Plot Against the Church: Part 4 - Maurice Pinay |
After the treachery of the Jews which led to the fall of the Christian Visigoth kingdom and its conquest through the Musulmans, began the so-called "Reconquista". It was introduced by the Christians who had become powerful in the mountains to the north of the peninsula under the Visigoth Pelayo. This fight for freedom was to extend over nearly eight centuries and naturally began with bloody retaliatory measures against the Jews, who were held responsible for the fall of the Christian states and for the murder of Christians after this catastrophe.
This anti-Jewish outlook lasted through several centuries. Resulting from this, the Jews understood how on basis of their own slyness and skill to use all opportunities to dissipate these reproaches, in that they especially provided valuable services to the Christian kings of the peninsula, when they made Spain into a place of refuge for the Israelites, who fled from the whole of Europe. At first they were persecuted by the Christian monarchs and later by the Holy Papal Inquisition, which reacted violently when the "Synagogue" attempted to conquer the Catholic states and to dismember Christian society.
In addition, the Jews at the beginning of the 10th century practised treachery on the Musulmans, whose allies they had once been, began to introduce the decomposition of Islamic society, and attempted to control it through secret organisations and false doctrines. The most important of these organisations were the criminal sects of murderers—undoubtedly a forerunner of modern freemasonry—whose secret power extended to the entire region of Islam and even to Christian Europe, until it was finally destroyed chiefly through the invasion of the Mongols. At all events the Musulman kingdom in the 12th century was facing a dangerous decline which is partly attributed to the manifold revolutionary activity of the Jews. The dynasty of the Almohades, which in North Africa and in Islamic Spain followed upon that of the Almoravides, wished to save Islam from a catastrophe and began to wage a war of life and death against Jewry. This resulted as usual in thousands of seeming conversions to Islam and the flight of many Jews from Christian Spain in consequence.
The monarchs of the Iberian peninsula, who were occupied with the driving out of the Saracens from their territory, forgot the former treachery of the Jews and used them in the Reconquista as money-lenders, tax-collectors and even as spies. Now the roles were exchanged. The Jews represented in Islamic Spain the Fifth Column in favour of Christian Spain and thus practised treachery on their former allies. Once again a historical event was repeated: the Jewish population of a Musulman monarch became a dangerous Fifth Column favouring the external enemies of this state—then the Christian kingdom of Iberia (Spain), which, on the grounds of the valuable services which they provided it, promoted the Jews to government members and even to ministers or royal state treasurers. As a result they violated the decisions of the Holy Church Councils, which excluded the Jews from government offices.
The Jews turned back once again to their traditional tactics, to gain their enemies through seeming good conduct and effective services, thus obtaining valuable offices which made it possible to them to later conquer the states which had offered them protection.
They therefore left no opportunity unused in order to get into their hands control over this Christian kingdom, which had already become a second Palestine to them, into which they streamed ready and willing.
The Jews came to Castile at a time when they had reached the high point of their power. Peter the Cruel was then king, and for several years they controlled his government. The manner in which they conquered this Christian kingdom is extremely interesting.
Peter the Cruel ascended the throne in 1350, as a child of 15 years, and was soon subject to the influence of the Jewish leader Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia. The latter incited the passions of the young prince and flattered him. Thus he was successful in eliminating the king's guardian, Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque and also the favourable influence of the queen mother. At first he was appointed as royal treasurer and in fact later to supreme minister of the kingdom. 188 As a result this Jew attained a political power like no other Jew before him in a Christian kingdom. In the ensuing time the influence of the Jewish counsellor on the monarch increased to such an extent that he was regarded by many as dangerous.
Even in the first years the outrages which the young king committed on the instigation of his wicked advisors called forth a general rebellion in the kingdom. The queen mother, the half-sister of the monarch, his aunt Leonora, Queen of Aragon, and many powerful nobles formed a league which made it its task to withdraw the young king from the influence of the Jewish counsellors and the evil-willed clique surrounding him. To the latter also belonged the relatives of his mistress, Maria de Padilla, on account of whom he had left his wife, the young Bianca of Bourbon, sister of the Queen of France.
