The Historical Background of Alfonso de Zamora`s Anti-Jewish Polemics

Alfonso de Zamora (1474-1545), a Converso, composed three virulent anti-Jewish polemic essays, of which only the first has been marginally treated in 1950. That essay, “An Epistle to the Jews of Rome,” was a lengthy addendum to Alfonso’s 1526 revised Complutense Polyglot Bible grammar book. However, the 1950 examination focused primarily on the source of the composition. The present analysis is concerned with the essence of the Epistle and its significance in the context of its historical timing. There was a very urgent reason for the Church’s commission of this Epistle, ostensibly addressed to Jews far from Spain, but in reality also aimed at the Crypto-Jews of the Iberian Peninsula. This paper also sheds light on Alfonso’s two other polemics (of 1532 and 1535), which have not previously been given attention, and which were also written for specific reasons and at specific historical turning points.