On March 31, 1492, the expulsion of the Jews was decreed.
Shortly before, an event had occurred that helped create the right environment. On November 16, 1491, in an auto de fe held in Ávila, two Jews and three converts were sentenced to death by the Inquisition and burned alive a little later. His crime, the murder of a child in La Guardia (Toledo).
Facts :Â Benito García, a convert, who was suspected of stealing consecrated hosts, is arrested. He confesses that he had converted for convenience and that he continued to practice Jewish rites together with another convert and a Jew, Juan de Ocaña and Franco de Tembleque respectively. Benito García is transferred to the Ávila Inquisition prison, where a Jewish shoemaker, Yucé Franco, is imprisoned. he confesses to Antonio de Ávila, a Jewish doctor who pretended to be a rabbi, that a few years ago he participated in a ritual crime in the Guard:
- One Good Friday a child had been crucified, then his blood and heart had been mixed with a consecrated host in order to perform an act of witchcraft, his intention was to provoke an epidemic of rabies throughout the region.
Reported by the rabbi (he was a spy for the Inquisition), Yucé Franco retracts and says that a convert, Alonso Franco, had told him. Subjected to torment, he confesses again to his participation in the crime. The Inquisition decides to arrest everyone and transfers them to the Ávila prison.
The process opens on December 17, 1490 and ends a year later with the death sentence.
Riddles :
- They are transferred to the Ávila prison, when the Guard belongs to Toledo.
- The doctor Antonio de Ávila, was he a spy of the Inquisition?
- It is not known what the child's name was.
- The statements and confessions are full of inconsistencies and contradictions.
Conclusion :It is an example of the prevailing anti-Semitism at the end of the 15th century, to achieve religious unification, and which constituted further evidence to justify the expulsion decree promulgated by the Catholic Monarchs.
Curiosity :
A brief summary of the festivities of La Guardia (Toledo) in 2006
LA GUARDIA PARTIES 2006 FROM SEPTEMBER 23 TO 28
2006 PARTY PROGRAM
RELIGIOUS ACTS
Saturday, September 2
18:00 . Transfer in procession with the image of the holy child of La Guardia from the Hermitage to the Parish Church, accompanied by the Municipal Music Band "Aurelio Mascaraque" of La Guardia, directed by D. Julián Camacho Maroto .
From September 14 to 22
9:30 p.m. NOVENARY IN HONOR OF THE HOLY CHILD OF THE GUARD.
Preacher:D. Miguel Angel Gutiérrez Ramírez. Parish priest of Cobeja.
