MARRANOS AND THE INQUISITION

Glossary

mlopesazevedo

New Christian-A Jew turned Christian (Catholic), whether voluntarily or forcibly, not necessarily a Marrano. Following the forced baptism of 1497 in Portugal, all Jews became known as New Christians, in contrast to Old Christians. Curiously, New Christians could never become Old Christians. The only way to become an Old Christian was to purchase a concocted family tree, which was a common practice. In some exceptional cases the king could proclaim New Christians Old Christians. New Christians were the primary target of the Iberian Inquisitions. After the introduction of the Inquisition in Portugal in 1536 New Christians were prohibited from entering certain professions and occupations such as medical doctor, boticary, military service, civil service, ship’s captain, Catholic religious orders, and many others.

Converso-The same as New Christian. The term is often used to describe former Jews in Spain. Sometimes it is erroneously used as a synonym for Marrano.

Marrano- A secret Jew or descendant thereof. Outwardly a practising New Christian Catholic, inwardly a secret Jew, often adhering to the essential tenets of Judaism such as dietary laws, funeral rituals, observance of high holidays, keeping the Sabbath, and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Understandably, circumcision was discontinued. The origin of the word is shrouded in mystery, although there is agreement that it was initially used in the pejorative sense of referring to swine. Today, due to the exigencies of political correctness its use is frowned upon. However, giants in the field such as Cecil Roth (History of the Marranos), Yosef Yerushalmi (From Spanish Court to Italian Ghetto), Yirmiyahu Yovel (Spinoza and Other Heretics, the Marrano of Reason) and Nathan Wachtel (La Foi du Souvenir-Labyrinthes Marranes), all use the term. It is also widely used in Portugal by lay persons and academics alike without any pejorative connotation.

The late professor Yerushalmi describes a Marrano as a potential Jew although professors Yovel and Wachtel distinguish Marranism as a separate “religiosity”, a set of common practices, although varied, by a people with a shared experience without a clearly defined theological doctrine. Marranism is characterized by secretiveness, ambiguity and fusion of Judaism and Christianity. For example, Marranos, even in the diaspora may venerate a “saint” or venerate a certain statue of “Our Lady” which to them represents Esther.

Amongst the intellectuals, Marranism may be defined by scepticism of both religions. Spinoza, born in Amsterdam of Marranos parents, (maternal line from Porto and Ponte de Lima in northern Portugal, paternal line from Vidigueira near Evora), is perhaps the best example. Although he was expelled from the Esnoga in Amsterdam at a young age, he did not become a Christian. Uriel Acosta, born on Rua de Sao Miguel in Porto of New Christian parents (Jews who had fled Spain in 1492), became a New Jew in Amsterdam but when he was expelled for the first time from the Esnoga he also did not revert to Christianity. Uriel was the first Marrano Jew to deny the individual immortality of the soul. Spinoza was the first to reject the divine origin of the bible and advocate separation of the state and religion.

Wachtel and Yovel attribute the rise of tolerance, freedom of thought, and the opening of the western mind to such descendants of Marranos as Michel Montaigne and Baruch Spinosa. Spinosa was only eight years old when Uriel shot himself in the head after being lashed 39 times in the Esnoga of Amsterdam. Uriel's books were burned and banned both by the Portuguese New Jews of Amsterdam and the civil authorities. Fortunately, due to the efforts of H.P. Solomon, a copy was discovered in the Royal Danish Library in 1989 which has now been published and translated into English. Acosta is often referred to as the world's first secular Jew.

Crypto-Jew-Same as a Marrano, a term favoured in the USA.

New Jew-A Marrano who has returned to normative Judaism such as Portuguese/Spanish communities in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Harlem, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Livorno, Venice, Ferrara, Pisa, Ancona, Salonica, Constantinople, and later London, Manchester, New York, Charleston, Philadelphia, Savannah, Newport, Montreal, Recife, Curacao, Jamaica, and Suriname. The first six Jewish congregations in the USA and the first in Canada, England and Holland were formed by descendants of Marranos.

More recently, Marranos from Lisbon (Ohel Jacob synagogue) and Porto (Kadoorie/ Mekor Haim) attended Jewish rabbinical courts in London and Jerusalem to formally return to normative Judaism. Belmonte is perhaps the best know example of New Jews. However, both in Belmonte and Porto there are pockets of Marranos still operating clandestinely. In Porto a secret group of women still hold Sabbath services and observe the high holidays. It is a fallacy to assume that all Marranos want to return to normative Judaism. Some do, some do not. Some return via Orthodoxy, others not. As professor Wachtel notes, Marranism varies not only in practice but with individuals, place and epoch.

