The Sultan that sent a navy to save Jews
In 1492 Spain expelled its Jewish and Muslim populations as part of the Spanish Inquisition. The ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Bayezid II, responded to Spain’s ethnic cleansing by sending the Ottoman Navy to rescue the victims of the inquisition and resettle them in Ottoman lands.
The Sultan then sent out proclamations throughout the empire stating that the Jewish refugees were to be welcomed, granting them permission to settle anywhere in the Empire as full and equal citizens. He ridiculed the conduct of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had expelled the Jews by saying “You venture to call Ferdinand a wise ruler, he who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine!” – in recognition of the incredible contributions the Jews would make to his empire.
Bayezid then sent a decree to all the governors of his European provinces, ordering them not only to refrain from repelling the Spanish refugees, but to give them a friendly and welcome reception, threatening those who treated the Jews harshly with death.
