The Apocryphal Correspondence between the Jews of Spain and those of Constantinople in Historiography: A Critical Review

The correspondence between the Jews of Spain and those of Constantinople has occupied an important place within the European anti-Jewish tradition for around four hundred years. Anti-Jewish authors have used it for centuries as a proof of the existence of a Jewish conspiracy designed to take control of the Christian society from the inside. Since the nineteenth century, the correspondence has also occupied an important place in historiography. This article focuses in this issue, reviewing the way the correspondence has been treated in historiography. It will show how the view that the letters were a fake prevailed, and how questions about its real origin and motivation emerged. Finally, we will show the answers that have been proposed to these questions, and that there are still many things unknown about those important documents.