How did Jewish life flourish in medieval Spain, and why were Jews expelled in 1492?

For several centuries Jews in Spain were scholars, poets, doctors and ministers; in 1492 the monarchs ordered those who would not convert to leave.

Under Muslim rule in al-Andalus, Jews were treated as dhimmi, a protected status, and the tolerance of the Moorish rulers allowed Jewish communities to thrive. At the court of Córdoba, Hasdai ibn Shaprut, first recognised for his medical expertise, rose to become a trusted advisor and diplomat. In the 10th and 11th centuries the scientific study of the Hebrew Bible began and secular poetry was written in Hebrew for the first time. In Granada, Samuel ha-Nagid served as vizier and military commander. Iberian Jews also translated works from Arabic, Hebrew and Greek into Latin, which helped bring science and philosophy into the rest of Europe.

The so-called Golden Age began to wane well before the Christian Reconquista was complete. The Almohads offered Jews a choice between expulsion, conversion and death. In the Christian kingdoms, Jews served as courtiers, officials, merchants and moneylenders, useful and to an extent protected, until the pogroms of 1391 led over half of Spain's Jews to convert.

The Alhambra Decree of 31 March 1492 ordered the unconverted Jews of Castile and Aragon to leave by 31 July. Its primary purpose was to reduce the influence of Jews on the converso population. Spanish Jews dispersed to North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and Italy.