![Judaica](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Judaica.jpg)
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
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 Spanish Jews who outwardly professed
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 ...
,
also known as
Conversos,
Marranos, or the
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 ...
. The phenomenon is especially associated with Renaissance Spain, following the
Massacre of 1391
The Massacre of 1391, also known as the pogroms of 1391, was a display of antisemitism and violence against Jews in Spain. It was one of the Middle Ages' worst antisemitic outbreaks; Jews were ultimately given the choice of converting or leaving ...
and the
expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
[Levine Melammed, Renee. "Women in Medieval Jewish Societies," in ''Women and Judaism: New Insights and Scholarship''. Ed. Frederick E. Greenspahn. New York: New York University Press, 2009. 105–106.]
Europe
Officially, Jews who converted in Spain during the 14th and 15th centuries were known as
''Cristianos Nuevos'' (New Christians), but were commonly called ''
conversos'' (converts
o Christianity. Spain and Portugal passed legislation restricting their rights in the mother countries of Spain and Portugal and their Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas.
Although only Cristianos Viejos (Old Christians) who could prove
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 ...
(cleanliness of blood) descent from Christian Iberian European ancestry only, without tainting of any Jewish ancestry or Muslim Berber/Arab ancestry, were allowed to officially migrate to the New World Spanish colonies, many Jewish-origin Christian conversos nevertheless ventured directly to the Spanish colonies on forged limpieza de sangre documents, or they entered the Spanish colonies via Brazil. The entry requirements to the Portuguese colony of Brazil were more lax and also less rigorously enforced.
Despite the dangers of the Inquisition in Spain and its franchises in the Americas, many ''conversos'' continued to secretly and discreetly practice Jewish rituals in the home,
such as the
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 ...
, a disguised version of
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 ...
to celebrate the Jewish Queen Esther with a fictional “Catholic” Saint Esterica.
After 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, numerous ''conversos'', also called
Xueta
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 ...
(or Chueta) in the
Balearic Islands ruled by Spain, publicly professed
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
but privately adhered to Judaism, even through 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 ...
. They are among the most widely known and documented crypto-Jews.
Crypto-Judaism existed also in earlier periods, whenever Jews were forced or pressured to convert to the majority religion by the rulers of places where they resided. Some of the Jewish followers of
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
(
Sabbateans
The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jews, Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676),
a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalah, Kabbalist who was List of Jewish messiah claimants, proclai ...
) formally converted to Islam and were known as
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 ...
. Later followers of
Jacob Frank
Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626 ...
("Frankists") formally converted to Christianity but maintained aspects of practice of their versions of Judaism.
Crypto-Jews persisted in Russia and Eastern European countries influenced by the Soviet Union after the rise of Communism with the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
of 1917. The government, which included secular Communist Jews, did not force Jews to convert to the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
but regarded the practice of any religion as undesirable. Some faiths were allowed to continue under strict supervision by the regime. Since the end of Communism, many people in former Soviet states, including descendants of Jews, have publicly taken up the faith of their ancestors again.
The "
Belmonte Jews
The history of the Jewish Community in Belmonte, Portugal dates back to the 12th century and consists of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who kept their faith alive through the practice of Crypto-Judaism. The Sephardic tradition of Crypto-Judaism is u ...
" of Portugal, dating from the 12th century, maintained strong secret traditions for centuries. A whole community survived in secrecy by maintaining a tradition of endogamous marriage and hiding all external signs of their faith. They and their practices were discovered only in the 20th century. Their rich Sephardic tradition of crypto-Judaism is unique. Some now profess Orthodox Judaism, although many still retain their centuries-old traditions.
Role of Maimonides
As one of the towering figures in Judaism and the author of the
Mishneh Torah
The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law ('' ...
commentary on the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
,
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
also issued a landmark doctrinal response to the forced conversions of Jews in the Iberian peninsula by the
Almohads
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire f ...
:
In his ''Epistle on Martyrdom,'' however, Maimonides suggested that the persecuted Jew should publicly adopt Islam while maintaining crypto-Judaism and not seek martyrdom unless forced to transgress Jewish commandments in public. He also excoriated one writer who advocated martyrdom for "long-winded foolish babbling and nonsense" and for misleading and hurting the Jews. In a sweeping view of the Jewish past, Maimonides marshals examples of heretics and sinners from the Bible to show that even oppressors of Israel were rewarded by God for a single act of piety or respect. How much greater then, he argues, will be the reward of the Jews "who despite the exigencies of forced conversion perform commandments secretly."
