Marrano

Further information:AnusimandConverso

Marranos: A secretPassover Sederin Spain during the times of Inquisition.An 1893 painting byMoshe Maimon.

Marranosis one of the terms used in relation toSpanish and Portuguese Jewswho converted or wereforced by the Spanish and Portuguese crownsto convert to Christianity during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but continued to practice Judaism in secrecy or were suspected of it, referred to asCrypto-Jews."Crypto-Jew" is the term increasingly preferred in scholarly works, instead ofMarrano.

The term specifically refers to the charge ofcrypto-Judaism,whereas the termconversowas used for the wider population of Jewish converts toCatholicism,whether or not they secretly still practised Jewish rites. Converts from either Judaism or Islam were referred to by the broader term of "New Christians".

The termmarranocame into later use in 1492 with the CastilianAlhambra Decree,which prohibited the practice of Judaism in Spain and required all remaining Jews to convert or leave. TheSpanish Inquisitionwas established prior to the decree, surveilled New Christians to detect whether their conversion to Christianity was sincere. The vast majority of Jews in Spain had converted to Catholicism, perhaps under pressure from theMassacre of 1391,andconversosnumbered hundreds of thousands. They were monitored by theSpanish Inquisitionand subject to suspicions byOld Christiansof the secret practice of Judaism, whether or not that was the case.

In modern usemarranocan be considered offensive and pejorative, although some scholars continue to use the term interchangeably withconversoor Crypto-Jew. In modern Spanishmarranomeans "pig", or, more often, "dirty person". Because of these possible meanings for the termMarranomight also be offensive to some descendants of Spanish Jews.

Etymology

First Cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Shearith Israel(1656–1833), in Manhattan, New York City

The origin of the termMarranoas applied to crypto-Jews is unclear, since there have been several proposed etymologies in addition to swine.

TheHebrewword forמְשֻׁמָּד‎Meshumad,literally standing for "self-destroyed" or a heretic to Judaism, for a Jew who deliberately rebels against the observance of Jewish law.

The main difference between aMin,aMeshumad,and theAnusimis that the act of abandonment of Judaism is voluntary for a Min and a Meshumad, while for the Anusim it is not.

One source of the term derives from anArabicword for "forbidden, illicit",مُحَرّمٌMuḥarram.The Arabic word in this context means "swine" or "pork", and either expresses the same repulsion towards the converts that the converts previously had for these ritually unclean meat.

However, as applied to Crypto-Jews, the term Marrano derives from the Spanish & Portuguese verb "marrar" and "amarrar" meaning "to fail", "to plan to go wrong", "to break away", "to defraud", "to target", "to tie up", "to refrain", "to deviate", "to clinch", "to moor", illuminating that those targeted and forced by the Spanish Crown had no choice but to adopt Christianity, either leave the Kingdom of Spain all while the Crown seized their property and money and gave them no support to leave, be murdered either for not showing complete loyalty to Christianity or for leaving Spain and coming back showing that these Jews were traitors to the Spanish Crown.

It also has Arabic origin meaning "to deviate" or "to err", in the sense that they deviated from their newly adopted faith by secretly continuing to practice Judaism. A third origin has been cited fromGalician-Portuguese,wheremarrarmeans "to force" andmarranomeans "forced one", indicating the compulsory nature of the religious conversions.José Meir Estrugo Hazán writes in his bookLos Sefardíesthat "marrano" is the term the Spanish Jews prefer.

Demographics

Under state pressure in the late 14th and early 15th century, over half of Jews in theIberian Peninsulaconverted to Christianity, thus avoiding theDecree of Expulsionwhich affected Spain's remaining openly Jewish population in 1492. The numbers who converted and the effects of various migrations in and out of the area have been the subject of historical debate. Aphylogeographicstudy in 2008 of 1,150 volunteerY-chromosome DNA haplogroupsappeared to support the idea that the number of conversions has been significantly underestimated, as 20% of the tested Iberian population hadhaplogroupsconsistent withSephardiancestry. This percentage was suggested as representing the proportion of Sephardi in the population at the time of mass conversions in the 14th and 15th centuries.However, the authors concede that other historical population movements from theNear Eastsuch asSyriansandPhoeniciansmay also account for these results.

