Marranos is a historical, originally insulting name for Jews of Spain and Portugal who converted to Christianity under violence or pressure between the late fourteenth and the sixteenth centuries, and for their descendants, some of whom secretly kept Jewish practices. Today many historians and descendants prefer the terms conversos, New Christians or the Hebrew anusim, meaning "the forced ones."
Marranos at a glance
| Also called | Conversos, New Christians (cristianos nuevos, cristaos-novos), anusim |
|---|---|
| Region | Iberian Peninsula and its later diaspora |
| Key dates | 1391 riots; 1492 Spanish expulsion; 1497 Portuguese forced conversion |
| Persecuted by | Spanish Inquisition (founded 1478) and Portuguese Inquisition (1536) |
| Main refuges | Ottoman Empire, Italy, Amsterdam, Hamburg, London, the Americas |
| Related practice | Crypto-Judaism (secret Jewish observance) |
The name and its meaning
The word marrano was used in medieval Spanish and Portuguese for a pig, and when applied to converts from Judaism it carried an obvious insult, perhaps mocking their supposed avoidance of pork. Other etymologies have been proposed, including derivations from Arabic or from Iberian verbs meaning to err or to force, and scholars do not agree on the origin. Because of the word's hostile history, many writers prefer conversos (converts), New Christians, or anusim, a Hebrew legal term for those forced to abandon Judaism. Some historians still use "Marranos" specifically for converts who secretly continued Jewish practice, and some descendants have reclaimed the name with pride.
From the 1391 riots to the expulsions
Medieval Iberia had one of the largest and most culturally productive Jewish communities in Europe. In 1391, anti-Jewish riots that began in Seville spread across Castile and Aragon. Thousands were killed and very large numbers accepted baptism to save their lives; estimates vary widely, but historians agree that the conversions transformed Iberian Jewry. Further waves of conversion followed during the fifteenth century, encouraged by preaching campaigns, disputations and legal restrictions.
The conversos rose quickly in commerce, administration, the Church and even the nobility, and their success provoked resentment. From the mid-fifteenth century, "purity of blood" statutes (limpieza de sangre) began to exclude people of Jewish ancestry from certain offices. On March 31, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree ordering Jews to convert or leave Spain. Many departed, often to Portugal, while others were baptized. In 1497 King Manuel I of Portugal, rather than allowing a real exodus, imposed mass forced conversion, creating a large population of New Christians.
The Inquisition and crypto-Judaism
The Spanish Inquisition, authorized by the pope in 1478 and active from 1480, was created primarily to investigate whether conversos were secretly "Judaizing." Portugal established its own Inquisition in 1536. Suspects could be denounced for lighting candles on Friday evening, refusing pork, changing linen for the Sabbath or fasting on Yom Kippur. Defendants were often held for long periods, their testimony was taken under pressure, and trials ended in penances, confiscation of property or, in many cases, death at public autos-da-fe.
Under these conditions some families preserved a secret, simplified Judaism, passed on largely by women at home, often without books, rabbis or circumcision. Prayers in Spanish or Portuguese, fasts and household customs survived for generations. The degree of real crypto-Jewish belief among conversos is debated: some historians stress genuine hidden Judaism, while others argue that many conversos were sincere Christians accused by the Inquisition's own suspicions.
The diaspora
Over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries many New Christians left Iberia. The Ottoman Empire welcomed exiles, and communities flourished in Salonica and Istanbul. In Italy, Venice and Livorno became centers, and in northern Europe former conversos founded the "Portuguese" Jewish communities of Amsterdam, Hamburg and later London, where Menasseh ben Israel campaigned for the readmission of Jews in the 1650s. Converso merchants also settled in France, the Caribbean and the Americas, even within Spanish and Portuguese colonies where the Inquisition followed them.
Returning to open Judaism was often difficult for people raised as Catholics, and debates over their status shaped Jewish thought. Baruch Spinoza, from a Portuguese family in Amsterdam, is the best-known product of this world. Earlier, Maimonides had addressed forced conversion under the Almohads in his Epistle on Martyrdom, and his writings, already at the center of the medieval Maimonidean controversy, remained an important resource for these debates.
Legacy
Portugal abolished the legal distinction between Old and New Christians in 1773. Isolated crypto-Jewish communities, notably in Belmonte in Portugal, survived into the twentieth century, and some descendants in Iberia and the Americas have since explored or returned to Judaism. Both Spain and Portugal introduced laws in the 2010s offering citizenship to descendants of expelled Sephardic Jews. The converso experience also influenced Spanish literature, mysticism and spirituality; Teresa of Avila, for example, had a converso grandfather. In the sixteenth century Iberian exiles and their descendants also played a large part in the flowering of Jewish mysticism in Safed and elsewhere; for this wider heritage, see Kabbalah.
Related entries
Frequently asked questions
Why is the word marrano considered offensive?
In Spanish and Portuguese marrano was a word for pig, and applying it to converts from Judaism was meant as an insult. Its exact origin is debated, but because of its history many people prefer conversos, New Christians or the Hebrew anusim, meaning the forced ones. Some historians still use it in a technical sense.
What is the difference between conversos and Marranos?
Converso is a general term for any Iberian Jew who converted to Christianity, and for their descendants, whatever their later beliefs. Marrano is often used more narrowly for conversos who secretly continued to practice Judaism, sometimes called crypto-Jews. In practice the terms overlap, and contemporaries used both loosely.
Where did the Marranos go after leaving Spain and Portugal?
Many settled in the Ottoman Empire, North Africa and Italian cities such as Venice and Livorno. Others founded Portuguese Jewish communities in Amsterdam, Hamburg and London, or traveled to France, the Caribbean and the Americas. Some remained in Iberia, practicing Judaism secretly for generations in places such as Belmonte, Portugal.
Sources and further reading
- Marrano · Wikipedia
- Marrano · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Marranos, Conversos, Anusim, and New Christians · Jewish Virtual Library
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: October 4, 2026.