Christian History 1600 to 1699

1639

January 23, AUTO DA FE (Lima, Peru) - More than eighty New Christians were burned in this Auto Da Fe, including Francisco Maldonna de Silva (Elia Nazareno), after the Inquisition discovered that they were holding regular Jewish services. De Silva spent 12 years in prison, during which time he managed to write two books using a chicken bone and charcoal. Each book was about 100 pages. He succeeded in putting together a rope out of corn husks, but instead of escaping he used it to visit other prisoners, urging them to believe in Judaism. [86] (71)

In the treatise Luther arraigned the peasants on three charges: (1) they had violated their oaths of loyalty to their rulers and were therefore subject to temporal punishment; (2) they had robbed, plundered, and murdered, and were subject to death in body and soul; and (3) they had committed their crimes under the cover of Christ's name, thereby shamefully blaspheming God. The peasants were like a mad dog which had to be destroyed. The government, he argued, must use its God given office to subdue the rebels with force, the only language they understood. Who¬ever lost his life in suppressing this rebellion, Luther argues, would be a martyr to the gospel.[48] (70)

1644

July 25, LOPE DE VERA (Judah the Believer) (Spain) - A brilliant young Christian scholar who was drawn to Judaism by the outrages of the Inquisition. He was arrested in Valladolid for his inclinations toward Judaism. During his five years in prison he resisted all attempts to get him to change his ways. He changed his name to Judah the Believer and even circumcised himself with a bone. On July 25, 1644 he was burned alive for refusing to yield to the Inquisition. He chanted Hebrew prayers during the procession. Even while the flames were burning he was heard reciting the psalm "Unto thee oh Lord do I lift my soul". The Inquisitor Mirezo wrote: "He was the greatest Jewish heretic that I think has been in the church." [87] (72)

1647

December 15, ISAAC DE CASTRO TARTAS (Portugal) - Was burned at the stake in Lisbon. Originally born in France, where his parents had found refuge, he decided to travel to Bahia which was under Portuguese control. There he was arrested and sent to Lisbon for trial. Although a Dutch citizen, he was condemned when he steadfastly refused to accept Christianity. While being burned alive, he cried out the words of Shemah Yisrael... (Here oh Israel...) with such fervor and inner calm, that the local witnesses repeated the words to their friends. The inquisition became so obsessed with this that it banned Christians from repeating the words of Shema. He was twenty-one years old. [87] (72)

1648

Chmielnitzki massacres In Poland about 200,000 Jews were slain. [DO43] (6 p. 43) Another account: June 10, BOGDAN CHMIELNIKI (CHMIELNITZKI) (Poland) - Bitterness over forced Catholicism by the Jesuits and the unscrupulous taxes collected (some by Jews) for the nobles set the stage for the Cossack uprising. During the reign of Vladislav IV, the Zaporozhin Cossacks lived in a semi-autonomous kingdom called Sitch. Led by their leader - or Hetman - Chmielniki, they decided to fight to establish an autonomous Ukraine with the Cossack leaders as the new aristocracy. Their victories over the Polish army encouraged the serfs to join them. The Jews were even more hated than the Poles and were massacred in almost every town. In the ten tumultuous years that followed, over seven hundred Jewish communities were destroyed and between 100,000-500,000 Jews lost their lives. This helped give rise to the messianic movement which soon followed. [87] (72)

June 24, TULCZYN (Poland) - An agreement between the 2,000 Jews and 600 Christians of Tulczyn to defend it at all costs succeeded in preventing the Cossacks from capturing the town. Kryvonos, the Cossack leader, contacted the local governor and offered to leave the Poles alone if he gave them the Jews. The Jews found out about the plan and only through the intervention of leader Rabbi Aaron (who feared reprisals) persuaded them not to kill the local leaders. Instead, Rabbi Aaron convinced the governor to take a high ransom and give it to the Cossacks. Kryvonos accepted the ransom, entered the town, killed most of the Jews and then killed the Poles for betraying the Jews. For the most part, during the entire war, the Poles and the Jews were uneasy allies against the Cossacks. [87] (72)

April 11, MEXICO - The largest Auto da Fe in the New World was held with 109 victims. All but one of them were accused of Judaizing. It was the largest number of Jews ever convicted in the New World. Thirteen were burned alive and 57 in effigy. Of the thirteen, twelve "repented" and so were garroted before being burned. Tomas Trevino, whose mother and wife had also been killed by the Inquisition, refused. For the most part this ended the prominence of crypto-Jews in Mexico. [87] (72)