The Jewish Diaspora

Expulsion

Expulsion from the Kingdom of Naples

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1541Southern Italy (Naples & Apulia) → Salonika (Thessaloniki)

Why it happened

In 1541 Emperor Charles V ordered the total expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples. The order coincided with the establishment of a Christian loan bank, the Monte di Pietà, in Naples.1

The migration

Jewish settlement near Naples is documented from the early Roman imperial period.1 Benjamin of Tudela found about 500 Jews in the city around 1159.1 The crown ordered expulsion in 1510 but allowed 200 wealthy families to remain in return for an annual tax; a 1535 agreement bought a further ten years of residence for 10,000 ducats, yet Charles V ordered total expulsion in 1541.1 Exiles did not all follow one route. The Apulia entry in the Encyclopaedia Judaica records settlement in Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonika, Arta, Valona, and Corfu, including distinct Pugliese congregations.2 Salonika likewise received expellees from Italy and Calabria who organized congregations named for their places of origin.3 This line to Salonika represents one documented Ottoman destination, not the destination of every Neapolitan exile. Jews were briefly readmitted to Naples under a Bourbon edict of 1740 and expelled again in 1746.1

Sources

  1. BToaff, Ariel, DellaPergola, Sergio, Rocca, Samuele. 2007. Naples. Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (ed. Fred Skolnik & Michael Berenbaum), Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA link
  2. BEncyclopaedia Judaica. 2007. Apulia. Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.), via Jewish Virtual Library link
  3. BEncyclopaedia Judaica. 2007. Salonika. Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.), via Jewish Virtual Library link