Maimonides championed rationalism over the then-accepted practice of martyrdom when facing religious adversity. This consequently legitimized crypto-Judaism by the religion's standards and provided doctrinal backing for Jews during the centuries of the Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834).
Before the Spanish Inquisition
According to the
Encyclopaedia Judaica
The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langu ...
,
several incidents of forced conversions happened prior to 1492 and outside of Iberia. One of the earliest conversions happened a century after the
Fall of Rome
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
and was in
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...
. After a member of the
Jewish
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""The ...
community in Clermont-Ferrand became a
Jewish Christian
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
and was persecuted by other members of the community for doing so, the cavalcade in which he was marching persecuted his persecutors in turn:
The participants in the procession then made an attack "which destroyed he synagoguecompletely, razing it to the grounds." Subsequently, Bishop *Avitus directed a letter to the Jews in which he disclaimed the use of compulsion to make them adopt Christianity, but announced at the end of the missive: "Therefore if ye be ready to believe as I do, be one flock with us, and I shall be your pastor; but if ye be not ready, depart from this place." The community hesitated for three days before making a decision. Finally the majority, some 500, accepted Christianity. The Christians in Clermont greeted the event with rejoicing: "Candles were lit, the lamps shone, the whole city radiated with the light of the snow-white flock" (i.e., the forced converts). The Jews who preferred exile left for *Marseilles (Gregory of Tours, Histories, 5:11). The poet Venantius Fortunatus composed a poem to commemorate the occasion. In 582 the Frankish king Chilperic compelled numerous Jews to adopt Christianity. Again the anusim were not wholehearted in their conversion, for "some of them, cleansed in body but not in heart, denied God, and returned to their ancient perfidy, so that they were seen keeping the Sabbath, as well as Sunday" (ibid., 6:17).
The Clermont-Ferrand conversions preceded the first forced conversions in Iberia by 40 years. Forced baptisms of Jews took place in Iberia in 616 at the insistence of Visigoth monarch
Sisibut
Sisebut ( la, Sisebutus, es, Sisebuto; also ''Sisebuth'', ''Sisebur'', ''Sisebod'' or ''Sigebut'') ( 565 – February 621) was King of the Visigoths and ruler of Hispania and Septimania from 612 until his death.
Biography
He campaigned succes ...
:
Persistent attempts to enforce conversion were made in the seventh century by the Visigoths in Spain after they had adopted the Roman Catholic faith. Comparatively mild legal measures were followed by the harsh edict issued by King Sisibut in 616, ordering the compulsory baptism of all Jews. After conversion, however, the anusim evidently maintained their Jewish cohesion and religious life. It was undoubtedly this problem that continued to occupy Spanish sovereigns at the successive Councils of Toledo representing both the ecclesiastical and secular authorities...Thus, steps were taken to secure that the children of converts had a Christian religious education as well as to prevent the older generation from continuing to observe the Jewish rites or from failing to observe the Catholic ones. A system of strict supervision by the clergy over the way of life and movements of the anusim was imposed...
Neofiti
The
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 ...
were a group of crypto-Jews living in the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
, which included all of Southern Italy from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
Susiti
The ancestral line
Sus,
Süßkind and
Lindauer was a crypto-Jewish susitic ancestral line that settled in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
and lived as Catholic or Protestant crypto-Jews. Secondary lineages of the
Lindauer are: Lindauere, Lindouer, Lindaer, Linduaer, Lindeaur, Lindeauer, Lindhauer, Linndauer, Lindayer as well as Lindaurr.
Mediterranean and Asia
There have been several communities of crypto-Jews in Muslim lands. The ancestors of the
Daggatun Daggatun was a nomad tribe of Jewish origin living in the neighborhood of Tamentit, in the oasis of Tuat in the Algerian Sahara.
History
An account of the Daggatun (whose name may perhaps be derived from the Arabic "tughatun" = infidels) was fir ...
s in Morocco are thought to have kept up their Jewish practices a long time after their nominal adoption of Islam. In Iran, a large community of crypto-Jews lived in
Mashhad, near
Khorassan, where they were known as ''"Jedid al-Islam"''; they were mass-converted to Islam around 1839 after the
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 ...
events. Most of this community left for Israel in 1946. Some converted to Islam and remained in Iran.
India
In 1494, after the signing of the
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Emp ...
