The Jewish Diaspora

Expulsion

Expulsion from Sicily

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1492Sicily → Rome & Central Italy

Why it happened

Sicily was a kingdom of the Crown of Aragon, so Ferdinand II and Isabella's general edict of expulsion (31 March 1492) applied there.1 Its declared aim was to stop the Jews from drawing baptised back to Judaism.1

The migration

Sicily then held one of the Mediterranean's largest Jewries—about 25,000–37,000 people in fifty-two towns.2 The Aragonese edict reached the island in 1492; on 9 June the Jews were forbidden to leave secretly, sell their possessions, or conceal property.3 Their valuables were appraised by royal officials, boxed, and entrusted to wealthy Catholics,3 and all other property was confiscated by the Crown.3 After appeals the departure date slipped to 18 December and, for a payment of 5,000 gulden, to 12 January 1493,3 though the exodus effectively occurred on 31 December 1492.3 The refugees first found protection under Ferdinand I of Naples in Apulia, Calabria and Naples,3 then sought Ottoman refuge in Constantinople, Salonica and Damascus, and in North Africa.3 Around 9,000 converted to remain;4 an estimated 37,000 left, ending twelve centuries of continuous Sicilian Jewish presence.5

Sources

  1. AKamen H. 1988. The Mediterranean and the Expulsion of Spanish Jews in 1492. Past & Present 119 30–55. doi:10.1093/past/119.1.30
  2. AMilano A. 1953. The Number of the Jews in Sicily at the Time of Their Expulsion in 1492. Jewish Social Studies 15 25–32.
  3. BSimonsohn S. 2011. Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Jews in Sicily. Brill, Leiden (Brill's Series in Jewish Studies, 43)
  4. BZeldes N. 2003. "The Former Jews of This Kingdom": Sicilian Converts after the Expulsion, 1492–1516. Brill, Leiden doi:10.1163/9789004476004
  5. BEncyclopaedia Judaica. 2007. Sicily. Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.), via Jewish Virtual Library link