The Migration of New Christians and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula to the Ottoman Empire during the late 15th and 16th centuries

Abstract

This article examines the origins of the three waves of migration to the Ottoman Empire from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th and 16th centuries, focusing on Jews and New Christians. It questions the impact of the Spanish Inquisition and the issuance of expulsion edicts in Spain in 1492 and in Portugal in 1497, as well as the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536. It investigates how the Inquisition’s practices and the expulsion of non-Christians, influenced by monarchical interests, contributed to these exoduses. The edicts of expulsion of the Jews and the continuing persecution of New Christians led to exoduses from the Iberian Peninsula to countries that offered religious liberty, including the Ottoman Empire. The article finally contends that Iberian Jews, known as Sephardim, and New Christians who later reverted to Judaism brought their social and economic capital to the Ottoman Empire, thereby increasing the Empire’s assets and developing ties to the Ottoman Court.