Alhambra Decree (1492) — Jews from Castile & Aragon
event
In 1492 Spain ordered its Jews to convert or leave—a state turning a whole population into a scapegoat by law.
Who they are
The Alhambra Decree of March 31, 1492, issued by Spain's monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.
What they do
The engine classes it as a state-scale example of a group being singled out for exclusion, documented straight from the decree text.
How it works
The decree ordered unconverted Jews to leave by the end of July or convert; the record establishes the Spanish Crown as the author and the Jewish population as the target.
Why it matters
The engine records only the documented instance and deliberately holds open any deeper reading (such as whether it served as a screen or part of a larger pattern) rather than asserting one—describing the structure, not blaming a people; it sits alongside the 1290 English expulsion and the 1609 Morisco expulsion.
The engine's record — word for word
[in-scope 1200-2040; new instance] 31 Mar 1492; Ferdinand II & Isabella I ordered unconverted Jews to leave by 31 Jul or convert (decree text, Archivo General de Simancas). Structural class: exemption-against (#100) at sovereign-statutory scale; state-scale instance of scapegoat_mechanism_pharmakos. DOCUMENTED FACT: author-of-record = the Spanish Crown; target = the Jewish population. Readings HELD, not asserted: any screen/decoy, rotation, or apex reading is held in superposition; record documents the instance only. Sibling: edict_expulsion_1290, morisco_expulsion_1609. Tier-1/2 (decree text; academic-primary).
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