Portugal

Main article:History of the Jews in Portugal

Some Portugueseconversosorcristãos-novoscontinued to practice as crypto-Jews. In the early 20th century, historian Samuel Schwartz wrote about crypto-Jewish communities discovered in northeastern Portugal (namely,Belmonte,Bragança,Miranda,andChaves). He claimed that members had managed to survive more than four centuries without being fully assimilated into the Old Christian population.The last remaining crypto-Jewish community in Belmonte officially returned to Judaism in the 1970s and opened asynagoguein 1996. In 2003, theAmerican Sephardi Federationfounded the Belmonte Project to raise funds to acquire Judaic educational material and services for the Belmonte community, who then numbered 160–180.

Two documentary films have been made in north-eastern Portugal where present-day descendants of marranos were interviewed about their lives. In 1974 forThe Marranos of Portugal,the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) sent reporterRon Ben-Yishaito conduct interviews with families about their religious practice. After being asked to prove he knew Hebrew before they would talk, he found people still reluctant to speak openly. Nevertheless, he did eventually gain a remarkable insight into their version of Jewish customs, prayers and songs. The film was commended at the 1976 Jerusalem Jewish Film and TV Festival. Another documentary,The Last Marranos,was made by the New York Jewish Media Fund in 1997.

After the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain (1492) and the Forced Conversion by Portugal's KingManuel Iin Portugal (1497),conversoscontinued to be suspect in socially strained times. In Lisbon in 1506, a months-long plague caused people to look for scapegoats. Some became suspicious thatconversosmight be practicing Judaism and therefore be at fault. On April 17, 1506, severalconversoswere discovered who had in their possession "some lambs and poultry prepared according to Jewish custom; also unleavened bread and bitter herbs according to the regulations for thePassover,which festival they celebrated far into the night. "Officials seized several but released them after a few days.

On the same day on which theconversoswere freed, theDominicansdisplayed a crucifix and areliquaryin glass from which a peculiar light issued in a side-chapel of their church, where several New Christians were present. A New Christian who tried to explain the miracle as due to natural causes was dragged from the church and killed by an infuriated woman. A Dominican roused the populace still more. Friar João Mocho and theAragonesefriar Bernardo, crucifix in hand, were said to have gone through the streets of the city, crying "Heresy!" and calling upon the people to destroy theconversos.Attracted by the outcry, sailors fromHolland,Zeelandand others from ships in the port of Lisbon, joined the Dominicans and formed a mob with local men to pursue theconversos.

The mob draggedconversovictims from their houses and killed some. Old Christians who were in any way associated with New Christians were also attacked. The mob attacked thetax-farmerJoão Rodrigo Mascarenhas, a New Christian; although a wealthy and distinguished man, his work also made him resented by many. They demolished his house. Within 48 hours, many "conversos" were killed; by the third day all who could leave escaped, often with the help of other Portuguese. The killing spree lasted from 19 to 21 April, in what came to be known as theLisbon massacre.

King Manuelseverely punished those who took part in the killings. The ringleaders and the Dominicans who encouraged the riot were also executed. Local people convicted of murder or pillage suffered corporal punishment and their property was confiscated. The king granted religious freedom for 20 years to allconversosin an attempt at compensation. Lisbon lostForal(municipal) privileges. The foreigners who had taken part generally escaped punishment, leaving with their ships.

New Christians were attacked inGouveia,Alentejo,Olivença,Santarém,and other places. In theAzoresand the island ofMadeira,mobs massacred former Jews. Because of these excesses, the king began to believe that aPortuguese Inquisitionmight help control such outbreaks.

