4
HISTORY
OF
THE
MARRANOS
his
father
just
as
if
he
had
remained
a
steadfast
Jew.
In
the
service
of
the
Synagogue
a
special
prayer
found
its
way
imploring
the
divine
protection
for
all
the
House
of
Israel
and
the
“Forced
Ones”
of
Israel
who
were
in
peril
by
land
and
sea,
not
differentiating
between
the
two
categories.
When
the
age
of
martyrdom
began
for
medieval
Jewry,
with
the
Rhineland
massacres
at
the
period
of
the
first
Crusade
(1096),
many
persons
saved
their
lives
by
accepting
baptism.
Subsequently,
with
the
sedulous
encouragement
and
protection
of
Solomon
ben
Isaac
of
Troyes
(“Rashi”),
the
great
Franco-Jewish
scholar,
many
of
them
returned
to
Judaism;
though
the
ecclesiastical
authorities
looked
black
at
the
loss
of
these
precious
souls
which
had
been
won
for
the
Church.’
The
phenomenon
of
Marranism
is
more,
however,
than
the
commonplace
occurrence
of
forcible
conversion,
fol-
lowed
frequently
by
the
practice
of
Judaism
in
secret.
Its
essential
element
is
that
this
clandestine
religion
is
passed
on
from
generation
to
generation.
This
is
by
no
means
a
unique
occurrence.
Among
the
reasons
given
for
the
expulsion
of
the
Jews
from
England
in
1290
was
that
they
persisted
in
seducing
recent
converts
to
return
to
the
“vomit
of
Judaism.”
Ancient
Jewish
authorities
add
that
many
children
were
kidnaped
and
sent
to
the
northern
part
of
the
country,
where
they
long
continued
their
ancestral
religious
practices.
To
this
fact,
reports
one
chronicler,
was
due
the
readiness
of
the
English
to
accept
the
Reformation,
as
well
as
their
predilection
for
biblical
names
and
certain
dietetic
peculiarities
obtain-
ing
in
Scotland.
The
tale
is
not
quite
so
improbable
as
might
appear
on
the
surface:
and
it
is
interesting
as
an
indication
of
how
the
phenomenon
of
the
crypto-Jew
may
INTRODUCTORY
5
sometimes
appear
in
the
most
unlikely
places.
Similarly,
for
two
hundred
years
at
least
after
the
expulsion
of
the
Jews
from
the
South
of
France,
spiteful
antiquaries
were
_able
to
trace,
in
some
outstanding
noble
families
(which,
they
said,
still
practiced
Judaism
in
the
privacy
of
their
homes),
the
blood
of
those
who
had
preferred
to
remain
in
the
country
as
professing
Catholics.?
There
are
other
parallels
to
the
phenomenon
of
the
Marrano
which
are
even
closer.
The
most
remarkable
of
all
is
the
story
of
the
neofiti
(neophytes)
of
Apulia,
only
recently
brought
to
light
after
many
centuries
of
oblivion.
At
the
close
of
the
thirteenth
century,
the
Angevin
rulers
of
the
kingdom
of
Naples
brought
about
a
general
conversion
of
the
Jews
in
their
dominions,
centered
about
the
city
of
Trani.
Under
the
name
of
neofits,
these
continued
a
crypto-Jewish
existence
for
three
centuries
or
more
afterwards.
Their
secret
fidelity
to
Judaism
was
one
of
the
problems
which
led
to
the
activity
of
the
Inquisition
in
the
kingdom
of
Naples
in
the
sixteenth
century.
In
February
1572,
several
were
burned
at
the
stake
in
Rome,
including
Teofilo
Panarelli
a
savant
of
some
reputation.
Others
succeeded
in
escap-
ing
to
the
Balkans,
where
they
joined
the
existing
Jewish
communities.
Certain
vague
recollections
of
Judaism
persist
amongst
their
descendants
in
southern
Italy
down
to
the
present
day.
:
The
phenomenon
was
by
no
means
confined
to
the
Christian
world.
Even
now,
there
are
communities
of
crypto-Jews
of
many
centuries’
standing
to
be
found
in
several
parts
of
the
Moslem
world.
The
Daggatun
of
the
Sahara
continued
Jewish
practices
long
after
their
formal
conversion
to
Islam,
and
traces
of
this
have
not