Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Spanish and Portuguese Jews who outwardly professed Catholicism, also known as ''Conversos'', ''Marranos'', or the ''Anusim''. The phenomenon is especially associated with medieval Spain, following the Massacre of 1391 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. After 1492 in Spain and 1497 in Portugal, officially they no longer existed. The Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition were established to monitor converted Jews and Muslims and their descendants for their continued adherence to Christian faith and practice, with severe penaltie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Converso
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 their descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian population and make sure that the ''converso'' " New Christians" were true to their new faith, the Holy Office of the Inquisition was established in Spain in 1478. The Catholic Monarchs of Spain Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the remaining openly practising Jews by the Alhambra Decree of 1492, following the Christian ''Reconquista'' (reconquest) of Spain. However, a significant proportion of these remaining practising Jews chose to join the already large ''converso'' community rather than face exile. ''Conversos'' who did not fully or genuinely embrace Catholicism, but continued to practise Judaism in secrecy, were referred to as ''judaizantes'' " Judaizers" and pejoratively as '' marranos''. New Christian converts of Muslim origin were ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Christian
New Christian (; ; ; ; ; ) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction referring to the population of former Jews, Jewish and Muslims, Muslim Conversion to Christianity, converts to Christianity in the Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese empires, and their European colonization of the Americas, respective colonies in the New World. The term was used from the 15th century onwards primarily to describe the descendants of the Sephardic Jews and Moors that were Baptism, baptized into the Catholic Church following the Alhambra Decree of 1492. The Alhambra Decree, also known as the Edict of Expulsion, was an anti-Jewish law made by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs upon the ''Reconquista'' of the Iberian Peninsula. It required Jews to convert to Roman Catholicism or be Expulsions and exoduses of Jews, expelled from Spain. Most of the history of the "New Christians" refers to the Jewish converts, who were generally known as ''Conversos'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 Crypto-Jews, forced to keep their religion hidden. They practiced strict endogamy by marrying only within their own group. Many of their descendants observe a syncretist form of Christian worship known as Xueta Christianity. The Xuetes were stigmatized up until the first half of the 20th century. In the latter part of the century, the spread of freedom of religion and laïcité reduced both the social pressure and community ties. An estimated 18,000 people in the island carry Xueta surnames in the 21st century, but only a small fraction of the society (including those with Xueta surnames) is aware of the complex history of this group. Etymology The Balearic word derives, according to some experts, from , diminutive of ("Jew") which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alhambra Decree
The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish language, 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 Aragon, ordering the Expulsion of Jews from Spain, expulsion of practising Jews from the Crowns of Crown of Castile, Castile and Crown of Aragon, Aragon and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year. Its primary purpose was to eliminate the influence of practising Jews on Spain's large formerly-Jewish ''converso'' New Christian population, to ensure the latter and their descendants did not revert to Judaism. Over half of Spain's Jews had converted as a result of the Massacre of 1391, religious persecution and pogroms which occurred in 1391. Due to continuing attacks, around 50,000 more had converted by 1415. A further number of those remaining chose to convert to avoid expulsion. As a result of the Alhambra Decree a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belmonte Jews
The history of the Jewish community in Belmonte, Portugal, dates back to the 13th century; the community was composed of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who kept their faith through crypto-Judaism. The history of Belmonte's Jewish community is told at the Belmonte Jewish Museum, opened in 2005. As of 2008, the Jewish population of Belmonte numbers around 300. The Inquisition and before The earliest sign relic of the Belmonte Jewish community is an inscribed granite reliquary dating to 1297, from the town's first synagogue. Through the 15th and 16th century, there were a series of Inquisitions in Rome, Spain, and Portugal; the Spanish Inquisition of 1478 targeted ''conversos'', Jews who had publicly renounced the Jewish faith and adopted Christianity, eventually expelling them in 1492, and thousands of Jews and conversos fled from Spain to Portugal. However, the Inquisition soon spread to Portugal, and they too began targeting conversos, and many worried about ''marranos,'' conv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neofiti