The Portugueseconversosworked to forestall such actions, and spent immense sums to win over theCuriaand most influential cardinals. Spanish and Portugueseconversosmade financial sacrifices. Alfonso Gutierrez, Garcia Alvarez "el Rico" (the rich), and the Zapatas,conversosfrom Toledo, offered 80,000 gold crowns toCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor,if he would mitigate the harshness of the Inquisition.

The Mendes of Lisbon andFlandersalso tried to help. None were successful in preventing theInquisitionPapal Bull Meditatio Cordis of July 16, 1547, Inquisition in Portugal. This Bull Meditatio Cordis still did not have the "Power of Confiscation". Portuguese Marranos continued, with many bribes of the Popes in Rome, and with prolonged negotiation against this "Power of Confiscation" succeeded to delay it 32 years, but finally conceded this "deadly weapon" in 1579. The Portuguese Inquisition now had been endowed, 101 years after the Spanish Inquisition of November 1, 1478, with the same extremities of rigor as the Spanish prototype. Theconversossuffered immensely both from mob violence and interrogation and testing by the Inquisition. Attacks and murders were recorded atTrancoso,Lamego,Miranda,Viseu,Guarda,andBraga.

AtCovilhã,there were rumors that the people planned to massacre all the New Christians on one day. In 1562, prelates petitioned theCortesto requireconversosto wear special badges, and to order Jewish descendants to live inghettos(judiarias) in cities and villages as their ancestors had before the conversions.

In 1641 João IV of Portugal ennobled theCuriel family,a Marrano family who served as Agents to the Crown of Spain and Portugal. They held diplomatic positions across Europe until the late 18th century.

In the 1970s the Marranos ofBelmonteofficially rejoinedJudaismand reestablished ties with theJews of Israel.TheMuseu Judaico de Belmontewas opened in 2005 in Belmonte, it is the first Jewish museum inPortugal.

Spain

Main article:History of the Jews in Spain

According to historianCecil Roth,Spanish political intrigues had earlier promoted the anti-Jewish policies which culminated in 1391, when Regent QueenLeonora of Castilegave the Archdeacon ofÉcija,Ferrand Martinez,considerable power in her realm. Martinez gave speeches that led to violence against the Jews, and this influence culminated in the sack of the Jewish quarter ofSevilleon June 4, 1391. Throughout Spain during this year, the cities of Ecija,Carmona,Córdoba,Toledo,Barcelonaand many others saw their Jewish quarters destroyed and inhabitants massacred.

It is estimated that 200,000 Jews saved their lives by converting to Christianity in the wake of these persecutions.Other Jews left the country altogether and around 100,000 openly practicing Jews remained.

In 1449, feelings rose againstconversos,breaking out in a riot atToledo.Instigated by two canons, Juan Alfonso and Pedro Lopez Galvez, the mob plundered and burned the houses of Alonso Cota, a wealthyconversoand tax-farmer. They also attacked the residences of wealthy New Christians in the quarter of la Magdelena. Under Juan de la Cibdad, theconversosopposed the mob, but were repulsed. They were executed with their leader. As a result, several prominentconversomen were deposed from office, in obedience to a new statute.

Nearly 20 years later in July 1467, another riot occurred where a mob attackedconversosin Toledo. The chief magistrate (alcalde mayor) of the city was Alvar Gomez de Cibdad Real, who had been private secretary to KingHenry IV of Castile.He was a protector of theconversos.Together with prominentconversosFernando and Alvaro de la Torre, Alvar wished to take revenge for an insult by the counts de Fuensalida, leaders of the Old Christians. His intention was to seize control of the city, but fierce conflict erupted. Opponents set fire to houses of New Christians near the cathedral. The conflagration spread so rapidly that 1,600 houses were consumed. Both Old Christians andconversosperished. The brothers De la Torre were captured and hanged.

Tensions arose in Córdoba between Old Christians andconversos,where they formed two hostile parties. On March 14, 1473, during a dedication procession, a girl accidentally threw dirty water from the window of the house of one of the wealthiestconversos(the customary way to dispose of it.) The water splashed on an image of the Virgin being carried in procession in honor of a new society (from whichconversoshad been excluded by Bishop D. Pedro.) A local blacksmith started arousing a rabble against the Jews, who he blamed for the insult, which immediately joined in a fierce shout for revenge.