, authorized by
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
, Portugal was given the right to found colonies in the Eastern Hemisphere. In his lecture at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, Professor
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Chair in Social Sciences at
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, explains that crypto-Jews were especially attracted to India because not only was it a center of trade, but India had established an ancient Jewish settlements along its Western coast. The presence of these communities meant that crypto-Jews, who had been forced to accept
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 ...
but did not want to emigrate to tolerant countries (e.g. Morocco, Poland, Ottoman Empire, etc.), could operate within the
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
with the full freedom of Catholic subjects but away from 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, ...
while collaborating with existing Jewish communities to hide their true beliefs.
The presence of crypto-Jews in Goa angered the Archbishop of Goa, Dom
Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira
Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereira, or simply Gaspar de Leão Pereira or Gaspar de Leão (Lagos - Goa, 15 August 1576) was the first Archbishop of Goa.
After the diocese of Goa was elevated to an archdiocese, he was appointed Archbishop of Goa, Pri ...
, and other Europeans like
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...
who wrote polemics and letters to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
urging that the Inquisition be brought to Goa. Crypto-Jews presented a security threat to the Kingdom of Portugal, because Sephardic Jews had an established reputation in Iberia for joining forces with
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
to overthrow Christian rulers.
The
Goan Inquisition commenced in 1560 and ended in 1812. It targeted crypto-Jews,
crypto-Muslims, and
crypto-Hindus. Of the 1,582 persons convicted between 1560 and 1623, 45.2% were convicted for offenses related to Judaism and Islam. A compilation of the auto-da-fé statistics of the Goa Inquisition reveal that a total of 57 persons were burnt in the flesh and 64 in effigy (i.e. a statue resembling the person). All the burnt were convicted as relapsed heretics or for sodomy.
Spanish America
Crypto-Judaism was documented chiefly in Spanish-held colonial territories in northern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. Numerous conversos joined Spanish and Portuguese expeditions, believing there was an economic opportunity in the new lands, and that they would have more freedom at a distance far from Iberia. Different situations developed in the early colonial period of Mexico, the frontier province of
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
, the later northern frontier provinces, and the colonial experience of the
Mexican Inquisition
The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into New Spain. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformat ...
The crypto-Jewish traditions have complex histories and are typically embedded in an amalgam of syncretic Roman Catholic and Judaic traditions. In many ways resurgent Judaic practices mirrored indigenous peoples' maintaining their traditions practiced loosely under a Roman Catholic veil. In addition, Catholicism was syncretic, absorbing other traditions and creating a new creole religion.
The traditional
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 ...
was preserved among the Conversos who migrated to the New World and is still practiced today among their descendants.
Early colonial period—16th century
Some of the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain went to Portugal, but in 1497 that country effectively converted all remaining Jewish children, making them wards of the state unless the parents also converted. Therefore, many of the early crypto-Jewish migrants to Mexico in the early colonial days were technically first to second-generation Portuguese with Spanish roots before that. The number of such Portuguese migrants was significant enough that Spanish colonists began to use "Portuguese" as a synonym for "Jewish" for their settlers.
Immigration to Mexico
Immigration to Mexico has been important in shaping the country's demographics. Since the early sixteenth century with the arrival of the Spanish, Mexico has received immigrants from Europe, Africa, the Americas (particularly the United States a ...
offered lucrative trade possibilities in a well-populated colony with nascent Spanish culture. Some migrants believed that this region would be more tolerant since the lands were overwhelmingly populated by non-Christian indigenous peoples and it was far removed from the metropole.
Colonial officials believed that many crypto-Jews were going to Mexico during the 16th century and complained in written documents to Spain that Spanish society in Mexico would become significantly Jewish. Officials found and condemned clandestine synagogues in Mexico City. At this point, colonial administrators instituted
the Law of the Pure Blood, which prohibited migration to Mexico for
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 ...
s (Cristiano Nuevo), i.e. anyone who could not prove to be Old Christians for at least the last three generations. In addition, the administration initiated the
Mexican Inquisition
The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into New Spain. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformat ...
to ensure the Catholic orthodoxy of all migrants to Mexico. The Mexico Inquisition was also deployed in the traditional manner to ensure orthodoxy of converted indigenous peoples. The first victims of burnings (or
''autos de fé'') of the Mexican Inquisition were indigenous converts convicted of heresy or crypto-Jews convicted of relapsing into their ancestral faith.
