History of the Jews in Europe
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[edit] History
The earliest recorded evidence shows that Jews were settled in Europe in in towns north of the Loire or in southern Gaul during the fifth and sixth centuries.[1]
[edit] Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain
- See also: Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800 - 1400)
The Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain refers to a period of history during the Muslim rule of Iberia in which Jews were generally accepted in society and Jewish religious, cultural and economic life blossomed. This "Golden Age" is variously dated from the 8th to 12th centuries.
Al-Andalus was a key center of Jewish life during the Middle Ages, producing important scholars and one of the most stable and wealthy Jewish communities. A number of famous Jewish philosophers and scholars flourished during this time, most notably Maimonides.
[edit] Spanish Inquisition
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See main article: Spanish Inquisition
The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy. It was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabel II.
The Inquisition, as an ecclesiastical tribunal, had jurisdiction only over baptized Christians. However, since Jews (in 1492) and Muslim Moors (in 1502) had been banished from Spain, jurisdiction of the Inquisition during a large part of its history extended in practice to all royal subjects. The Inquisition worked in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of recent converts known as conversos or marranos.
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[edit] World War II and the Holocaust
See main article: Holocaust
The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston): holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as Ha-Shoah (Hebrew: השואה), Churben (Yiddish: חורבן), is the term generally used to describe the killing of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.
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[edit] By country
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[edit] Top Jewish populations in Europe
| Country | Population | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| France | 492,000 | 1 |
| United Kingdom | 297,000 | 2 |
| Russia | 228,000 | 3 |
| Germany | 118,000 | 4 |
| Hungary | 80,000–100,000 | 5 |
| Ukraine | 80,000 | 6 |
[edit] See also
- Jew
- Jewish history
- Judaism by country
- Rescue
- Bulgarian Jewry
- History of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia
- Galician Jews
- History of the Jews in Galicia (Central Europe)
- Italian Jews
- Italkim
- Litvaks
- Bessarabian Jews
- Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands
- Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain
- Spanish Inquisition
[edit] Notes
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