Anusim-Hebrew, plural of Anus/Anusah(female), meaning forced or coerced ones. In some circles, the preferred term to describe Marranos.

Auto da fé (auto de la fe in Spanish)

The solemn proclamation, usually in a public plaza or square, of the sentences of persons condemned by the Tribunal of the Inquisition. The solemn spectacle attracted thousands of spectators from all social classes, inclusive of royalty. A large platform hosted the high clergy and dignitaries. A sermon was preached against heresy after which sentences were pronounced of the condemned who were kneeling. Condemned persons reconciliated to the Church presented themselves at the public altar while those to be burned were turned over to civil justice officials. The auto sometimes lasted several days. The condemned paraded in long processions before the public. Public autos were abolished in the later phases of the Inquisition because of much foreign criticism.

It was an elaborate ceremony at which the sentences of the tribunal of the Unholy office were carried out. The location was usually announced two weeks before in order to construct platforms and scaffolding for the general public. Although a sombre affair for the penitents, a festive atmosphere prevailed, altars decorated, lengthy public sermons given by fiery orators attended by magistrates, civil servants, guards, armed soldiers, familiares (Inquisition informers/spies), bishops, monks, priests and the general public. On the day of the auto, a procession left from the Inquisition palace (the north side of the Rossio in Lisbon on the site of the current Dona Maria II national theatre), often early in the morning, winding its way through the city to the place where the sentences were to be pronounced.

The procession consisted of the penitents, in their sambenitos, wearing a conical hat, barefoot, lit candle in their hands, surrounded by two guards; behind them, the condemned to be “relaxed” (ie. (burned at the stake) accompanied by a priest ready to hear their confessions. The procession was followed by the familiares on horseback and dignitaries, including the Inquisitor General.

If the persons to be “relaxed” (ie. condemned to death) confessed and accepted Catholicism, they would be garrotted as an act of charity before being burned. If the condemned persisted in the belief of the law of Moses, they would be burned alive, or more accurately roasted because if there was little wind to whip the flames it took about two hours to die.

Effigies were burned of those who had fled the country or died in prison. Coffins with the bones of those that had been dug up after interment, such as the founder of tropical medicine, Dr. Garcia D'Orta and pioneer sugar plantation developer Branca Dias were also burned.

Not all autos da Fe were similar. In Coimbra for example, condemned persons were garrotted and tied inside a wooden hut on the bridge over the Mondego river. The huts were set on fire at midnight and thrown into the river. There were also some private autos, especially towards the end of the Inquisitorial regime.

References

Elias Lipiner, Terror e Linguagem, Um Dicionario da Santa Inquisiçaõ, Contexto, 1998, Lisboa

Antonio Borges Coelho, A Inquisicao em Evora, Lisboa, Caminho, 1987

CARÇÃO, THE CAPITAL OF MARRANISM
by António Júlio Andrade and Maria Fernanda Guimarães
(Associação Cultural dos Almocreves de Carção, Bragança, 2008)

translated by mlopesazevedo



CHAPTER X


AT YOM KIPPUR OF 1689, THE PRIESTS SPIED ON THE PEOPLE

Between 1674 and 1681, the Portuguese Inquisition was half paralyzed by imposition of the Roman Curia due to a strong international diplomatic offensive. Its effects also made themselves felt in the daily lives of the New Christians of Carção, who must have begun practicing Judaic rituals discreetly. Above all, notice began to be taken of the care taken in the preparation of shrouds when one of them died, the charity given to the poor in honor of the deceased and payment of the fasts undertaken (for the benefit of the deceased), water pitchers emptied out, compliance with the “novenarios” with lit candles, a fresh change of bedding and a plate on the table...58


The manner in which they observed the Sabbath was also a bit in your face, not working and wearing Sunday suits. And it was commonly known that there were three prohibited Jewish books in the community: one which belonged to a Manuel Lopes de Leão who inherited it from his father (Francisco Lopes de Leaão “relaxed” (burned at the stake) on 13.2.1667, another one possessed by Isabel Henriques, the Galega, native of Monforte de Lemos, wife of Pascoal Ramos, he a native of Lebução and a third, that belonged to Domingos de Oliveira, barber, who brought it from Livorno (Leghorn), Italy.

