המרות דת ומעשי קידוש השם בשנת קנ"א: הערכה מחדשת

This is an evaluation of R. Ben-Shalom's reassessment of the results of the persecutions directed against the Jews in Spain in 1391. This response attempts to show that the author fails to change current historiographical views on all major points reconsidered. Our main conclusions are: (a) the number of converts to Christianity cannot be reduced significantly; (b) the number of converts during the persecutions in Ashkenaz was much lower; (c) one cannot speak about a Sephardic martyrological tradition and consciousness independent of the Ashkenazic influence, especially not with regard to active martyrdom. All this is shown primarily by analyzing the same sources used by the author and pointing to what we consider to be serious methodological flaws in his analysis.