page_title: History of the Jews in Spain
section_title: The Taifas, the Almoravids and the Almohads
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Jews in Spain / Moorish Spain (711 to 1492) / The Taifas, the Almoravids and the Almohads
caption_attribution_description: English: A Jew and a Muslim playing chess in 13th century al-Andalus. El Libro de los Juegos, commissioned by Alphonse X of Castile, 13th century. Madrid,
context_page_description: The history of the Jews in Spain stretches back to Biblical times according to Jewish history. Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in the world. Spain was the unquestioned leader of world Jewry: scientific and philological study of the Hebrew Bible began, secular poetry was written in Hebrew for the first time, and for the only time between Biblical times and the origins of the modern state of Israel, a Jew commanded a Jewish army. This period ended definitively with the anti-Jewish riots of 1391 and the Alhambra Decree of 1492, as a result of which the majority of Jews in Spain converted to Catholicism and those who continued to practice Judaism were forced into exile, although many thousands returned in the years following the expulsion.
  An estimated 13,000 to 50,000 Jews live in Spain today, concentrated in the provinces of Málaga, Madrid and Barcelona as well as having a historic presence in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. A significant portion of these are Spanish-speaking Jews who returned to Spain after centuries of exile in northern Morocco both during and after the Spanish protectorate.
context_section_description: In the early 11th century, centralized authority based at Córdoba broke down following the Berber invasion and the ousting of the Umayyads. In its stead arose the independent taifa principalities under the rule of local Arab, Berber, Slavic, or Muladi leaders. Rather than having a stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets, and scholars were generally valued by the Christian as well as Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as recently conquered towns were put back in order (Assis, pp. 13–14; Raphael, p. 75).
  Among the most prominent of Jews to serve as viziers in the Muslim taifas were the ibn Nagrelas (or Naghrela). Samuel Ha-Nagid ibn Nagrela (993–1056) served Granada's King Habbus and his son Badis for thirty years. In addition to his roles as policy director and military leader (as one of only two Jews to command Muslim armies — the other being his son Joseph), Samuel ibn Nagrela was an accomplished poet, and his introduction to the Talmud is standard today. His son Joseph ibn Naghrela also acted as vizier. He was murdered in the 1066 Granada massacre. There were other Jewish viziers serving in Seville, Lucena, and Saragossa (Assis, p. 14).
  The Granada massacre of 1066 was an Anti-Jewish Pogrom that took place in Granada in 1066 when a Muslim mob stormed the Royal Palace where Joseph had sought refuge, then crucified him. After that, the instigators attacked 1500 Jewish families, killing approximately 4,000 Granada Jews.
  The Golden Age ended before the completion of the Christian Reconquista. The Granada massacre was one of the earliest signs of a decline in the status of Jews, which resulted largely from the penetration and influence of increasingly zealous Islamic sects from North Africa.
  Following the fall of Toledo to Christians in 1085, the ruler of Seville sought relief from the Almoravides. This ascetic sect abhorred the liberality of the Islamic culture of al-Andalus, including the position of authority that some dhimmis held over Muslims. In addition to battling the Christians, who were gaining ground, the Almoravides implemented numerous reforms to bring al-Andalus more in line with their notion of proper Islam. In spite of large-scale forcible conversions, Sephardic culture was not entirely decimated. Members of Lucena's Jewish community, for example, managed to bribe their way out of conversion. As the spirit of Andalusian Islam was absorbed by the Almoravides, policies concerning Jews were relaxed. The poet Moses ibn Ezra continued to write during this time, and several Jews served as diplomats and physicians to the Almoravides (Assis, p. 14; Gampel, p. 20).
  Wars in North Africa with Muslim tribes eventually forced the Almoravides to withdraw their forces from Iberia. As the Christians advanced, Iberian Muslims again appealed to their brethren to the south, this time to those who had displaced the Almoravides in North Africa. The Almohads, who had taken control of much of Islamic Iberia by 1172, far surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist outlook, and they treated the dhimmis harshly. Jews and Christians were expelled from Morocco and Islamic Spain. Faced with the choice of either death or conversion, many Jews emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled south and east to the more tolerant Moslem lands, while others went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms. (Assis, p. 16; Gampel; pp. 20–21; Stillman, pp. 51, 73.)
  Meanwhile, the Reconquista continued in the north. By the early 12th century, conditions for some Jews in the emerging Christian kingdoms became increasingly favorable. As had happened during the reconstruction of towns following the breakdown of authority under the Umayyads, the services of Jews were employed by the Christian leaders who were increasingly emerging victorious during the later Reconquista. Their knowledge of the language and culture of the enemy, their skills as diplomats and professionals, as well as their de
caption: A Jew and a Muslim playing chess in 13th century al-Andalus. Libro de los juegos, commissioned by Alphonse X of Castile, 13th century. Madrid.
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