Author: Benzion Netanyahu
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801485688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Analyzes the degree of assimilation of the Spanish Conversos based on Jewish perceptions as reflected in responsa and in polemical and exegetical Jewish literature of the time (1391-1481). Rejects the present-day view that many Conversos were Judaizers, arguing that, on the contrary, most of them were at different stages of assimilation and Christianization and were even tinged with anti-Judaism. Stresses that in fact the majority of the Spanish Jewish community converted (forcibly or not), and the remaining Jews, a minority, felt uncertainty as to the Jewishness of the Conversos, considering as a crypto-Jew (or "anuss") only a Converso who respected Jewish precepts in private and who tried to leave Spain in order to return to Judaism. The fact that most Conversos did neither shows that most of them abandoned Judaism, and that the Inquisition's persecution campaign was held not on religious but on racial and political grounds, meant to destroy a successfully competing social group.
The Marranos of Spain
Author: Benzion Netanyahu
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801485688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Analyzes the degree of assimilation of the Spanish Conversos based on Jewish perceptions as reflected in responsa and in polemical and exegetical Jewish literature of the time (1391-1481). Rejects the present-day view that many Conversos were Judaizers, arguing that, on the contrary, most of them were at different stages of assimilation and Christianization and were even tinged with anti-Judaism. Stresses that in fact the majority of the Spanish Jewish community converted (forcibly or not), and the remaining Jews, a minority, felt uncertainty as to the Jewishness of the Conversos, considering as a crypto-Jew (or "anuss") only a Converso who respected Jewish precepts in private and who tried to leave Spain in order to return to Judaism. The fact that most Conversos did neither shows that most of them abandoned Judaism, and that the Inquisition's persecution campaign was held not on religious but on racial and political grounds, meant to destroy a successfully competing social group.
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801485688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Analyzes the degree of assimilation of the Spanish Conversos based on Jewish perceptions as reflected in responsa and in polemical and exegetical Jewish literature of the time (1391-1481). Rejects the present-day view that many Conversos were Judaizers, arguing that, on the contrary, most of them were at different stages of assimilation and Christianization and were even tinged with anti-Judaism. Stresses that in fact the majority of the Spanish Jewish community converted (forcibly or not), and the remaining Jews, a minority, felt uncertainty as to the Jewishness of the Conversos, considering as a crypto-Jew (or "anuss") only a Converso who respected Jewish precepts in private and who tried to leave Spain in order to return to Judaism. The fact that most Conversos did neither shows that most of them abandoned Judaism, and that the Inquisition's persecution campaign was held not on religious but on racial and political grounds, meant to destroy a successfully competing social group.
The Other Within
Author: Yirmiyahu Yovel
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069118786X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 509
Book Description
The Marranos were former Jews forced to convert to Christianity in Spain and Portugal, and their later descendents. Despite economic and some political advancement, these "Conversos" suffered social stigma and were persecuted by the Inquisition. In this unconventional history, Yirmiyahu Yovel tells their fascinating story and reflects on what it means for modern forms of identity. He describes the Marranos as "the Other within"—people who both did and did not belong. Rejected by most Jews as renegades and by most veteran Christians as Jews with impure blood, Marranos had no definite, integral identity, Yovel argues. The "Judaizers"—Marranos who wished to remain secretly Jewish—were not actually Jews, and those Marranos who wished to assimilate were not truly integrated as Hispano-Catholics. Rather, mixing Jewish and Christian symbols and life patterns, Marranos were typically distinguished by a split identity. They also discovered the subjective mind, engaged in social and religious dissent, and demonstrated early signs of secularity and this-worldliness. In these ways, Yovel says, the Marranos anticipated and possibly helped create many central features of modern Western and Jewish experience. One of Yovel's philosophical conclusions is that split identity—which the Inquisition persecuted and modern nationalism considers illicit—is a genuine and inevitable shape of human existence, one that deserves recognition as a basic human freedom. Drawing on historical studies, Inquisition records, and contemporary poems, novels, treatises, and other writings, this engaging critical history of the Marrano experience is also a profound meditation on dual identities and the birth of modernity.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069118786X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 509
Book Description
The Marranos were former Jews forced to convert to Christianity in Spain and Portugal, and their later descendents. Despite economic and some political advancement, these "Conversos" suffered social stigma and were persecuted by the Inquisition. In this unconventional history, Yirmiyahu Yovel tells their fascinating story and reflects on what it means for modern forms of identity. He describes the Marranos as "the Other within"—people who both did and did not belong. Rejected by most Jews as renegades and by most veteran Christians as Jews with impure blood, Marranos had no definite, integral identity, Yovel argues. The "Judaizers"—Marranos who wished to remain secretly Jewish—were not actually Jews, and those Marranos who wished to assimilate were not truly integrated as Hispano-Catholics. Rather, mixing Jewish and Christian symbols and life patterns, Marranos were typically distinguished by a split identity. They also discovered the subjective mind, engaged in social and religious dissent, and demonstrated early signs of secularity and this-worldliness. In these ways, Yovel says, the Marranos anticipated and possibly helped create many central features of modern Western and Jewish experience. One of Yovel's philosophical conclusions is that split identity—which the Inquisition persecuted and modern nationalism considers illicit—is a genuine and inevitable shape of human existence, one that deserves recognition as a basic human freedom. Drawing on historical studies, Inquisition records, and contemporary poems, novels, treatises, and other writings, this engaging critical history of the Marrano experience is also a profound meditation on dual identities and the birth of modernity.
