which had lasted over a thousand years, and had greatly contributed to the well-being of the island. With it disappeared the prosperity of this fruitful and favored island. Simon Duran, deeply grieved at the secession of the community of Palma, which he had lovingly cherished, silenced his conscience with the thought that he had not been remiss in exhortation. CHAPTER VIII. CAPISTRANO AND HIS PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS. Pope Eugenius IV, under the Influence of Alfonso de Cartagena, changes his Attitude towards the Jews--His Bull against the Spanish and Italian Jews in 1442--Don Juan II defends the Jews--Pope Nicholas V's Hostility--Louis of Bavaria--The Philosopher Nicholas of Cusa and his Relation to Judaism--John of Capistrano--His Influence with the People is turned against the Jews--Capistrano in Bavaria and Würzburg--Expulsion of the Breslau Community--Expulsion of the Jews from Brünn and Olmütz--The Jews of Poland under Casimir IV--Capture of Constantinople by Mahomet II--The Jews find an Asylum in Turkey--The Karaites--Moses Kapsali--Isaac Zarfati--Position of the Jews of Spain--Persecutions directed by Alfonso de Spina--The Condition of the Marranos. 1442-1474 C.E. About the middle of the fifteenth century, venomous hatred of Jews, become characteristic of Spain and Germany, began to increase, and at the end of that century reached its highest development. In Spain it was stimulated principally by envy of the influential positions still enjoyed by Jews in spite of misfortune and humiliation; in Germany, on the contrary, where the Jews moved like shadows, it arose from vague race-antipathy, of which religious differences formed only one aspect. An unfortunate event for the German communities was the death of Emperor Sigismund (towards the end of 1437) at the moment when the council of Basle was casting a threatening glance in their direction. This prince was not a reliable protector of the Jews. Often enough he bled them to relieve his ever-recurring pecuniary embarrassments, and he even charged them with the expenses of the council of Constance. But so far as lay in his power he set his face against the bloody persecutions of his Hebrew subjects. He was succeeded as German king and emperor by the Austrian Archduke Albert, who had already distinguished himself by inhumanity towards Jews. Albert II was a deadly enemy of Jews and heretics. He could not exterminate either, for the Hussites had courage and arms, and the Jews were an indispensable source of money; but whenever it was sought to injure them he gladly assisted. When the town council of Augsburg decided to expel the Jewish community (1439), the emperor joyfully gave his consent. Two years were granted them to dispose of their houses and immovables; at the end of that time they were one and all exiled, and the grave-stones in the Jewish cemetery used to repair the city walls. Fortunately for the