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From Sevilla 1391 to Lisbon 1497, Iberian Jewry collapses in waves. Riots first. Then forced baptism. Then an Inquisition built specifically to hunt Jews who had already converted. Then, in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs sign the Alhambra Decree and end 1500 years of Jewish life in Spain. The Sephardim disperse to the Maghreb, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Amsterdam. Hidden Jews, Anusim, Conversos, Marranos, carry Judaism in secret across continents for five centuries.
Why this lesson matters, 1492 is the second great Sephardi catastrophe after Romans. Sephardi liturgy, Ladino, and entire diaspora geography (Salonika, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Mexico, Recife, Curaçao) were shaped by these four months in 1492. The deadline ran to roughly the 9th of Av. The exile and the Temple destruction collapse into the same date in Sephardi memory.
1391 Massacres & Forced Conversion
Conversos / Anusim / Marranos
Spanish Inquisition (Torquemada)
1492 Edict of Expulsion (Alhambra)
Portuguese 1497 & Crypto-Jewish Diaspora
Sephardi Memory: A Compressed Timeline
A century of slow collapse, then four months that ended Sephardi Spain. Read these in order, the chain is the lesson.