When Peter saw himself abandoned by most of the nobles of the kingdom, he agreed to place himself under the guardianship of his mother. He therefore betook himself to Toro in the company, among others, of Samuel Ha-Levi—as Pero Lopez de Ayala, a Chronicler of this time, reports—who, according to the assertions of this Chronicler, "was his great favourite and advisor." There his mother and his aunt prepared him a hearty reception, at which, however, the taking captive of his retinue and also of the influential Jewish minister Samuel Ha-Levi took place.
The death of Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, who, so it is asserted, was poisoned, was a heavy blow for the league, for this magnate represented the connecting-link between very unusual men and interests. In the following we now give a summary of the report by Prosper Merimee, the famous French historian of the last century. He shows us how Samuel Ha-Levi understood how to utilise the new situation and skilfully created disputes, in order to destroy the league, by his offering the Infanta of Aragon castles and rich districts in the name of the King in exchange for her releasing him. In addition the sly Jewish counsellor offered estates and knighthoods to numerous magnates until such time as he was successful in destroying the league and one day could flee with the young monarch when they were at the hunt.
J. Amador de los Rios, another historian of the past century, reports to us the following concerning this crafty enterprise:
"Thanks, however, to the clever action of Samuel, it was successful for the son of Alfonso XI to obtain again the freedom which his mother and sisters had taken from him. Thanks to the gold which he knew how to distribute, and thanks to the promises in the name of the King, he had carried mistrust and disunity into the league and rendered null the plans of the Bastard. The King was soon surrounded by powerful servants who promised him eternal loyalty. Samuel had gained the absolute confidence of the king."
Through the regard of the Jewish minister, the Jews gradually gained more and more influence in the kingdom. Concerning this the Jewish historian Bedarride gives us exact details, asserting that the Jews had reached "the high point of their power" under Peter the Cruel in Castile.
Unfortunately, however, history proves to us that every time the Jews in a Christian or pagan state attain "the high point of their power", a terrible wave of murders and terror is unleashed, and Christian or pagan blood flows in streams. Thus it also occurred under Peter from the moment when the Jews obtained decisive influence upon education and government.
This intelligent child—who later showed himself as far-sighted, had great illusions and possessed enormous energy—would perhaps have been one of the most important monarchs of Christianity, if he had not been destroyed in his youth through the bad example and the still worse advice of his Jewish favourites and counsellors. The people held them guilty for the wave of crimes and ambushes which were unleashed under this bloody government. The Jews attained high regard and the synagogues prospered, while the Churches decayed and the clergy and the Christians were disgracefully persecuted.
Many contemporary and later Chroniclers report concerning the decisive influence of the Jews on the young monarch and their malicious power in relation to the cruelties during this stormy time of government. The French contemporary Cuvelier asserts that Henry, the half-brother of the king:
". . . was begged and implored by the Spanish nobles to once again bring to the notice of the King that he acted badly in allowing himself to be counselled by the Jews and to expel the Christians". . . "When Henry came into the royal palace of his brother, the latter was just having a council with several Jews. No Christians were present." . . . ."Henry implored Peter, nevertheless, not to listen to the counsels of the Jews."
The Chronicler reports in addition of a Jew named Jacob who was present and clearly stood very close to Peter. Paul Hay de Chartelet, another well-known French Chronicler, adds further to this episode in reference to the aforementioned counsellor of King Peter, that Henry of Trastamara could not conceal his anger "when he saw a Jew named Jacob", who enjoyed the full confidence of Peter and whom was held to be the instigator of all his cruel actions.
