From Mohammed to the Marranos

by Poliakov, Leon; Gerardi, Natalie

• ISBN13: 9780812218640
• ISBN10: 0812218647
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-05
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr

Summary

Covering the story of prejudice against Jews from the time of Christ through the rise of Nazi Germany,The History of Anti-Semitismpresents in elegant and thoughtful language a balanced, careful assessment of this egregious human failing that is nearly ubiquitous in the history of Europe.From Mohammed to the Marranos focuses on the Sephardim, the Jews of North Africa and Iberia. Poliakov relates the great achievements of Spanish Jewry under the Muslim Caliphs followed by their gradual and painful decline during and after the Christian reconquest. The author explains the emergence of the Marrano culture, Jews who converted to Christianity, and the dispersion of those Jews who refused to convert in the face of expulsion and death.

Author Biography

Leon Poliakov (1910-97) wrote extensively on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. His many books include Harvest of Hate: The Nazi Program for the Destruction of Jews in Europe and Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe. He helped establish the Centre de Documentation Juive in 1943.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
BOOK ONE ISLAM
Before Islam	3	(16)
Babylonia--North Africa--Spain
The Prophet	19	(10)
The Caliphs	29	(17)
The Umayyads--The Abbasids and the Caliphate of Baghdad
Islam and the Infidels	46	(41)
The Christians--The Jews
BOOK TWO SPAIN
Part One: Spain of the Three Religions	87	(60)
Moslem Spain	87	(19)
La Reconquista	106	(10)
The Golden Age	116	(31)
Spain of the Three Religions--The Jewish Nation of Spain--The Subreconquista
Part Two: Toward Unity of the Faith	147	(86)
The Decline	147	(23)
The Mounting Danger--Vox Populi, Vox Dei--The Rout of the Aljamos
The Impasse--Marranism	170	(13)
The Inquisition	183	(21)
Spain's Fateful Hour	204	(29)
The Citadel of Faith--The Cult of Purity of the Blood, or Iberian Racism
Part Three: The Marrano Epic	233	(46)
The Marranos of Portugal	233	(12)
The Marrano Dispersion	245	(34)
The Duke of Naxos--The Sabbatians--Spinoza
Conclusion Modern Spain	279	(79)
Limpieza, Anti-Semitism, and the Inquisition
Appendices
a: The Jews of the Holy See	303	(25)
b: The Moors and Their Expulsion	328	(30)
Notes	358	(33)
Index	391