Except for those allowed to settle the province of
Nuevo Leon Nuevo is the Spanish word for "new". It may refer to:
* Nuevo, California, a town in the state of California
* Nuevo (band), featuring singer and musician Peter Godwin
* Nuevo (Bayamón), a settlement in Puerto Rico
* "Nuevo", Spanish-language vers ...
under an exemption from the Blood Purity Laws, the number of conversos migrating to the New World was reduced.
Nuevo León (1590s to early 17th century)
The colonization of New Spain took place as a northward expansion over increasingly harsh geography, in regions that were occupied by tribes angered at the encroachment; they formed loose confederations of indigenous peoples to resist the settlers. Spain financed the expansion by exploiting mineral wealth, enslaving, or forcing indigenous peoples to labor in mines. It established
encomiendas
The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
for raising livestock, thereby displacing the local people. The indigenous peoples of the North-Eastern quadrant of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
(Nueva España) proved particularly resistant to colonial pressures. The
Chichimec
Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajio region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that desc ...
,
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
, and other tribes resisted conversion to Christianity and avoided being impressed as laborers or slaves on Spanish ranches and in mines. The Spanish believed such peoples made the frontier (''frontera'') a lawless region.
Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva
Luis de Carvajal (sometimes Luis de Carabajal y de la Cueva) ( – 13 February 1591) was governor of the Spanish empire, Spanish province of Nuevo León in present-day Mexico, slave trader, and the first Spanish subject known to have entered Tex ...
, a royal accountant, was a Portuguese
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 ...
. He received a royal charter from the Spanish Crown to settle
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
, a large expanse of land in the hostile frontier. Because of the dangers and difficulties of this region, Carvajal y de la Cueva received an exemption in his charter from the usual requirement that he prove that all new settlers were "Old Christians" (
of at least three generations) rather than recently converted Jews or Muslims. This exemption allowed people to go to Nuevo León who were legally barred from entering
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
elsewhere. Carvajal was authorized to bring 100 soldiers and 60 laborers to New Spain; many have been documented as crypto-Jews.
![MusMetHistoricalRoom16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/MusMetHistoricalRoom16.JPG)
With Carvajal as governor,
Monterrey was established as the center (now in the state of Nuevo León). Within a few years, some people reported to authorities in Mexico City that Jewish rites were being performed in the Northern Province and efforts to convert heathen indigenous peoples were lax.
The principal economic activity of Carvajal and his associates seems to have been capturing
Indians and selling them into slavery.
Carvajal's Lieutenant Governor,
Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, led a large expedition to
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
in 1591 in an effort to establish a colony. Castaño was arrested for this unauthorized expedition and sentenced to exile in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. The sentence was later reversed, but he had already been killed in the
Molucca Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
when the Chinese slaves on his ship mutinied.
Governor Carvajal, his immediate family members, and others of his entourage were called to appear before the Inquisition in Mexico City. They were arrested and jailed. The governor subsequently died in jail, prior to a sentence of exile. His niece Anna Carvajal had been tortured and implicated all the family in so-called charges. They were all executed by
burning at the stake
Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
for relapsing into Judaism, except for one nephew who escaped arrest.
The governor's nephews changed their surname to
Lumbroso Lombroso, Lumbroso, or Lumbrozo is a surname, derived from a Sephardi family, members of which lived in Tunis, Marseilles, and Italy. The surname may refer to:
* Isaac Lumbroso (1680–1752), rabbi and talmudist
* Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), Ita ...
. One of these was Joseph Lumbroso, also known as
Luis de Carvajal el Mozo, who is said to have circumcised himself in the desert to conform to Jewish law. He was garroted to avoid being burned at the stake. His memoirs, letters and inquisition record were preserved and are held in the archive. Two other nephews also changed their names to Lumbroso and migrated to Italy, where they became noted rabbis.
When Carvajal was in office, the city of Monterrey became a destination for other crypto-Jews who wanted to escape the Mexican Inquisition in the south of the territory. Thus, Nuevo León and the founding of Monterrey are significant as they attracted crypto-Jewish migrants from all parts of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. They created one of the earliest Jewish-related communities in Mexico. (The Jewish communities in modern Mexico, which practice their Judaism openly, were not established until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, after considerable immigration of Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe, and
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained ...
from Turkey and Syria.)
Former New Spain territories in the United States, 17th–18th centuries
Due to the Inquisition activities in Nuevo León, many crypto-Jewish descendants migrated to frontier colonies further west, using the trade routes passing through the towns of the Sierra Madre Occidental and Chihuahua, Hermosillo and Cananea, and to the north on the trade route to
Paso del Norte and
Santa Fe (both cities in the colonial
Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
). Some even traveled to
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
on the Pacific Coast.
