Jistory

Category

Forced conversions of the Jews

186 events, 167 BC to 1922 AD

2nd century BC

  1. 167–164 BC Antiochus IV outlaws Judaism · Judea, Israel and Palestinian territories

2nd century

  1. 119 AD Roman Emperor Hadrian bans circumcision, making Judaism de facto illegal
  2. 131–136 AD The Roman emperor Hadrian, among other provocations, renames Jerusalem " Aelia…

4th century

  1. c. 400 AD Persecution of the Jews of Mahon, Minorca · Mahón, Spain

5th century

  1. 418 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Magona · Mahón (Magona), Spain
  2. c. 457–484 AD Jewish children raised as fire-worshipers under Perozes · Isfahan, Iran

6th century

  1. 527–565 AD Forced conversion of the Jews of Boreion under Justinian · Boreion, Libya
  2. c. 527–567 AD Forced baptism of the Jewish community of Barion · Boreion, Libya
  3. 561–584 AD Chilperic imprisons Priscus for refusing conversion · Paris, France
  4. 561–584 AD Chilperic's attempt to force Jews to convert · Soissons, France
  5. 561–584 AD Merovingian-backed pressure to convert the Jews of Arles · Arles, France
  6. 576 AD Bishop Avitus forces Clermont Jews to convert or leave · Clermont-Ferrand, France
  7. 576 AD Forced baptism of Jews by Bishop Avitus in Clermont · Clermont-Ferrand, France
  8. 581 AD Visigothic persecution and forced baptism of Jews in Spain · Spain
  9. 582 AD Chilperic forces Jews to be baptized · France
  10. 589 AD Forced baptism of children of mixed marriages · Visigothic Spain, Spain
  11. 590 AD Gregory the Great sets papal policy on Jews
  12. 591 AD Bishop Theodore's attempt to convert Marseille Jews by force · Marseille, France
  13. 598 AD Conversion of Jews in Agrigento under Gregory the Great · Agrigento, Italy

7th century

  1. 610 AD Phocas attempts forced baptism of Jews · Antakya (Antioch), Turkey
  2. 610 AD Visigothic king Sisebut outlaws Judaism
  3. 610–620 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Hispania · Hispania, Spain
  4. c. 610–641 AD Heraclius orders forced baptism of Jews in the empire · Byzantine Empire (several countries)
  5. 612 AD Sisebut, king of the Visigoths, forces his Jewish subjects to convert to…
  6. 613 AD Sisebut orders Jews to be baptized or leave · Visigothic Spain, Spain
  7. c. 613 AD Visigothic forced baptisms · Iberian Peninsula (several countries)
  8. c. 614–615 AD Council of Paris orders Jewish officeholders to convert · Paris, France
  9. 629 AD Dagobert offers Jews conversion or exile · Paris, France
  10. 631–639 AD Dagobert I attempts forced conversion of Jews · France
  11. 632 AD Heraclius orders conversion of Byzantine Jewry · Byzantine Empire (several countries)
  12. 632 AD The first case of officially sanctioned forced baptism
  13. 633 AD Forced return to Christianity of Jews who reverted · Visigothic Spain, Spain
  14. 633 AD Fourth Council of Toledo takes children of baptized Jews · Toledo, Spain
  15. 638 AD Sixth Council of Toledo allows only Catholics in the kingdom · Visigothic Spain, Spain
  16. 653 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Toledo · Toledo, Spain
  17. 653 AD Recceswinth forces relapsed converts back to Christianity · Visigothic Spain, Spain
  18. c. 680–687 AD Erwig's forced baptism of all Jews · Visigothic Spain, Spain

8th century

  1. 721–722 AD Leo III forces Jews of Constantinople to leave or be baptized · Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey
  2. 721–740 AD Leo III decrees baptism of all Jews · Byzantine Empire (several countries)
  3. 722 AD Byzantine emperor Leo III forcibly converts all Jews and Montanists in the…
  4. 722 AD Leo III forcibly converts Byzantine Jews
  5. 723 AD Byzantine ban on free exercise of Jewish religion in Greece · Greece
  6. 723 AD Leo the Isaurian forces Jews to be baptized · Byzantine Empire (several countries)

9th century

  1. c. 820 AD Agobard attempts forced conversion of Jewish children in Lyons · Lyon, France
  2. c. 820 AD Agobard's attempt to forcibly convert Jewish children in Chalon · Chalon-sur-Saône, France
  3. 867–886 AD Basil I pressures Jews to convert to Christianity · Byzantine Empire (several countries)
  4. 867–886 AD Basil I's forced conversion drive against Apulian Jews · Apulia, Italy
  5. c. 872 AD Religious persecution of the Jews of Oria · Oria, Italy
  6. c. 874 AD Basil I decrees forced conversion of Jews · Byzantine Empire (several countries)

