and merchants. By this time Lisbon and Evora have important Jewish communities.
1415 Joao I captures the port of Ceuta in Morocco. Battling it out in Morocco, his sons put an end to the attacks of the Barbary pirates on the Portuguese coast, marking the beginning of Portuguese expansion.
1420-44 The Portuguese acquire Madeira and Azores islands.
1481-95 King Joao II promotes maritime exploration. In 1488 Bartolommeo Dias sails around the Cape of Good Hope.
1492 The Spanish Inquisition, in conjunction with Kings of Castile and Aragon, expels the Jewish population. Tens of thousands of Spanish Jews flee to Portugal where King Joao II grants them asylum in return for payment but after eight months the Portuguese government decrees the enslavement of all Jews who have not left the country.
1493 King Joao II deports several hundred Jewish children to the newly established colony of Sao Tome on the African coast where many perish.
1494- 95 Joao’s successor Manuel I restores freedom to the Jews. The treaty of Torrdesillas is signed dividing the New World in two spheres: the Portuguese and the Castilian.
forced conversion, exposure and massacre
1497 Manuel II marries Isabella, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and under pressure from the Church, the Spanish rulers and some of his subjects decrees that Jews convert to Christianity or leave the country, without their children.
1498 Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India. Among the investors in his voyage are Marran Goncalo Mendes, a brother of Francisco (The Grand Marran) and Diogo Mendes of the famous Benveniste family.
1500 Pedro Altars Cabral lands in Brazil.
1506 3,000 + documented Jews are massacred in Lisbon and many more deported to SaoTome (where there is still a Jewish presence).
1519-22 Magellan’s expedition is first to circumnavigate the world.
1536 The Portuguese Inquisition is established, making life harder for Jews converted to Christianity, known as Marranos, Conversos or the New Christians.
1540 The Inquisition holds its first Auto da Fe in Portugal and extends its activity to all the Portuguese Empire. Like the Spanish Inquisition, it concentrates on rooting out converts from other faiths, mostly Judaism, who do not adhere to the strictures of Catholic orthodoxy.
1540-1794 Tribunals in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Evora are recorded as burning1175 persons, 633 in effigy and 29,590 had to make penance, an underestimation as documentation for at least 15 Auto da Fe disappeared. Nevertheless many converted Jews remain practicing Judaism in secret, although always under surveillance of the Inquisition and its spies. Others, like the family of Baruch Spinoza, leave to embrace Judaism openly in communities in Amsterdam, London or Livorno. Very few, like the Belmonte Jews, practise their faith in strictly secret isolated communities. They marry within the community and have hardly any cultural contact with the outside world.
1578 A subsequent dynastic struggle enables Spanish King Philip II to invade the country and win the throne of Portugal. Spanish domination lasts 60 years.
wars is against spain in france
1640 After a successful uprising against Spanish supremacy, Duke Joao de Braganҫa becomes King Joao IV of Portugal. The Braganҫa family remain the ruling dynasty until 1910.
1668 Spain recognised Portuguese independence.
1703 Pedro II signs the Methuen Treaty with England to facilitate the trade and shipping of port to England
1706-50 The reign of Joao V, the Magnanimous, sees incredible magnificence sustained by riches arriving from Brazil.
1755 An earthquake followed by a tsunami and a fire leaves Lisbon completely destroyed.
1750-77 Jose I reigns together with the minister Marquis of Pombal. His rule is a model of enlightened despotism.
1790 After the French Revolution Portugal joins the first continental coalition against France while in 1796 Spain leaves the Coalition and joins France.
1801 Portugal refuses to renounce its alliance with England and Spain and France invade. Napoleon is repelled with support of the British troops who force the French out of the entire Peninsula. Portugal suffers badly from both armies with long-lasting effects on its economic and political development. Gibraltarian Jews are invited back to Portugal.
absolutism vs liberalism
1808 While King Joao VI rules the country from Brazil, English general William Carr nominates Viscount Beresford as regent but Beresford is forced to leave the country by liberal forces who also force King Joao to accept a liberal constitution.
1821 The Portuguese inquisition is abolished by the General Extraordinary and Constituent Court of the Portuguese Nation. Some affluent families of Sephardic Jewish Portuguese origin return, mainly from Morocco and Gibraltar.
1822 Brazil proclaims its independence and King Joao again rules from Lisbon. His older son becomes King Pedro I of Brazil.
1826 Joao VI dies and Pedro abdicates the throne of Portugal in favour of his 7-year-old daughter Maria. There follows a struggle for ascendency between Pedro who promotes constitutional reform and his brother Miguel who supports the absolutist Church and landowners.
