Algarve historian Peter Booker will be giving a talk entitled ‘Why did the Jews leave Portugal?’ on Tuesday, November 27 in the Municipal Library of Lagoa at 6pm and on Friday, November 30 in the Municipal Library of Tavira, at 11am.
Most people are aware of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, but where did they go from Spain? Did they arrive in Portugal, and how long were they permitted to remain? Why was the Portuguese government ambivalent about the situation? And what about the forcible exile of Jewish children to islands in the middle of the Atlantic? Did their expulsion have any effect on the attacks on the Algarvian coast?
The whole story of the Jewish experience in Portugal is a long one and has as much to do with the Christian faith as with Portugal’s parlous economic situation. The 300 years of persecution of the Jewish community in Portugal are years of intolerance on a grand scale.
Talks are free to attend.
lynne.algarvehistory@gmail.com