In this regards, we will recount an episode illustrative of the manner of being and the way of living of the Marranos in Carção:

On a certain day, one Diogo Rodrigues arrived at the village, coming from the market of Mogadouro and bringing with him a big conger eel. And immediately someone told him that eating that type of fish was prohibited, for it was written in the book of Domingos de Oliveira. To which Pascoal Ramos responded immediately, saying that his wife's book was better than the barber's, because it permitted everything to be eaten.



58 (Footnote)

The priest Gaspar declared that Maria Pires told him that, “ when someone of the Nation died, they laid freshly washed bedding and lit candles for nine days, saying that the soul of the deceased would rest there and this is called “novenario”.

She must have said the same thing to the priest Ochoa, further adding that on Fridays, “ from the time in which Christ our Lord was buried, the New Christians start to clean their houses, laying freshly washed bedding on the beds, cleaning the lamps and inserting new wicks, and when someone died, the family put “aljofar” in their mouth, gold, silver, or fine corral, praying for them, and giving almost 40 “tostoes” for the souls of their family and friends , to pray for more 4 days and to fast...”

IANTT, IC,2865, Domingos de Oliveira



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Particularly notorious and scandalous for the Christians, became the manner in which the New Christians of the village celebrated the Great day of September (Yom Kippur), dressing up and going to the vineyards in separate groups of men and women as if on pilgrimage, remaining there all day, fasting and praying to the Gods of Abraham and Moses.


And a rumor started that in Carção, there were even Jewish masses, that there was a teacher, Domingos de Oliveira, to teach the Mosaic law and female teacher, Clara Lopes, to direct the celebrations of the women. And this became subject to commentary throughout the markets and surrounding areas.

How to explain such scandalous comportment, in face of the rigor of the Holy Office, and of the compromising silence of the Old Christian community, and above all, of the priests and of the Commissioners of the Holy Office?

The silence of the populace is easy to understand, if we take into account that they were all small farmers, many dependent on the merchants who purchased their agricultural products and supplied them with tools, implements, and other products. Besides which, we are beginning to believe that the New Christian element of Carção dominated in numbers, and not only in economic power, but also in the arts and letters. There were some who said in public that, “ those who did not observe the Law of Moses were poor and would never have bread to eat!”

Rather than finding the silence of the priests strange, for they were also greatly dependent on the people of the Nation, in that, in the veins of some of them, equally ran Hebrew blood. As for the Commissioners and “Familiares” of the Inquisition...it was commented on that two were in the hands of the New Christians, who had them “bought”.








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In the heart of the Marrano community there was a certain Maria Pires, born in Carção in 1653. She was only 15 years old when she presented herself to the Inquisition in Coimbra on 5.10.1668, heard and then ordered to return home. Almost 20 years later, now married and a mother, she was again called, presenting herself in Coimbra, on 23.2.1686. We did not examine her file, but it must have turned out well, for 3 days later, she was discharged and on her way home.

We do not know what happened next. A case of unrequited love? Some unfulfilled promise of marriage? Or pure and simple, Maria Pires had really turned into a militant Catholic, and as such collaborated entirely with the tribunal of the Holy Office.

The fact is that by 1688, she publicly threatened her fellow New Christians, including family members, whom she would denounce to the Inquisition. This caused an alarm to sound amongst those of the Nation and some were disposed to pay for her silence. Had she shown a desire to marry Maria Machado (her daughter, or sister-in-law?-we could not determine it) to the “teacher” Domingos de Oliveira, who became a widower? The desire is known as there was someone who promised to raise 60 thousand “reis” for the wedding dowry. The one not in agreement, was Domingos de Oliveira.

As September of 1688 rolled around, Maria Pires resolved to carry out her threats. She consulted with an Old Christian “beata”, widow, called Domingas Galega, of the family of the Galego priest, telling her that the Great day was a approaching (on that year it fell on October 4), so all the Jews could be caught unawares, but that everything should be done in the greatest of secrecy, without anyone suspecting. To that end, she asked her to go tell the priest Gaspar Fernandes , curate of the church, to meet her secretly in the garden. At that meeting she revealed much about the Judaic practices used and denounced many people.

