Pedro I., the Cruel (1350-1368), had no liking for the gloomy, turbulent town, and during his reign Seville might have been called the seat of government. However much he may have endeared himself to the Andalusians, the ferocious king was no favourite with the Toledans. When the ill-used queen, Blanche of Bourbon, escaped from her prison in the Alcazar and claimed the right of sanctuary in the cathedral, the city rose in her behalf, and a thousand native blades sprung from their scabbards to protect her. An alliance was concluded with Talavera and Cuenca, and the gates opened to Don Enrique of Trastamara, the king’s half-brother. It is said that Pedro’s faction held the bridge of San Martin, expecting the rebel prince to enter that way, while his supporters introduced his troops into the town by the opposite bridge of Alcantara. The Trastamara partisans attacked the Jewish quarter, the Israelites being especial favourites of Don Pedro, and a frightful massacre ensued. Soon the king’s party gained the upper hand, and the unfortunate Blanche was removed from the city, wherein she had found such staunch friends, to the castle of Sigüenza. This is not the first time we read of a massacre of Jews at Toledo. Yet the town was for many centuries one of the strongholds of Jewry in Europe, and a centre of Hebrew culture and activity. The story of the Jews of Toledo is, in fact, one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the city and of Spain. Jews were settled in the Peninsula at a remote period. The author of “The Moorish Empire in Europe” (S. P. Scott) thinks their arrival in that country “antedated the Christian Era by at least a thousand years.” As we know, legend actually ascribes the foundation of Toledo to the race. This may, we think, be due to a confusion of the Israelites with Phœnician settlers. At the time of Christ, the Jews of Spain were very numerous and opulent. Another legend tells how their chief men addressed a letter to the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, protesting against the Crucifixion. A document--altogether spurious, it need hardly be said--has been produced in support of this story. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, there seems to have been a large influx of Hebrew refugees into Spain. So long as the Visigoths remained Arians, they remained tolerant; but Reccared, soon after his conversion to Catholicism, levelled the severest enactments against the Israelites. He set a bad precedent. With Sisebut began the long era of persecution. His harsh edicts, forcing the Jews to choose between baptism and banishment, are still to be found in the Fuero Juzgo. Swinthila, Kindila, Recceswinth, Erwig, and Egica followed the same policy. Among the tyrannical enactments of this time is the grotesque command that the Jews of Toledo should eat pork! Under these circumstances it is not to be wondered that the Spanish Jews beheld with dawning hope the successful progress of the Mohammedans in Northern Africa. A secret