Lisbon Massacre of New Christians

April 19, 1506

During a drought and plague, a Dominican friar whipped a Lisbon crowd into a frenzy against conversos suspected of secret Judaism. For three days mobs dragged men, women, and children from their homes and burned them in the streets. Nearly two thousand died before King Manuel restored order. King Manuel punished the instigators by executing several friars, but tensions between Old and New Christians fueled persecution for centuries.