On the following October 4th, Maria Pires sent her niece Ana Pires to remind the priest Gaspar that it was the Great day, and if he wanted to see how they observed it, to leave the house and go see how they were dressed in clean suits as if it were Sunday or a festive day, none of them working, and not even their wives starting the fire or cooking. In fact, the priest went for a stroll in the village and saw that it was as said. And he decided to go to the house of Belchior Cardoso, shoemaker, around noon, to ask him to repair the shoes of one of his servants; and he responding


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that on any other day he would fix them, but on that day he was not working.


Maria Pires, her niece and Galega, the widow, and with some other “beatas' inspected some of the houses to see who was observing the Great day.

It was likely that the New Christians were also somewhat suspicious, for there are no reports of gatherings that day and they did not go to the vineyards, as had been the custom in previous years. Rather, it seems that in that year of 88, each one celebrated Yom Kippur more discreetly, in their homes with their families.

To the despair of Maria Pires, life continued as usual in Carção and not even the priest Gaspar Fernandes lifted a finger. Moreover, for some people in Carção, Maria Pires was taken for a lunatic and Ana Pires, her niece, was a promiscuous woman, unfaithful to her husband, who pretended not to care, to the point of being the target of a public whipping by the men of the village and he was known as the “consenter”. And perhaps the priest Fernandes was apprehensive in getting involved, for he was also a native of Carção living there.

September 89 arrived, and Maria Pires was even more resolved to denounce her brethren to the Inquisition. She prepared everything to involve the maximum number of people that could testify as to the Judaic practices of Yom Kippur, which in that year fell on the 24th of September.

In the first place, she contacted several of her relatives, planning with each to spy as they saw fit and to the best of their ability. After, she contacted the priest Sebastiao Vaz and the parish priest, Manuel Ochoa. Also contacted were the priests Pedro Galego and Gaspar Fernandes, all serving in Carção. Then Maria Pires went to Miranda do Douro to tell everything that had happened and everything that the New Christians of Carção normally did in observance of the law of Moses, to the priest Lourenço Ferreira Sarmento, native of Vinhais, abbot of Argozelo, and canon of the cathedral of Miranda. And also the village authorities (regimental judge and ordinance captain) were recruited in the espionage operation.

However, the documents speak for themselves. Let us examine some of these documents:

-The priest Manuel Ochoa “said that the aforementioned declarants observed this present year of (1689) on the 24th of September, the Great day, which if 12 lunar days are counted , is observed in the said place and


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see that they did not work, tending to have their doors closed, which they do not do except on holidays, putting on their clean suits, as is done on holy days.

-The priest Sebastiao Vaz said that, “ he went out at 9 a.m., saw Baltasar Lopes, tanner, and other people who did not work...and it appeared that they observed the Great day.”

-Francisco Vaz, captain of the Ordinances, “said that he knows by seeing, that in the year of 89, on the 24th of September, which was a Friday, they observed the Great day...which he saw by going to their houses to see if they fasted or were working...and that his wife, Maria de Morais, went purposely to the tannery of that place, where they treat the hides which all the New Christians engage in every working day, the tanners, and did not find anyone there except Antonio Rodrigues, tanner, native of Argozelo, not doing anything, laying down, wrapped in a cape, which he did not do on other days.”


-The above mentioned Maria de Morais confirmed the testimony of her husband and added that, “Maria Afonso went to her house, wife of Andre Rodrigues, to say that it was the Great day and that the New Christians of that place observed the fast because Maria Pires had told her, and sent her a message to be vigilant and diligent, and soon she went to mass and on the way saw Francisca Lopes, wife of Luis Lopes Coelho, wearing a shirt and hat washed in the manner of one who observed the Great day.”

-Andre Rodrigues, 60 years old, former judge in Carção, said that, “ on the said day he went to the tannery, which is outside the area, and he found nobody there”.

-Ana Pires said that, “she knows, by watching, and entering the houses of the above mentioned, if they are working or had fire...”

-Maria Rodrigues, the “ Parraxila” by nickname, pre-occupied herself with watching Clara Lopes, known as a “teacher”, and said that she saw her


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on that day enter the rear of the house of Domingos de Oliveira and that, “she was covered, wearing a black mantilla.”

