In 1755, a massive earthquake, firestorm, and tsunami devastated Lisbon and sent shockwaves through European thought. The catastrophe shattered old religious certainties, ignited debates led by Voltaire and Kant, and reshaped the fate of Iberian Jews and “New Christians” long-bound by the Inquisition. In this episode, we trace how one morning of destruction helped usher in modern ideas of reason, justice, and identity—and how Lisbon’s rebuilding reframed the Jewish story within Europe’s emerging Enlightenment.
Links for Additional Reading
The Earthquake That Changed History – BBC REEL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVLGo_SgRfs
The Jesuit and the Jew -The Lisbon Earthquake in Modern Perspective
Revista by Kenneth Maxwell, 30 December 2007
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/the-jesuit-and-the-jew/
Pombal and the Inquisition in Portugal
History Today by Richard Cavendish, 5 May 2001
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/pombal-and-inquisition-portugal
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