A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
who converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
or
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the
Old Christian
Old Christian ( es, cristiano viejo, pt, cristão-velho, ca, cristià vell) was a social and law-effective category used in the Iberian Peninsula from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portuguese and Spanish people atte ...
population and make sure that the ''converso'' "
New Christians
New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...
" were true to their new faith, the
Holy Office of the Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
was established in Spain in 1478. The
Catholic monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
and
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
expelled the remaining openly practising Jews by the
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ( Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...
of 1492, following the Christian ''
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
'' (reconquest) of Spain. However, even a significant proportion of these remaining practising Jews chose to join the already large ''converso'' community rather than face exile.
''Conversos'' who did not fully or genuinely embrace Catholicism, but continued to practise
Judaism in secrecy, were referred to as ''judaizantes'' ("
Judaizers
The Judaizers were a faction of the Jewish Christians, both of Jewish and non-Jewish origins, who regarded the Levitical laws of the Old Testament as still binding on all Christians. They tried to enforce Jewish circumcision upon the Gentile c ...
") and pejoratively as
''marranos'' ("swine").
New Christian
New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...
converts of
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
origin were known as
''moriscos''. Unlike Jewish ''conversos'', ''moriscos'' were subject to an edict of expulsion even after their conversion to Catholicism, which was implemented severely in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
and in
Aragón
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...
and less so in other parts of Spain.
''Conversos'' played a vital role in the 1520–1521
Revolt of the Comuneros
The Revolt of the Comuneros ( es, Guerra de las Comunidades de Castilla, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, th ...
, a popular uprising in the Crown of Castile against the rule of
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...
.
History
Ferrand Martínez
Ferrand Martinez (fl. 14th century) was a Spanish cleric and archdeacon of Écija, most noted for being an antisemitic agitator whom historians cite as the prime mover behind the series of pogroms against the Spanish Jews in 1391, beginning in the ...
, Archdeacon of
Écija
Écija () is a city and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is in the countryside, 85 km east of the city of Seville. According to the 2008 census, Écija had a total populat ...
, directed a 13-year
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
campaign that began in 1378. Martínez used a series of provocative sermons, through which he openly condemned the Jews with little to no opposition. He rallied non-Jews against the Jews by creating a constant state of fear through riots. Martínez's efforts led to a series of outbreaks on 4 June 1391,
where several synagogues in Seville were burned to the ground and churches were erected in their place. Amidst this outbreak, many Jews fled the country, some converted to Christianity in fear, and some were sold to Muslims. Martínez set in motion the largest
forced mass conversion of Jews in Spain.
Both the Church and the Crown had not anticipated such a large-scale conversion stemming from an unplanned anti-Semitic campaign led by Ferrand Martínez. The new converts, most of whom were forced, due to their large numbers, were victims of a new problem. A problem that temporarily solved the Jewish presence in Spain, however, led to the creation of a new group that was neither completely Catholic nor Jewish.
The conversos, who were now fully privileged citizens, competed in all aspects of the economic sphere. This resulted in a new wave of racial anti-Semitism that was targeted at the conversos. This anti-Semitism evolved into small and large riots in Toledo, 1449, that now oppressed not the Jews by the Christians, but the New Christians (conversos) by the Old Christians. Thus, the Crown established a National Inquisition in 1478, that would test the loyalty and purity of a newly baptised Christian (converso). Due to continued oppression, some Jews and conversos fled Spain, others created a community to ensure the survival of Judaism in the Iberian Peninsula, although outwardly practising Christianity.
Perpetuation of Jewish heritage
Conversas played a pivotal role in keeping Jewish traditions alive by observing many Jewish holidays like Shabbat. Conversas cooked and baked traditional Jewish dishes in honour of the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
(starting on Friday sundown),
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
, and other religious holidays. During festivals like
Sukkot
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
and
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
, Conversas participated by giving clothing articles and ornaments to Jewish women, attending a
seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
, or obtaining a baking
matzah
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' ( leaven an ...
. Conversas ensured that their household maintained similar dietary regulations as their Jewish counterparts, by eating only
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
birds and other animals. Conversas also financially contributed to the growth of the Jewish/Converso community and synagogue.
The Jewish community and the conversos exchanged books and knowledge, Jews taught conversos how to read to ensure constant growth of their Jewish heritage. To take a stance against the church and its principles, some conversos performed professional work even on Sundays.
The traditional Jewish
Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...
was kept by the conversos in the disguise of a Christian holiday, they named it "
Festival of Santa Esterica The Festival of Santa Esterica is a holiday that was created as a substitute for Purim by the Anusim (also known as " conversos", Sephardi Jews forced to convert to Catholicism) after their expulsion from Spain in the late 15th century. It is still ...
".