A History of the Marranos
Author: Cecil Roth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781590452141
Category : Inquisition
Languages : en
Pages : 424
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781590452141
Category : Inquisition
Languages : en
Pages : 424
Book Description
The Marranos
Author: Liliane Webb
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780836261127
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Book Description
In late-fifteenth-century Spain, the indomitable and passionate Isabel Valderocas, living under the shadow of the Inquisition as a secret Jew, becomes the lover of the man destined to be the Grand Inquisitor.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780836261127
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Book Description
In late-fifteenth-century Spain, the indomitable and passionate Isabel Valderocas, living under the shadow of the Inquisition as a secret Jew, becomes the lover of the man destined to be the Grand Inquisitor.
The Marrano Factory
Author: António José Saraiva
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004120808
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
First published in Portuguese in 1969, this is the only work by Antonio Jose Saraiva available in English and the only single-volume history devoted primarily to the working of the Portuguese Inquisition, a most lucid and compact survey. "The Marrano Factory" argues that the Portuguese Inquisition s stated intention of extirpating heresies and purifying Portuguese Catholicism was a monumental hoax; the true purpose of the Holy Office was the fabrication rather than the destruction of "Judaizers."
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004120808
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
First published in Portuguese in 1969, this is the only work by Antonio Jose Saraiva available in English and the only single-volume history devoted primarily to the working of the Portuguese Inquisition, a most lucid and compact survey. "The Marrano Factory" argues that the Portuguese Inquisition s stated intention of extirpating heresies and purifying Portuguese Catholicism was a monumental hoax; the true purpose of the Holy Office was the fabrication rather than the destruction of "Judaizers."
Marranos
Author: Donatella Di Cesare
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9781509542031
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Book Description
Marranos were Spanish or Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted to Christianity to avoid being massacred or forced to flee following the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1391 but they continued to practice Judaism in secret. They outwardly embraced Catholicism but preserved Judaism in their hearts. While the Marranos are commonly associated with the persecution of Jews at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, Donatella Di Cesare sees the Marranos as the quintessential figure of the modern condition: the Marranos were not just those that modernity has cast out as the ‘other’, but were those ‘others’ who were forced to disavow their beliefs and conceal themselves. They were ‘the other’s other’, the product of a double exclusion, condemned to a life of existential duplicity with no way out, spurned by both Catholics and Jews and unable fully to belong to either community. But this double life of the Marrano turned out also to be a secret source of strength. Doubly estranged, with no possibility of redemption, the Marrano was the protagonist not only of an external emigration but also of an internal migration: the exploration of the inner territory of the self and a predisposition towards radical thinking that would become hallmarks of modernity. By treating the history of the Marranos as a prism through which to grasp the defining features of modernity, this highly original book that will be of interest to wide readership.
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9781509542031
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Book Description
Marranos were Spanish or Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted to Christianity to avoid being massacred or forced to flee following the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1391 but they continued to practice Judaism in secret. They outwardly embraced Catholicism but preserved Judaism in their hearts. While the Marranos are commonly associated with the persecution of Jews at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, Donatella Di Cesare sees the Marranos as the quintessential figure of the modern condition: the Marranos were not just those that modernity has cast out as the ‘other’, but were those ‘others’ who were forced to disavow their beliefs and conceal themselves. They were ‘the other’s other’, the product of a double exclusion, condemned to a life of existential duplicity with no way out, spurned by both Catholics and Jews and unable fully to belong to either community. But this double life of the Marrano turned out also to be a secret source of strength. Doubly estranged, with no possibility of redemption, the Marrano was the protagonist not only of an external emigration but also of an internal migration: the exploration of the inner territory of the self and a predisposition towards radical thinking that would become hallmarks of modernity. By treating the history of the Marranos as a prism through which to grasp the defining features of modernity, this highly original book that will be of interest to wide readership.