The mob went afterconversos,denouncing them asheretics,killing them, and burning their houses. To stop the excesses, the highly respected D. Alonso Fernandez de Aguilar, whose wife was a member of theconversofamily of Pacheco, together with his brother D.Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba( "El Gran Capitán" ), and a troop of soldiers, hastened to protect theNew Christians.D. Alonso called upon the mob to retire. Its leader insulted the count, who immediately felled him with his lance. Aroused, the people considered him a martyr. Incited by Alonso de Aguilar's enemy, they again attacked theconversos.The rioting lasted three days. Those who escaped sought refuge in the castle, where their protectors also took shelter. The government decreed that Jews andconversosshould remain in their neighborhood or leave the city.

In 1473, attacks onconversosarose in numerous other cities:Montoro,Bujalance,Adamuz,La Rambla,Santaella,and elsewhere. Mobs attackedconversosinAndújar,Úbeda,Baeza,andAlmodóvar del Campoalso. InValladolid,groups looted the belongings of the New Christians. AtSegovia,there was a massacre (May 16, 1474). D. Juan Pacheco, aconverso,led the attacks. Without the intervention of the alcalde, Andres de Cabrera, all New Christians might have died. AtCarmona,it was reported that not oneconversowas left alive.

Inquisition

Execution ofMariana de Carabajalin Mexico, 1601.

Tens of thousands of Jews were baptised in the three months before the deadline for expulsion, some 40,000 if one accepts the totals given by Kamen: most of these undoubtedly to avoid expulsion,rather than as a sincere change of faith. Theseconversoswere the principal concern of the Inquisition; being suspected of continuing to practice Judaism put them at risk of denunciation and trial.

During 1492, about 12,000conversosenteredNavarrefrom Aragon's repression, where they were allowed to remain.Tudela in Navarreturned into aconversohaven. The Tudelans had already proclaimed in 1486 that "if any inquisitor enters their city, he will be thrown into theEbroriver."Later the resistance to the inquisitors was so strong that its aldermen ordered commissioners and attorneys to ask theCatholic Monarchsto limit the power of the Inquisition in 1510.

The most intense period of persecution ofconversoslasted until 1530. From 1531 to 1560, however, the percentage ofconversosamong the Inquisition trials dropped to 3% of the total. There was a rebound of persecutions when a group of crypto-Jews was discovered inQuintanar de la Ordenin 1588; and there was a rise in denunciations ofconversosin the last decade of the sixteenth century. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, someconversoswho had fled to Portugal began to return to Spain, fleeing the persecution of thePortuguese Inquisition,founded in 1536. This led to a rapid increase in the trials of crypto-Jews, among them a number of important financiers. In 1691, during a number ofautos-da-féinMajorca,37chuetas,orconversosof Majorca, were burned.

During the eighteenth century the number ofconversosaccused by the Inquisition decreased significantly.Manuel Santiago Vivar,tried in Córdoba in 1818, was the last person tried for being a crypto-Jew.

Converso-Jewish relations

Theconversosof Seville and other cities of Castile, and especially of Aragon, bitterly opposed theSpanish Inquisitionestablished in 1478. They rendered considerable service to the king, and held high legal, financial, and military positions. The government issued an edict directing traditional Jews to live within a ghetto and be separated fromconversos.Despite the law, however, the Jews remained in communication with theirNew Christianbrethren.

"They sought ways and means to win them from Catholicism and bring them back to Judaism. They instructed the Marranos in the tenets and ceremonies of the Jewish religion; held meetings in which they taught them what they must believe and observe according to the Mosaic law; and enabled them to circumcise themselves and their children. They furnished them with prayer-books; explained the fast-days; read with them the history of their people and their Law; announced to them the coming of the Passover; procured unleavened bread for them for that festival, as well askoshermeat throughout the year; encouraged them to live in conformity with the law of Moses, and persuaded them that there was no law and no truth except the Jewish religion. "These were the charges brought by the government ofFerdinand II of AragonandIsabella I of Castileagainst the Jews. They constituted the grounds for their expulsion and banishment in 1492, so they could not subvertconversos.Jews who did not want to leave Spain had to accept baptism as a sign of conversion.

