Rahel la Fermosa was a Jewish woman who lived in Toledo, Spain

Toledo, Spain

Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

 in the twelfth century. She was the paramour of King Alfonso VIII of Castile

Kingdom of Castile

Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

, husband of Leonora of England

Leonora of England

Eleanor of England was Queen of Castile and Toledo as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was a daughter of Henry II of England and his wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.-Early life:...

, for almost seven years. Under her influence a number of Spanish Jews were appointed to positions within the royal court. This led to discontent among the clergy and nobility. Rahel's enemies had her murdered, together with those of her coreligionists in the court, in the presence of the king himself. This love-story, which had been relegated to the realm of fable by the Marquis de Mondejar (Memorias Historicas, xxiii. 67 et seq.) and other Spanish literary historians, is related as a fact by Alfonso X

Alfonso X of Castile

Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...

, grandson of Alfonso VIII, and by the latter's son Sancho IV

Sancho IV of Castile

Sancho IV the Brave was the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1284 to his death. He was the second son of Alfonso X and Yolanda, daughter of James I of Aragon.-Biography:...

.

In popular culture

The love affair between Rahel and Alfonso has been dramatized by Martin de Ulloa, Vicente Antonio García de la Huerta

Vicente Antonio García de la Huerta

Vicente Antonio García de la Huerta was a Spanish dramatist, educated at Salamanca. At Madrid he soon attracted attention by his literary arrogance and handsome person, and at an early age became chief of the National Library, a post from which he was dismissed owing to the intrigues of his...

, and other Spanish writers, as well as by Franz Grillparzer

Franz Grillparzer

Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...

 in his play, Die Jüdin von Toledo. Die Jüdin von Toledo was also the name of a novel by Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger was a German-Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht....

, based on the story of Rahel and Alfonso as is La Historia de Fermosa by Abraham Marrache.

Sources

• La Historia de Fermosa, Abraham S. Marrache, Hebraica Ediciones, Madrid 2009 : http://lahistoriadefermosa.com
• Gottheil, Richard and Meyer Kayserling. "Fermosa". Jewish Encyclopedia
  Jewish Encyclopedia
  The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
  
  . Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906, citing:
• Rosseeuw Saint-Hilaire, Histoire d'Espagne, 1837, etc.; v. 181, 527 et seq.;
• Amador de los Rios, Hist. i. 335 et seq.;
• Kayserling. Die Jüdischen Frauen, p. 74.