Jewish Cryptotheologies of Late Modernity
Author: Agata Bielik-Robson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317684508
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
This book aims to interpret ‘Jewish Philosophy’ in terms of the Marrano phenomenon: as a conscious clinamen of philosophical forms used in order to convey a ‘secret message’ which cannot find an open articulation. The Marrano phenomenon is employed here, in the domain of modern philosophical thought, where an analogous tendency can be seen: the clash of an open idiom and a secret meaning, which transforms both the medium and the message. Focussing on key figures of late modern, twentieth century Jewish thought; Hermann Cohen, Gershom Scholem, Walter Benjamin, Franz Rosenzweig, Theodor Adorno, Ernst Bloch, Jacob Taubes, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, this book demonstrates how their respective manners of conceptualization swerve from the philosophical mainstream along the Marrano ‘secret curve.’ Analysing their unique contribution to the ‘unfinished project of modernity,’ including issues of the future of the Enlightenment, modern nihilism and post-secular negotiation with religious heritage, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers with an interest in Jewish Studies and Philosophy.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317684508
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
This book aims to interpret ‘Jewish Philosophy’ in terms of the Marrano phenomenon: as a conscious clinamen of philosophical forms used in order to convey a ‘secret message’ which cannot find an open articulation. The Marrano phenomenon is employed here, in the domain of modern philosophical thought, where an analogous tendency can be seen: the clash of an open idiom and a secret meaning, which transforms both the medium and the message. Focussing on key figures of late modern, twentieth century Jewish thought; Hermann Cohen, Gershom Scholem, Walter Benjamin, Franz Rosenzweig, Theodor Adorno, Ernst Bloch, Jacob Taubes, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, this book demonstrates how their respective manners of conceptualization swerve from the philosophical mainstream along the Marrano ‘secret curve.’ Analysing their unique contribution to the ‘unfinished project of modernity,’ including issues of the future of the Enlightenment, modern nihilism and post-secular negotiation with religious heritage, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers with an interest in Jewish Studies and Philosophy.
Marranos on the Moradas
Author: Norman Toby Simms
Publisher: Academic Studies PRess
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528
Book Description
Simms redefines the study of two often misunderstood religious groups: the Marranos who claim descent from the persecuted Spanish Jews forced to convert to Catholicism yet who practiced Jewish rituals secretly; and the Penitentes, a Catholic group accused of violent acts of self-flagellation and other forms of masochism.
Publisher: Academic Studies PRess
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528
Book Description
Simms redefines the study of two often misunderstood religious groups: the Marranos who claim descent from the persecuted Spanish Jews forced to convert to Catholicism yet who practiced Jewish rituals secretly; and the Penitentes, a Catholic group accused of violent acts of self-flagellation and other forms of masochism.
Unorthodox Kin
Author: Naomi Leite
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520960645
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
Stirling Prize for Best Book in Psychological Anthropology, 2018 Graburn Award for Best Book in Anthropology of Tourism, 2018 Douglass Prize for Best Book in the Anthropology of Europe, Honorable Mention, 2018 National Jewish Book Award, Finalist, 2017 Unorthodox Kin is a groundbreaking exploration of identity, relatedness, and belonging in a global era. In urban Portugal today, hundreds of individuals trace their ancestry to 15th century Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism, and many now seek to rejoin the Jewish people as a whole. For the most part, however, these self-titled Marranos (“hidden Jews”) lack any direct experience of Jews or Judaism, and Portugal’s tiny, tightly knit Jewish community offers no clear path of entry. According to Jewish law, to be recognized as a Jew one must be born to a Jewish mother or pursue religious conversion, an anathema to those who feel their ancestors’ Judaism was cruelly stolen from them. After centuries of familial Catholicism, and having been refused inclusion locally, how will these self-declared ancestral Jews find belonging among “the Jewish family,” writ large? How, that is, can people rejected as strangers face-to-face become members of a global imagined community—not only rhetorically, but experientially? Leite addresses this question through intimate portraits of the lives and experiences of a network of urban Marranos who sought contact with foreign Jewish tourists and outreach workers as a means of gaining educational and moral support in their quest. Exploring mutual imaginings and direct encounters between Marranos, Portuguese Jews, and foreign Jewish visitors, Unorthodox Kin deftly tracks how visions of self and kin evolve over time and across social spaces, ending in an unexpected path to belonging. In the process, the analysis weaves together a diverse set of current anthropological themes, from intersubjectivity to international tourism, class structures to the construction of identity, cultural logics of relatedness to transcultural communication. A compelling evocation of how ideas of ancestry shape the present, how feelings of kinship arise among far-flung strangers, and how some find mystical connection in a world said to be disenchanted, Unorthodox Kin is a model study for anthropology today. This acclaimed book will appeal to a wide audience interested in anthropology, sociology, and religious studies. Its accessible, narrative-driven style makes it especially well-suited for introductory and advanced courses in general cultural anthropology, ethnography, theories of identity and social categorization, and the study of globalization, kinship, tourism, and religion.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520960645
