Portuguese-Jewish history is one of the richest and most complex in the annals of the Jewish people — a story of cultural flowering, expulsion, forced conversion, and survival.
The Beginning of a Community — From Roman Times to the Middle Ages
Jews settled in the Iberian Peninsula since Roman times, and possibly even earlier. Archaeological findings and written sources attest to a Jewish presence in the Roman capital Olisipo (today Lisbon) as early as the 1st century CE.
In the Middle Ages, under Muslim and later Christian rule, Jewish communities in Portugal enjoyed a degree of autonomy and relative freedom. The Judiarias — Jewish quarters — flourished in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Évora, and others.
The Golden Age — 13th and 14th Centuries
At its peak, the Jewish community in Portugal numbered tens of thousands and developed magnificent cultural and spiritual centers. Torah scholars, physicians, mathematicians, astronomers, and Jewish ministers served the Portuguese kingdom and contributed greatly to its culture.
Notable figures include Don Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508), the great biblical commentator and minister of finance, and Abraham Zacuto, the astronomer whose works helped Portuguese navigators discover the sea route to Africa and India.
The Expulsion — 1496
In 1492, the Jews of Spain were expelled by the Alhambra Decree. About 100,000 Spanish refugees found refuge in Portugal under King João II. But in 1496, as part of a marriage agreement with Spain, Manuel I also ordered the expulsion of Jews from Portugal.
The Portuguese expulsion differed from the Spanish one: instead of allowing emigration, the king ordered the forced conversion of Jewish children, thus keeping them in the country. Most adult Jews were also “converted” in a forced ceremony, becoming New Christians — Cristãos Novos — also known as Marranos or Conversos.
The Anusim — Jews in Secret
Thousands of families, stripped of their Jewish identity by force, continued to secretly observe Jewish customs: lighting candles on Friday evening in hidden rooms, celebrating Passover covertly, maintaining kashrut in hiding. The Portuguese Inquisition, established in 1536, hunted them for centuries.
The Auto-da-fé — “acts of faith” — were public ceremonies in which Crypto-Jews were tried and sometimes burned at the stake. Thousands died; many others fled to Amsterdam, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire, where they established magnificent Sephardic-Portuguese communities.
Survival and Reconciliation — The 20th Century to Today
In 1910, with the establishment of the Portuguese Republic, the ban on Jewish residence in Portugal was lifted. Small Jewish communities returned. In the 1930s, during the Holocaust, Portugal served as a transit station for rescuing thousands of European Jewish refugees.
In 2016, Portugal took a historic step of reconciliation: the citizenship law for descendants of Sephardic exiles allowed thousands of Jews worldwide to apply for Portuguese citizenship — an important healing act that acknowledges the historical injustice.