In the late 20th century, in modern-day
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
specifically
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, which was a former territory of New Spain, several
Hispanos of New Mexico
The Hispanos of New Mexico, also known as Neomexicanos ( es, Neomexicano) or Nuevomexicanos, are Hispanic residents originating in the historical region of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, today the US state of New Mexico (''Nuevo México''), south ...
have stated a belief that they are descended from crypto-Jews of the colonial period. While most maintain their Roman Catholic and Christian faiths, they often cite as evidence memories of older relatives practicing Jewish traditions. Since the 1990s, the crypto-Jews of New Mexico have been extensively studied and documented by several research scholars, including Stanley M. Hordes, Janet Liebman Jacobs,
Schulamith Halevy, and Seth D. Kunin, who calls them ''Hispanos''. Kunin noted that most of this group in New Mexico has not formally embraced Judaism nor joined the organized Jewish community. Though some have been sceptical, such as Folklorist Judith Neulander arguing that people could be referring to traditions of modern
Ashkenazi Jews migrants and
Evangelical Protestant
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
who purposely acquired and employed Jewish traditions. More recently,
Evangelical Protestant
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
have opened missionary groups aimed at cultivating evangelical doctrine in Southwestern American communities where crypto-Judaism had survived. The highly influential Hordes has been charged with "single-minded speculation based on largely ephemeral or highly ambiguous evidence" for his conclusion that modern-day Hispanos who claim crypto-Jewish roots are heirs to an unbroken chain of transmission. Kunin responded to some of this criticism in his book ''Juggling Identities: Identity and Authenticity Among the Crypto-Jews'', in the response Kunin iterated that these scholars were misunderstanding New Mexican identity which, while authentically tied to Christian and Pueblo historicity, is in line with other Spanish
converso histories.
Peru
In
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, conversos arrived at the time of the Spanish Conquest. At first, they had lived without restrictions because the Inquisition was not active there at the beginning of the Viceroyalty. With the advent of the Inquisition, New Christians began to be persecuted, and in some cases executed. The descendants of these colonial Sephardic Jewish descent converts to Christianity settled mainly
in the north of the Andes and of the high jungle of Peru, where they married local women and became assimilated.
Colombia
In the department of
Antioquia,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, as well as in the greater
Paisa region
A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central ''cordilleras'' of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. S ...
, some families also hold traditions and oral accounts of Jewish descent. In this population, Y-DNA genetic analysis has shown an origin of male founders predominantly from "southern Spain but also suggest that a fraction came from northern Iberia and that some possibly had a Sephardic origin".
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
has a tradition of the ''marranada'', where a
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
is slaughtered, butchered and consumed on the streets of every neighborhood each
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
. This custom has been interpreted as an annual affirmation of the rejection of Jewish law.
Bolivia
A safe haven destination for
Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Conversos
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
during the Spanish colonial era was
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department.
Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...
. In 1557 many crypto-Jews joined
Ñuflo de Chávez and were among the pioneers who founded the city.
["History of the Jewish People", written by Eli Birnbaum] During the 16th century more crypto-Jews that faced persecution from the Inquisition and local authorities in nearby
Potosí,
La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
and
La Plata moved to Santa Cruz, as it was the most isolated urban settlement and because the Inquisition did not bother the
Conversos
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
there;
["Storm Clouds over the Bolivian Refuge", written by Sherry Mangan] Some settled in the city of Santa Cruz and its adjacent towns, including
Vallegrande
Vallegrande (''Spanish: "Big Valley"'') is a small colonial town in Bolivia, located in the Department of Santa Cruz, some 125 km (bee-line) southwest of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is the capital of the Vallegrande Province and Vallegrand ...
, Postrervalle,
Portachuelo
Portachuelo is a small town in Bolivia.
References
Populated places in Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia)
{{SantaCruzBO-geo-stub ...
, Terevinto,
Pucará, and
Cotoca
Cotoca is a canton and Municipality of Andrés Ibáñez Province in Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. The municipality consists of two cantons – Cotoca itself and Puerto Pailas. In 2010 it had an estimated population of 23,951 for the canton and 56 ...
.
["Los Judíos de Vallegrande", El Deber, written by Mario Rueda Peña, November 23, 1995]
Several of the oldest Catholic families in Santa Cruz are of Jewish ancestry; some families still practice certain traditions of Judaism. As recently as the 1920s, several families preserved seven-branched candlesticks and served dishes cooked with
kosher practices.