The historian Henry Kamen'sInquisition and Society in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesquestions whether there were such strong links betweenconversosand Jewish communities. Whilst historians such as Yitzhak Baer state, "the conversos and Jews were one people",Kamen claims, "Yet if the conversos were hated by the Christians, the Jews liked them no better."He documented that "Jews testified falsely against them [the conversos] when the Inquisition was finally founded."This issue is being debated by historians.

Conversos in Italy

Although the vast majority of Spain's 250,000conversoshad abandoned Judaism and been assimilated into Spain's dominant Catholic culture, many of those continuing to secretly practice their former religion felt threatened and persecuted by the Inquisition which continued to actively persecute heresy. Some of these chose to leave Spain, in bands or as individual refugees. Many migrated to Italy, attracted by the climate, which resembled that of the Iberian Peninsula, and by the kindred language. When they settled atFerrara,DukeErcole I d'Estegranted them privileges. His sonAlfonsoconfirmed the privileges to twenty-one Spanishconversos:physicians, merchants, and others (ib. xv. 113 et seq.). A thoroughly researched history of these migrations is also contained in the book about one of their leaders Dona Gracia Nasi called, "The Woman Who Defied Kings", by the historian and journalist Andree Aelion Brooks.

Spanish and Portugueseconversosalso settled atFlorenceand contributed to makeLivornoa leading seaport. They received privileges atVenice,where they were protected from the persecutions of the Inquisition. InMilanthey materially advanced the interests of the city with their industry and commerce. AtBologna,Pisa,Naplesand numerous other Italian cities, they freely exercised the Jewish religion again. They were soon so numerous that Fernando de Goes Loureiro, an abbot fromOporto,filled an entire book with the names ofconversoswho had drawn large sums from Portugal and had openly avowed Judaism in Italy.

InPiedmont,DukeEmmanuel PhilibertofSavoywelcomedconversosfromCoímbraand granted them commercial and industrial privileges, as well as the free exercise of their religion. Rome was full ofconversos.PopePaul IIIreceived them atAnconafor commercial reasons. He granted complete liberty "to all persons from Portugal andAlgarve,even if belonging to the class of New Christians. "By 1553 three thousand Portuguese Jews andconversoswere living at Ancona.

Two years later,Pope Paul IVissued orders to have all theconversosin Papal states be thrown into the prisons of the Inquisition which he had instituted. Sixty of them, who acknowledged the Catholic faith as penitents, were transported to the island ofMalta;twenty-four, who adhered to Judaism, were publicly burned (May 1556). Those who escaped the Inquisition were received atPesarobyGuidobaldo II della Rovere,Duke of Urbino. Guidobaldo had hoped to have the Jews andconversosof Turkey select Pesaro as a commercial center; when that did not happen, he expelled the New Christians from Pesaro and other districts in 1558 (ib. xvi. 61 et seq.).

Manyconversosalso went toDubrovnik,formerly a considerableCroatianseaport on theAdriatic Sea.In May 1544, a ship landed there filled with Portuguese refugees.

Latin America

Main articles:History of the Jews in Latin America,History of the Jews in Mexico,andHistory of the Jews in Brazil

During the 16th and 17th centuries, someconversosmigrated tothe Americas,often the Castilian territories of the Vice-royalties ofNew Spain,Peru,and theRío de la Platain Argentina. Legal emigration to the New World was strictly controlled and required proof of three generations of Christian ascendance.Nevertheless, manyconversosmanaged to evade these restrictions and managed to obtain"encomiendas"papers of legal identity in the New World.