-Catarina Pires also followed Clara Lopes, and knowing that she was in the house of Domingos de Oliveira, knocked on the main door of the house, a girl answering, “ to whom she asked for Clara Lopes, and she heard a voice from inside which was of the mother of the said barber, to say that she was not there. Thus, the witness presumed that Clara Lopes was there but it was denied.”

-Ana Martins said that, “on the way to church she did not see any smoke from the houses of the New Christians”.

-Maria Tome also wandered, “amongst the houses of the aforementioned and did not see any fire or preparations for cooking food, presuming that all were fasting.”


The list is long, which we could extend, especially with Old Christian women who were on the lookout and provided sworn testimony, all more or less like Isabel Cordeiro Machado, wife of Joao Vaz, farmer, saying, “ It was public knowledge that the New Christians of the said place observed the fast of the Great day and the priests watched who adhered to it.”

Naturally, all this reached the Inquisition of Coimbra, which immediately ordered its Commissioner in Bragança, to proceed with a formal investigation upon sworn testimony from as many witnesses as needed. And (the Commissioner) immediately called upon Manuel Cardoso de Matos , “familiare” of the Holy office, to be his clerk, and both, on December 14-16 of 1689 went to set up their Inquiry in the village of Caçarelhos, more than 3 “leguas” (one legua equals 3.72 miles) from Carção. Why not in Argozelo, or Vimioso which are closer to Carção or Bragança? Does this signify apprehension on part of the Commissioners or did the distance function to free the witnesses from the pressure of the New Christians of Carção?

The fact is that the priest Gaspar Fernandes, when he left home to testify at Caçarelhos, left a message in case anyone called to say that he had gone to the chapel of our Lady of Rosary. And on another day, Domingos de Oliveira went to see him and told him, “I saw you clearly leave the house of the abbot in Caçarelhos and not the chapel of our lady of the Rosary”. And added this threat, “If I am imprisoned, the priests shall pay!”


António Júlio Andrade and Maria Fernanda Guimarães
(photo by Nathalie Herve)

NEW CHRISTIANS/BNEI ANOUSIM FROM THE AZORES

Sergio Mota mota_xn_47@yahoo.com

(Sergio Mota is a journalist and historian from Brazil. He is an indefatigable researcher of Portuguese Jewish history. Below is an edited version of one of his letters to Saudades-Sefarad web forum regarding the Bnei anousim/ New Christian diaspora).

The number of bnei-anusim in the Azores
was great but we do not know exactly this number
because many documents are lost. Historians talk about
children sent to the islands but the adults went to Azores
(Madeira and Canarias too) aiming to go to the Americas, this
is a fact.Many of them had to stay there but others got to
go abroad. Here I give here some examples:

In the Mexico Inquisition there is an
accused man of Jewish habits,Pedro Hernandez de Albor
(or Pedro Fernandes de Alvor) born in Vila da Praia,
Azores.

In Salvador,Bahia, Brazil: Manuel Homem,born
in the Island of São Miguel, Azores son of Gonçalo
Homem de Almeida (born in Algarve, Portugal
and went to the Azores coming to Brazil about 1606)
brother of Doctor Antonio Homem who was a kind of
hacham of the secret synagogue in Coimbra
and died in the bonfires of the Inquisition.

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, returned to
Judaism in 1611, Manuel Homem de Almeida, 46 years old,
born in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island. He lived in
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil where he was friend of Diogo
Dias Querido and father-in-law of Diogo Lopes from
Recife.Inprisoned by Inquisition in 1620 and released
in 1621. He lived as a Jew also in Hamburg, Germany
where there was a Portuguese Jewish Community.

In Santa Fé, Argentina, in the list of the
portuguese suspected of being Jews and expelled to
Cordoba, Argentina, there was a man called Baltasar de
Acosta (maybe da Costa) 40 years old, born in Terceira
Island, Azores. He was a widowed with his daughter.
In the same Argentine city there was
Albaro de Andrada (probably Alvaro de Andrade or
Andrada) 28 years old born in Santa Maria Island
Azores, married, with a son.

There is a list of XVII century Azoreans
New-Christians who payed the Crown the Finta, a tax
they had to pay for being converts published in the book of
Prof. Paulo Drummond Braga "The Inquisition in Azores"
a doctorate thesis in Portuguese. It is the best work till
now about the bnei-anusim presence in the Azores.

