Prejuicio religioso y conflicto social en una pequeña sociedad mediterránea: el caso de Mallorca (1286-1435)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the main features of the evolution of the Jewish Community in Majorca, a small Mediterranean society during the Middle Ages. In the article, three main phases are established, each one representing different moments of the status of the Majorcan Jews. The first period (1286-1315) contemplates the foundation of the call or judería (Jewish Quarter) in the city of Majorca as well as the pressure against the Jews exercised by king Sancho of Majorca, ending with the confiscation of their properties. The second stage (1315-1391) contemplates the reconstruction of Majorcan Jewish society and the profound change in the relations between the Monarchy and the Jewish Community from the reinstatement of Majorca in the Crown of Aragon (1343) by the king Pedro el Ceremonioso, as well as the insertion of the Jews in the monarchy's financia} machinery. The third phase emphasizes the crisis between Christians and Jews that ends with the assault on the City's Jewish Quarter and contemplates also the appearance of a Converso community that organized itself very soon as a congregation, as the old Jewish Community was being progressively depersonalized by the atraction of Jews of portuguese origin and due to the pressure of the authorities. Somehow, the consolidation of a new community was prevented by a process in 1435 which forced conversion and ended the Jewish Community in Majorca.