Marranos literally
'swine' or 'pig' now also means 'secret Jew'
At one time
it was a term of abuse applied to Jews who were
forcibly baptized in Spain in 1391 and in Portugal in 1497.
Some Portuguese academics attribute its
origin to the Aramaic-Hebrew Mar Anus, a 'forced one',
This is similar to Anussim
(Hebrew for 'forced ones'), Jews forced to convert as a result of
outside pressures.
Crypto Jew or 'secret Jew is
also used. Converso or New
Christian is often used by Christianity.
Marrano is now commonly used in
Portugal because of its association with the forced baptism of 1497, the Inquisition, and as a badge of identity
and resistance to the unHoly Office of the Inquisition (which
still exists). (manuel azevedo) while anussim,
converso or crypto Jew is more often used in Spain.
Today,
Jews whose ancestors were Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 - 500
years ago. call themselves Sefardim - which shows how important
this date is in Jewish history. Those who stayed did so because they
were forcibly converted to Christianity though many continued to
practice Judaism in secret. Many 'secret Jews' have since
returned to Judaism. Why this happened, we need to know what happened
then and since.
Historians vary in their
estimates of the number expelled in 1492, though there is
agreement that this was by far the biggest concentration of Jews
at that time.
Martin Gilbert’s Illustrated
Atlas of Jewish Civilization, 1998 estimates that
230,000 Jews were expelled from Spain. Of
these 50,000 were baptised to remain in Spain but some would be
secret Jews, while 180,000 sacrificed nearly everything to
go an unknown destination of whom
120,000 went to Portugal before settling elsewhere. This
was a disaster
for those affected but it was followed by the creation of a new Jewish Diaspora
In fact, expulsion
from Spain was not unique in Western Europe, for example
-
the Jews expelled from
England (1290)
-
the
Jews expelled from France (1306 and 1394)
-
the
Jews expelled from Hungary (1349 and 1360)
-
the
Jews expelled from Germany (1348 and 1498)
-
the
Jews expelled from Austria (1421)
-
the
Jews expelled from Lithuania (1445 and 1495)
-
the
Jews expelled from Spain (1492)
-
the
Jews expelled from Portugal (1497)
So, why did this
disaster happen?
Dimont compares
Christian feudal life to a vast prison. Inside were three estates
governed by strict rules - the serfs (95% of the population),
priests and nobility. Movement between these estates was virtually
impossible. The nobles did not want to work, the priests were
excluded from work and the serfs not allowed to do any middle class
profession such as moneylending or trading. The Jews became
indispensable as they were the only ones who could do this work and
explains why they were granted charters of freedom and invited to
stay by the nobles..
During the feudal
system the Jews were largely ignored by the Church as it felt itself
faced with a dilemma
-
If
the Jews were ignored it might be equal to an admission that
Jesus was not universally divine
-
On
the other hand if the church exterminated the Jews, as it had
with the heathens, then the Church could never claim that the
Jews had acknowledged Jesus' divinity
Result - they were
excluded from the feudal system to prevent the Jews infecting
believers with doubt.
Then, three things
occurred which changed everything
The first was the
First Crusade in 1096
which extended the knightly prerogative of dying for honour to the
common man To join the Crusade serfs were promised freedom,
criminals pardon and sinners granted absolution. A largely
undisciplined army led to unruly undisciplined mobs sacking towns
and villages as they 'marched' towards the promised land. This
pattern continued with the subsequent crusades.
The
second was the association of Jews and usury
In 1123, the Jews were given a new function by the bishops of the
Church when they undertook a series of meetings -- called Lateran
Councils -- to decide Church policy when they decided that
Christians were not allowed to lend each other money. (This came
from a misunderstanding of a Biblical commandment that forbids one
from charging one's brother interest when making a loan.)
The
bishops knew interest
would be charged if money was borrowed. Someone had to lend money
and that someone they decided would be the Jews. So the Jews, who
were servants to the Christians had the degrading task of lending
money -- called usury -- with which the Christians were forbidden to
sully their hands.
One
result was that Jews were not allowed to live in various cities in
Europe, unless they supplied a certain number of money-lenders
However, lending
money very precarious. as it engendered a lot of
animosity as no one likes repaying loans? So a noble or bishop who decided not to pay you back would accuse the
Jew of doing something terrible -- such as killing a Christian baby
so he could renege on loans, confiscate Jewish
property and expel or even kill the Jews.