France

Main article:History of the Jews in France

According toIsidore Loeb,in a special study of the subject in theRevue des Études Juives(xiv. 162–183), about 3,000 Jews came to Provence after theAlhambra Decreeexpelled Jews from Spain in 1492.

From 1484, one town after another had called for expulsion, but the calls were rejected byCharles VIII.However,Louis XII,in one of his first acts as king in 1498, issued a general expulsion order of the Jews of Provence. Though not enforced at the time, the order was renewed in 1500 and again in 1501. On this occasion, it was definitively implemented. The Jews of Provence were given the option of conversion to Christianity and a number chose that option. However, after a short while – if only to compensate partially for the loss of revenues caused by the departure of the Jews – the king imposed a special tax, referred to as "the tax of the neophytes." These converts and their descendants soon became the objects of social discrimination and slanders.

Estado da India (Portuguese India)

Main articles:History of the Jews in India,Sephardic Jews in India,andThe Goa Inquisition

In the "Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536-1765", ProfessorAntonio Jose Saraivaof theUniversity of Lisbon,writes "King Manuel theoretically abolished discrimination between Old and New Christians by the law of March 1, 1507 which permitted the departure of New Christians to any part of the Christian world, declaring that they “be considered, favored and treated like the Old Christians and not distinct and separated from them in any matter.” Nevertheless, in apparent contradiction to that law, in a letter dated Almeirim, February 18, 1519, King Manuel promoted legislation henceforth prohibiting the naming of New Christians to the position of judge, town councilor or municipal registrar in Goa, stipulating, however, that those already appointed were not to be dismissed. This shows that even during the first nine years of Portuguese rule, Goa had a considerable influx of recently baptized Spanish and Portuguese Jews. "

Some New Christians sought to re-join Jewish populations in India (particularly through the Jewish community inCochin), while others went on to be extremely influential in the spice trade, and the gems trade between Portugal, and India. This activity aroused the ire of the Catholic clergy. During this period, the first bishop of Goa,Gaspar Jorge de Leão Pereirawrote his anti-Semitic work "contra os Judeos "(tracts against Jews),and called for the establishment of theInquisition in Goa(which was established in 1560).

Migrations

There was no significant wave of emigration ofconversosfrom Spain, the majority of Sephardic communities, such as that of Salonika having been formed as a result of the Alhambra Decree in 1492.However, there was a steady trickle of crypto-Jewish marranos who wished to practice their faith freely to more liberal environments. One of their leaders who helped them get there was the Lisbon-born international banker,Gracia Mendes Nasi.They also migrated toFlanders,where they were attracted by its flourishing cities, such asAntwerpandBrussels.Conversosfrom Flanders, and others direct from the Iberian Peninsula, went under the guise of Catholics toHamburgandAltonaabout 1580, where theyestablished a communityand held commercial relations with their former homes. Some migrated as far asScotland.Christian IV of Denmarkinvited some New Christian families to settle atGlückstadtabout 1626, granting certain privileges to them and toconversoswho came toEmdenabout 1649.

The vast majority of Spain'sconversos,however, remained in Spain and Portugal and were suspected of "Marranism" by the Spanish Inquisition. Although the wealthier among them could easily bypass discriminatoryLimpieza de sangrelaws, they constituted a significant portion of the over three thousand people executed for heresy by the Spanish Inquisition.In his luminous book the "Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536-1765", Professor Antonio Jose Saraiva[1]of theUniversity of Lisbon,writes that "After August 1531, when the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal was in the offing and especially after June 14, 1532 when New Christian emigration from Portugal became a capital offense, anti-New Christian sentiment surged on all sides. The New Christians were panic-stricken and emigrants, legal or clandestine, headed for Flanders, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Portuguese possessions in India, North Africa. After the middle of the century, England, France, the Spanish Americas and Brazil were the favorite destinations, not necessarily in that order."The New Christians breathed more freely whenPhilip III of Spaincame to the throne. By the law of April 4, 1601, he granted them the privilege of unrestricted sale of their real estate as well as free departure from the country for themselves, their families, and their property. Many, availing themselves of this permission, followed their coreligionists to North Africa and Turkey. After a few years, however, the privilege was revoked, and the Inquisition resumed its activity.

