Secret Jews of the Iberian Peninsula

Alienor Hathaway

146537@members.eastkingdom.org

Terms:

Anuismאֲנוּסִים

'The coerced' in Hebrew. Jews who were converted to another religion by force. It was also applied to their descendants.

Apostate One who renounces their religion. Used by the Spanish Inquisition to refer to Crypto-Jews for renouncing Christianity.

Auto-da-fé "Act of faith" in Medieval Spanish. Public penance of condemned heretics and apostates. Not everyone was burned at the stake, many were given other penances.

Converso “Converted” a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, during the 14th and 15th centuries. The term is also used to refer to descendants of converts..

Cristiano Nuevo “New Christian” a term used by “Old Christians” of the Iberian Peninsula who wanted to distinguish themselves from the New Christians who converted from Judaism or Islam.The concept formed an ideology of cleanliness of blood or descent that excluded New Christians from higher levels of society

Cristiano Viejo “Old Christian” Portuguese and Spanish people attested as having cleanliness of blood from those of Christians of Jewish or Muslim descent.

Crypto-Jew The secret practicing of Judaism while publicly professing to be Catholic. “Crypto” means hidden. The term is also used to describe descendants who

maintained some Jewish rituals and traditions. Heresy Doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs

Judaizers Live according to Jewish customs. This was a major accusation the Spanish Inquisition had against Conversos.

Ladino Also called Judeo-Spanish, it is written using Hebrew letters and comes from Old Spanish, spoken by Sephardic Jews.

Marrano Derogatory term.. It means “swine” or “dirty” and was a racist term when referring to Jewish converts to Christianity and their descendants. The preferred term was

Anuism or Converso.Meshumadד מָּ מְשֻׁ�

Apostate in Hebrew, applies to converts by choice.

Sanbenito A penitential garment assigned by the Spanish Inquisition. It was decorated with yellow with red St. Andrew's crosses for penitent heretics or black and decorated with friars, dragons and devils for impenitent heretics to wear at an auto da fé or for a period of time as penance.

Sephardimרַד סְפ

A Jew descended from the Iberian Peninsula (before their expulsion in the late 15th century). Includes descendants of Crypto-Jews who left the Peninsula in later

centuries to the Americas and elsewhere.Contrast to Jews descended from people in Eastern Europe.

Spanish Inquisition Established in Spain in 1478 and distinct from the Christian Inquisition under papal control. Formed to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. This regulation of the faith of the newly converted was

intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave.

Synagogue of El Transito in Toledo, Spain-- built ca. 1356, became a church after the expulsion

http://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/msefardi/home.html

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437736

Christ among the Doctors Altarpiece, 15th Century--Jewish men seated in a contemporary Spanish synagogue

How Jews Came to be in Christian Spain• Spanish Jews were once the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in the world. Documented Jews lived in the area that is now Spain as early as 7th century BCE

•Invasions brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Visogoth rule by the early fifth century.

•With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. For the most part, the invasion of Muslims was welcomed by the Jews of Iberia. Both Muslim and Catholic sources tell us that Jews provided valuable aid to the invaders. The period was thought of as the “Spanish Golden Age” when there was tolerance (but not necessarily rosy) intersection of Spanish Christians, Jews and Muslims.

•Gradual reconquest of the Catholic Kingdoms of Spain and despite some discrimination, Jews had high positions.

Judaism and The Iberian Peninsula leading up to troubled times: Simplified Timeline

1392 - Massacres of Jews across Spain, forced conversions in Seville

1408: First forced move to Jewish quarters/ghettos

1449: Further forced conversions

1460: Alfonso de Espina writes The Fortress against Jews, Muslims and other Enemies of the Christian Faith

1469: Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of Castille, continued and final reconquest, bringing Spain under Christian rule

1478: Pope Sixtus IV authorize the Spanish Inquisition at the request of the monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella

1480: First Spanish Inquisition tribunal becomes active in Seville; Targeting conversos suspected of apostasy

1481: First Edict of Grace and auto-de-fe

1492: Alhambra decree of 1492, as a result of which the majority of Jews in Spain (between 200,000 and 250,000) converted to Catholicism and those remaining (between 50,000 and 100,000) were forced into exile.

1496: Expulsion of Jews in Portugal and forced conversion of Jews of Portugal

1539: Inquisition in Portugal

1571: Inquisition in New Spain (Mexico)

1821: End of Inquisition in Portugal.

1826: Last public execution (by hanging) ordered by Inquisition

1834: End of Inquisition in Spain

BooksJewish Book Council. Pinterest: Crypto-Judais m Booklist .

http://www.pinterest.com/jewishbook/crypto-judaism/

Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of Crypto-Jews by David M. Gitlitz

God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World by Cullen Murphy

A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews by David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson

Hidden Heritage: The Legacy of the Crypto-Jews by Janet Liebman Jacobs

The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler.

My 15 Grandmothers by Genie Milgrom

Recipes of My 15 Grandmothers by Genie Milgrom

LecturesWho are the Crypto-Jews? by Dr. Henry Abramson

https://henryabramson.com/2018/05/08/who-are-the-crypto-jews/

OrganizationsThe Association of Crypto-Jews

http://cryptojew.org/

Society for Crypto-Judaic Studieshttps://cryptojews.com/

WebsitesConversos and the Spanish Inquisition.

http://www-tc.pbs.org/inquisition/pdf/ConversosandtheSpanishInquisition.pdf

Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews.http://www.cryptojewsjournal.org/

Sephardic Gen Resourceshttp://www.sephardicgen.com/crypto_sites.htm

Timeline of the Inquisitionhttps://inquisition.library.nd.edu/timeline.RBSC-INQ:COLLECTION

Jewish Virtual Library on Sephardimhttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sephardim