So, São Tomé! It's an island near the west African coast, just south of the equator. Nowadays, it's part of the República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe, a tiny African country. I can't say I know much about this modern state, you may look it up if you want. Like a number of other countries around the African coast, their official language is Portuguese. Which is a nice segue to the topic I actually want to talk about: the expulsion and forced conversion of Jews from Portugal. What does São Tomé have to do with that? Don't worry, I'll get to it soon enough.
You see, it all starts with his majesty, King of Portugal and the Algarves, on this side and beyond the Sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and the Lord of Conquest, Navigation and Commerce in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India, Manuel I the Fortunate. Who really wanted to marry the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, but as part of the conditions for this marriage, the parents - king and queen of the newly unified Spain - demanded he either expel or convert all the Jews (and probably Muslims too) of his country. Fun fact: many of said Jews cane to Portugal directly from Spain, following the 1492 Alhambra Decree!
Well, his majesty king of Portugal and the Algarves etc. didn't really want all the Jews to be gone from his land. But he really wanted to be on good terms with his Spanish neighbours, so he basically did everything in his power to convince the Jews to convert. Things like limiting their options to leave Portugal prior to the time the edict came to pass, closing off two of the three ports he promised them they could use on their way out and abducting children in order to forcefully convert them. Fun stuff. Oh, and before I continue: this all happened around 1497. Shəlomo Molcho, the false Messiah I mentioned a few times in the past, was born in Lisbon 4 years later. While it could be his parents converted prior to this date... Yeah, it's unlikely. So his parents were subject to this.
Anyway, let's focus on the children! 2000 Jewish children, abducted and forcefully converted to Christianity - and sent to the island of São Tomé, which was a part of these realms mentioned above in King Manuel's title. Probably included in Guinea or something. Overall an atrocity, hopefully I don't have to explain what's bad about abducting children, forcefully converting them and sending them to an island colony. But that's not all of it yet. I mean, why did I even mention it in my answer to the "you're Wrong" ask?
Well, here would be where I quote Abarbanel's commentary on the Plague of Frogs, but it's a bit long, so here's the gist of it: Abarbanel presents the common conception that the plague was of, you know, frogs, and the niche commentary he attributes to Rabenu Ḥananel, which claims it was actually one of crocodiles. He agrees with the latter for a number of reasons, including that he thinks the phrasing indicates deadliness; and that frogs exist in other water sources in Egypt than the Nile and Moshe said "only in the Nile they shall remain" ("רק ביאור תשארנה"). He reasons that such vicious animals could not grow in sweet water, and claims their actual source must be from salt water in the sea surrounding Africa. Somewhere like that island belonging to Portugal around there? You know, the one they sent 2000 Jewish children to fourteen years ago, and many of those children were killed by crocodiles? Yeah, that's where crocodiles are actually originally from, according to Abarbanel.
So yeah. São Tomé is famous for having crocodiles. And an amount of crypto Jews as well! I don't know how many know they're descended from Jews by now, but according to some stuff I found there are some. And this commentary of Abarbanel is directly related to the first time I was exposed to the "Plague of Frogs is Actually of Crocodiles" idea, because that happened through a Haredi comics about the expulsions of Spain and Portugal and Jewish pirates. And it had a thing with the children in São Tomé as well. So yeah, there you go.
Not my best post, probably, but hopefully this was informative.