Concerning the terrible crimes during the bloody period of government of Peter the Cruel report the "Prima Vita Urbani V", the Italian contemporary Chronicler Matteo Villani, and the Mohammedan Chronicler—likewise contemporary—Abou Zeid-Ibn Khaldoun, who makes the assurance among others, "that Peter cruelly oppressed the Christian people and on account of his tyranny made himself so greatly hated that they rebelled against him." In the Chronicle from the time of Peter of Aragon the criminal action of this government is described in a hair-raising manner, and in his renowned Chronicle of reminiscences the Frenchman Jean Froissard mentions not only the cruelty and tyranny which were characteristic of this government, but particularly stresses the hostile conduct of Peter the Cruel towards the Church and the Papacy.
In the Annals and Chronicles written towards the end of the 15th century by Nicolas Gilles, Peter the Cruel is called "the great tyrant" and "rebel against the religion of Jesus Christ and his tragic end attributed to punishment by God. Fernandez Nino, however, the loyal collaborator of Peter, who served him up to his death, writes in his renowned report—contained in the Chronicle of Pedro Nino—that the Monarch had selected:
". . . a Jew named Samuel Levi as confidant, who taught him to despise great men and to respect the little ones . . . he separated himself from many, drew his knife and exterminated many in his kingdom. Therefore he was hated by the majority of his subjects."
In this Chronicle the preference of the young King for astrology is also spoken of. This fact is politically very important, since in fact the astrologers of Peter were Jews—among them Abraham-Abel-Zarzae especially distinguished himself—who influenced his political measures. For before every important measure the astrologers were asked if success was to be hoped for or not. It is interesting in this connection that Peter on the eve of his fall reproached this Abraham in that both he as well as the other astrologers had advised him to conquer Musulman territory as far as Jerusalem. But since things stood far worse than good, it was clear that they had deceived him.
It is understandable that, when the Musulmans defended themselves heroically against the Jewish threat and the Jews already controlled Castile, they accordingly wanted to get Peter to conquer the North of Africa as far as Jerusalem. In this way they wished to once again conquer their Islamic enemies with the help of foreigners, in order to perhaps even realise their desired dream of freeing Palestine.
This last intention, which they had to abandon when Peter was overthrown, they achieved centuries later, when they were successful in controlling England and caused it to liberate a part of Palestine from the rule of the Arabs. Through astrology it was possible that the Jews controlled the policy of many Kings in times when this superstition was in mode.
The renowned historian Bishop Rodrigo Sanchez, who died in 1471, compares Peter of Castile with Herod, and Paul Hay, the second Chronicler of Bertrand du Guesclin, with Sardanapal, Nero and Domitian. The French historian P. Duchesne said in connection with the return of Peter to Castile, when the English troops set him back upon the throne:
"Peter came to Castile like a ravening bloodthirsty wolf in a flock of sheep. Before him ran terror, death went at his side, and bloodbaths streamed behind him."
In his general history of Spain the Jesuit Father Juan de Mariana describes the disastrous period of government of Peter the Cruel in this way:
"In this manner the fields and cities, landed estates and castles, the rivers and the sea, were spotted with innocent blood, and everywhere one found signs of violence and cruelty. It is not necessary to assert that the terror of the people of the kingdom was very great. All feared that the same could happen to them, each individual was concerned for his life, and none could be certain of it."
It is worthy of note that this report, written almost 400 years ago, describes with astonishing accuracy the present situation of terror in the Soviet Union and in the other lands under the Socialist dictatorship of Communism. In addition there is an important concordance. In the Kingdom of Peter the Cruel the Jews attained, according to the renowned Jewish historian Bedarride, "the highest point of their power". In the Soviet Union and the other Socialist states the Jews have also reached the high point of their power. This is a remarkable and tragic concordance of situations, which are separated from one another through six centuries.
As in every state, in which the Jews reach "the high point of their power", Holy Church in Castile was persecuted under Peter while the Jews occupied high posts. The consequence of this were energetic protests by the Castilian clergy, which are recorded in interesting documents. Among these is found a work which was already prepared in the lifetime of the monarch, and in which the Chaplain of the Church of Cordoba describes Peter as a "heretical tyrant".
