Crypto-Judaism

Crypto-Judaism is the clandestine observance of Jewish beliefs or practices by people who publicly profess another religion. It is especially associated with Jews compelled to convert to Christianity in medieval and early modern Iberia.

Conversos: Iberian Jews and their descendants who converted to Christianity, voluntarily or under coercion. Many crypto-Jews belonged to communities publicly identified as Christian converts.
Alhambra Decree: The 1492 edict ordering Jews to leave the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon or convert. Its ultimatum produced new conversions and drove many Jews into exile.
Luis de Carvajal the Younger: A sixteenth-century New Spanish writer and crypto-Jewish convert who was executed by the Inquisition in 1596. His writings preserve a rare first-person account of clandestine Jewish belief in colonial Mexico.
Sabbath: The Jewish day of rest observed from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall. Keeping Sabbath privately could preserve a distinctive rhythm within Christian public life.
Portuguese Jewish diaspora: Jewish communities formed by Portuguese exiles and their descendants across Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. Many converts or their descendants left Iberia and joined openly Jewish communities abroad.
Marranos: A historically used, often derogatory term for Iberian converts suspected of secretly practicing Judaism. The label reflects suspicion that outward conversion concealed continued Jewish practice.
Massacre of 1391: A wave of anti-Jewish violence in Iberia in 1391 that led to deaths, displacement, and conversions. The violence began a major wave of conversions centuries before the 1492 expulsion.
Isaac Cardoso: A Portuguese-born physician and philosopher who left Iberia and became a public defender of Judaism. His life traces a path from a converso background to openly Jewish identity.
Kashrut: The body of Jewish dietary laws governing permitted foods and their preparation. Food choices could maintain Jewish practice while appearing to be household custom.
Sephardi Jews: Jews whose historical origins are associated with the Iberian Peninsula and their diaspora communities. Crypto-Judaism forms one part of the wider history of Iberian Jewish communities.

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