e Jews throughout
Christendom, nowhere were they treated more pitilessly than in Spain.

The year 1492, in which Spain gained glory by the conquest of Granada and
the discovery of America, was one of the deepest misfortune to this
people, who were cruelly driven from the kingdom. The edict for this was
signed by Ferdinand and Isabella at Granada, March 30, 1492, and decreed
that all unbaptized Jews, without regard to sex, age, or condition, should
leave Spain before the end of the next July, and never return thither
under penalty of death and confiscation of property. Every Spaniard was
forbidden to give aid in any form to a Jew after the date named. The Jews
might sell their property and carry the proceeds with them in bills of
exchange or merchandise, but not in gold or silver.

This edict came like a thunderbolt to the Israelites. At a tyrant's word
they must go forth as exiles from the land in which they and their
forefathers had dwelt for ages, break all their old ties of habit and
association, and be cast out helpless and defenceless, marked with a brand
of infamy, among nations who held them in hatred and contempt.

Under the unjust terms of the edict they were forced to abandon most of
the property which they had spent their lives in gaining. It was
impossible to sell their effects in the brief time given, in a market
glutted with similar commodities, for more than a tithe of their value. As
a result their hard-won wealth was frightfully sacrificed. One chronicler
relates that he saw a house exchanged for an ass and a vineyard for a suit
of clothes. In Aragon the property of the Jews was confiscated for the
benefit of their creditors, with little regard to its value. As for the
bills of exchange which they were to take instead of gold and silver, it
was impossible to obtain them to the amount required in that age of
limited commerce, and here again they were mercilessly robbed.

The migration was one of the most pitiable known in history. As the time
fixed for their departure approached the roads of the country swarmed with
emigrants, young and old, strong and feeble, sick and well, some on horses
or mules, but the great multitude on foot. The largest division, some
eighty thousand in number, passed through Portugal, whose monarch taxed
them for a free passage through his dominions, but, wiser than Ferdinand,
permitted certain skilful artisans among them to settle in his kingdom.

Those who reached Africa and