Editing Marrano (section)

==Spain==
{{Main|History of the Jews in Spain}}

According to historian [[Cecil Roth]], Spanish political intrigues had earlier promoted the anti-Jewish policies which culminated in 1391, when Regent Queen [[Eleanor of Castile, Queen of Navarre|Leonora of Castile]] gave the Archdeacon of [[Écija]], [[Ferrand Martinez]], considerable power in her realm. Martinez gave speeches that led to violence against the Jews, and this influence culminated in the sack of the Jewish quarter <!--do we have a more specific link?--> of [[Seville]] on June 4, 1391. Throughout Spain during this year, the cities of Ecija, [[Carmona, Spain|Carmona]], [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], [[Barcelona]] and many others saw their Jewish quarters destroyed and inhabitants massacred.

It is estimated that 200,000 Jews saved their lives by converting to Christianity in the wake of these persecutions.<ref>Gedaliah b. Jachia the Spaniard, ''Sefer Shalshelet HaKabbalah'', p. 268, Jerusalem 1962, while citing ''Sefer HaYuchasin''.</ref> Other Jews left the country altogether and around 100,000 openly practicing Jews remained.

In 1449, feelings rose against ''conversos'', breaking out in a riot at [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]. Instigated by two canons, Juan Alfonso and Pedro Lopez Galvez, the mob plundered and burned the houses of Alonso Cota, a wealthy ''converso'' and tax-farmer. They also attacked the residences of wealthy New Christians in the quarter of la Magdelena. Under Juan de la Cibdad, the ''conversos'' opposed the mob, but were repulsed. They were executed with their leader. As a result, several prominent ''converso'' men were deposed from office, in obedience to a new statute.

Nearly 20 years later in July 1467, another riot occurred where a mob attacked ''conversos'' in Toledo. The chief magistrate (''alcalde mayor'') of the city was Alvar Gomez de Cibdad Real, who had been private secretary to King [[Henry IV of Castile]]. He was a protector of the ''conversos.'' Together with prominent ''conversos'' Fernando and Alvaro de la Torre, Alvar wished to take revenge for an insult by the counts de Fuensalida, leaders of the Old Christians. His intention was to seize control of the city, but fierce conflict erupted. Opponents set fire to houses of New Christians near the cathedral. The conflagration spread so rapidly that 1,600 houses were consumed. Both Old Christians and ''conversos'' perished. The brothers De la Torre were captured and hanged.

Tensions arose in Córdoba between Old Christians and ''conversos'', where they formed two hostile parties. On March 14, 1473, during a dedication procession, a girl accidentally threw dirty water from the window of the house of one of the wealthiest ''conversos'' (the customary way to dispose of it.) The water splashed on an image of the Virgin being carried in procession in honor of a new society (from which ''conversos'' had been excluded by Bishop D. Pedro.) A local blacksmith started arousing a rabble against the Jews, who he blamed for the insult, which immediately joined in a fierce shout for revenge.{{Dubious|date=April 2016}}

The mob went after ''conversos'', denouncing them as [[heresy|heretics]], killing them, and burning their houses. To stop the excesses, the highly respected D. Alonso Fernandez de Aguilar, whose wife was a member of the ''converso'' family of Pacheco, together with his brother D. [[Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba]] ("El Gran Capitán"), and a troop of soldiers, hastened to protect the [[New Christian]]s. D. Alonso called upon the mob to retire. Its leader insulted the count, who immediately felled him with his lance. Aroused, the people considered him a martyr. Incited by Alonso de Aguilar's enemy, they again attacked the ''conversos''. The rioting lasted three days. Those who escaped sought refuge in the castle, where their protectors also took shelter. The government decreed that Jews and ''conversos'' should remain in their neighborhood or leave the city.

In 1473, attacks on ''conversos'' arose in numerous other cities: [[Montoro]], [[Bujalance]], [[Adamuz]], [[La Rambla, Córdoba|La Rambla]], [[Santaella]], and elsewhere. Mobs attacked ''conversos'' in [[Andújar]], [[Úbeda]], [[Baeza, Spain|Baeza]], and [[Almodóvar del Campo]] also. In [[Valladolid]], groups looted the belongings of the New Christians. At [[Segovia]], there was a massacre (May 16, 1474). D. Juan Pacheco, a ''converso'', led the attacks. Without the intervention of the alcalde, Andres de Cabrera, all New Christians might have died. At [[Carmona, Spain|Carmona]], it was reported that not one ''converso'' was left alive.

===Inquisition===
[[File:Execution of Mariana de Carabajal.jpg|thumb|180px|Execution of [[Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal|Mariana de Carabajal]] in Mexico, 1601.]]