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
Stirling Prize for Best Book in Psychological Anthropology, 2018 Graburn Award for Best Book in Anthropology of Tourism, 2018 Douglass Prize for Best Book in the Anthropology of Europe, Honorable Mention, 2018 National Jewish Book Award, Finalist, 2017 Unorthodox Kin is a groundbreaking exploration of identity, relatedness, and belonging in a global era. In urban Portugal today, hundreds of individuals trace their ancestry to 15th century Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism, and many now seek to rejoin the Jewish people as a whole. For the most part, however, these self-titled Marranos (“hidden Jews”) lack any direct experience of Jews or Judaism, and Portugal’s tiny, tightly knit Jewish community offers no clear path of entry. According to Jewish law, to be recognized as a Jew one must be born to a Jewish mother or pursue religious conversion, an anathema to those who feel their ancestors’ Judaism was cruelly stolen from them. After centuries of familial Catholicism, and having been refused inclusion locally, how will these self-declared ancestral Jews find belonging among “the Jewish family,” writ large? How, that is, can people rejected as strangers face-to-face become members of a global imagined community—not only rhetorically, but experientially? Leite addresses this question through intimate portraits of the lives and experiences of a network of urban Marranos who sought contact with foreign Jewish tourists and outreach workers as a means of gaining educational and moral support in their quest. Exploring mutual imaginings and direct encounters between Marranos, Portuguese Jews, and foreign Jewish visitors, Unorthodox Kin deftly tracks how visions of self and kin evolve over time and across social spaces, ending in an unexpected path to belonging. In the process, the analysis weaves together a diverse set of current anthropological themes, from intersubjectivity to international tourism, class structures to the construction of identity, cultural logics of relatedness to transcultural communication. A compelling evocation of how ideas of ancestry shape the present, how feelings of kinship arise among far-flung strangers, and how some find mystical connection in a world said to be disenchanted, Unorthodox Kin is a model study for anthropology today. This acclaimed book will appeal to a wide audience interested in anthropology, sociology, and religious studies. Its accessible, narrative-driven style makes it especially well-suited for introductory and advanced courses in general cultural anthropology, ethnography, theories of identity and social categorization, and the study of globalization, kinship, tourism, and religion.
The Faith of Remembrance
Author: Nathan Wachtel
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812244559
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408
Book Description
In a series of intimate and searing portraits, Nathan Wachtel traces the journeys of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Marranos—Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forcibly converted to Catholicism but secretly retained their own faith. Fleeing persecution in their Iberian homeland, some sought refuge in the Americas, where they established transcontinental networks linking the New World to the Old. The Marranos—at once Jewish and Christian, outsiders and insiders—nurtured their hidden beliefs within their new communities, participating in the economic development of the early Americas while still adhering to some of the rituals and customs of their ancestors. In a testament to the partial assimilation of these new arrivals, their faith became ever more syncretic, mixing elements of Judaism with Christian practice and theology. In many cases, the combination was fatal. Wachtel relies on inquisitorial archives of trials and executions to chronicle legal and religious prosecutions for heresy. From the humble Jean Vicente to the fabulously wealthy slave trafficker Manuel Bautista Perez, from the untutored Theresa Paes de Jesus to the learned Francisco Maldonado de Silva, each unforgettable figure offers a chilling reminder of the reach of the Inquisition. Sensitive to the lingering tensions within the Marrano communities, Wachtel joins the concerns of an anthropologist to his skills as a historian, and in a stunning authorial move, he demonstrates that the faith of remembrance remains alive today in the towns of rural Brazil.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812244559
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408
Book Description
In a series of intimate and searing portraits, Nathan Wachtel traces the journeys of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Marranos—Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forcibly converted to Catholicism but secretly retained their own faith. Fleeing persecution in their Iberian homeland, some sought refuge in the Americas, where they established transcontinental networks linking the New World to the Old. The Marranos—at once Jewish and Christian, outsiders and insiders—nurtured their hidden beliefs within their new communities, participating in the economic development of the early Americas while still adhering to some of the rituals and customs of their ancestors. In a testament to the partial assimilation of these new arrivals, their faith became ever more syncretic, mixing elements of Judaism with Christian practice and theology. In many cases, the combination was fatal. Wachtel relies on inquisitorial archives of trials and executions to chronicle legal and religious prosecutions for heresy. From the humble Jean Vicente to the fabulously wealthy slave trafficker Manuel Bautista Perez, from the untutored Theresa Paes de Jesus to the learned Francisco Maldonado de Silva, each unforgettable figure offers a chilling reminder of the reach of the Inquisition. Sensitive to the lingering tensions within the Marrano communities, Wachtel joins the concerns of an anthropologist to his skills as a historian, and in a stunning authorial move, he demonstrates that the faith of remembrance remains alive today in the towns of rural Brazil.