The third was the Black Death
in the 14th Century. One hypothesis is that
the plague was due to a flea-bearing rodent
which is estimated to have resulted in the death of about half the population of Europe -
about 25,000,000 people. Jews were charged with having provoked the Plague through their
unbelief and sinfulness. They stood out to the Christian population
as they did not use water from public wells, had a religious obligation
of cleanliness
and were suspected of poisoning wells. Living in a group, often in
a Jewish ghetto isolated may have emphasised lower Jewish mortality rates
The Catholic Church saw its objective as
eliminating heresy - that is any Christian religious belief that
didn't agree with established Church dogma. The Pope saw the
major threat to his power from sects challenging church doctrine and
so their power and introduced a new weapon against heresy - the
Inquisition. Its purpose was not to eliminate Judaism.
Investigations, often by torture, through ecclesiastical tribunals
controlled by Dominican monks were to obtain admission of guilt and
the names of other possibly supposed heretics. Sentence, carried out
by the secular arm on their behalf ranged from church attendance to
being burnt at the stake.
Spanish Jewish
conversion dates back to the sixth century when 90,000
Jews were converted. How many remained Christian, how many returned
to Judaism and how many professed both religions is unknown During
the Spanish reconquest of Spain from the Mohammedans Spanish royalty
offered inducements for Jews to remain in Spain. By the end of the
fifteenth century many had risen to positions of power which annoyed the 'old' or 'true' Christians' who saw them taking plum jobs.
The 'Old Christians' accused the 'New Christians' of
being false converts, keeping their former religion in secret.
This was sometimes true, and even people later declared Saints by
the Church were suspected. Cleanliness of blood was an issue of
ancestry, not of personal religion. This atmosphere was reinforced
with the concept of racial purity which after riots in Toledo led to
the 1449 First Statute of Purity of Blood being passed so banning
New Christians from many official positions and Old Christians
becoming more influential.
Previous attacks had
occurred as In the fourteenth century
when the Dominican friar Vincent Ferrer swept through
Castile at the head of a huge band of fanatics and looters. On
Sabbath when the Jews were congregated in their synagogue he would
rush in with a crucifix in one hand and a torah in the other
offering a choice of baptism or death. Thousands were
slaughtered. He boasted that he had
baptised 35,000 Jews. Following his death he was made a saint.
Some, educated in talmudic yeshivot put their talents to the service of
the Church, One Paulus de Santa Maria (formerly Solomon Halevi,
1352-1435) was almost elected Pope in Avignon and became Primate
of the Spanish Church. He acted as Ferrers evil genius and urged
him to greater ferocity to convert or exterminate the Jews.
How did the Jews
react? Chaim Potok in
'Wanderings' gives a feeling how the Jews responded to attacks:
They would use
their weapons to hold off the mobs. But when it was clear that
defeat was near, they would accept it as a sign from God that
their deaths had been decreed. There might be a pause in the
battle. The men would gather for a final decision. To let
themselves and their families be taken alive by such mobs was
unthinkable. Jewish law developed a benediction for the act of
martyrdom. Fathers would say the words, cut the throats of
their wives and children, say aloud "Hear O Israel the Lord is
God, the Lord is One" and commit suicide.
They died
without doubting the unfathomable judgement of heaven. They
felt themselves linked to the patriarch Abraham and his act of
faith when he nearly sacrificed Isaac......They saw themselves
continuing in the tradition of the Pietists who died fighting
the Hellenists. It was a charged, passionate choice made with
the certainty that the world to come was a living reality and
its rewards awaited them when they fulfilled their ultimate duty
as Jews.
Accounts make it
clear...that Jews were fully aware of their actions; they were
testifying to the truth and continuing reality of the original
covenant and to the cruelty and emptiness of the Christianity
that had forced them to such a choice. Martyrdom was an
aggressive act of denial, a publicly performed act sanctifying
the name of God. During the heat of battle and before the act
of suicide, Jews would shout words of derision about Jesus.
Some let themselves be taken alive, agreed to baptism and then
spat on the crucifix, knowing they might be torn to pieces by
the infuriated crowd.
The Inquisition was Instituted by Pop Innocent III (1198-1216) in Rome,
it was expanded by Pope Gregory IX in 1233 to combat the heresy of the Abilgenses, a
French religious
sect. By 1255 it was in Central and Western Europe; although never
in England or Scandinavia.