1828-34 Civil Wars between liberals and absolutists end with the Evoramonte Convention and Pedro reinstates his daughter as Maria II.
1855-90 There is political restlessness during the reigns of three kings. Establishment of the third Portuguese Empire: Angola and Mozambique.
1904 In Lisbon the Shaare Tikva, first synagogue to be built in Portugal since 15th century is inaugurated.
1908 King Carlos I and the Crown Prince are assassinated in Lisbon. Queen Amelia saves her youngest son who becomes the King Manuel II.
the Republic
1910 Abdication of Manuel II and the Proclamation of the Republic. Jews are fully emancipated as equal citizens in Portugal.
1916 Portugal enters the war against Germany leading to deterioration of the economy. General Carmona appoints professor Dr Oliviera Salazar as Minister of Finance.
1923 A Jewish community is registered in Porto by Barros Basto. He goes on to encourage many descendents of converses to reclaim their Judaism.
1926 Moisés Benshabat Amzalak, controversial supporter of Salazar, becomes president of the Jewish community, a position he holds until 1978.
1932 Salazar becomes First Minister. After restoring economic and political stability he introduces a New Constitution instituting a corporative and dictatorial (but not racist) regime.
1937 Salazar publishes a book where he is critical of the Nurnberg laws.
1938 Salazar instructs the Portuguese Embassy in Berlin to inform the German Reich that Portugal does not make distinctions based on race and Portuguese Jewish citizens should not be discriminated against. In Porto Barros Basto sees the opening of his great project, the Kadoori Synagogue.
1939 Portugal proclaims its neutrality stating that Anglo-Portuguese alliance remains intact. It remains neutral during WWII and becomes a refuge for 1,000s of Jews.
1949 Portugal is one of the founding first 6 members of NATO.
the decline of colonies
1961 India annexes Goa which had been a Portuguese colony since 1515
1970 Dictator Salazar dies. His successor, Caetano, continues the unpopular war in Africa.
1974 A military coup led by General Spinola, joined by civil resistance, is called the Carnation Revolution as no shot is fired and carnations are put into the barrels of the soldiers rifles. It leads to withdrawal from the African colonies.
1986 Portugal joins EEC. Mário Soares elected President. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip pay a state visit to celebrate the 600-year-long friendship of the two countries.
integration into europe/ jews welcomed again
1987 rio Soares asks forgiveness from the Jewish communities of Portuguese origin for Portugal's responsibility in the Inquisition and all the past persecutions of Jews.
1997 Portugal’s first new synagogue in 70 years is dedicated in Belmonte. The dedication ceremony is attended by Israeli President Ezer Weizman and Portugal’s President Jorge Sampio
1999 Portugal adopts the Euro.
2001 The Portuguese census estimates a Jewish population of 5,000 individuals.
2002 Social Democrats take over with Jose Barosso as a leader.
2004 Barosso resigns to become a President of the European Commission.
2005 The Socialists win 50% of votes and Jose Pinto de Sousa becomes Premier. Forest fires and droughts devastate large parts of the country.
2007 During its Presidency of Europe Portugal tries to restore relations with Africa. The Lisbon Treaty binding the European Nations closer together is signed in December
2010 Chabad officially arrived in Lisbon with the arrival of Rabbi Eli and Rebetzin Raizel Rosenfeld, who established the first permanent Chabad House in Portugal.
2012 Transcoso’s synagogue is dedicated in july as part of the new Isaac Cardoso Center for Interpretation of Jewish Culture.
2013 In July, an amendment to Portugal's law of nationality specifies that: "the government will give nationality ... to Sephardic Jews of Portuguese ancestry who belong to a tradition of a Portuguese-descended Sephardic community, based on objective prerequisites proving a connection to Portugal through names, language and ancestry.”
2015 The Portuguese law of return for descendants of Sephardic Jews was enacted on February 27, with the approval of Decree-Law 30-A/2015. While the Council of Ministers approved the changes on January 29, 2015, the law did not enter into force until its publication on February 27, 2015.
2020 The Avner Cohen Casa Chabad in Cascais, Portugal, opened with Rabbi Eli and Rebetzin Raizel Rosenfeld relocating from Lisbon, although there was a Chanukah ceremony in December 2019 that marked a significant milestone in its opening process.
post october 7, 2023
2023 On October 8, anti-Israel protests begin around Portugal.
2024 The original "right of return" for descendants of Sephardic Jews to obtain Portuguese citizenship was effectively ended in December 2023, though this was officially approved in late 2023 and the final legal changes took effect in January 2024. This was a change from the original law that began in 2015 and allowed descendants to apply for citizenship, which the government has since said fulfilled its purpose of historical reparation.
timeline