History of the Jews in Spain - Wikipedia:Alfonso VIII of Castile (1166–1214), who had succeeded to the throne, entrusted the Jews with guarding Or, Celorigo, and, later, Mayorga, while Sancho the Wise of Navarre placed them in charge of Estella, Funes, and Murañon. During the reign of Alfonso VIII the Jews gained still greater influence, aided, doubtless, by the king's love of the beautiful Rachel (Fermosa) of Toledo, who was Jewish. When the king was defeated at the Battle of Alarcos by the Almohades under Yusuf Abu Ya'kub al-Mansur, the defeat was attributed to the king's love-affair with Fermosa, and she and her relatives were murdered in Toledo by the nobility. After the victory at Alarcos the emir Muhammad al-Nasir ravaged Castile with a powerful army and threatened to overrun the whole of Catholic Spain. The Archbishop of Toledo called to crusade to aid Alfonso. In this war against the Moors the king was greatly aided by the wealthy Jews of Toledo, especially by his "almoxarife mayor", the learned and generous Nasi Joseph ben Solomon ibn Shoshan (Al-Hajib ibn Amar).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Spain#:~:text=Jews%20fought%20in%20both%20armies,Al%2DHajib%20ibn%20Amar ). History of the Jews in Spain Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools Appearance hide Text Small Standard Large Width Standard Wide Color (beta) Automatic Light Dark From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 13th-century illustration from the Libro de los juegos depicting Jews playing chess. Part of a series on Jews and Judaism Etymology Who is a Jew? Jewish studies Religion Texts History Communities Population Denominations Culture Languages Politics Category Portal v t e The history of the Jews in the current-day Spanish territory stretches back to Biblical times according to Jewish tradition , but the settlement of organised Jewish communities in the Iberian Peninsula possibly traces back to the times after the destruction of the Second Temple ...