Editing John II of Portugal (section)

===Religious policy===
John sanctioned several anti-Jewish laws at the behest of parliamentary representatives, including restrictions on Jewish clothing and the emancipation of Christian converts owned by Jews.{{sfn|Soyer|2009|p=79}} However, the king's personal attitude towards Portuguese Jews has been described as pragmatic, as he valued their economic contributions and defended them against unjust harassment.{{sfn|Soyer|2009|p=80}}

After the [[Catholic Monarchs]] expelled Jews from Castile and Aragon in 1492, John authorized the admission of tens of thousands of Jews into Portugal at the price of eight cruzados a head but refused to let them stay longer than eight months.{{sfn|Marques|1976|pages=210–211}} Of the some 20,000 families that entered Portugal,{{sfn|McMurdo|1889b|p=53}} only 600 of the most affluent Castilian Jewish families succeeded in obtaining permanent residence permits.{{sfn|Marques|1976|p=211}}{{sfn|Soyer|2009|p=84}}{{sfn|Disney|2009|p=137}} Jews unable to leave the country within the specified interval (often the result of poverty) were reduced to slavery and were not liberated until the reign of John's successor, Manuel.{{sfn|McMurdo|1889b|p=53}}{{sfn|Soyer|2009|pages=93–94}} Many{{efn|Soyer (2009) explains, "Jewish sources offer different estimations as to the number of children who were sent by João II to São Tomé. Rabbi Capsali states that 5,000 'boys' were taken to São Tomé but the numbers provided by other sources are considerably lower. Abraham ben Solomon Torrutiel (1482–?) believed that there were 800 children, including both boys and girls, whilst an anonymous Jewish chronicler alludes to 700. The most credible estimation may be that offered by Valentim Fernandes, a German printer who established himself in Portugal in 1495 and wrote a description of the islands based on the testimony of sailors who had visited it. Valentim Fernandes's description of São Tomé was published in 1510 and in it he asserts that the Jewish children who arrived on the island had originally numbered 2,000, of whom only 600 had survived into adulthood."{{sfn|Soyer|2009|p=97}}}} children of the enslaved Castilian Jews were seized from their parents and deported to the African island of [[São Tomé Island|São Tomé]] in order to be raised there as Christians and serve as colonists.{{sfn|Soyer|2009|p=95}}{{sfn|Mira|1998|p=154}}