Torquemada
was a pious
Dominican monk.
who became
confessor
to
Princess Isabella,
the heiress of
Castile
(her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon which led to the unification of
Spain was arranged by a Jew called Abraham Senior). She was crowned
in
1473
and he became Spain's
Inquisitor General
a decade later. In his fifteen years as head of the Spanish
Inquisition it grew from a single tribunal in
Seville
to a network of two dozen 'Holy Offices'" creating
panic and terror
Every
Christian
over twelve (for girls) and fourteen (for boys) was fully
accountable to the Inquisition. Heretics and
Conversos
were the primary targets, but anyone who spoke against the
Inquisition fell under suspicion. To help guard against the spread
of heresy, Torquemada promoted the burning of non-Catholic
literature—especially Jewish
Talmuds
and, after the final defeat of the
Moors
at
Granada
in 1492 Arabic
books were also burnedl. Torquemada travelled with 50 mounted guards and 250
armed men to impress and intimidate. He died in 1498
The guide
for informers to help identify a secret Jew included a long list of
habits or characteristics such as the
following:
· Put before your neighbour morsels of food such as
pork, rabbit and conger eels,. and if he refuses to eat, he is a
Jew.
· Watch with great care everything your neighbour does
on Friday. Does he put on fresh linen? Does he light candles at
least an hour before honest men do? Does his wife clean the house
that day? If you catch him doing those thing, you have a Jew.
As a result people
often ate pork and went to church or the cathedral to prove their
'Christian credentials'..
James Michener tells the
story of the scholar Tomas de Salamanca. One day his nine year old
son burst into the street shouting "my father whipped me. He fasts
on Yom Kippur." After investigations lasting seven years sixty
three of his close associates were burnt alive. Among them were
seventeen nuns who said Jewish prayers in their convent, thirty
monks, seven priests and two bishops.
The psychological
climate caused by fear of being taken by the Inquisition explains
why conversos led secret lives. This is vividly brought to life in
books and films about this period. This secrecy has still not
disappeared. While in Belmonte (2006) we met someone who had just
been made redundant as his employer had discovered he was Jewish.
Following this he was moving to Belmonte to be with other Jews. He,
and others, said a reason for this attitude was the growing
influence of the Catholic Opus Dei movement in Portugal.
Torquemada decided
it was necessary to eliminate Jewish influence and competition to
the Church. .An
Edict of Expulsion was
issued against the Jews on March 31 1492 ordering them to leave by
the last day of July (Tisha
B'Av), permitting them to remove their property provided
it was not in gold, silver, or money.
The Inquisition went on
to become a local spectacle viewed as the Romans did gladiators killed
by other gladiators or wild animals and competed with bullfights as an
attraction. According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica the
climax was reached on June 30, 1680 on the Plaza Mayor, Toledo in the
presence of Charles II and his bride, Marie Louise d'Orléans, in honor
of their marriage. Beginning at six o'clock in the morning it lasted 14
hours, no less than 51 persons were burned either (col. 1405).
This was the last great solemnity of its kind, as Philip V, the first of
the Bourbon line, refused (in 1701) to attend one in honor of his
accession leading to its cessation. (http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/k/inquisition/EncJud/21-methods-of-Inquisition-ENGL.html)
A
Jewish delegation went to Portugal to negotiate their admission
to Portugal The
Portuguese saw an opportunity to add to the royal treasury. 600
families paid for the right of permanent residence the remainder
pad less for the right to stay eight months after which ships would be provided
to take them elsewhere.
On their arrival the
government faced pressure for their immediate removal as some blamed
them for bringing the plague, while others, for defying the
teachings of the Church.
The King changed his
mind about the Jewish refugees and withstood this pressure when he
realized that they might be an asset to his country and kept in Portugal.
As a result few
ships were provided for the exodus, so few Jews left. Those
remaining were accused of having violated the initial
agreement and, in accordance its stipulations were
declared slaves and handed over to Christian masters, unless
they accept baptism.
The Jewish Virtual Library adds
In 1496, to punish the Jews of
Portugal who would not pay the head tax of the state, King
Manuel deported nearly 2,000 Jewish children, from the ages of
two to ten, to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe straddling
the Equator west of Gabon. The King had wished to colonize the
islands, under Portugal’s rule, but did not want to risk the
lives of Portuguese men doing so. Nevertheless a year after, the
children were disposed on the islands only 600 were found alive.