Tens of thousands of Jews were baptised in the three months before the deadline for expulsion, some 40,000 if one accepts the totals given by Kamen: most of these undoubtedly to avoid expulsion,{{citation needed|reason=I wouldn't be surprised but wording sounds rather like original research|date=November 2014}} rather than as a sincere change of faith. These ''conversos'' were the principal concern of the Inquisition; being suspected of continuing to practice Judaism put them at risk of denunciation and trial.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

During 1492, about 12,000 ''conversos'' entered [[Navarre]] from Aragon's repression, where they were allowed to remain. [[Tudela, Navarre|Tudela in Navarre]] turned into a ''converso'' haven. The Tudelans had already proclaimed in 1486 that "''if any inquisitor enters their city, he will be thrown into the [[Ebro]] river.''" Later the resistance to the inquisitors was so strong that its aldermen ordered commissioners and attorneys to ask the [[Catholic Monarchs]] to limit the power of the Inquisition in 1510.<ref>Cf. Salcedo Izu, Joaquín, Gran Enciclopedia Navarra, Caja de Ahorros de Navarra, Pamplona 1990, Tomo VI, voz Inquisición, pp. 131–134.</ref><ref>González Echeverría, Francisco Javier. ''The Love for Truth: Life and Work of Michael Servetus'' (''El amor a la verdad. Vida y obra de Miguel Servet''), printed by Navarro y Navarro, Zaragoza, collaboration with the Government of Navarre, Department of Institutional Relations and Education of the Government of Navarre, pp.&nbsp;445-450</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130711010637/http://michaelservetusresearch.com/ENGLISH/index.html Michael Servetus Research]. Website with historical and graphical study on the ''conversos'' in Navarre, specifically the ''converso'' Michael de Villanueva ("Servetus").</ref>

The most intense period of persecution of ''conversos'' lasted until 1530. From 1531 to 1560, however, the percentage of ''conversos'' among the Inquisition trials dropped to 3% of the total. There was a rebound of persecutions when a group of crypto-Jews was discovered in [[Quintanar de la Orden]] in 1588; and there was a rise in denunciations of ''conversos'' in the last decade of the sixteenth century. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, some ''conversos'' who had fled to Portugal began to return to Spain, fleeing the persecution of the [[Portuguese Inquisition]], founded in 1536. This led to a rapid increase in the trials of crypto-Jews, among them a number of important financiers. In 1691, during a number of ''[[autos-da-fé]]'' in [[Mallorca]], 37 ''chuetas'', or ''conversos'' of Mallorca, were burned.<ref>{{harvp|Kamen|2014|p=369}}</ref>

During the eighteenth century the number of ''conversos'' accused by the Inquisition decreased significantly. [[Manuel Santiago Vivar]], tried in Córdoba in 1818, was the last person tried for being a crypto-Jew.<ref>{{harvp|Kamen|2014|p=370}}</ref>

===Converso-Jewish relations===
The ''conversos'' of Seville and other cities of Castile, and especially of Aragon, bitterly opposed the [[Spanish Inquisition]] established in 1478. They rendered considerable service to the king, and held high legal, financial, and military positions. The government issued an edict directing traditional Jews to live within a ghetto and be separated from ''conversos''. Despite the law, however, the Jews remained in communication with their [[New Christian]] brethren.

"They sought ways and means to win them from Catholicism and bring them back to Judaism. They instructed the Marranos in the tenets and ceremonies of the Jewish religion; held meetings in which they taught them what they must believe and observe according to the Mosaic law; and enabled them to circumcise themselves and their children. They furnished them with prayer-books; explained the fast-days; read with them the history of their people and their Law; announced to them the coming of the Passover; procured unleavened bread for them for that festival, as well as [[kosher]] meat throughout the year; encouraged them to live in [[conformity]] with the law of Moses, and persuaded them that there was no law and no truth except the Jewish religion." These were the charges brought by the government of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and [[Isabella I of Castile]] against the Jews. They constituted the grounds for their expulsion and banishment in 1492, so they could not subvert ''conversos''. Jews who did not want to leave Spain had to accept baptism as a sign of conversion.

The historian Henry Kamen's ''Inquisition and Society in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries'' questions whether there were such strong links between ''conversos'' and Jewish communities. Whilst historians such as Yitzhak Baer state, "the conversos and Jews were one people",<ref name="Kamen pg 27">{{Citation |title=Inquisition and Society in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries |first=Henry |last=Kamen |page=27 |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1985 |isbn=0-253-22775-5 }}.</ref> Kamen claims, "Yet if the conversos were hated by the Christians, the Jews liked them no better."<ref name="Kamen pg 27"/> He documented that "Jews testified falsely against them [the conversos] when the Inquisition was finally founded."<ref name="Kamen pg 27"/> This issue is being debated by historians.