10th century

  1. 919–944 AD Romanus I Lecapenus attempts forced conversion and mobs massacre Jews · Apulia, Italy
  2. 931–942 AD Romanos I Lekapenos decreed that all Jews should be forced to convert and…
  3. 932–936 AD Romanus I's discriminatory laws and forced conversions in southern Italy · Oria, Italy
  4. c. 932–943 AD Romanus I's forced conversions and persecutions · Byzantine Empire (several countries)

11th century

  1. 1010 AD Bishop of Limoges offers Jews baptism or exile · Limoges, France
  2. 1012 AD Persecution of Mainz Jews under Henry II · Mainz, Germany
  3. 1016 AD The Jewish community of Kairouan, Tunisia is forced to choose between…
  4. c. 1023 AD Decreed extermination of Jews refusing baptism under Robert the Pious · France
  5. 1065 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Benevento by Landolfo VI · Benevento, Italy
  6. c. 1086 AD Almoravide attempt to force the Jews of Lucena to convert to Islam · Lucena, Spain
  7. c. 1090–1106 AD Almoravid demand that Lucena's Jews convert to Islam · Lucena, Spain
  8. 1095 AD Henry IV of Germany forbids forced baptism
  9. 1096 AD 1,200 Jews of Mainz take their own lives facing forced conversion · Mainz (Mayence), Germany
  10. 1096 AD Forced baptism of Jews in Bohemia · Prague, Czech Republic
  11. 1096 AD Forced conversion of the Jews of Regensburg · Regensburg, Germany
  12. 1096 AD Persecution and forced baptism of the Jews of Trier · Trier (Treves), Germany
  13. c. 1100–1200 AD Almohad persecution of the Jews of Oran · Oran, Algeria

12th century

  1. c. 1101–1200 AD Almohad ban on Judaism and forced conversion in Morocco · Morocco and elsewhere
  2. 1107 AD Almoravid demand for conversion of Lucena's Jews · Lucena, Spain
  3. 1145–1146 AD Almohad persecution and forced conversion or banishment · Fez, Morocco
  4. 1146 AD Almohad persecution and forced conversion at Lucena · Lucena, Spain
  5. 1146 AD Almohades force Jews to convert or leave Tunisia · Tunis, Tunisia
  6. c. 1147 AD Almohad forced conversions · Maghreb (several countries) and elsewhere
  7. c. 1148 AD Almohad forced conversion of Andalusian Jews · Córdoba, Spain
  8. 1148 AD Almohad forced conversion of Seville's Jews · Seville, Spain
  9. 1148 AD Almohad restriction of residence in Granada to converts to Islam · Granada, Spain
  10. c. 1148–1158 AD Almohades force Jews in Andalusia to convert to Islam · Andalusia, Spain
  11. 1150–1230 AD The Almohads conquer southern Spain and the Magrheb
  12. 1154 AD Almohad forced conversions of Jews · Morocco
  13. 1165 AD Almohad forced conversion in Fez · Fez, Morocco
  14. 1165 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Yemen · Yemen
  15. 1165–1184 AD Forced conversion of Jews under Abu Ya'qub Yusuf · Morocco
  16. 1197 AD Forced baptism of a Jewish woman and her daughters in Neuss · Neuss, Germany

13th century

  1. 1220 AD Conversions of Palermo Jews after persecution · Palermo, Italy
  2. 1247 AD Killings and forced conversions during the Merinid wars · Meknes, Morocco
  3. 1269 AD Jews compelled to hear Paul Christian and show their books · France
  4. 1278 AD Compulsory conversionist sermons begin in Lombardy · Lombardy, Italy
  5. 1279 AD Jews of Huesca ordered to attend Dominican conversionary sermons · Huesca, Spain
  6. 1290–1294 AD Forced baptism of Apulian Jews under Charles II of Anjou · Apulia, Italy
  7. 1292 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Campania · Campania, Italy
  8. c. 1294 AD Trani blood libel and forced conversion of southern Italian Jews · Trani, Italy
  9. c. 1299 AD Jews leave Brindisi to escape forced conversions and taxes · Brindisi, Italy

