Already during the second half of the thirteenth century, signs of precari-
ousness began to appear. In 1273, for example, when King Alfonso X’s chief
tax-farmer, Don Culema ibn Zadok, died, the king confiscated his property
and gave it to a cathedral in Seville. When Don Culema’s son Don Isaac ibn
Zadok inherited his father’s position, he supported a revolt against Alfonso in
1276 by the king’s son, Sancho. When Alfonso defeated the rebellion in 1279
and discovered Don Isaac’s complicity, he imprisoned Don Isaac and other
Jewish financiers, and then hanged Don Isaac as a traitor. Several years later,
in 1281, Jews in Castille were arrested and released only on the promise of
ransom of 4 million maravedis. The situation stabilized in 1284 when Sancho
came to the throne and reinstated the status of Jewish courtiers.
For Jews in Christian Spain, the mid-thirteenth century was both a high
point and a turning point. The dominant role played by Spanish Jews in the
Maimonidean Controversy of the 1220s attested to the preeminent position
of Spanish Jews. Moreover, the order by the pope in 1240 to burn the Talmud
was totally ignored in Spain – a reflection of the Jews’ power and influence.
A high point for Jews in Christian Spain was the Disputation of Barcelona
in 1263. Jews come closer to winning this disputation than any other. King
Jaime I of Aragon, who convened the disputation, apparently wanted it to be
fair. Unlike the Disputation of Paris, this event did not devolve into an inqui-
sition. Furthermore, the Jews had Nachmanides arguing their side. His
towering stature overshadowed his opponent, Pablo Christiani. Although
raised a Jew with a strong knowledge of rabbinic texts, Christiani was no
match for Nachmanides. The disputation was called off after several weeks.
Jewish and Christian accounts describe the outcome differently. The
Christian account claimed victory for the Christian side. Nachmanides’
account called it a draw. In the aftermath of the disputation, though,
Nachmanides fled from Spain to the Land of Israel, a portent of the future
unstable position of Jews in Christian Spain.
The Christian pressure that led to the disputation, moreover, was also felt
by Spanish kings. In 1265, Alfonso X, king of Castille, responded to this
pressure by regulating more closely the status of the Jews of Castille in Las
Siete Partidas,a seven-part code of behavior. This code defined ten aspects of
Jewish life. A Jew was defined as a believer in the laws of Moses, an implicit
critique of Rabbinic Judaism and a license for Christian clergy to attack it.
Jews were enjoined to live quietly among Christians and to refrain from blas-
phemy and proselytizing, and were barred from holding public office and
from employing Christians or keeping Christian mistresses or concubines.
Any Christian who converted to Judaism would be executed as a heretic.
Christian men and women were prohibited from living in a Jew’s house. Jews
were prohibited from acquiring Christian slaves, and from convering Muslim
or pagan slaves to Judaism. Finally, they were required to wear a distinguish-
ing mark in accordance with the Fourth Lateran Council.
98 The Jews of medieval Christendom