Here goes the partial known list of
bnei-anusim surnames in Azores from 1604 to 1623 again:

Andrade, Azevedo, Álvares,Alemão,
Braga,Borges,Barcelos,Câmara, Cunha,Carvalhais,
Cerqueira,Carlos, Carvalho, Costa,Dias, Delgado,
Duarte,Eça, Fernandes,Fontes,Gralia,Geralda,
Gonçalves,Henriques, Heitor,Jacinto,Lopes,Mendes,
Medeiros,Morais,Manuel,Pereira,Preto,Piseiro,Rodrigues,
Ruivo,Santiago,Soares,Thomas or Tomás,Vaz and Vieira.

There are many more names of Jewish origin in
Azores and Madeira of which I am researching from all
possible sources, mainly in books and articles and thesis.

Shalom

Sérgio Mota e Silva
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Petição Memorial massacre judaico Lisboa 1506
(Online Petition to erect a memorial of the anti-Judaic massacre of Lisbon of 1506)

Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:04:56 +0000
From: "Jorge Martins" <martinscjorge@gmail.com>
Subject:

Caros/as amigas,

É preciso fazer alguma coisa para que o memorial às vítimas do massacre judaico de Lisboa de 1506 seja erguido no próximo dia 19 de Abril.

Se concordar assine e divulgue: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/samusque/
Cumprimentos,
Jorge Martins.

THE HISTORY OF THE MARRANOS OF PORTUGAL IN A NUTSHELL

mlopesazevedo, http://www.ladina.blogspot.com

The Jews of Portugal pre-date the founding of the nation in 1143. When Afonso conquered Lisbon from the Moors in 1147, there already existed thriving Jewish communities in Iberia (Sepharad), perhaps dating as far back as the time of King Solomon. Afonso welcomed his Jewish subjects and appointed Yahia ben Yahi, the chief rabbi of Santarem, as his treasurer, tax collector, and chief rabbi of the newly formed nation state, Portugal.
Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) enjoyed unparalleled freedom, wealth and power. They occupied key positions in government, academia, and commerce, and especially the professions of medicine, science and law. Even when Hebrew was later prohibited, doctors could continue to possess Hebrew books. Places of worship and schools flourished. Jews established the first printing presses in Portugal at Faro, Lisbon and Leiria. The first eleven books printed in Portugal were in Hebrew. The nautical charts of Abraham Zacuto guided Vasco da Gama to India. Portugal even accepted over 100,000 Spanish Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, albeit with conditions.
Following the death of King John II in 1495, his successor, Manuel sought to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel. As a condition of their consent to the wedding, the Catholic monarchs of the newly created country of Spain demanded the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal as they had done in 1492. Accordingly, on or about the 5th of December of 1496 king Manuel ordered Jews and Muslims to leave Portugal by October of 1497. He permitted the Muslims to leave but he had no intention of allowing the Jews to do so.
The scheming Manuel, coveting the Spanish throne, did not want to lose his most learned, creative and productive subjects, not to mention his personal physician, tailor, royal mathematician, royal astronomer, his government financiers, etc. He encouraged “his” Jews to convert to Christianity. He tried to persuade and cajole them, even bringing converted rabbis from Spain to preach to them. When his impatience grew, he took away their children to be raised by Catholic families, but if they converted, the families would remain intact. Of the stubborn lot of over 20,000 who held out until the end, he ordered that they assemble in the "Estaus" (Os Estãos) palace, today’s national theatre at the north end of the Rossio in downtown Lisbon. The promised ships never arrived to ferry the Jews away. First the King withheld food and water from the assembled for three days, after which he ordered them all baptized, even if Church elders protested! Only a handful of Jews were permitted to leave, such as Abraham Zacuto, the King’s physician.
Henceforth there were supposedly no more Jews in Portugal, only Christians, Old and New. King Manuel ordered the confiscation of all synagogues and their contents. Yeshivas, kosher producing facilities and all communal property were seized. .Hebrew books were prohibited and ordered to be deposited in the synagogues. Contrary to some reports, the books were not burned, Manuel may have been cruel, but he was not stupid. He sold the valuable Hebrew manuscripts, many brought to Portugal in 1492. The books turned up in places such as North Africa and Goa. Many synagogues were converted into churches, including the grand synagogue of Lisbon which was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1755. Many contemporary Misericordia churches are former synagogues such as the Misericordia chapel in Vila Real or the Misericordia church in Leiria.
Following the forced baptism, the King encouraged marriages between Old Christians who had titles and “pure blood” and New Christians. He prohibited the inter-marriage of New Christians. There would be no inquiry as to the religious practices of New Christians in their private homes for 20 years but they were not free to leave the realm. However, following the Lisbon massacre of 1506, when two to four thousand New Christian men, women and children, were slaughtered over a period of three days, (see The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler), the King extended the 20 year period and removed many disabilities such as the ability to emigrate or the prohibition on inter-marriage.
The Lisbon massacre, the subject of a recent book by Susana Mateus Basto and Paulo Mendes of the Alberto Benveniste Centre for Sephardic Studies and Culture at the University of Lisbon, signalled a failure of King Manuel’s policy of integration. Most of the New Christians, outwardly Catholic, had remained Jewish in their hearts. The New Christian secret Jews became known as Marranos, from the Portuguese "marrar", i.e. forced, or from the Aramaic-Hebrew Mar Anus, a forced one, like the widely used Hebrew term today, Anousim, although some historians claim the once pejorative term derives from the Castilian term for swine.

