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Encyclopaedia Judaica

Jews in Greece 05: Byzantine anti-Semitism

Occupying powers - harsh anti-Semitism under Angelus and John III - nationalism - Nicaean Empire - outdated anti-Semitism under Michael VIII - immigration movements

from: Greece; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 7

presented by Michael Palomino (2008)

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<FOURTH CRUSADE AND LATE BYZANTINE PERIOD (1204-1453)

[Occupying powers]

Greece from 1204 to 1821 was the subject of many conquests, divisions, reconquests, and redivisions at the hands of the Normans of Sicily, the Saracens, the Crusaders, the Venetians, the Genoese, the Seljuks, the Bulgars and the Slavs, the Byzantine emperors, the Cumans, the Ottoman Turks and others.

Greek Rule.

[Greece under Theodore Ducas Angelus: anti-Semitism as a model - confiscations - limitations - eye story]

During this period Theodore Ducas Angelus, the Greek despot of *Epirus (?1215-30), who was defeated in 1230 by the czar of the Bulgars, John Asen II (1218-1241), was notorious for his cruelty. Theodore added the kingdom of Salonika to his domain in 1223 or 1224, holding it until 1230. He initiated an anti-Jewish policy which other Greek rulers followed after him. Theodore apparently enriched himself by confiscating the wealth of the Jews, and refused them redress against his abuses. He is also charged with proscribing Judaism.

After Theodore was defeated by John Asen, he was condemned to death and two Jews were ordered to put out his eyes. When they took pity on him and did not fulfill the emperor's order, they were thrown from the summit of a rock.

[Greece under the Empire of Nicaea: harsh anti-Semitism under John III Ducas Vatatzes - nationalism]

The Greek rulers of the Empire of Nicaea were also harsh in their policy toward the Jews. John III Ducas Vatatzes (1222-54) apparently continued Theodore's decree against the Jews. The motive for persecuting the Jews is conjectural, but it seems to reflect the upsurge of nationalism in the provinces which remained under Greek rule.

Jewish presence in the Latin states and in the areas ruled by the ambitious John Asen apparently strengthened the distrust which the Greek rulers had for their Jewish subjects in both Asia and Europe.

Bulgaria's territorial expansion might have offered a degree of relief for the Jews, but the decline of the Latin Empire must have had a negative effect on them. By 1246 John III had entered Salonika and controlled the area from Adrianople to Stobi and Skoplje, including the town of Kastoria.

[Anti-Semitism in the Nicaean Empire on the Balkans - outdated persecution of the Jews under Michael VIII - Ottoman attacks]

With the restoration of Byzantine rule (in the guise of the Nicaean Empire) over a large part of the Balkans, various Jewish communities felt the weight of the rulers' anti-Jewish policy. Little information is available on this but it can be assumed that the communities of Kastoria, Salonika, and several others suffered from the Greek advances. Once the Greek "rump state" of Nicaea had recovered Constantinople under the leadership of Michael VIII Palaeologus (1258-82), the anti-Jewish policy became outdated. He then began to resettle and reconstruct the ravaged capital, (col. 874)

evidently realizing that his program required the cooperation of all elements, other than those who were then hostile (notably the Venetians and the subjects of the kingdom of Naples). It is not known whether there were Jews in Constantinople when Michael captured it, but after his conquest he renounced the policy of John III and made it possible for Jews to return and live there quietly.

From the end of the Latin Empire the Byzantine emperors began to recover part of the Peloponnesus, nevertheless being frustrated in part in their attempts by Murad I, who held Salonika from 1387 to 1405, and Murad II, who secured Salonika for the Ottoman Empire (1430-1913). The disintegration of the Byzantine Empire and in a large part its seizure by the Ottoman Turks led to generally favorable conditions for the Jews living within the Turkish sphere (see *Ottoman Empire; Covenant of *Omar).

since 1204: Jewish communities after the Fourth Crusade

The important Jewish communities which existed after the Fourth Crusade [[1202-1204]] were Crete, Corinth, Coron (*Korone), *Modon, *Patras, and *Chios. The *Romaniots (Gregos) - the acculturized Jewish inhabitants of Greece - were Greek-speaking. Until recently Greek was still spoken by the Jews of Epirus, Thessaly, Ioannina, Crete, and Chalcis (see also *Judeo-Greek).

[[...]]

[Jewish immigration from Central and Eastern Europe]

With the flight of the Jews from Hungary in 1376 (probably connected with the Black Death and the persecution of the Jews in Eastern Europe at the time) many Jews settled in the towns of Kavalla and Siderokastron; they brought their special customs with them.

[[...]]

[Jewish immigration from Spain and Portugal]

From the end of the 14th century refugees immigrated from Spain to Greece, and from the end of the 15th century from Portugal and Sicily. In towns such as Trikkala, Larissa, Volos, and above all in Salonika the Sephardim [[Jews from the Iberian Peninsula]]introduced their own language [[Ladino]] and customs.

[[...]]

As a result of Sultan Suleiman's journey to Hungary in 1525, a number of Jews emigrated from there to Greece. The descendants of the Hungarian Jews were completely absorbed by the Sephardim after a few generations.

[Jewish immigration from Italian Jews from Corfu]

A third group in Greek Jewry was that of the Italian-speaking Jews of Corfu, whose ancestors were expelled from Apulia in southern Italy.

[[...]]

The congregations (kehalim) were organized according to the regions of origin.

Thus, during the 16th century in Patras there were the following kehalim:

-- Kehillah Kedoshah Yevanim ("Greek Holy Community")
-- Kehillah Kedoshah Yashan ("Ancient Community", of Sicilian origin)
-- Kehillah Kedoshah Hadash ("New Community", refugees from Naples and smaller Italian towns)
-- and Kehillah Kedoshah Sephardim.

In Arta there were kehalim whose founders had come from Corfu, Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily.

[ED.]> (col. 875)

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