Description
''Conversos'' were subject to suspicion and harassment from both what was left of the community they were leaving and that which they were joining. Both Christians and Jews called them ''tornadizo'' (renegade).
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
,
Alfonso X
Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...
and
John I John I may refer to:
People
* John I (bishop of Jerusalem)
* John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople
* John of Antioch (died 441)
* Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526
* John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna
* John I o ...
passed laws forbidding the use of this epithet. This was part of a larger pattern of royal oversight, as laws were promulgated to protect their property, forbid attempts to convert them back to Judaism or the Muslim faith, and regulate their behaviour, preventing their cohabitation or even dining with Jews, lest they convert back.
Conversos did not enjoy legal equality.
Alfonso VII
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
prohibited the "recently converted" from holding office in
Toledo. They had supporters and bitter opponents in the Christian secular of general acceptance, yet they became targets of occasional pogroms during times of social tension (as during an epidemic and after an earthquake). They were subject to the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Portuguese inquisitions.
While "pure blood" (so-called ''
limpieza de sangre
The concept of (), (, ) or (), literally "cleanliness of blood" and meaning "blood purity", was an early system of racialized discrimination used in early modern Spain and Portugal.
The label referred to those who were considered "Old Chri ...
''), free of the "taint" of non-Christian lineage, would come to be placed at a premium, particularly among the nobility, in a 15th-century defence of ''conversos'', Bishop
Lope de Barrientos
Lope de Barrientos (1382–1469), sometimes called Obispo Barrientos ("Bishop Barrientos"), was a powerful clergyman and statesman of the Crown of Castile during the 15th century, although his prominence and the influence he wielded during his l ...
would list what Roth calls "a veritable 'Who's Who' of Spanish nobility" as having ''converso'' members or being of ''converso'' descent. He pointed out that given the near-universal conversion of Iberian Jews during
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
times, (quoting Roth) "
o among the Christians of Spain could be certain that he is not a descendant of those ''conversos''?"
With advances in science able to trace individuals' ancestry via their DNA, according to a widely publicised study (December 2008) in the ''American Journal of Human Genetics'', modern Spaniards (and Portuguese) have an average admixture of 19.8 percent from ancestors originating in the Near East during historic times (i.e. Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Jews and Levantine Arabs) – compared to 10.6 percent of North African – Berber admixture.
This proportion could be as high as 23% in the case of Latin Americans, however, according to a study published in
Nature Communications
''Nature Communications'' is a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio since 2010. It is a multidisciplinary journal and it covers the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, earth sciences, medici ...
.
The possibly higher proportion of significant Jewish ancestry in the Latin American population could stem from increased emigration of Conversos to the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
to avoid persecution by the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
.
By country
In Spain
The
Chuetas
The Xuetes (; singular , also known as and spelled as ) are a social group on the Spanish island of Majorca, in the Mediterranean Sea, who are descendants of Majorcan Jews that either were conversos (forcible converts to Christianity) or were ...
are a current social group on the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
island of
Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
, in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
, who are descendants of Majorcan Jews that either were conversos (forcible converts to Christianity) or were
Crypto-Jews
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden').
The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...
, forced to keep their religion hidden. They practiced strict
endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
by marrying only within their own group.
The Chuetas has been
stigmatized
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, rac ...
up until today in Balearic Islands. In the latter part of the 20th century, the spread of freedom of religion and
laïcité
(; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...
reduced both the social pressure and community ties. An estimated 18,000 people in the island carry Chueta surnames in the 21st century.
All this, however, does not imply the complete elimination of rejection behaviors, as indicated by a survey carried out among Majorcans by the
University of the Balearic Islands
The University of the Balearic Islands ( ca, Universitat de les Illes Balears, UIB; es, Universidad de las Islas Baleares ) is a Balearic Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma on the island of Majorca. The university is funde ...
in 2001, in which 30% stated that they would never marry a Chueta and 5% declared that they do not even want to have Chueta friends.
In Italy
Specific groups of conversos left Spain and Portugal after the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
in 1492, in search for a better life. They left for other parts of Europe, especially Italy,
where they were inevitably looked at with suspicion and harassment, both in their old and new communities. Subsequently, many conversos who arrived in Italian cities did not openly embrace their Judaism, since they were tempted by the advantages they could seek in the Christian world.
The first three cities to accept the conversos who openly converted back to Judaism, were Florence, Ferrara, and Ancona. Most of these conversos appeared after 1536 from Portugal, and most lived in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. In 1549,
Duke Cosimo de' Medici allowed the Portuguese conversos to trade and reside within Florence. Most of the re-converted Jews lived in the ghetto of Florence, and by 1705 there were 453 Jews in the city.