The ''neofiti'' () 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 to secretly practice certain elements of Judaism, as did many of their descendants. In the 1490s, the Spanish Inquisition ruthlessly hunted the ''neofiti'' and many were tortured and executed, especially in Sicily. Today, some descendants of ''neofiti'' in Calabria and Apulia have converted back to Judaism and revived their former Jewish congregations. See also * Dönmeh * Allahdad * Banu Israil * Chala * Converso * Marrano * Targum Neofiti * Jews of San Nicandro * History of the Jews in Apulia * History of the Jews in Calabria * History of the Jews in Sicily The history of the Jews in Sicily potentially begins as far back as two millennia, with a substantial Jewish presence on the southern Italian island before their expulsion in the fiftee ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marrano
''Marranos'' is a term for Spanish and Portuguese Jews, as well as Navarrese jews, who converted to Christianity, either voluntarily or by Spanish or Portuguese royal coercion, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but who continued to practice Judaism in secrecy or were suspected of it. They are also called crypto-Jews, the term increasingly preferred in scholarly works over ''Marranos''. The term specifically refers to the charge of crypto-Judaism, whereas the term ''converso'' was used for the wider population of Jewish converts to Catholicism, 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 term ''marrano'' came into later use in 1492 with the Castilian Alhambra Decree, which prohibited the practice of Judaism in Spain and required all remaining Jews to convert or leave. The Spanish Inquisition was established prior to the decree, surveilled New Christia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anusim
Anusim (, ; singular male, anús, ; singular female, anusá, , meaning "coerced") is a legal category of Jews in '' halakha'' (Jewish law) who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion. The term "anusim" is most properly translated as the "coerced nes or the "forced nes. Etymology The term ''anusim'' is derived from the Talmudic phrase ''averah b’ones'' (), meaning "a forced transgression." The Hebrew ''ones'' () derives from the triconsonantal root (Aleph- Nun- Samekh), and originally referred to any case where a person has been forced into any act against his or her will. In Modern Hebrew, the word ''ones'' is mainly used to mean rape, thus "anusim" (or female "anusot") nowadays means rape victims, the older meaning used only in the historical context. The term ''anús'' is used in contradistinction to ''meshumad'' (), (literally "self-destroyed") which means a person who has voluntarily abandoned the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Massacre Of 1391
The Massacre of 1391, also known as the pogroms of 1391, refers to a murderous wave of mass violence committed against the Jews of Spain by the Catholic populace in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, both in present-day Spain, in the year 1391. It was one of the most lethal outbreaks of violence against Jews in medieval European history. Anti-Jewish violence similar to Russian pogroms then continued throughout the "Reconquista", culminating in the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The first wave in 1391, however, marked the extreme of such violence. After the massacres, Jews began to convert ''en masse'' to Roman Catholicism across the Iberian Peninsula, resulting in a substantial population of ''conversos'' known as '' Marranos''. Catholics then began to accuse— with or without substantiation—the ''conversos'' of secretly maintaining Jewish practices, and thus undermining the newly united kingdom's nascent national identity. Non-converted Jews were ultimate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of the ''Reconquista'' and aimed to maintain Catholic Church, Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and replace the Papal Inquisition in Spain, Medieval Inquisition, which was under Pope, papal control. Along with the Roman Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition, it became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify Heresy in Christianity, heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. The regulation of the faith of newly converted Catholics was intensified following Alhambra Decree, royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave Crown of Castile, Ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in 1536 at a long-standing request of King John III of Portugal, John III. It was one of three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition, along with the Spanish Inquisition and Roman Inquisition, that survived in the period after the Medieval Inquisition. The Goa Inquisition was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in colonial-era Portuguese India. The Portuguese Inquisition was terminated in 1821. History Background In 1478, Pope Sixtus IV issued the papal bull ''Exigit sincerae devotionis affectus'' that allowed the installation of the Inquisition in Castile, which created a strong wave of immigration of Jews and heretics to Portugal. After these events, the situation of the Jews and Moors in Portugal worsened. Befo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |