It was possibly due to the presence of a large Israelite population that Toledo, very much against its will, had been held for King Pedro in 1369. It was, in consequence, fiercely assailed by its own archbishop, Don Gomez Manrique, while Pedro sent an army largely composed of Saracens to its relief. The city was a prey to famine, internecine warfare, pestilence, and to every description of calamity. The killing of Pedro and the accession of Enrique were hailed as an ineffable boon by the wretched citizens. But from that hour the position of the Jews grew more and more pitiable. Their prosperity waned, and with it the prosperity of the old city in which they had so long been unwelcome guests. Their final ruin as a community was effected mainly at the instance of St. Vicente Ferrer, the Dominican. Visiting the city in 1391 he so inflamed the devout populace with apostolic zeal that they burst into the larger of the two Juderias or Ghettos, put practically the whole of its inhabitants--including the venerable rabbis, Judah ben Asher and Israel Alnaqua--to the sword, sacked the quarter from end to end, and demolished most of the synagogues. The saintly Ferrer reappeared at Toledo twenty years later, but there were nominally no Jews left to massacre. The Hebrews that remained had been “converted.” The good friar did what he could, and induced the Toledans to confiscate the synagogue built in Alfonso X.’s reign and convert it into the Christian Church of Santa Maria la Blanca. We suggest that it should have been renamed San Vicente del Sangre. The work of destruction was done thoroughly, and henceforward we hear little in the story of Toledo of the Children of Israel. But their names have not been altogether forgotten. Mr. Jacobs gives a long list of members of that luckless congregation, famous for their learning and science. He enumerates theologians, physicians, astronomers, grammarians, satirists, poets and astrologers. Toledo, thanks to these latter, achieved an unenviable reputation as a centre of the magic art. Indeed, this was known at one time as the Arte Toledana. “It is said” (we quote Mr. Jacobs) “that Michael Scott learned his magic from a Toledo Jew named Andreas, who translated works on magic from the Arabic.” The same writer elsewhere says: “The Spanish Jews differed but little from the Christian population with regard to customs and education. They were fond of luxury, and the women wore costly garments with long trains, also valuable jewellery; this tended to increase the hatred of the population towards them. They were quarrelsome and inclined to robbery, and often attacked and insulted one another even in their synagogues and prayer-houses, frequently inflicting wounds with the rapier or sword they were accustomed to carry.” With royal permission a Jew might have two wives.