Some migrated to London, whence their families spread to Brazil (whereconversoshad settled at an early date) and other colonies in the Americas. Migrations toConstantinopleandThessaloniki,where Jewish refugees had settled after the expulsion from Spain, as well as toItaly,Serbia,Romania,Bulgaria,Vienna,andTimișoara,continued into the middle of the 18th century.

Today

Late 20th century political and social changes in Spain caused reappraisal of Jewish and Muslim contributions to its culture. There has been much new scholarship on Sephardic Jews, Moors and the consequences of conversion and expulsion. In addition, there have been official governmental efforts to welcome tourists of both ancestries to Spain. Towns and regions have worked to preserve elements of Jewish and Moorish pasts.

In Spanish Civil Code Art. 22.1 the government created concessions to nationals of several countries andSephardi Jewshistorically linked with Spain allowing them to seek citizenship after five years rather than the customary ten required for residence in Spain. Later it was dropped to two years. In November 2012, the residency requirement was eliminated.In October 2006, theParliament of Andalusiaasked the three parliamentary groups that form the majority to support an amendment that would similarly ease the way for nationals ofMoriscodescent to gain Spanish citizenship. The proposal was originally made by IULV-CA, the Andalusian branch of theUnited Left.

In 2004,Shlomo Moshe Amartraveled to Portugal to celebrate the centennial anniversary of theLisbon Synagogue"Shaare Tikvah". During his stay, Shlomo Moshe Amar met descendants of Jewish families persecuted by the Inquisition who still practice Judaism at the house of rabbi Boaz Pash. This was an historical meeting that had not happened between a Chief Rabbi and Portuguese Bnei Anusim in centuries. Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar promised to create a committee to evaluate the Halachic situation of the community. The delay of the Chief Rabbi to create the committee and help the descendants ofSephardiJews in Portugal forced the creation of a second Jewish community in Lisbon, Comunidade Judaica Masorti Beit Israel, to ensure the recognition of the Bnei Anusim as Jews.

In literature

• Richard Zimler,The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon,The Overlook Press,ISBN9781585670222
• Richard Zimler,Hunting Midnight,Delacorte,ISBN9780385336444
• Richard Zimler,Guardian of the Dawn,Constable & Robinson,ISBN9781845290917
• Antonio Muñoz Molina,Sepharad,Harvest Books,ISBN9780156034746
• David Liss,The Coffee Trader,Abacus,ISBN978-0349115009

See also

Jews in Iberia

• Anusim
• Conversos
• Crypto-Judaism
• Spanish and Portuguese Jews
• History of the Jews in Belmonte
• History of the Jews in Portugal
• History of the Jews in Spain
• New Christian
• Xueta
• Vaez

Related groups and concepts

• Neofiti
• Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva
• History of the Jews under Muslim rule
• Chala
• Dönmeh
• Allahdad
• Linobambaki
• Judaizers
• Kakure Kirishitan

References

General and cited references

• Damião de Góis(1567), inChronica do Felicissimo Rey D. Emanuel da Gloriosa Memória
• Kamen, Henry(2014).The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision.New Haven: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-18051-0.Kamen has published 4 editions under 3 titles: "First edition published 1965... asThe Spanish Inquisition.Second edition published 1985... asInquisition and Society in Spain.Third edition published 1998... asThe Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision.Fourth edition 2014. "
• Roth, Cecil; Roth, Irene (1974),A history of the Marranos(4th ed.), New York: Sepher-Hermon Press,ISBN0-87203-040-7.
• Roth, Cecil (1961),A History of the Jews,New York: Schocken Books.
• Diesendruck, Arnold (2002),Os Marranos em Portugal,São Paulo: Editora & Livraria Sêfer,ISBN85-85583-36-3.

