Disputation of Tortosa

The Disputation of Tortosa was one the famous ordered disputations between Christians and Jews of the Middle Ages, held in the years 1413–1414 in the city of Tortosa, Catalonia, Crown of Aragon (part of modern-day Spain). According to the Jewish Encyclopedia it was not free and authentic debate, but was an attempt by Christians to force conversion on the Jews.

Among the participants on the Jewish side were Profiat Duran and Yosef Albo as well as other rabbinic scholars such as Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona, Moshe ben Abbas, and Astruc ha-Levi. Each one was a representative of a different community. Vincent Ferrer, later canonised, was an important participant on the Christian side. As a followup of the disputations, in May 1415, a papal bull forbade the study of the Talmud and inflicted all kinds of degradation upon the Jews.

The initiator of the disputation and representative for the Christians was the antipope's personal physician, the Jewish Christian convert Gerónimo de Santa Fe. After his conversion to Christianity, he presented Antipope Benedict XIII with a composition containing topics to contest with his former co-religionists. The aging antipope, who rejoiced at religious debate, jumped at the opportunity to bring the Jews to a disputation. King Ferdinand I of Aragon did not stand in his way, and letters of invitation were sent to the various Jewish communities in 1413. Attempts by the Jews to free themselves of this were not successful.

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