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A converso (Spanish: [komˈbeɾso]; Portuguese: [kõˈvɛɾsu]; feminine form conversa), "convert" (from Latin conversus 'converted, turned around'), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian population and make sure that the converso "New Christians" were true to their new faith, the Holy Office of the Inquisition was established in Spain in 1478. The Catholic Monarchs of Spain Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the remaining openly practising Jews by the Alhambra Decree of 1492, following the Christian Reconquista (reconquest) of Spain. However, a significant proportion of these remaining practising Jews chose to join the already large converso community rather than face exile.[1][verification needed]
Conversos who did not fully or genuinely embrace Catholicism, but continued to practise Judaism in secrecy, were referred to as judaizantes "Judaizers" and pejoratively as marranos.
New Christian converts of Muslim origin were known as moriscos. Unlike Jewish conversos, moriscos were subject to an edict of expulsion even after their conversion to Catholicism, which was implemented severely in Valencia and in Aragón and less so in other parts of Spain.[citation needed]
Conversos played a vital role[which?] in the 1520–1521 Revolt of the Comuneros, a popular uprising in the Crown of Castile against the rule of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.[2]
- ^ Alicia Gojman de Backal, "Conversos" in Encyclopedia of Mexico, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, vol. 1, p. 340.
- ^ Hernando, Máximo Diago (2015). "Líderes de origen judeoconverso en las ciudades castellanas durante la revuelta comunera: su papel al frente de Común de pecheros". Carlos V: Conversos y Comuneros: Liber Amicorum Joseph Pérez, 2015, ISBN 978-84-608-4640-6, Págs. 71–102 (in Spanish). Centro de Estudios del Camino de Santiago: 71–102. ISBN 9788460846406.
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