Further reading

• Cohen, Martin A. "Antonio Díaz De Cáceres: Marrano Adventurer in Colonial Mexico."American Jewish Historical Quarterly,vol. 60, no. 2, 1970, pp. 169–184.,JSTOR23877946.
• Cohen, Martin A. "Toward a New Comprehension of the Marranos." InHispania Judaica: Studies on the History, Language, and Literature of the Jews in the Hispanic World.Vol. I: History, edited by Josep M. Solà-Solé, Samuel G. Armistead, and Joseph H. Silverman, 23–35. Barcelona: Puvil-Editor, 1980.
• Escobar Quevedo, Ricardo.Inquisición y judaizantes en América española (siglos XVI-XVII).Bogota: Editorial Universidad de Rosario, 2008.
• Netanyahu, Benzion.The Marranos of Spain: From the Late 14th to the Early 16th Century, According to Contemporary Hebrew Sources[1966], 3rd ed. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999.
• Poliakov, Leon.The History of Anti-Semitism, vol. 2: From Mohammed to the Marranos.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
• Révah, I.S. "Les marranes."Revue des études juives118 (1959–60): 29–77.
• Roth, Cecil. "The Religion of the Marranos,"The Jewish Quarterly Review22 (1931): 1–33.doi:10.2307/1451908.JSTOR1451908
• Rowland, Robert. "New Christian, Marrano, Jew." InThe Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450–1800,edited by Paolo Bernardini and Norman Fiering, 125–148. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001.ISBN9781571811530
• Saraiva, António José.The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians, 1536–1765[1956], trans. H.P. Salomon and I.S.D. Sassoon. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
• Simms, Norman.Masks in the Mirror: Marranism in the Jewish Experience.New York: Peter Lang, 2006.
• Wachtel, Nathan.The Faith of Remembrance: Marrano Labyrinths[2001], trans. Nikki Halpern. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013.
• Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim.From Spanish Court to Italian Ghetto. Isaac Cardoso: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Marranism and Jewish Apologetics.New York: Columbia University Press, 1971.
• Yovel, Yirmiyahu.The Other Within: The Marranos: Split Identity and Emerging Modernity.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
• Yovel, Yirmiyahu.Spinoza and Other Heretics, vol. 1: The Marrano of Reason.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.

External links

• Corresponding articleinThe Jewish Encyclopedia.Further relevant material can be found in its article onSouth and Central America.
• Dona Gracia Project
• The Jewish Story – Marranos
• Resources > Medieval Jewish History > "Expulsion from Spain and The Anusim",The Jewish History Resource Center, Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Kathleen Telch, "Belmonte Project",Newsletter,Spring 2003, p. 9, American Sephardi Federation
• Society For Crypto Judaic Studies
• Michael Freund, "Miracle in Orlando", originally published inThe Jerusalem PostArchived2012-02-29 at theWayback Machine,Jewish Society
• Return to Sinai,in Half-Jewish.org, Website covering topics relevant to descendants of assimilation and intermarriage
• Descendants of Marranos arrive in Israel
• Jewish by candlelight – from Spanish converso to modern mixed marriageArchived2009-05-11 at theWayback Machineby Miriam Shaviv,The Forward
• Shavei Israel – a group that helps our lost brethren return
• Alhambra Decree: 521 Years Later,a blog post on theLaw Library of Congress'sIn Custodia Legis
• "Cristãos Novos e Cristãos Velhos em Portugal"(in Portuguese)( "New Christians and Old Christians in Portugal" ), written byAntónio Nunes Ribeiro Sanches,in 1748
• A history of the Marranos,byCecil Roth
• Dramatic episodes of the Portuguese Inquisition, volume 1,by Antonio Baião(in Portuguese)
• Dramatic episodes of the Portuguese Inquisition, volume 2,by Antonio Baião(in Portuguese)
• Trial of Gabriel de Granada by the Inquisition in Mexico, 1642–1645.According toCecil Roth,"it gives a remarkably graphic impression of a typical Inquisitional case"