Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in the
Ottoman Empire 03: Occupation of Constantinople -
Spanish and Portuguese Jewish refugees
Jewish center Constantinople - German and French Jews
in Adrianople - Balkan and Crimea occupations - Spanish
and Portuguese Jewish refugees
from: Ottoman Empire; In:
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 16
presented by Michael Palomino (2008)
[Muhammad II orders the
Jews back to Constantinople - Jewish center Constantinople
- taxes]
*Constantinople was captured in 1453 by Muhammad II, the
Conqueror (1451-81). The sultan ordered all the inhabitants
of the city who had left to return, particularly the Jews.
According to (col. 1531)
tradition, he issued a proclamation to the Jews which read
as follows:
"who among you of all my people that is with me, may his God
be with him, let him ascend to Constantinople the site of my
royal throne. Let him dwell in the best of the land, each
beneath his vine and beneath his fig tree, with silver and
with gold, with wealth and with cattle. Let him dwell in the
land, trade in it, and take possession of it" (M. Lattes: Likkutim de-Vei Eliyahu,
7).
As a result of this proclamation many Jews came from all the
towns of *Turkey: whenever the sultan captured a town he
transferred its Jews to his capital, Constantinople. Their
economic and religious situation improved greatly by
comparison with their condition during the Byzantine era:
"There came into being in Constantinople splendid
communities; Torah, wealth, and glory increased in the
congregations" (ibid.).
Congregations were founded that were named after the
localities from which the people had come, in addition to
the early Romaniot communities that existed before the
conquest. The sultan needed Jews to develop business and
crafts, as he could not trust the native Greek population.
He also imposed taxes upon the Jews: bash kharaj
(annual poll tax), those paying it being registered in the
sultan's ledger; rab akčesi
(rabbi tax), which permitted them to appoint a rabbi as
leader; and 'avarid,
an extraordinary tax paid in time of war.
[Jewish refugees from
Germany and France in Adrianople - further occupations on
the Balkan Peninsula and on the Crimea]
In the second half of the 15th century, refugees from
Germany, as well as French families, came to settle in
Adrianople [[Edirne]]. Isaac Sarfati, the rabbi of the
congregation, became well known for the letter he sent to
the refugees in Swabia, the Rhineland, Steuermark, Moravia,
and Hungary, informing them of the advantages of the
sultanate and of its liberal attitude toward Jews. Seven
years after the capture of Constantinople, the entire
Peloponnesus, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, the
Crimea, and the Aegean islands, including the large island
of Euboea, were conquered by the sultan Muhammad II, and all
their Jews came under Ottoman rule. In 1462 he conquered
Walachia.
The Settlement of the
Spanish and Portuguese Refugees in the Empire.
*Bayazid II (1481-1512) treated the Jews sympathetically. He
settled many of them in Constantinople and admitted Spanish
and Portuguese refugees. The communities of Turkey assisted
the refugees to settle down: "Then the communities of Turkey
performed innumerable and unlimited great deeds of charity,
giving money as if it were stones, to redeem captives and
restore Jews to their environment" (Lattes: ibid., 13).
The sultan Bayazid (col. 1532)
said of the Spanish king Ferdinand: "Can you call such a
king wise and intelligent? He is impoverishing his country
and enriching my kingdom" (Aboab: Nomologia, 195). Most of
the refugees settled in Constantinople, Salonika,
Adrianople, in towns in the Peloponnesus, Egypt, Erez
Israel, etc. They founded separate and special communities
named after the country or town from which they had
departed. Those who wandered to smaller towns, and in
smaller numbers, founded one general Spanish congregation,
despite their having come from different towns.
[New Spanish Jewish
communities in the Ottoman Empire - leaders of the Spanish
Jewish refugees]
In addition to the large cities - Constantinople, Salonika,
and Adrianople - Spanish congregations were established in
*Kastoria, Bursa, *Manisa (Magnesia), Gallipoli, Tokat,
Amasya, *Ephesus, Izmir, Siderokastron, *Patras, *Naupaktos
(Lepanto), *Arta, *Trikkala, *Larissa, *Valona, *Monastir,
*Skoplje, Ioannina, Siris, *Corfu, and *Chios.
A small number of refugees reached *Erez Israel, settling in
*Safed and *Jerusalem, and also in Egypt. Among the leaders
of the refugees who settled in the empire in 1492 were:
Abraham *Saba, Abraham ibn Shoshan, Baruch *Almosnino, David
ibn Vidal Benveniste, Judah Benveniste, Judah ibn *Bulat,
Joseph Fasi, Meir ibn Verga, Isaac Don Don, Isaac *Levi (Bet
Halevi), Moses ha-Levi ibn Alkabez, Moses ibn Isaac
*Alashkar, Solomon Attia, Samuel ibn Sid, Samuel Hakim-Haqan
ha-Levi, *David ibn Abi Zimra, Joseph Saragossi.
[Portuguese Jewish refugees
- leaders of the Portuguese Jewish refugees]
The Spanish [[Jewish]] refugees were followed by the
Portuguese in two main waves (1497 and 1498). They brought
with them wealth and prosperity in contrast to the Spanish,
most of whom came with almost nothing. Among the leaders who
came from Portugal were: Ephraim Caro and his young son
Joseph *Caro, David b. Solomon *ibn Yahya and his son *Tam
ibn Yahya, Jacob Abraham ibn *Yaish, Joseph *Taitazak and
his brother Samuel, Jacob ibn *Habib and his young son Levi
ibn *Habib, and Solomon *Taitazak. These Portuguese refugees
founded separate congregations in Adrianople, Salonika,
Izmir, and other towns. Among those who came were *Conversos
(Crypto-Jews) and the children of Conversos who fled to
Turkey and returned to their ancestral faith.> (col.
1533)
