Fortalicium fidei contra iudeos saracenos aliosque christiane fidei inimicos, by Alonso de Espina. Nuremberg: Antonij Koberger, 1494 (printing details in the colophon). Latin.

Copy lacking title page.

This influential work by Alonso de Espina (1410-1464), a Franciscan monk and the "royal confessor" to King Henry IV of Castile (Confesor real), advocating for the expulsion of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula and the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition.

The work was completed circa 1460 and became one of the most influential anti-Semitic books in 15th-century Spain. The book likens the Christian faith to a fortress with five turrets, each corresponding to a chapter. It discusses various opponents of Christianity – Muslims, heretics, Jews, and demons – and provides 'means of defense' against each.

The book's second part is almost entirely dedicated to the Conversos of Spain, calling for the establishment of an active Spanish Inquisition to investigate their actions and eradicate their Judaism from the roots.

The third part of the book is dedicated to unconverted Jews – calling for their expulsion from Spain and the Iberian Peninsula.

The present edition was printed in February 1494, during the expulsion of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (approximately two years after the Expulsion of Jews from Spain and about three years before the expulsion of Jews from Portugal).

[9], cclxxxix leaves. 19.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Copy lacking title page. Stains. Handwritten inscriptions (old, in the margins). Trimmed margins. Bookplate. Strip of paper glued to the margins of the last page, with a handwritten inscription. Several tears and perforations, most professionally restored. Fine leather binding, with gilt embossing on spine.

See: Alisa Meyuhas-Ginio, "The Fortress of Faith" at the End of the West: Alonso de Espina and his "Fortalitium Fidei", in: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies, Division B, Volume I, World Union of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 1989, pp. 101-108 (Hebrew).