The Holy See broke with this protector of Jews and oppressor of Christians. The Pope excommunicated Peter and declared him in the Church Council as unworthy of the crown of Castile. He released the Castilians and other subjects from their oath of loyalty and invested Henry of Trastamara or the first successor to the throne with the dignity of king. This made easier the formation of a coalition of the kingdoms of France, Aragon and Navarra, which under the protection of the Pope, undertook a kind of crusade for the freeing of the kingdom of Castile from oppression.
While the Christian clergy and laymen were murdered, taken captive and oppressed in every way, Jewry attained such high regard as never before in Christian Spain. Toledo then was practically the capital of international Jewry, just as in the ensuing time it was to be Constantinople, Amsterdam, London and New York. In this city the powerful minister Samuel Ha-Levi held a Synod or a general Hebrew congress, in which delegates of Jewish communities from the remotest lands participated, in order apparently to admire the new synagogue, which Peter allowed Samuel to build against the orders of the Church.
Witness to this great assembly is given by two inscriptions—veritable historical monuments—in this synagogue, which later temporarily served as a church. From the text of these inscriptions it is revealed that Samuel Ha-Levi himself was the chosen leader, who clearly became the Baruch of that time, which, however, did not prevent that years later an influential circle of his Jewish enemies accused him of having stolen the royal state treasury and as a result hastened his overthrow and death. These envious Jews accused him of having deceived Peter for twenty years, and even occasioned the king to torture him, so that he might confess where the three giant mountains of gold, stolen by him, were to be found. But Samuel died without revealing his secret, and the Chronicler reports further:
"And it (his death) caused the King much sorrow, when he learned of it, and upon the advice of these Jews he commanded to bring him all his possessions. The houses of Samuel were searched, and they found a subterranean chamber with three mountains of gold and silver coins, bars and pieces. Each individual one was so high that a man could hide behind it. And King Peter inspected them and said: 'If Samuel had only given me the third part of the smallest of these heaps, then I would not have had him tortured. But he preferred to die, without telling me.'"
The fact that Jewish treasurers or finance ministers stole was not new. Many had been deposed for this reason. However, this occurrence shows us that even among the Jews themselves, in spite of brotherhood, astonishing cases of envy and disunity exist, which take a tragic course, like that described here. The Jews, however, continued to exercise their influence on the government of Peter. Merely the persons were exchanged.
In order to overthrow Peter, he was not only accused of having handed over the government to the Jews, but he was also reproached with being a Jew himself. For King Alfonso XI, who had no male successor, was so enraged about this that he had seriously threatened the Queen, if the next child should again have been a girl. The Queen, in order to save herself, had therefore agreed to exchange the girl with a boy. The son of a Jew was brought, who had just been born, and who now grew up as heir to the throne, without King Alfonso knowing that he, whom they said to be his son, was a Jew. It was asserted in addition that Peter had secretly had himself circumcised when he learned of his Jewish origin, and for this reason also he handed over the government completely and utterly to the Jews.
The renowned Chronicler and writer Pero Lopez de Ayala, who was in no way favourably disposed to King Peter, did not expressly mention this suspicion. But the fact that he describes Peter as the legal son of Alfonso XI allows it to be concluded that he did not recognise this accusation. In the same sense historians and Chroniclers express themselves who base themselves on the writings of Lopez de Ayala. If we also hold it to be correct that praise is given to this highly respected Chronicler in respect of this matter, then one must nevertheless take into consideration that he wrote a Chronicle about Peter when Catalina of Lancaster, the daughter of this king, was already married to Henry II, the grandson of Henry of Trastamara.
This marriage was concluded for political reasons and was intended to unite the two rival families and avoid future disunity. Since the Chronicle came into being at a time when the Castilian monarchy made efforts to wipe out the stigma of a possible Jewish origin, it is natural that Pero Lopez de Ayala was compelled to keep silent about everything which was connected with this and which could have injured the honour of Queen Catalina.
