Was the removal of the Jews and Muslims from Spain a wise policy?

Answer 1

Answer 1

No. It totally wasn't! It wasn't fair, and some families didn't have money so they couldn't afford somewhere else to go!

Answer 2

It entirely depends on how you view the concept of wisdom. Shrewd political policy is often times in direct contradiction to fundamental human rights and values. If you value the policy goals more than the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people, then it would be wise. If wisdom comes from being able to properly judge right from wrong and act on it, then the Eviction from Spain was extraordinarily unwise. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire (a contemporary ruler) said of the eviction of the Jews and Muslims: "You venture to call Ferdinand [of Spain] a wise ruler; he who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine [by expelling Jews and Muslims]!"

What Spain did in evicting the Jews and Muslims was morally reprehensible. People have a natural right to live in their homes and freely practice their religion. More importantly than that, by the year 1300 (to 1492), almost all of the Spanish Jews and the majority of Spanish Muslims were living in Catholic controlled territory. They were active and important members of Spanish society. Muslims were responsible for a Renaissance in Spanish architecture, creating the Mudejar Style. Jews were primarily engaged in helping to translate Greek classics and scientific texts from Arabic to Latin for European consumption. This knowledge would eventually lead to the end of the Middle Ages, not long after the Eviction from Spain. These were people who were loyal to the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castille all the way up until they were forced to leave.

From the perspective of the Kings of Spain, the Muslims and the Jews of Southern Spain were quite a large population. Given the fact that they had previously had their own countries, which in the past were conquered and bolstered by Moroccan Berber Muslim Kingdoms, it was not impossible to imagine that Muslims and Jews might rise up together to rebel against the power of Castille and try to secure a new Muslim country. Not wanting this is in the slightest, Queen Isabella of Castille wanted to evict most of the Muslim and Jewish population. Therefore there would be less incentive for the remaining Muslims and Jews to rebel and for Morocco to intervene. (By the mid 1500s, Morocco was no longer an issue for Spain, but in 1492, it was.)

Queen Isabella was joining her confederation of Kingdoms (Castille, Leon, Basque Country, Asturias, and others) with those of King Ferdinand (Aragon, Catalunya, Valencia, the Balaeric Islands, and others). Because of Spain's confederal style, there was no union from overarching laws. (Barcelona and Madrid did not have the same legal system until the 1830s.) There was no unity in ethnicity as Basques, Asturians, Leonians, Castillians, Aragonese, Catalans, Valencians, Mozarabes (Arab Christians in Southern Spain), and Galicians, who all saw themselves as distinct peoples with different languages and histories. They united politically because it was advantageous and could disunite just as easily for political reasons. (Portugal actually did this, seceding from Leon before Leon and Castille merged.) As a result, the only thing that held the Spanish Confederacy together would be a similar religious character (which was by far the most populous commonality between people of Spain). Therefore, Queen Isabella made the decision to remove Muslims and Jews.