BarbaricGrandeur - you seem to know this stuff. I read long ago that the whole Inquisitorial crackdown on fake Christians began because some port or harbour city was betrayed to the Moors? Is that right? If you know the name of the city I can look the rest up myself. Thanks in advance for any help you can give :0)
I think I know the incident you are referring to. It was not the the Inquisition though, but the riots of the 1350s that saw a wave of forced conversions. They happened not long after an Italian port, (I forget the name), had been overrun by Muslim pirates. There were reports that they were let into the city by the local Jewish population; possible but probably just hysteria, after all the Jews are convenient to blame for just about anything. I believe I read about this possible connection in one of the works by the historian Warren Carroll but I would have to check that as I haven't read his stuff in awhile.
In any case in Spain where the war against the Muslims was still going on at that time it's possible that there were some fears that the Jews might become some sort of fifth echelon, and this kind of rumor might have contributed to local fears. Nevertheless, the primary motive for antisemitism in Spain was probably economic although there may have been an added element at what might be described as a "siege mentality," in which, because the Jews were not Christian they were perceived as being potential allies of the Muslims.
I'll look around and see if i can find more info on this possible connection. I'll send you a message if I find anything.
Well I've did some more research into that “Muslim pirate raid connection,” deal. And guess what; you were more right than I was ;). This is one of those examples of me confusing multiple different events in my own mind, a side effect of reading to much history I'm afraid. As I said, I remember reading about this supposed connection in Warren Carroll's books, but I apparently got it mixed up with similar events. Of course Muslim raids were a constant threat to Spain and probably did have a baring on the hysteria of the riots of the 1350s, but the event you referred was in fact during the reign of Isabella, in the 1480s. It was at the town of Otranto in Italy, and it was a Turkish fleet, apparently taking revenge for their humiliating 35 to 1 defeat at Rhodes by the Knights Hospitallers. It was a horrendous few days of carnage, Queen Isabella actually sent her own fleet to run them out. In any case it was a few weeks latter that she established the inquisition in Spain