Conversos arrived to
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
in 1535, and were able to assimilate with their neighbours, perform circumcisions, and return openly to Judaism, due to the
Lettres Patentes
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
issued by
Duke Ercole II. After the plague in 1505 and the eventual fall of Ferrara in 1551, many of these Jews relocated North towards the economically stable ports in Venice. Venice slowly became a center for conversos who either stopped temporarily on their way to Turkey or stayed permanently as residents in the ghetto Jewish community port. Venetian leaders were convinced to openly accept conversos to practice Judaism because they recognised that if conversos were not welcome in Venice, they would take their successful trades to the country's economic rival of Turkey. A Portuguese converso in Venice, named Abraham de Almeda, connected strongly with Christianity, however, turned to the Jewish members of his family when in need of financing for moral support. As a result, many of the conversos during this period struggled with their Christian and Jewish identities.
Conversos in the city of
Ancona
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...
faced difficult lives living under the pope and eventually fled to Ferrara in 1555. Portuguese conversos in Ancona were falsely misled that they were welcome to Ancona and that they could openly convert back to Judaism. Their fate was overturned by the succeeding pope,
Pope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pa ...
. The conversos in Ancona faced traumatic emotional damage after the pope imprisoned 102 conversos who refused to reside in the ghetto and wear badges to distinguish themselves. In 1588, when the duke granted a charter of residence in return for the conversos building up the city's economy, they refused, due to accumulated scepticism.
See also
*
Marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...
*
Chuetas
The Xuetes (; singular , also known as and spelled as ) are a social group on the Spanish island of Majorca, in the Mediterranean Sea, who are descendants of Majorcan Jews that either were conversos (forcible converts to Christianity) or were ...
*
Dönmeh
The Dönme ( he, דוֹנְמֶה, Dōnme, ota, دونمه, tr, Dönme) were a group of Sabbatean crypto-Jews in the Ottoman Empire who converted outwardly to Islam, but retained their Jewish faith and Kabbalistic beliefs in secret. The mo ...
*
Allahdad
The Allahdad ( fa, الله داد, ) was an 1839 pogrom perpetrated by Muslims against the Mashhadi Jewish community in the city of Mashhad, Qajar Iran. It was characterized by the mass-killing and forced conversion of the Jews in the area to ...
*
Chala
The Chala or "Coast" is one of the eight natural regions in Peru. It is formed by all the western lands that arise from sea level up to the height of 500 meters. The coastal desert of Peru is largely devoid of vegetation but a unique fog and mist ...
*
Neofiti
The neofiti ( en, Neophytes) were a group of Italian ''anusim'', also known as crypto-Jews, living in Southern Italy.
History
The ''neofiti'' were descendants of Jews who were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1493. They continued t ...
*
Anusim
Anusim ( he, אֲנוּסִים, ; singular male, anús, he, אָנוּס ; singular female, anusáh, , meaning "coerced") is a legal category of Jews in ''halakha'' (Jewish law) who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically ...
*
Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden').
The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...
*
Judaism in Mexico
The history of the Jews in Mexico can be said to have begun in 1519 with the arrival of ''Conversos'', often called '' Marranos'' or “Crypto-Jews,” referring to those Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism and that then became subject to the ...
Further reading
*Alberro, Solange. ''Inquisición y sociedad en México, 1571–1700''. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica 1993.
*Alexy, T. ''The Marrano Legacy: A Contemporary Crypto-Jewish Priest Reveals Secrets of His Double Life''. University of New Mexico Press 2002. . OCLC 51059087.
*Amelang, James. ''Historias paralelas: Judeoconversos y moriscos en la España moderna''. Madrid:
Ediciones Akal
Ediciones Akal is a Spanish publisher founded in Madrid in 1972 by Ramón Akal González. It consists of a catalogue of three thousand works in forty collections which includes fields like Humanities, classic texts, modern literature, etc., and ...
, 2011.
*Beinart, Haim. "The Conversos in Spain and Portugal in the 16th to 18th Centuries", in ''Moreshet Sepharad: TheSephardi Legacy'', ed. Haim Beinart. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1992.
*Beinart, Haim. "The Records of the Inquisition: A Source of Jewish and Converso History", ''Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities'' 2 (1968).
*Beinart, Haim. ''Conversos ante la inquisición''. Jerusalem: Hebrew University 1965.
*Bodian, Miriam. ''Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
*Bodian, Miriam. “'Men of the Nation': The Shaping of Converso Identity in Early Modern Europe". ''Past & Present'' 143 (1994): 48–76.
*Brooks, Andrée Aelion. ''The Woman who Defied Kings: the life and times of Dona Gracia Nasi'', Paragon House, 2002.
*Dirks, Doris A. "I will make the Inquisition burn you and your sisters: The role of gender and kindship in accusations against Conversas." ''Magistra'' 6.2 (2000): 28.
