Marranos: A Lost People
Some people might call them New Jews, some New Christians, and others call them Marranos. The majority of the world population has no idea who the
Marranos are. To begin to explain these secret people, one must first receive a lesson in World History. We will begin in the 1492.
In school, we are brainwashed to connect the year 1492 with the year that Columbus discovered the New World. Yet, if we look at the year 1492, there are other occurrences which are noteworthy. For instance, in the year 1492,
Spain, the country which sent Columbus to America, decided to officially expel the Jews from Spain. The Jews were forced to either leave Spain, convert to
Catholicism, or be put to death. This was not a surprise to the Jews of Spain.
Since 1931, there had been anti-Jewish riots throughout Spain. For years, the
Jews had been converting to Christianity to escape religious persecution. These
Jews were called conversos. The twist to this tale is that these conversos actually were only putting on a front. They still considered themselves Jews.
They practiced in secret.1 The Spanish made every attempt to search out and punish these conversos. Some Jews chose not to convert and they moved to
Portugal. . Unfortunately, Portugal, in 1497, expelled the Jews from its borders as well. Anti-semitism was growing in Western Europe and the Jews needed to escape. The prime choice seemed to be so obvious. The Jews went to the New World.
The immigration of the Marranos to the new world might have begun with none other than Christopher Columbus. This, of course, is not definite, but there has been research which has shown that Columbus was indeed a Marrano.
Apparently his parents were Marranos.2 Even though there are some disagreements about this fact, there is strong evidence to support the claim that Columbus was
Jewish.
As the Marranos arrived in the New World, they were not able to reveal their secret identities and practice as Jews. This was because the Spanish government established inquisition offices in the New World. These office's sole responsibility was to hunt down Marranos and bring them to justice. The inquisitors had to visit every town once a year and gather evidence of "non- believers" of the church. They would reward anyone who came forth with information. The information could be days old or forty years old, it made no difference to the Inquisitors. The punishments for being caught were varied, never merciful. The mildest form of punishment was Scourging. This was when the victim was forced to strip to the waist in public and receive hundreds of lashes.
Eventually the Spanish Priests came to the Pueblo and started to set up churches and try to convert the Zuni’s to Catholicism. The Zuni’s practiced the catholic faith in a small way to appease their Spanish superiors, but this did not stop them from carrying on as usual in their own faiths practices and rituals within their own circles in their pueblos. The Zuni did not like Spanish pushing their practices and religion on them and would over time build up such resentment that other actions would have to happen.
The Muslims and Jews of Spain during that time did not believe in Christianity. This became a conflict to Isabel uniting Spain. In fear, many Muslims and Jews had converted to Christianity but were suspected to have been practicing their own faith secretly. Isabel felt betrayed and it sparked the start of the Spanish Inquisition. “…establishing an Inquisition, expelling the Jews, converting or expelling the Muslims of Granada and Castile, and sanctioning the Muslims' continued presence in Aragon” (Myerson, 11). Isabel and Ferdinand continued with their plans to unify all of Spain by continuing effort to expel the Moors also known as the Muslims, who held some parts of Spain. In 1492, the Muslim Kingdom of Granada fell to Isabel and Ferdinand. Also, all the Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity were expelled. Isabel felt her religion was the only true one and if she didn't rid them from her country then Spain would be ruined.
On the other hand, some historian books say that he had invaded the west Indies this is because he has set foot into an area saying that he had discoverd it when clearly there were people living there. Another reason is that some books had said that the Vikings from Iceland and Greenland reached there almost 500 years before Columbus.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
Whether it was a day of huge discovery or a day of dark doom, Christopher Columbus set out from Spain on August 3, 1492 (Microsoft Encarta). With him he had high hopes, great expectations, a dream, a highly moraled crew, and three Spanish caravel ships. The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. At that time the crew and Columbus had strong intentions of reaching what they thought was the East Indies (Burdette 26). However, the crews were a week and a half out from Spain. They were sure they were near land. It could have been just a see bird or the weeds growing on the Sargasso Sea. A prime example that the rest of the crew or Columbus himself had not had any exact information such as maps about the sea. Following the trade winds they had followed, they were being lead to N. America
Wilford, John Noble. The Mysterious History of Columbus: An Exploration of the Man, the Myth, the Legacy. New York: Knopf :, 1991.
Disney was born December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to his father Elias Disney and his mother Flora Disney. (Walt Disney Biography.) He was the second youngest of five children. (Walt Disney.)Shortly after Disney 's birth, they ended up moving to to Marceline, Missouri. (Walt Disney.) This is the place where he really began to start loving drawing and painting. Some say that it seemed like all he did was draw, even at school. Young Disney then began selling all of his drawings and paintings to neighbors and family
“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, starts the beginning of one of history’s biggest fabrications. We teach our children to be honest and truthful, but then lie to them for the first six to eight years of their educational lives about their own history. For in fact, Columbus did not discover America and did not unveil the myth regarding the world being flat. At the moment, I have yet to discover if Christopher Columbus ever discovered anything at all. Knowing the meaning of discovery, the land that Columbus reached from his voyage and the unorthodox events that occurred after Columbus’ adventure; I do not celebrate Columbus Day. I enjoy the day off from work, as do most Americans that observe the day; but Columbus Day should not be an American holiday for many apparent reasons.
In the Middle Ages, the Christian community 's hatred towards the Jews still remained as the Spanish inquisition had approached. The Jewish community was expelled from Spain because the church authorities had figured out that the Marranos, who were converted Jews, still practiced Judaism in secrecy. This is what the Christians took extreme offence to, and believed that the Jews were deliberately going against the church. The purpose of the inquisition was for the Catholic authorities to root out, suppress, and punish the Jewish heretics. The Christian community believed that the Jewish heretics were corrupting their society and wanted them removed. The inquisition was operated by the enraged Christian population themselves, as they drove the
attacked them in their homes. Jews had to sell their businesses and other property to
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The initial response of the inquisition was predetermined by the anti-Jewish judgment increased by the black plague in Spain. The lack of scientific development meant that Jews were blamed for the plague pandemic during 1347 to 1350. At the time the Jewish community was an important part of the Spanish economy, as the only moneylenders the King and Queen attempted to protect them. However, measures to stop the plague continually failed this further fuelled hatred towards the Jewish population. By 1492 King Ferdinand and Isabella created the Alhambra Decree that expelled Jews from their territories. They went into great detail to create a subtle form of propaganda, indoctrinating the public into believing Jews were a form of ‘disease’ that would infect good Christians. The converts that were left in the Iberian Peninsula became the main target of the inquisition. These converts called conve...
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