A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1Lea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- Spain
The date of this law is uncertain, but it presupposes a considerable
anterior period of toleration, during which Jews had multiplied and had
become possessed of landed wealth. To what extent it may have been
enforced we have no means of knowing, but its observance must only have
been temporary, for such glimpses as we get of the condition of the Jews
up to the fourteenth century are wholly incompatible with the fierce
proscription of the Gothic laws. As the Spanish kingdoms organized
themselves, the Fuero Juzgo for the most part was superseded by a crowd
of local fueros, _cartas-pueblas_ and customs defining the franchises of
each community, and we have seen in the preceding chapter how in these
both Moor and Jew were recognized as sharing in the common rights of
citizenship and how fully the freedom of trade between all classes was
permitted. In 1251 the Fuero Juzgo was formally abrogated in Aragon by
Jaime I, who forbade it to be cited in the courts--a measure which
infers that it had practically become obsolete.[250] In Castile it
lingered somewhat longer and traces of its existence are to be found in
some places until the end of the thirteenth century.[251] These,
however, are not to be construed as referring to the provisions
respecting Jews, which had long been superseded.
In fact, the Jews formed too large and important a portion of the
population to be treated without consideration. The sovereigns, involved
permanently in struggles with the Saracen and with mutinous nobles,
found it necessary to utilize all the resources at their command,
whether in money, intelligence, or military service. In the first two of
these the Jews stood pre-eminent, nor were they remiss in the latter. On
the disastrous field of Zalaca, in 1086, forty thousand Jews are said to
have followed the banner of Alfonso VI, and the slaughter they endured
proved their devotion, while, at the defeat of Ucles in 1108, they
composed nearly the whole left wing of the Castilian host.[252] In 1285
we hear of Jews and Moors aiding the Aragonese in their assaults on the
retreating forces of Philippe le Hardi.[253] As regards money, the
traffic and finance of Spain were largely in their hands, and they
furnished, with the Moors, the readiest source from which to derive
revenue. Every male who had married, or who had reached the age of 20,
paid an annual poll tax of three gold maravedís; there were also a
number of imposts peculiar to them, and, in addition, they shared with
the rest of the population in the complicated and ruinous system of
taxation--the ordinary and extraordinary _servicios_, the _pedidas_ and
_ayudas_, the _sacos_ and _pastos_ and the _alcavalas_. Besides this
they assisted in supporting the municipalities or the lordships and
prelacies under which they lived, with the _tallas_, the _pastos_, the
ninths or elevenths of merchandise and the _peajes_ and _barcajes_, the
_pontazgos_ and _portazgos_, or tolls of various kinds which were
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