Iberian New Christians and
Their Descendants
Edited by
Abraham Gross, Adina Moryosef, and Jack Cohen
This ground-breaking volume explores the relatively new academic field of Bnei
Anousim studies (also referred to as descendants of New Christians, Conversos, or
Marranos), whose Jewish ancestors in Iberia were forcibly converted to Catholicism
from 1391 through the fifteenth century. Chronologically, this book focuses on the
eighteenth century, a later period of Inquisition activity marked by the Portuguese
Inquisition’s relentless attacks against the Jewish “heresy” and the resultant mass
exodus of New Christians from Portugal to Brazil. Several chapters concern the
contemporary phenomenon of descendants of these New Christians seeking their
Jewish roots. Yet, among a population that has retained almost no memory of their
origins, how authentic are their Jewish roots? After the passage of hundreds of years,
how much of what they perceive as “Jewish” is truly a lost Sefardi heritage? This
volume addresses these questions from the perspectives of history, demography,
genealogy, anthropology, and genetics.
Most of the articles are based on presentations at the international conference,
Reconnecting 2016: Reinvigorating Shared Latino-Jewish Roots held in Miami in
September 2016, organized by the Institute for Sefardi and Anousim Studies.
“As a result of his book we shall need to rethink our knowledge and understanding of the
intricate history of the conversos/crypto-Jews and the multifaceted identities of their
descendants”
— Moisés Orfali, Bar-Ilan University, Corresponding Academic Member of the Spanish
Royal Academy of History and of the Spanish Royal Academy
“… top-notch scholarship that touches on all the major issues in Crypto-Jewish studies
today… This book is a phenomenally important contribution to the study of cryptoJudaism”
— Seth Ward, Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Wyoming
ISBN 978-1-5275-3506-0
Hardback 191 pp
$99.95 US
£58.99 UK
20% Discount available
Order online at
www.cambridgescholars.com
Discount Code: Iberian20
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT [email protected]
IBERIAN NEW CHRISTIANS
AND THEIR DESCENDANTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction:
Iberian Conversos, Crypto-Jews, and Descendants:
History and Contemporary Identities
Abraham Gross
Section One: Roots and Reality:
General Perspectives of Contemporary Descendants
Chapter One
Iberian-Jewish Common Roots—The DNA Perspective
Max Blankfeld
Chapter Two
Latino Jewish Demography: The Real and the Virtual
Sergio DellaPergola
Chapter Three
The Origin of the Bnei Anousim in Brazil
Anita Novinsky
Chapter Four
The Genetic Heritage of the Jewish Descendants in Portugal
and the Diaspora Communities in Brazil
Inês Nogueiro, António Amorim, Leonor Gusmão, Luis Alvarez
Chapter Five
Emic and Etic Considerations in the Understanding of Authenticity
and the Construction of Crypto-Jewish Identity
Seth Kunin
Chapter Six
How Holy is the Holy Seed? The Attitude of Orthodox Judaism
toward the Maternal Non-Jew—A Legal and Historical Discussion
Moshe Pinchuk
Section Two: New Christians and the Bnei Anousim:
From Documental Historiography to Field Research
Chapter Seven
Inquisition Documents: A Genealogical Tool, A Window on a World
David Gitlitz
Chapter Eight
New Christians and Bnei Anousim in Brazil: Status and Desiderata
Lina Gorenstein
Chapter Nine
The Dimming of the Diamond´s Twinkle: The Fall of the “Eldorado” Myth in Brazil
Daniela Levy
Chapter Ten
Bento Texeira, the First Poet of Brazil, and the “School of Satan”
Eneida Beraldi Ribeiro
Chapter Eleven
On the Spiritual Routes of the Portuguese Marranos—The Apostates,
the Banished, and the Secret Ones
Elvira Azevedo Mea
Chapter Twelve
The Fate of Anousim Along the West Coast of Africa
Tudor Parfitt
Chapter Thirteen
Reflections on the Current State of Latino-Jewish Heritage Research
Schulamith C. Halevy
Chapter Fourteen
A Marrano Memory in Peru?
Nathan Wachtel
Contributors
Glossary
Index
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