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This chapter offers an edited translation of Francisco de Torrejoncillo's Centinela contra Judios puesta en la Torre de la Iglesia de Dios from Spanish into English with references to, and biographies of, Torrejoncillo's sources. The proof of the chapter is observed in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Saint John, who states: Nemine servivimus unquam. They boast that they were never the slaves or servants of anyone. Their conceit can already be witnessed in this boast. The lie is also manifest as they were slaves of the Egyptians and, after the fall of Canaan, they worshipped idols. Moreover, they served the King of Mesopotamia, Chushan-Rishathaim, for eight years until Othniel freed them and they then enjoyed forty years of freedom. The Jews held it to be a fact that no danger could befall them whilst they were physically present in the Temple of Solomon.Keywords: Centinela contra Judios; Francisco de Torrejoncillo; Gospel of Saint John; Jews; slaves

It is particularly noteworthy amongst the Jews that their direct descendants are living proof of the ancient tradition that they accepted responsibility for the death of Christ upon themselves and their sons. Those Jews who have small or short tails at the bottom of their spines are direct descendants of those who were teachers amongst them and whom they called Rabies and which Francisco de Torrejoncillo calls Rabinos. Those men once sat in judgment and today teach their Mosaic Law as teachers and judges. As their punishment, and so that they cannot sit down without suffering discomfort and pain, this short tail emerges when they sit down. Those Jews in whose mouth innumerable worms enter and exit to bite their tongue when they lie down, as it has been observed many times, were and are the descendants of a woman called Beatrice, a native of Jerusalem.Keywords: Christ; Jerusalem; Jews; Mosaic Law; Rabinos

The conquest of the “New World” for the Spanish crown was broadly accomplished in the period spanning 1492 to the middle of the 16th century. It has become most notable for the overthrow and destruction of the Aztec and Inca civilizations and the imposition of Spanish colonial rule in both Mexico (1519–21) and Peru (1530s), as well as other regions of the Caribbean and Central and South America. In the wake of these remarkable military conquests, the soldiers settled down in their encomiendas (land parcels) and exploited the labor of the Amerindian populations “commended” to their care by the Spanish crown. These first settlers were soon followed, however, by thousands of Spaniards who crossed the Atlantic principally to settle in the newly established viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. The conquest of Granada in 1492, and the end of the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula, led Spaniards to cross the Atlantic in order to seek their fortune and find better opportunities for improving their lives than those available in the Old World. Keywords: empire; imperialism; slavery; Central America; early modern

This work examines the social impact of the arrival in Portugal firstly of numerous Jewish converts to Christianity fleeing from the Inquisition tribunals of Castile in the 1480s and then of thousands of Jewish refugees expelled from Spain in 1492. Using a range of unedited Portuguese, Spanish and Hebrew sources, Soyer argues that the consequences of these events for Portugal have been vastly exaggerated by modern historians. The impact of 1492 in particular was mitigated by the fact that the majority of Castilian Jews only transited via Portugal and were not allowed to settle there by King Joao II.