Some of the children attempted to retain some semblance of their
Jewish heritage and religion. Even into the early 1600s Jewish
practices could still be observed on the islands, but by the
18th century most of the Jewish presence had perished. A new
small community was established in the 19th and 20th centuries
with the arrival of a few Jewish cocoa and sugar traders. Today
there are no known practicing Jews living on the islands, but
there remains a clear distinction in fair skin citizens, many of
whom can trace their ancestry back to the Portuguese Jews.
On July 12, 1995, an International Conference
was held on the islands’ twentieth Independence Day, to
commemorate the Jewish Portuguese children who were discarded on
the islands in the 15th century.
Sao Tome and
Principe eventually became one of the worlds leading sugar producers
Go to
www.saudades.org/jewscapev.html
for details of Jews on the West African coast.
In 1495
Dom Manuel
became King and ordered enslaved Jews be set free. .
Unfortunately he was considering marrying the youngest daughter of
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. with the hope that a descendant
would inherit the Spanish throne and possibly unify the Iberian
Peninsula under the house of Braganza..
As a precondition
Isabella stipulated Portugal should follow Spain by expelling the Jews
f
On December 5, 1496,
Manuel issued a decree ordering all Jews and Moors, to leave
Portugal by the end of October 1497.
He had second
thoughts as he felt that by expelling all Jews from Portugal an
important segment of the middle class would be lost with no one to
carry on their commercial, industrial and fiscal activities, Instead
he tried something new, he would simply compel all Jews to convert
to Christianity. All synagogues and study-houses were to be
confiscated and Jews commanded to surrender their books. On March
19, 1497, during the Jewish Passover, orders were given that all the
Jewish children between the ages of four and fourteen, were to be
forcibly converted and permanently separated from their parents
unless they also accepted baptism.
That day;
horror was witnessed all over the country
with
some fathers strangling their sons in a last embrace, rather than
surrender them to a fate that they considered worse than death. In
a few cases, they converted to stay with them.
Instead of
three
embarkation
ports for the
final expulsion, they were told that all would all have to
depart from Lisbon. Once there all pretence at carrying out the expulsion was
dropped.
They were kept
without food and drink in the hope that these privations would open
their eyes to the true faith. Renegades and friars tried to persuade
them that life was worth a Mass. Some gave in. Those who refused
were closely guarded until the time limit for their departure had
lapsed. They were then informed that their penalty for disobedience
was enslavement and that they could recover their freedom only by
adopting the Christian faith.
Twenty thousand Jews
were brought in successive groups to the palace grounds of the
Estaos. Those who would not go willingly to the baptismal font, were
dragged with brutal force. Those who were still protesting, had Holy
Water flung over them from a distance, and declared to be
Christians. By September, the forceful conversions had been
completed. All the Jews who had not previously left the country had
been made Christians against their will. The new converts became known as Christianos Nuevos,
or Novos Cristaos (New Christians). It was not until 1768
that Portugal officially abolished the distinction between "Old" and
"New" (i.e. Jewish) Christians.
Having achieved his
immediate purpose, Manuel felt he could afford to adopt a lenient
policy towards the converts by promising that no inquiries would be
made into their religious beliefs for twenty years. His
proclamation proclaimed that converts would
eventually 'lose their accustomed habits and be confirmed in our
holy faith."
Manuel was
wrong as conversos retained a strong sense of identity, which In some cases
still exists, five hundred years later.
They formed a new social class in Portugal and Spain and the
Christian countries where they were able to settle and played a
major role in the culture and the economy of these nations. The Conversos married among themselves strengthening family ties, and
their sense of community.
Those going to other
countries usually reverted to Judaism, For example, in Holland they
formed an important community and later emigrants from there an
English community
Conversos continued
to emigrate, prompting the authorities to withhold the right of
emigration from the New Christians, except for those who had
received permission from the king.
New Christians lived
in constant fear of being denounced, not just by informers, but even
by friends. Those accused by the Inquisition could only be
reconciled if they submitted the names of individuals who might
still be attached to some Jewish belief or custom.
