Two 16th-century texts about the Americas by Jewish writers reflect the complicated place Jews and ‘conversos’ held in the ...

In the first Spanish and Portuguese colonies, however, Jews were not allowed to openly practice their faith. Secret spirituality One of these conversos was Luis de Carvajal.

Ricardo DelaG/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA The uncle was a devout Catholic who attempted to shed his converso past, integrating himself into the landed gentry of Spain’s New World empire.

After a millennium of relatively peaceful and prosperous life on Iberian soil, the Jews of Spain were attacked by a wave of mob violence in the summer of 1391. Afterward, thousands of Jews were ...

Portugal’s Jews faced similar persecution. Whether they sought a new place to settle or stayed and hoped to be accepted as members of Christian society, both groups were searching for belonging.