On the other hand, history has proven to us that the Jews in their striving for world domination are capable of everything, whether it be a matter of replacing a girl child through an Infanta or undertaking any other kind of deception which opportunity offers. However, in the case which we investigate here, the opinions expressed by the defenders of Peter the Cruel seem most probable—Freemasons or Liberals—who assert that the accusation of exchanging of Infantas were made out of thin air, and were spread by Henry of Trastamara in order to justify his claim to the throne. However, this fairy-tale was held to be true in Castile and abroad and firmly adhered to in Chronicles of that time.
In the same measure, it seems possible to us that, if it really was a girl in question, that this was invented by the Jews themselves, who surrounded and influenced the young monarch, in order to convert him to Judaism and thus to be able to control him fully.
In favour of this possibility speaks the constant striving of the Jews to control Christian or pagan monarchs for whom they fabricated a Jewish origin. They wished to prove to Francis I of France that he was a Jew, however he laughed at them. Emperor Charles V became for the same reason so enraged that he had the Jews who wished in this way to influence him on behalf of the Synagogue burned. For Charles II of England they even carefully forged a family tree and convinced him to such an extent that he made them some concessions. Even the Emperor of Japan they wished to so deceive and make him believe that he originated from the ten lost tribes, in order to win him for Judaism and thus to control the land of the rising sun. But fortunately the Mikado held them to be lunatics. It is therefore certainly possible that they applied the same methods with Peter and the news seeped through into the hostile camp, where they later used Trastamara as a banner against Peter. However this may be, it is nevertheless evident that Peter, with his murdering of clergy, persecution of the Church and elevation of the Jews, acted more as a Jew than as a Christian, which had the consequence that the story of the exchange of children was believed.
The following Chronicles reveal that Peter was of Jewish origin: the Chronicle from the same period about Peter IV of Aragon, the Chronicle of the contemporary Carmelite Father Juan de Venette, the anonymous Chronicle about the first four Valois, the likewise contemporary Chronicle of Cuvelier among others. It is worthy of note that a century later it is mentioned in a couple of documents—in connection with Salomon-Halevi, the well-known Rabbi of Burgos, who by baptism received the name Pablo de Santa Maria, became priest and later archbishop in the same city—that this prelate was descended from the girl Infanta who was exchanged with the Jewish boy, who was later King as Peter of Castile. The girl Infanta married the father of the renowned Archbishop.
In connection with the exerting of influence by Jews upon the government of Peter—beside the admission mentioned by the Jewish Encyclopedia and by respected Jewish historians—it is stated in the Chronicle from that time written in verse by Cuvelier: "He had the bad practice of allowing himself to be advised in all things by the Jews who dwelled in his land. He revealed to them all his secrets and not to his most intimate friends, blood relations or another Christian. Thus the man, who knowingly made use of such counsel, necessarily came to a bad end.
Another Chronicler and contemporary of Peter, who as a second continued the Latin Chronicle of Guillermo de Mangis, asserts that the King and his government were controlled by Jews: "The monarch was reproached in that he and his house were controlled by Jews, who were present in Spain in great number, and that the whole kingdom was ruled by them."
Paul Hay, the second Chronicler of Bertrand du Guesclin, speaks in this connection of the bad counsellors of Peter making difficulties throughout the whole of Castile, committing murders and calling forth dissatisfaction and disconsolation; that they in addition infected the monarch with a general disinclination towards the most highly regarded people in his kingdom and thus destroyed the mutual regard which binds good kings with their subjects and the peoples with their princes, that Peter called in the Church properties in order to reward the ministers for their ill-will, and—so it is stated—rejected his baptism in order to allow himself to be circumcised, and practised countless cruelties, which filled Spain with blood and tears. He combined in his person all the faults of a Sardanapal, Nero and Domitian, and his spirit was controlled by principally Jewish favourites.