Abstract

NAVARRETE, María Cristina. JEWISH CONVERTS IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA. hist.crit. [online]. 2002, n.23, pp.73-90. ISSN 0121-1617.

A large number of Portuguese "New Christians" (Jewish converts to Catholicism) constituted one of the most important components of the white population of the Indies during the 16th and 17th centuries. They settled in various cities within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice of the New Kingdom of Granada, especially in Cartagena, where they occupied themselves in the slave trade and commerce in general. They extended their trade networks to and from the Viceroyalty of Peru and other provinces to the south of the New Kingdom. The Inquisition used its power to persecute them and to confiscate their property as a way to protect the purity of the faith and to sustain the institution economically. The New Christians were accused of secretly practicing the Jewish religion and of not being true Christians. Many of them were crypto-Jews who observed the Sabbath and Queen Esther’s feast day, observed Jewish fasting and dietary practices, and attended synagogue meetings. The most respected men among them acted as rabbis and orally transmitted their prayers and the few traditions remaining extant among them. As a result of both persecution by the Inquisition and the independence of Portugal in 1640, some of them returned to that country, while others scattered throughout the Caribbean and still others blended into the traditional Christian population.

Keywords : new christians; converts; secret jews; crypto-Jews; marrano; sephardi; sephardite; inquisition; slave trade; asiento de esclavos.

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