When the Earth Shook Europe: Lisbon, the Enlightenment, and the Jewish Question

In 1755 at Lisbon – a massive earthquake, firestorm, and tsunami devastated Lisbon—and sent shockwaves through European thought. The catastrophe shattered old religious certainties, ignited debates led by Voltaire and Kant, and reshaped the fate of Iberian Jews and “New Christians” long bound by the Inquisition. In this episode, we trace how one morning of destruction helped usher in modern ideas of reason, justice, and identity—and how Lisbon’s rebuilding reframed the Jewish story within Europe’s emerging Enlightenment.

In 1755 at Lisbon – a massive earthquake, firestorm, and tsunami devastated Lisbon—and sent shockwaves through European thought. The catastrophe shattered old religious certainties, ignited debates led by Voltaire and Kant, and reshaped the fate of Iberian Jews and “New Christians” long bound by the Inquisition. In this episode, we trace how one morning of destruction helped usher in modern ideas of reason, justice, and identity—and how Lisbon’s rebuilding reframed the Jewish story within Europe’s emerging Enlightenment.

Links for Additional Reading

The Earthquake That Changed History – BBC REEL

The Jesuit and the Jew -The Lisbon Earthquake in Modern Perspective, Revista by Kenneth Maxwell, 30 December 2007

Pombal and the Inquisition in Portugal, History Today by Richard Cavendish, 5 May 2001