Charles River Editors - The Crypto-Jews: The History of the Forcibly Converted Jews Who Secretly Practiced Judaism during the Inquisition

By Charles River Editors

The seal of the Spanish Inquisition

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A picture of Jewish religious items preserved in Monterrey, Mexico

Crypto-Judaism, in one form or another, is as old as the Jew himself. Cecil Roth

In many modern societies, laws have been put in place to protect citizens from discrimination based on their gender, beliefs, race, and sexuality. The sheer thought of having these rights impeded upon in any way is something people in the West often consider unthinkable. In this day and age, people will fight tooth and nail to right cases of discrimination and injustice, from seeking legal action to filing criminal charges against the discriminating party.

Multiple organizations around the world exist to help combat and protect its citizens from prejudicial inequities. Social media has also become a channel for those around the world to voice these injustices. Those around the world who empathize with the discriminated band together and condemn the accused bigots. Resulting boycotts, petitions, and negative backlash from social media and the Internet have been known to play a significant role in contributing to the downfall of individuals and corporations that have been accused of discrimination of any kind.

The road to the modern age of cultural harmony and acceptance is one of the finest feats of human progress, but having said that, there was once a time when the mere doubt of a religious figure's existence was not only punishable by law, it could very well cost a man his life. This was the crime of heresy. This kind of religious persecution has been around for thousands of years, and Christians were often the victims, but when the Catholic Church began its rapid expansion throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, the tables were turned. In 1184, Pope Lucius III issued a papal bull that would kick off a long-standing tradition of heretic-hunting, and as a result, the Age of the Inquisitions commenced.

In a twist of events, the persecuted became the persecutors. From then on, the Roman Catholic Church took it upon itself to hold tribunals, or judicial courts, in a quest to exterminate heresy once and for all. These inquisitions, which would plague Europe for centuries, is believed to have seen hundreds of thousands persecuted for beliefs that went against the Church. A startling portion of them would be brutally tortured and sent to their deaths.

None of these would hold a candle to the one birthed in the 15 th century the Spanish Inquisition. The notorious inquisition, the subject of multiple documentaries, movies, and other pop culture mediums, is an era darkly remembered for its oppression, barbarous torture, and religious tyranny. Serving as a backdrop for it all was a deadly disease, a man likened to Satan, and the tumultuous rise and fall of one of the most dreadful periods in European history.

By the end of the 14 th century, the distrust and prejudice against Jewish communities quickly spread to Spain. In 1391, James II of Aragon boarded the bandwagon; backed into a corner by the Roman Catholic Church, he established a law that banned Jews from Spain altogether. Jews were shunned in droves, and the remaining were given an ultimatum to either convert/revert to Catholicism or face immediate death. Yet another wave of gory pogroms ensued across the country, especially in Barcelona. For nearly 400 years, the city of Barcelona had served as the central hub of the European Jewish communities, but in just 3 years, all 23 Jewish synagogues in Barcelona had been forcibly demolished. Nothing but charred remnants and ashes lay in its place.

By 1394, the Jewish communities in Barcelona, Toledo, Seville, and Perpignan were nothing but a memory, and what was left of the Spanish Jews did their best to persevere. They scrounged up enough money to bribe authorities and practiced their faith in secrecy well into the 15 th century, but the 15 th century marked a pivotal turning point for Spanish Jews and Christians alike. The conversion of the Jews had become the main goal of the Catholic Church, and they were determined to see it through. To do so, the Catholic Church largely relied upon Jewish defectors, otherwise known as apostates or conversos, to carry out the cause. Among these apostates was Rabbi Solomon ha-Levi. Originally from Seville, the rabbi became a figurehead of sorts, and was well-respected by the Jewish communities. Following the 1391 takeover of Jewish Barcelona, however, he, along with his wife and children, were publicly converted to Catholicism. The ex-rabbi branded himself as Paul of Burgos.

Converso was the term given to any individual of Jewish or Muslim faith who had been converted to Catholicism. While some conversos were coerced into the conversion, others, like ha-Levi, willingly converted. This was a label given not only to the generation of the converted, it was also inherited by their children and descendants as well. Converso s prided themselves on being a new generation of Christians. Although they were of Jewish descent, they embraced the true Catholic religion. There were even those who claimed that the conversos had a deeper connection with God and were simply better than the Old Christians. According to the conversos , as Jews, they were related by blood to Christ.

One Jewish man was not so easily swayed and was aggravated by the growing number of converts. His name was Hasdai Crescas, an ex-disciple of both Paul of Burgos and ha-Lorki. Crescas published a series of books defending Judaism, the first of which was entitled Ohr Hashem (Book of Light). Not only did the publications praise Judaism, Crescas included a harsh commentary about the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church saw this as outright blasphemy, and it decided that all Spanish Jews would pay for it. It became an esteemed honor to be bestowed with the task of converting the Jews through the savage pogroms. One of the most prolific pogrom leaders boasted about heading an army that converted 20,000 Jews and killed another 10,000 in the process.

When the Spanish Inquisition was in full swing, the inquisitors' handbooks included tips and guidelines on how to identify a rogue Jewish converso, or as others mocked them, the crypto-Jews. Inquisitors were on the lookout for individuals who did their cooking and cleaning on Friday nights, which was a Jewish habit. These relapsos frequented local Jewish stores to stock up on kosher meals. The latter individuals were fairly easy to spot, as most Spaniards at the time consumed hearty amounts of pork, a staple prohibited in Jewish and Muslim law. The absence of chimney smoke on Saturday nights was another clue that those inside could be honoring the Sabbath.