Ferrand Martinez

Who is Ferrand Martinez?

Ferrand Martinez was a Spanish cleric and archdeacon of Écija most noted for being an antisemitic agitator whom historians cite as the prime mover behind the series of pogroms against the Spanish Jews in 1391 beginning in the city of Seville.

Little is known of Martinez's early life. Before taking up the position at Écija, he was the confessor of the queen mother of Aragon. Beginning in 1378, he began preaching sermons against the Jews. Although Juan I commanded him to cease his rabble-rousing, he ignored the royal order, as well as commands from Barroso, archbishop of Toledo, the primate of Spain. For more than a decade Martinez continued his verbal assaults, telling Catholics to "expel the Jews...and to demolish their synagogues." Though put on trial in 1388, his activities were not checked by the king, though the latter stated that the Jews must not be maltreated.

The tipping point occurred when both Juan I and Borroso died in 1390, leaving his 11-year-old son Henry III to rule under the regency of his mother. Martinez continued his campaign against the Jews of Seville, calling on clergy and people to destroy synagogues and seize Jewish holy books and other items. These events led to a further royal order deposing Martinez from his office and ordering damaged synagogues be repaired at Church expense. Declaring that neither the state nor the local church authorities had power over him, he ignored the commands.