Pope Pius IX Protests Emancipation for Jews in Italy
Pope Pius IX writes to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, to protest the Grand Duke’s decision to grant levels of emancipation to Jews in the Grand Duchy.
Zionist Intellectual Max Nordau Is Born in Hungary
Max Nordau is born Simon Maximilian Sudfeld in Pest, Hungary to an Orthodox Jewish family. Nordau’s most notable contribution to early Zionism is The Basel Plan – the first official blueprint for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.
9 Jews Freed After Damascus Blood Libel
September 6, 1840 The nine surviving Damascus Jews accused of killing a Franciscan Capuchin friar and his servant to harvest the blood are freed by order of Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman pasha who controls an…
Allahdad: Jews Are Forcibly Converted, Massacred in Mashhad, Iran
The tensions between the local Shiite population and Jews erupt in the northeast Iranian city of Mashhad.
Chaim Nahman Bialik Is Born in Ukraine
Chaim Nahman Bialik, famed Zionist poet, is born in the village of Radi, near Zhitomir in Volhynia (Northwest Ukraine).
Earthquake Devastates Safed
A massive earthquake and subsequent landslide devastate Jewish and Arab communities in Safed (Tz’fat). The mountain town, which had been the long-time home to a thriving Jewish population, suffers thousands of deaths.
Napoleon Issues Proclamation Which Calls Jews Rightful Heirs of Palestine
After a successful campaign in Egypt, Napoleon issued a proclamation which declared Jews the rightful heirs of Palestine.
French National Assembly Debates Citizenship for Jews
Following the French Revolution and the August 26, 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, the issue of Jewish rights is debated in the French National Assembly for three days with no conclusion.
Aeltesten Reglement: Constitution of the Jewish Community of Berlin Is Issued
Berlin’s Jewish community reorganizes with a new constitution, the Aeltesten Reglement.
Shabbetai Zevi Declares Himself Messiah
Shabbetai Zevi was born on August 1, 1626 in Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey. A gifted scholar, he showed signs of mental instability early in his life, causing unpredictable mood swings from extreme depression to euphoria.
Amsterdam Jews Excommunicate Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza’s ideas about Judaism are rejected by the Amsterdam Jewish community, eventually leading to his excommunication. He goes on to become one of the most important philosophers of the Jewish Enlightenment, which seeks to reconcile the world of Jewish faith with secular, empirical reality.
Safed Synagogues Upset Sultan
Ottoman Sultan Murad III orders an investigation into the number of synagogues in Safed.
Jews in Safed Petition for Protection
Jews in Safed deliver a petition to the Ottoman Sultan seeking protection against extortion, robberies, and violence from local officials.
Jews Are Ousted From Safed
Ottoman Sultan Murad III issues a firman (royal decree) ordering that 1,000 Jews from Safed be sent to live in Famagusta, Cyprus.
Pope Paul IV Orders Jews of Rome Into a Ghetto
Pope Paul IV issues the papal decree Cum Nimis Absurdum, which subjects Jews under his dominion to a myriad of restrictions and humiliations, most notably forcing them to live in ghettos.
Massacre of Jews in Cordoba Takes Place
A riot breaks out against the conversos or marranos–Jews who had publicly converted to Christianity but continued to practice Judaism behind closed doors.
Archduke Orders All Austrian Jews Arrested
Austrian Archduke Albert V ordered that all his Jewish subjects were to be imprisoned and their possessions confiscated following libelous accusations against an influential member of Viennese Jewish community.
Jews Expelled from England
Following decades of exploitation and persecution that included heavy taxation and attempts at forced conversion, King Edward I of England issues an expulsion order for the Jews of England.
Charter of Duke Frederick II of Austria Is Issued
In 1244, the Duke issues a charter extending rights to Jews. His goal is to build the region’s economy. The charter encourages Jewish money-lending and Jewish migration to an outlying area. It also guarantees Jewish safety.
Saladin Captures Jerusalem
Following a siege that began on September 20, Jerusalem falls to Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt.
Maimonides Is Born
Moses Ben Maimon, known as Maimonides or Rambam, is born in Cordoba, Spain, into a distinguished family (some sources give the year of his birth as 1138).
First Crusaders Set Out for Holy Land
August 15, 1096 The armies of the First Crusade officially embark from Western Europe on their quest to capture the Holy Land, especially the holy city of Jerusalem, from Muslims. Jerusalem has been controlled for…
