Expulsion of the Jews from Sicily there. The settlements of these Jews were in Greece and Turkey were large enough great to build their own congregations and to print books. The Jews have never returned en masse to Sicily. However, in 2005, for the first time since the Expulsion, a Passover seder was conducted in Sicily (in Palermo), held by the Milanese progressive Rabbi. http://www.dieli.net/SicilyPage/JewishSicily/JudaicaMessina1.html Expulsion of the Jews from Sicily The expulsion of the Jews from Sicily began in 1493 when the Spanish Inquisition reached the island of Sicily and its population of more than 30,000 Jews. At the time of expulsion from Sicily, the
Emirate of Sicily of the multi-ethnic County and subsequent Kingdom of Sicily, until those who had not already converted were expelled in the 1240s. Until the late 12th century, and probably as late as the 1220s, Muslims formed a substantial portion of the island's population. Their influence remains in some elements of the Sicilian language, as well as surnames and locations. In 535, Emperor Justinian I returned Sicily to the Roman Empire, now ruled from Constantinople exclusively. As the power of what is now known as the Byzantine Empire waned in the West, Sicily was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the reign