Thus, a secret
religious culture developed in Portugal, as it had in Spain among
the majority of the New Christians; a culture described as
"crypto-Judaism." While attending church and conducting themselves
as Catholics, externally, they maintained an acute sense of their
Jewish identity, reciting some Jewish prayers and practicing some
Jewish observances, often at great risk of being arrested by the
agents of the Holy Office or being denounced inadvertently by a
friend under torture.
The Inquisition was
finally abolished on March 31, 1821. During its existence,
-
It
implicated over 40,000, of whom 30,000 were sentenced at
autos-da-fe.
-
750
auto-da-fe were staged
-
29,000 persons were
'reconciled' to the Church,
-
600
were burned in effigy and 1200 were burned alive on the stake
for the sin of Judaizing.
The capitulation of France in June 1940
prompted tens of thousands of refugees, including thousands of Jews, to
flee southward from the northern part, hoping to leave France by
crossing its southern border into Spain, from there on to Portugal, and
finally sailing for America.
Until May 10, 1940 entrance visas to, or transit permits through
Portugal could be obtained at the Portuguese consulate in Bordeaux. On
that date, when Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands, the
Government of Portugal prohibited further crossings by refugees,
especially Jewish refugees. The meaning was that the last avenue of hope
was now closed. British citizens recommended by the British consul were
permitted to get visas. Some 30,000 refugees, including 10,000 Jews,
congregated at the Portuguese consulate in Bordeaux and applied pressure
to obtain the piece of paper that would extricate them from France.
Sousa Mendes, a devout and good-hearted Christian, seeing
the terrible plight of the refugees, decided to disobey his government’s
explicit instruction. He received a delegation of refugees at the
consulate, headed by Rabbi Haim Kruger, and promised transit visas to
everyone in need. He even added that those who could not pay the visa
fees would receive the documents free of charge.
Rumors about Sousa Mendes’ actions reached Lisbon, which summarily
ordered him to return to his homeland at once.
Back in Lisbon, Sousa Mendes was brought before a disciplinary panel and
dismissed from his position in the Foreign Ministry. This left him
destitute and unable to support his family of 13 children. He died
penniless in 1954. Only in 1988, thanks to external pressure and his
children’s efforts, did his government grant him total rehabilitation.
When asked to explain his actions, he said: “If thousands of Jews are
suffering because of one Christian [Hitler], surely one Christian may
suffer for so many Jews”.
On October 18, 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Aristides de Sousa Mendes
as Righteous Among the Nations.
Click here to read what happened to some converso
To summarise
·
The Inquisition, created to maintain the power of the Catholic,
emphasized the climate of fear based on religion.
·
By 1497 forced conversion saw no Jews remaining in Spain or Portugal.
Of the 230,000 Jews faced with expulsion in 1492 AT LEAST 170,000 had
been forcibly converted to Christianity by 1497
·
Fear of the Inquisition saw many converts having a ‘dual identity’
·
Expulsion of the Spanish Jews created a new worldwide diaspora as in
Amsterdam (which became known as the New Jerusalem) and in Brazil where
a Jewish community appeared following the Dutch conquest of 1632.
·
Jews became associated with usury
·
Customs were passed through generations without those carrying them out
understanding their significance.
·
Extensive kinship and mercantile ties developed with Jewish families
around the world.
References
Jews, God and History, Max I Dimont, Mentor
1994Wanderings, Chaim Potok's History of the Jews, Chaim Potok, Hutchinson
1974 Isidore Loeb, in the "Revue des Etudes Juives" (xiv. 162-183) Pictorial History of the Jewish People, Nathan Ausubel, Robson Books
1984
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Marranos.html
Definitions and history of Marranos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrano
This is an excellent summary of the Marranos
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_Christian&action=edit
Limpieza de sangre (Spanish),
Limpeza de sangue (Portuguese),
both meaning "cleanliness of
blood"
www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Medieval/TheStory6321666/Christendom/InquisitionI.htm
Howard Morley Sachar and the purpose of the Inquisition
http://home.earthlink.net/~bnahman/FAMHX9.htm
This is an excellent study by a descendent of Nahmanides (Ramban)
Jews, Portugal and Germany
(for a detailed analysis
of the 1930's-40's see the article by Avraham Milgram at
www1.yadvashem.org/odot.../Microsoft%20Word%20-%203230.pdf
For the Yad
Vashem site go to
http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/righteous_new/portugal/mendes.html
|