History of the Jews in the Balearic Islands History of the Jews in the Balearic Islands The history of the Jews in the Balearic Islands goes back more than a thousand years. Jews have lived in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, belonging to Spain. These are situated to the east of Valencia, the three principal of which are named Majorca (Spanish, Mallorca), Minorca (Menorca), and Eivissa or Ibiza. The group first formed the Kingdom of Majorca; later it became a Spanish province under the domination of Aragon. According to the chroniclers, there were Jewish inhabitants in the Balearic Isles as early as the 2nd century. In the
Conquest of the Canary Islands the islands.) European interest in the Canaries picked up quickly after the 1341 mapping expedition. The descriptions of the primeval Guanches, in particular, drew the attention of European merchants, who immediately saw the prospect of new and easy slave-raiding grounds. In 1342, two Majorcan expeditions, one under Francesc Duvalers, another under Domenech Gual, assembled by private merchant consortia with a commission from Roger de Robenach (representative of James III of Majorca) set out for the Canary islands. The results of these expeditions are uncertain. The Catholic Church was also drawn by the news. In 1344, the Castilian-French noble Luis de