Marranos
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, yet continued to practice Judaism in secret. In 1492 Jews in Spain were given the option of converting to Christianity or being forcibly expelled; in Portugal the initial edict of expulsion of 1496 was turned into an edict of forced conversion the following year, whereby Jews were then prevented from leaving the country and were forcibly baptized and converted to Christianity.
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."
Converts were monitored by the Portuguese and Spanish Inquisition and subject to suspicions by Catholics of the secret practice of Judaism, also known as "Marranism".
In modern use "marrano" is sometimes, but not always, considered offensive; and "crypto-Jew" is occasionally preferred in scholarly works.
See also
- Spanish Inquisition - Including on less politically correct views.
