Editing Henry II of Castile (section)

== Policy regarding Jews ==
Henry was as hostile to the Jews as Peter had been friendly.<ref>[[Abraham Zacuto]] (1452 – ''circa'' 1515), in his book ''Sefer Yuchasin'', [[Kraków]] 1580 (q.v. [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/11550 ''Sefer Yuchasin''], p. 265 in PDF) makes mention that in the year 5130 ''[[anno mundi]]'' (corresponding with 1369/70 of our Common Era) there was a time of great disturbance all throughout the Jewish communities of Castille and Ṭulayṭulah ([[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]) and that 38,000 Jews were killed in the ensuing wars between Henry and Peter.</ref> In order to pay Bertrand du Guesclin's mercenaries, he imposed a war contribution of twenty thousand gold doubloons on the already heavily oppressed community of Toledo. He issued an order to take all the Jews of Toledo as prisoners, to give them neither food nor drink and if they still refused to raise this enormous sum, to sell their property, both movable and immovable, at auction. Nonetheless, he was compelled, owing to his financial straits, to have recourse to Jewish financiers. He made Don Joseph Pichon his chief tax collector (''contador major'') and appointed several Jews "farmers of the taxes".<ref name=je>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7571-henry-ii# "Henry II, or Henry de Trastamara", ''Jewish encyclopedia'']</ref>

The demands of the Cortes in Toro (1369) and Burgos (1374 and 1377) against the Jews harmonized perfectly with Henry's inclinations. He ordered the Jews to wear the humiliating badge and forbade them to use Christian names. He further ordered that Christian debtors repay only two-thirds of the principal for short loans. Shortly before his death, Henry declared that Jews should no longer be permitted to hold public office.<ref name=je />

Henry was potentially the first ruler since the Visigothic King [[Ergica]] to implement [[anti-Jewish policies]] in the [[Iberian Peninsula]].{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}