14th century

  1. 1306 AD Arrests and forced baptisms of Toulouse Jews; confiscations · Toulouse, France
  2. 1323 AD Forced conversion of Brindisi Jews by Christian inhabitants · Brindisi, Italy
  3. 1333 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Baghdad · Baghdad, Iraq
  4. 1348 AD Basel burns 600 Jews and baptizes their children
  5. 1348–1349 AD Conversions to escape Black Death persecution · Perpignan, France
  6. 1349–1352 AD Ban on return of converted Jews to Judaism · Salzburg, Austria
  7. 1380 AD Jewish children baptized during 1380 riot · Paris, France
  8. 1389 AD Pope Boniface forbids harming or forcibly baptizing Jews
  9. 1391 AD Anti-Jewish riots of 1391 destroy Castellón community · Castellón de la Plana, Spain
  10. 1391 AD Forced baptisms during the Valencia massacre · Valencia, Spain
  11. 1391 AD Forced conversion of the Jews of Tortosa · Tortosa, Spain
  12. 1391 AD Forced conversions of Toledo Jews after the massacre · Toledo, Spain
  13. 1391 AD Mass conversion of Valladolid Jews after 1391 persecutions · Valladolid, Spain
  14. 1391 AD Persecutions of 1391 force mass baptism in Spain · Spain

15th century

  1. 1411 AD Vicente Ferrer's baptisms and synagogue seizure in Toledo · Toledo, Spain
  2. 1412 AD Vicente Ferrer's conversion campaign and conversion of the synagogue · Salamanca, Spain
  3. 1413 AD Disputation of Tortosa · Tortosa, Spain
  4. 1414 AD Conversions of Burgos Jews under Vicente Ferrer · Burgos, Spain
  5. 1414 AD Mass baptisms and forcible conversions in Aragon · Aragon, Spain
  6. 1414 AD Mass conversion of 122 Jews in Guadalajara · Guadalajara, Spain
  7. 1414 AD Mass conversion of Daroca Jews after the Tortosa disputation · Daroca, Spain
  8. 1415 AD Barbastro synagogue converted into a church · Barbastro, Spain
  9. 1415 AD Ferdinand I orders compulsory conversion sermons · Perpignan, France
  10. 1415–1416 AD Vincente Ferrer's conversion campaign in Majorca · Majorca, Spain
  11. 1420 AD Martin V restores Jewish privileges and limits forced baptism
  12. 1420–1421 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Austria · Austria
  13. 1421 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Vienna · Vienna, Austria
  14. 1421 AD Jewish children placed in monasteries · Austria
  15. c. 1427 AD Inquisition pressure drives conversions and departures · Perpignan, France
  16. 1428 AD Decree compelling Jews to attend conversionist sermons · Sicily, Italy
  17. 1435 AD Forced baptism of condemned Jews in Palma · Palma, Spain
  18. c. 1450–1499 AD Forced attendance at conversion sermons in Nuremberg · Nuremberg, Germany
  19. 1452–1515 AD Abraham Zacuto, astronomer, flees Spain for Portugal
  20. 1453 AD Compulsory Christian worship and conversion preacher in Montélimar · Montélimar, France
  21. 1454 AD Jews compelled to attend Capistrano's sermons · Nuremberg, Germany
  22. 1478 AD Jews compelled to attend Peter Schwarz's sermons · Nuremberg, Germany
  23. 1481 AD Forced baptism of a Jewish girl in Marseille · Marseille, France
  24. c. 1492 AD Exiled Jews enslaved or forcibly converted on the North African coast · North Africa (several countries)
  25. 1492 AD Franciscans pressure Teruel Jews to convert · Teruel, Spain
  26. 1492 AD Genoa demands baptism of exiled Spanish Jews · Genoa, Italy
  27. 1495 AD Forced baptism of the Jews of Cosenza · Cosenza, Italy
  28. 1496–1497 AD Expulsion decree and forced conversions of Portuguese Jews affecting Évora · Évora, Portugal
  29. 1496–1497 AD Expulsion of Jews from Portugal and forced conversion at Lisbon · Lisbon, Portugal
  30. 1497 AD Forced conversion of the Jews of Portugal · Portugal
  31. 1497 AD Forced conversions of Portuguese Jews, including Coimbra · Coimbra, Portugal
  32. 1497 AD Forcible baptism of Jewish children in Portugal · Portugal
  33. 1498 AD Baptism or exile edict in Navarre · Tudela, Spain
  34. 1498 AD Prince Alexander of Lithuania forces most of the Jews to forfeit their property…
  35. 1499 AD All New Christians are prohibited from leaving Portugal, even those who were…