It is still customary among certain old families to light candles on Friday at sunset and to mourn the deaths of close relatives by sitting on the floor.
After almost five centuries, some of the descendants of these families acknowledge having some Jewish ancestry, but practice Catholicism.
Costa Rica
Some crypto-Jews established themselves in the outskirts of
San José,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
in the 16th century. They passed as Catholics in public and practiced their Jewish rituals in privacy. In the town of Itzkazú (modern day
Escazú), some crypto-Jewish families did not maintain secrecy. Locals started to associate their rituals and unintelligible prayers in Hebrew with witchcraft. Since then, Escazú has been known in Costa Rican folklore as the "city of the witches".
Elsewhere in Latin America
In addition to these communities, Roman Catholic-professing communities descended from male and female crypto-Jews are said to exist in
the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, Puerto Rico
and in various other countries of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, such as
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(see Synagogue Kahal Zur Israel in Recife),
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. From these communities comes the proverb, "Catholic by faith, Jewish by blood".
Notable crypto-Jews
*
Antonio Fernandez Carvajal was a Portuguese merchant in London; "like other Marranos in London, Carvajal prayed at the Catholic chapel of the Spanish ambassador, while simultaneously playing a leading role in the secret Jewish community, which met at the clandestine synagogue at Creechurch Lane."
*
Isaac Cardoso
Isaac (Fernando) Cardoso was a Jewish physician, philosopher, and polemic writer. Life
He was born of Marrano parents at Trancoso, near Celorico, in the province of Beira, Portugal in 1603 or 1604 and died at Verona in 1683. He was an older br ...
was a Jewish physician, philosopher, and polemic writer, who was born in Portugal but ultimately settled in Italy. For a time he went by the name Fernando to evade the Inquisition. After finding safe haven in Verona he openly embraced Judaism, becoming a leading scholar in Italy.
*
Benjamin Melendez
Benjamin Melendez (August 3rd 1952 – May 28, 2017) was best known for brokering the gang truce in the Bronx and Harlem (New York City) in 1971. At that time, he was President of the Ghetto Brothers, a mainly ethnically Puerto Rican South Bronx g ...
was a
Nuyorican
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...
activist, musician and gang leader. He is best known for brokering the New York City gang truce in 1971, while President of the South Bronx gang (and musical group) the
Ghetto Brothers
The Ghetto Brothers were a gang and music group founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960s with the motivation to uplift young Latino and Black men in their community. History
Founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960 ...
.
See also
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Beta Abraham
*
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 ...
*
Conversos
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
*
Crypto-Christianity
Crypto-Christianity is the secret practice of Christianity, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly. In places and time periods where Christians were persecuted or Christiani ...
*
Crypto-Paganism
Crypto-paganism is the secret adherence to paganism while publicly professing to be of another faith. In historical context, a crypto-pagan (from the Greek ''kryptos'' – , "hidden") was most likely to maintain the pretense of believing an Abra ...
*
Crypto-Hinduism
Crypto-Hinduism is the secret adherence to Hinduism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Hindus" (from Greek ''kryptos'' - κρυπτός, 'hidden'). Crypto-Hinduism was observed during a period ...
*
Doctrine of mental reservation
*
Domus Conversorum
The ''Domus Conversorum'' ('House of the Converts'), later Chapel of the Master of the Rolls, was a building and institution in London for Jews who had converted to Christianity. It provided a communal home and low wages. It was needed because, u ...
*
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 ...
*
Hidden Armenians
Hidden Armenians ( tr, Gizli Ermeniler) or crypto-Armenians ( hy, ծպտեալ հայեր, tsptyal hayer; tr, Kripto Ermeniler) is an umbrella term to describe Turkish citizens hiding their full or partial Armenian ancestry from the larger Turk ...
*
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
*
Jewish visibility
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Marrano
*
Morisco
Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open ...
*
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 ...
* ''
Relapso
' (modern spelling: ) was a Spanish legal phrase, literally meaning "relaxed in person", meaning "transferred to the secular authorities", an euphemism for "burnt at the stake" in the records of the Spanish Inquisition, since the church tribunal ...
''
*
Sephardic Jews in India
*
Who Is A Jew?
"Who is a Jew?" ( he, מיהו יהודי ) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political ...
