The Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal ─ Survival of an Imperiled Culture in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

Prior to 1492, Jews had flourished on the Iberian Peninsula for hundreds of years. Marked by alternating cooperative coexistence and selective persecution alongside Christians and Muslims, this remarkable period was a golden age for Iberian Jews, with significant and culturally diverse advances in sciences, arts and government. This work traces the history of the Sephardic Jews from their golden age to their post-Columbian diaspora. It highlights achievements in science, medicine, philosophy, arts, economy and government, alongside a few less noble accomplishments, in both the land they left behind and in the lands they settled later. Several significant Sephardic Jews are profiled in detail, and later chapters explore the increasing restrictions on Jews prior to expulsion, the divergent fates of two diaspora communities (in Brazil and the Ottoman Empire), and the enduring legacy of Sephardic history.

Dolores Sloan is editor of the forthcoming Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto Jews, a member of the English and Sociology faculties at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, and a public speaker. She lives in Santa Monica, California.