16th century

  1. 1501 AD Persecutions and forced conversions of Hamadan Jews under the Safavids · Hamadan, Iran
  2. 1510 AD Imprisonment of Jews passing through Soest and forced baptism of Saul · Soest, Germany
  3. 1529 AD Forced conversion of Jewish children in Pezinok · Pezinok, Slovakia
  4. 1543–1554 AD Hessian decree extended; Jews forced to hear Christian sermons · Hesse, Germany
  5. 1553 AD Jews compelled to hear a Christian sermon in the synagogue · Hanover, Germany
  6. c. 1555–1559 AD Paul IV's commissioner forces Portuguese Jews to convert · Ancona, Italy
  7. 1561 AD Compulsory Jesuit sermons for Prague Jews · Prague, Czech Republic
  8. 1572–1585 AD Gregory XIII regulates compulsory conversionist sermons · Rome, Italy
  9. 1588–1589 AD Forced conversions of Libyan Jews during the mahdi's revolt · Libya
  10. c. 1600–1699 AD Persecution and forced conversion under Shah Abbas I and II · Isfahan, Iran

17th century

  1. 1622–1629 AD Persian Jews forcibly converted to Islam
  2. 1623–1630 AD Compulsory Jesuit conversion sermons · Bohemia, Czech Republic
  3. 1630 AD Compulsory conversionist sermons for Jews in Vienna and Prague · Vienna, Austria and elsewhere
  4. 1639 AD Children of Fullo Serotino seized and baptized · Rome, Italy
  5. 1639 AD Two Roman Jewish children are forcibly baptized by Pope Urban VIII
  6. 1639–1666 AD Forced conversion or expulsion of Hamadan Jews under Abbas II · Hamadan, Iran
  7. 1649 AD Compulsory conversion sermons for Cassel Jews · Kassel, Germany
  8. 1654 AD Forced conversion and killing of Jews in Smolensk · Smolensk, Russia
  9. 1655 AD Baptism of surviving Mahilyow Jews under threat · Mogilev, Belarus
  10. 1655 AD Conversionist sermons and Jewish catechism in Hesse-Cassel · Hesse-Cassel, Germany
  11. 1657–1662 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Iran · Iran
  12. c. 1676–1689 AD Compulsory baptisms under Innocent XI · Rome, Italy
  13. 1682 AD Forced baptism of Diego Curiel's child · Antwerp, Belgium
  14. 1700 AD Opera Pia dei Catecumeni founded in Modena · Modena, Italy
  15. c. 1700–1720 AD Compulsory baptisms under Clement XI · Rome, Italy

18th century

  1. 1722 AD Marrano Diego D'Aguilar reorganizes Vienna's tobacco monopoly
  2. c. 1750 AD First forced conversion of Bukharan Jews to Islam · Bukhara, Uzbekistan
  3. 1784 AD Forcible baptism of two Jewish children in Rome · Rome, Italy
  4. 1790 AD Forced baptism of a Jewish child at Obernai · Obernai, France
  5. c. 1800 AD Forced Islamization of Bukharan Jews resumed · Bukhara, Uzbekistan

19th century

  1. c. 1804 AD Officials push forcible baptism of Jews · Russian Empire (several countries)
  2. 1826 AD Forced baptism of Anna Costantini · Ancona, Italy
  3. 1827 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Russia · Russian Empire (several countries)
  4. 1827–1856 AD Conscription of Jewish children into cantonist units in Russia · Russian Empire (several countries)
  5. 1830 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Shiraz · Shiraz, Iran
  6. c. 1849 AD Compulsory baptisms after the papal restoration · Senigallia (Sinigaglia), Italy
  7. c. 1850 AD Forced conversion of Shiraz Jews to Islam · Shiraz, Iran
  8. 1858 AD Abduction of Edgar Mortara · Bologna, Italy
  9. 1858 AD Mortara case · Papal States, Italy
  10. 1859 AD Mortara case: Jewish boy converted in Italy · Italy
  11. c. 1860–1869 AD Mass coercive baptisms in the 1860s · Rome, Italy
  12. 1864 AD Kidnapping of Giuseppe Coen in Rome · Rome, Italy
  13. 1866 AD Forced conversion of Jews in Barforush · Babol (Barforush), Iran
  14. 1892 AD Forced conversion of Hamadan Jewish elite to Islam · Hamadan, Iran
  15. 1899 AD Michaline Araten taken to a convent · Galicia (several countries)

20th century

  1. 1922 AD The government of Yemen, under Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, re-introduced an…

Historical summaries, partly AI-assisted and not individually reviewed, provided as is. They may contain errors; check the linked sources. How entries are made · Terms