*
Kakure Kirishitan
Further reading
*Acevedo-Field, Rafaela. "Denunciation of Faith and Family: Crypto-Jews and the Inquisition in Seventeenth-Century Mexico." PhD diss. University of California, Santa Barbara 2012.
*Alberro, Solange. ''Inquisición y sociedad en México, 1571–1700''. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica 1993.
*Alberro, Solange. "Crypto-Jews and the Mexican Holy Office in the Seventeenth Century," in ''The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450–1800'', eds. Paolo Bernardini and Norman Fiering. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001.
*Arbell, Mordechai. ''The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas''. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2002.
*Beinart, Haim. ''Conversos ante la inquisición''. Jerusalem: Hebrew University 1965.
*Bocanegra, Matias de and Seymour Liebman, ''Jews and the Inquisition of Mexico: The Great Auto de Fe of 1649''. Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press 1974.
*Bodian, Miriam. ''Dying the Law of Moses: Crypto-Jewish Martyrdom in the Iberian World''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007.
*Böhm, Günter. "Crypto-Jews and New Christians in Colonial Peru and Chile." In ''The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450–1800'', edited by Paolo Bernardini and Norman Fiering, 203–212. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001.
*Cohen, Martin A. "The Letters and Last Will and Testament of Luis De Carvajal, the Younger." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'', vol. 55, no. 4, 1966, pp. 451–520. .
*Cohen, Martin A. "The Autobiography of Luis De Carvajal, the Younger." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'', vol. 55, no. 3, 1966, pp. 277–318., .
*Cohen, Martin A. ''The Martyr Luis de Carvajal: A Secret Jew in Sixteenth-century Mexico''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press
*Cohen, Martin A. "Antonio Díaz De Cáceres: Marrano Adventurer in Colonial Mexico." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'', vol. 60, no. 2, 1970, pp. 169–184. .
*Cohen, Martin A. "Some Misconceptions about the Crypto-Jews in Colonial Mexico." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'' 61 (1972): 277–293. .
*Chuchiak, John F. IV. ''The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536–1820: A Documentary History''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2012.
*Cohen, Martin A. "Antonio Díaz De Cáceres: Marrano Adventurer in Colonial Mexico." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'', vol. 60, no. 2, 1970, pp. 169–184., .
*Corteguera, Luis R. ''Death by Effigy: A Case from the Mexican Inquisition''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 2012.
*Giles, Mary E. ''Women in the Inquisition: Spain and the New World''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 1999.
*Gitlitz, David. ''Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews'', Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2002
*Gojman Goldberg, Alicia. ''Los conversos en la Nueva España''. Mexico City: Enep-Acatlan, UNAM 1984.
*Gojman de Backal, Alicia. "Conversos" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', vol. 1, pp. 340–344. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997.
*Greenleaf, Richard E. ''The Mexican Inquisition in the Sixteenth Century''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1969.
*Hordes, Stanley M. "The Inquisition as Economic and Political Agent: The Campaign of the Mexican Holy Office Against the Crypto-Jews in the Mid-Seventeenth Century." ''The Americas'' 39 no. 1 (1982) 2–38. .
*Hordes, Stanley. ''To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico''. New York: Columbia University Press 2005.
*Israel, Jonathan I. ''Diasporas within a Diaspora: Jews, Crypto-Jews and the World Empires (1540–1740)''. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
*Kagan Richard L., and Abigail Dyer, eds. ''Inquisitorial Inquiries: Brief Lives of Secret Jews and Other Heretics''
004 2nd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.
*Kagan, Richard L., and Philip D. Morgan, "Preface." In ''Atlantic Diasporas: Jews, Conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism, 1500–1800'', edited by Richard L. Kagan and Philip D. Morgan, vii–xvii. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.
*Kamen, Henry. ''The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
*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)
*Lea, Henry Charles. ''The Inquisition in the Spanish Dependencies: Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Milan, the Canaries, Mexico, Peru, and New Granada''. New York: Macmillan 1908.
*Lewin, Boleslao. ''Los criptojudíos: Un fenómeno religioso y social''. Buenos Aires: Milá, 1987.
*Liebman, Seymour. ''The Jews in New Spain: Faith, Flame, and the Inquisition''. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press 1970.
*Liebman, Seymour B. "The Jews of Colonial Mexico." ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'', vol. 43, no. 1, 1963, pp. 95–108. .
*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.
*Martínez, Maria Elena. "Interrogating Blood Line: 'Purity of Blood,' the Inquisition, and Casta Categories" in ''Religion in New Spain'', Susan Schroeder and Stafford Poole, eds. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2007.