Distressed at the growing rift between New and Old Christians, the King sought permission from Rome to introduce the Inquisition has had been done in Spain in the late 15th century. However, Marrano bribes paid to high ranking Church officials in Rome, including Cardinals and no doubt the Pope himself, thwarted the introduction of the Inquisition in Portugal until 1535 and although the first auto de fe was held in 1540, the Inquisition did not get into full swing until 1580, thus enabling several generations of Marranos to develop a unique secret Portuguese Jewish culture.

The ambiguous Portuguese Marranos became known throughout Europe as "Men of the Nation". Being Portuguese in 16th century in Europe was synonymous with being Jewish. The Marranos established flourishing Jewish communities in Amsterdam, Bordeaux, London, Hamburg, Venice, Livorno, Salonica, and Constantinople, amongst others. In the New World, the relatively small number of Marranos established communities in Brazil, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Newport Rhode Island, as well as the Caribbean Islands. The success of the American war of Independence owes its success to the financial and material aid provided by the Marranos, then openly professing their Judaism, such as the money and ships provided to George Washington by Aaron Lopez, the wealthiest merchant of the thirteen colonies, born Duarte Lopez in Lisbon.
The Marranos prospered both in business and government wherever they went. It was a the son of a Marrano, rabbi Manasseh ben Israel (Manuel Dias Soeiro) of Amsterdam, born in Lisbon or Madeira, who convinced Oliver Cromwell in 1656 to allow Jews back into England. The Marranos established the coffee, diamond and tulip industries in Amsterdam (see Coffee Trader by David Liss). They were instrumental in establishing the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, London and New York (see the Paper Conspiracy, also by David Liss). They controlled the sugar and tobacco industries, and regrettably were involved in slavery, amassing huge fortunes.

This rising merchant class created the world’s first truly global Empire (see The First Global Village, How Portugal Changed the World by Martin Page, now in its 8th edition). Lisbon became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. However, not even the huge bribes paid to the pope and cardinals could keep the Inquisition at bay forever. (see History of the Marranos by Cecil Roth or Andree Brooks biography of Dona Gracia Mendes Nasci, the wealthiest banker of Europe). With the onset of the Inquisition, many of the wealthy Marranos left Portugal, contributing to the decline of Portugal. The poor Marranos, the old and infirm had no option but to remain, becoming even more secretive. Thousands were burned at the stake, including most of the leading intellectuals of the University of Coimbra in the early 17th century. Even Antonio Homem, the chancellor of the University and an advisor to the pope was burned alive in 1624 (he also happened to be a Marrano rabbi). The ones that left established the oldest extant synagogues in the U.S.A; England, and Holland, Touro synagogue, Newport, R.I; 1762 (founded in1658), Bevis Marks synagogue, London 1701 (founded 1656), and the Esnoga, Amsterdam, 1675 (amalgamated from three communities dating fro 1598). The Esnoga, undisturbed by the Nazis, stands as the model synagogue for the Western Sephardic world. Bevis Marks in London is a replica, one-quarter its size.