*Domínguez Ortiz, Antonio. ''Los judeoconversos en la España moderna''. Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.
*Gerber, Jane S. ''The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience''. New York: The Free Press 1994. .
*Gitlitz, David. ''Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews'', Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2002.
*Gojman de Backal, Alicia. "Conversos" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico''. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, vol. 1, pp. 340–344.
*Gojman Goldberg, Alicia. ''Los conversos en la Nueva España''. Mexico City: Enep-Acatlan, UNAM 1984.
*Greenleaf, Richard E. ''The Mexican Inquisition in the Sixteenth Century''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1969.
*Jacobs, J. ''Hidden Heritage: The Legacy of the Crypto-Jews''. University of California Press 2002. . OCLC 48920842.
*Kamen, Henry. ''The Spanish Inquisition''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1965.
*Lafaye, Jacques. ''Cruzadas y Utopias: El judeocristianismo en las sociedades Ibéricas''. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica 1984.
*
Lanning, John Tate. "Legitimacy and ''Limpieza de Sangre'' in the Practice of Medicine in the Spanish Empire." ''Jahrbuch für Geschicte 4 (1967)
*Liebman, Seymour. ''Los Judíos en México y en América Central''. Mexico city: Siglo XXI 1971.
*Martínez, Maria Elena. "Limpieza de Sangre" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', vol. 1, pp. 749–752. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.
*Navarrete Peláez, María Cristina. "Judeoconversos en el Nuevo Reino de Granada." In ''Los judíos en Colombia: Una aproximación histórica'', edited by Adelaida Sourdis Nájera and Alfonso Velasco Rojas, 26–52. Madrid: Casa Sefarad Israel, 2011.
*Navarrete Peláez, María Cristina.. ''La diáspora judeoconversa en Colombia, siglos XVI y XVII: Incertidumbres de su arribo, establecimiento y persecución''. Cali: Universidad del Valle, 2010.
*Novoa, Nelson. ''Being the Nação in the Eternal City: New Christian Lives in Sixteenth-Century Rome''. Peterborough: Baywolf Press 2014
*Pulido Serrano, Juan Ignacio. "Converso Complicities in an Atlantic Monarchy: Political and Social Conflicts behind the Inquisitorial Persecutions". In ''The Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond'', Volume Three: Displaced Persons, edited by KevinIngram and Juan Ignacio Pulido Serrano, 117–128. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
*Pulido Serrano, Juan Ignacio. "Political Aspects of the Converso Problem: On the Portuguese Restauraçao of 1640". In ''The Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond'', Volume Two: The Morisco Issue, edited by Kevin Ingram, 219–246. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
*Roth, Norman, ''Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain'', Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.
*Saban, Mario Javier. ''Judíos Conversos: Los antepasados judíos de las familias tradicionales argentinas''. Buenos Aires: Editorial Distal, 1990.
*Seed, Patricia. ''To Love, Honor, and Obey in Colonial Mexico: Conflicts over Marriage Choices, 1574–1821''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1988.
*Sicroff, Albert A. ''Los estatutos de limpieza de sangre''. Translated by Mauro Armiño. Madrid: Tauros 1985.
*Soyer, François. “'It is not possible to be both a Jew and a Christian': Converso Religious Identity and the Inquisitorial Trial of Custodio Nunes (1604–5).” ''Mediterranean Historical Review'' 26 (2011): 81–97.
*Tobias, H.J. ''A History of the Jews in New Mexico''. University of New Mexico Press 1992. . . OCLC 36645510
*Ventura, Maria da Graça A. "Los judeoconversos portugueses en el Perú del siglo XVII: Redes de complicidad". In ''Familia, Religión y Negocio: El sefardismo en las relaciones entre el mundo ibérico y los Países Bajos en la Edad Moderna'', edited by Jaime Contreras, Bernardo J. García García, e Ignacio Pulido, 391–406. Madrid: Fundación Carlos Amberes, 2002.
References
External links
[late 15th century">Ana Gómez-Bravo, "Conversos and identity in the poetry of the fifteenth century" (poems of Comendador Román and Antón de Montoro, excerpts from Andrés Bernáldez’s ''Memorias'' and the ''Libro de Alborayque'' [late 15th century, in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in ''Open Iberia/América'' (open access teaching anthology))]
Selections in English and Spanish of Ferrán Martínez’s speech at the Tribunal del Alcázar in Seville, 19 February, 1388 (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in ''Open Iberia/América'' (open access teaching anthology)Out of Spain educational materialsConverso lectures and activitiesAlhambra Decree: 521 Years Later a blog post on the
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Song From a Withered Limb: Las Posadas and the Converso Crisis of the 16th Century
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