*Martínez, Maria Elena. ''Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de sangre, religion, and gender in colonial Mexico''. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press 2008.
*Medina, José Toribio, ''Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion de Cartagena de las Indias''. Santiago: Imprenta Elzeviriana, 1899.
*Medina, José Toribio. ''Historia del tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición en México.'' 2nd edition. Mexico City 1954.
*Parello, Vincent. "Inquisition and Crypto-Judaism: The 'Complicity' of the Mora Family of Quintanar de la Orden (1588–1592)." In ''The Conversos and Moriscos in Late Medieval Spain and Beyond'', Volume One: Departures and Change, edited by Kevin Ingram, 187–199. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
*Perelis, Ronnie. These Indians Are Jews!': Lost Tribes, Crypto-Jews, and Jewish Self-Fashioning in Antonio de Montezinos's Relación of 1644." In ''Atlantic Diasporas: Jews, Conversos, and Crypto-Jews in the Age of Mercantilism'', edited by Richard L. Kagan and Philip D. Morgan, 195–211. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.
*Schaposchnik, Ana E. ''The Lima Inquisition: The Plight of the Crypto-Jews in Seventeenth- Century Peru''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2015.
*Schorsch, Jonathan. ''Swimming the Christian Atlantic: Judeoconversos, Afroiberians, and Amerindians in the Seventeenth Century'', 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
*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.
*Studnicki-Gizbert, Daviken. ''A Nation upon the Ocean Sea: Portugal’s Atlantic Diaspora and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire, 1492–1640''. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2007.
*Ushmany, Eva Alexandra. ''La vida entre el judismo y el cristianismo en la Nueva España, 1580–1606''. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económico 1992.
*Ushmany, Eva Alexandra. "The Participation of New Christians and Crypto-Jews in the Conquest, Colonization, and Trade of Spanish America, 1521–1660," in ''The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450–1800'', Paolo Bernardini and Norman Fiering, eds. New York: Berghahn Books 1991.
*Uchmany, Eva Alexandra. ''La vida entre el judaísmo y el cristianísmo en la Nueva España, 1580–1606''. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1992.
*Warshawsky, Matthew D. "Inquisitorial Prosecution of Tomás Treviño de Sobremontes, a Crypto-Jew in Colonial Mexico." ''Colonial Latin American Review'' 17, no 1 (2008) pp. 101–23. .
*Wiznitzer, Arnold. "Crypto-Jews in Mexico during the Sixteenth Century." ''American Jewish Historical Quarterly'', vol. 51, no. 3, 1962, pp. 168–214. .
References
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External links
Resources > Medieval Jewish History > Expulsion from Spain and The AnusimThe Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Donagraciaproject.orgThe Story of Secret and Forcibly Converted JewsSociety for Crypto Judaic Studies*
History of the Jews in Greece
The history of the Jews in Greece can be traced back to at least the fourth century BCE. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is pred ...
Crypto Jews/Anusim Resources Shavei Israel – a group that helps our lost brethren returnBeth HaDerech – Returning to JudaismCrypto Jewish Education3= New Christians and Old Christians in Portugal written by
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches
António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches (7 March 1699, – 14 October 1783) was an 18th-century Portuguese physician, philosopher and encyclopédiste. He was a '' cristão novo'' of Jewish descent, probably a practising Jew.
He studied at the univers ...
, in 1748, in Portuguese
A history of the Marranos by
Cecil Roth
Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970) was a British Jewish historian.
He was editor in chief of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''.
Life
Roth was born in Dalston, London, on 5 March 1899. His parents were Etty and Joseph Roth, and Cecil was the young ...
Dramatic episodes of the Portuguese Inquisition, volume 1, by Antonio Baião, in PortugueseDramatic episodes of the Portuguese Inquisition, volume 2, by Antonio Baião, in PortugueseTrial of Gabriel de Granada by the Inquisition in Mexico 1642–1645, according to
Cecil Roth
Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970) was a British Jewish historian.
He was editor in chief of ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''.
Life
Roth was born in Dalston, London, on 5 March 1899. His parents were Etty and Joseph Roth, and Cecil was the young ...
, 'it gives a remarkably graphic impression of a typical Inquisitional case'
Who Are the Crypto-Jews?by Dr.
Henry Abramson
Henry Abramson (born 1963) is the dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, New York. Before that, he served as the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch (Touro College South). He is no ...
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