The philosophers Baruch Espinoza, Frances Sanches, Uriel Acosta, Montaigne, and David Ricardo were all Marrano descendants. So were rabbis Ben Israel and Aboab Fonseca, the first rabbi in the Americas (Recife, Brazil, 1635). The father of French impressionism, Camille Pissaro was descendant of a Marrano born in Bragança, in the Tras Montes region of Portugal. So too were les freres Peyrere (Pereira) of Bordeaux and later Paris, contemporaries and associates of the Rothchilds. Portugal has yet to recover from this extraordinary brain drain.
It was not until the liberal revolution of the early 19th century that the Inquisition was abolished. Although the Marquis of Pombal invited Jews back to Portugal at the end of the 18th century, very few took up his offer. Some Jews from North Africa and Gibraltar did establish communities in Lisbon, Faro, and the Azores in the 19th century but eventually disappeared. The only surviving remnant maintains a synagogue in Lisbon, Shaare Tikve, and recently a museum opened in the Faro Jewish cemetery.
However, to the surprise of many, indigenous Marranos did survive nearly 300 years of the Inquisition. In 1920, Samuel Schwarz, a Polish engineer working in Portugal, encountered a community of Marranos in the interior of Portugal (Belmonte) who had managed to preserve some of the secret rituals, including prayers, of their ancestors. At first distrustful and denying any Jewish connection, they opened up only after Schwartz recited a Hebrew prayer, in which one of the women elders (women handed down the secret prayers from generation to generation) recognized the Hebrew word, Adonai.. Today Belmonte boasts a modern new synagogue and professional Jewish museum.
About the same time as Schwartz learned of the Marranos of Belmonte, Captain Barros Basto, a decorated World War I veteran founded a synagogue for Marranos, the Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto on the second floor above a store. This charismatic army captain embarked on campaign to convince Marranos to return openly to normative Judaism. In full uniform, sometime on horseback, he travelled the isolated communities of Tras Montes and Beiras, founding several Jewish communities, including Bragança, Covilha and Pinhel. Some estimate his adherents at the time upwards of 10,000. Cecil Roth, who first met him in 1926, described Basto as the most charismatic man he had ever met. In 1930 Roth published the Apostle of the Marranos, a short biographical monogram translated into French. Roth’s pioneering classic, History of the Marranos, published shortly thereafter owes much to the Captain’s infectious enthusiasm.
The Captain was a visionary leader. In the middle of the depression and in face of the wave of anti-Semitism in Europe, and with the financial help of the descendants of the Marrano Diaspora in New York, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Hamburg and the Kadoorie family of Shanghai, the Captain built a huge magnificent synagogue in Porto, which he dubbed, "the Cathedral of the North". He wanted to make sure no Marrano would feel ashamed walking into a synagogue. He would impress them. It would be a source of pride and a beacon of strength to all the Marranos of Portugal, especially in the north. While the Nazis were destroying synagogues throughout Europe, and the students of the German college next door were throwing rocks at the windows of the newly built synagogue, one man stood up and built a lasting memorial to the Marrano legacy. He is a true hero.
It did not take long for the Catholic Church to respond. They built a bigger church, in the same architectural style as the synagogue, just up the road. Teachers and doctors who had adhered to the Captain’s call suddenly had no students or patients. There were mischievous public demonstrations against the presence of synagogues in the provinces. The totalitarian government led by Salazar in Lisbon was not too enamoured with the Captain, who had hoisted the Republican flag in Porto in 1910. The powerful enemies of the Captain organized a campaign to destroy him. He died a broken man and the Marranos once again withdrew into obscurity. (see Barros Basto, the Marrano Mirage by Alexandre Teixeira Mendes, forthcoming, www.Ladina.com)
However, the story is not over. Today, following the visit of the Sefardi chief rabbi Shlomo Amar to the Mekor Haim Kaddoorie synagogue in Porto in 2004, another Marrano renaissance is in the air. There are active Marrano, Conservative, Orthodox and Liberal communities in Porto, Belmonte and Lisbon. There is a nascent kosher industry producing wine and olive oil, including the first kosher port wine ever produced. Portugal’s first kosher restaurant will open shortly. Every month it seems, there is a new book published on Marrano Jewish history. There is now a Portuguese branch of Sefer publishers, one of the largest Jewish publishers in Brazil. The tanach was recently launched in Portugal. The first book on the Lisbon 1506 massacre of New Christians sold out quickly. There are new Jewish museums in Belmonte, Faro and Porto. Another two will open next year in Covilhã and Trancoso. Who knows, a yeshiva may be next. There is a future for Jews in Portugal; they did not die in vain. The Inquisition did not succeed.