Becoming Jewish in Early Modern France

Becoming Jewish in Early Modern France: Documents on Jewish Comunity-Building in Seventeenth-Century Bayonne and Peyrehorade Author(s): David Graizbord
Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Social History, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Autumn, 2006), pp. 147-180 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4491859 . Accessed: 25/02/2012 14:23
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BECOMING MODERNFRANCE: JEWISHIN EARLY IN DOCUMENTSON JEWISHCOMMUNITY-BUILDING BAYONNEAND SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PEYREHORADE Graizbord By David of TheUniversity Arizona
The history Sephardi in southwestern of France Jews beganwith the establishmentin the mid-sixteenth in of of refugees the century smallenclaves Iberian of LesLandes the Pyr nees-Atlantiques. settlers, and mostof whom The regions to in to theirfamilial immigrated France the 1600sandtraced origins orthrough were treatments or Historians' of conversos NewChristians.' Portugal, so-called theseimmigrants typically muchattention the legalfoundations have to of paid the "Portuguese"2 on in colonies,focusing particular the fact that the French crowngranted expatriates the themperiin lettres-patentes1550,andrenewed until 1776.3 to Theselegalinstruments conversos settleand odically permitted tradein peaceas a cohortof resident and aliens-the "Merchants otherPorcalled NewChristians" etautres nouveaux (marchands tuguese, appelhs portugaises, so shedtheirworst fears narratives to finally chritiens)-and, the standard goes, andlive asJews, an veil albeitunder almosttransparent undisturbed, relatively of Catholicity. was but (Judaism tacitlytolerated, had been bannedin France since 1394,andwouldnot be fullylegalized untilthe lateeighteenth century).4 this that narrative the assumption the Jewishness is Underlying conventional of the immigrants beenlatentaslongasthe refugees resided Iberian had in had realms beenvulnerable inquisitorial and butflowered in to scrutiny, naturally a moreagreeable French scholar it, "Thewill of As put atmosphere. a prominent thesepioneers to of the enclaves] cre[meaning founders the Franco-Sephardi ate communities of testifies indeedto the fidelity the conversos the Iberian of Peninsula theirancestral to faith."5 A chiefproblem thisinterpretationthatit doeslittleto illuminate with is the contentious complexand sometimes by process whicha collectionof Iberian becamecommunities French seeksto shed of 6migr6s Jewsby 1700.Thispaper of and an lighton that veryprocess through examination two complementary from unusually revealing dossiers 1674-1678and1679-1680, respectively.6 legal Heremy focuswill be on whatthesedocuments us aboutthe socialcontell text of the immigrants the practical and meansby which they obtainedand internalized knowledge-the modelsof belief,ritualpractice, quotidthe and ian behavior-thatwouldcauseothersin the Jewish to the Diaspora recognize makeshift to coloniesin France, moreimportantly, causethe refugees see and as of For and themselves, normatively unambiguously Jewish.7 purposes this meansconsciously emand analysis, Jewish," hence"becoming "Being Jewish," rabbinic as withina socialsetting,however bracing Judaism imperfectly, a way of life. Found the archives the Toledo in of of the Tribunal the Spanish Inquisition,
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dossiers question in for to a pertain the seventeenth century, period whichdocumentation the converso The on in is immigrants France veryscarce.8 filesare records investigations conversos weresuspected beingcrypto-Jews. of of of who The firstinvestigation For focuses a conversa on Florade Salazar. our emigrd, the of purposes, mostinteresting of herfile is the transcript the deposition part of anothersuspect, who had Medinawasa trader Jorgede MedinaCardoso.9 once lived in suburban and Bayonne alongwith Salazar, had intimateexperiencein the ways daily the and of rhythms collective among Iberian Judaicization was who in refugees settledthere.The chiefinformant the secondinvestigation the defendant I de knownin Spainas "Juan Ibafiez." Juan(Abraham) Paredes, willrefer himbythe latternamesincethatis the one under to whichhis dossier is archived. in too normative as Ibafiez hadlearned Judaism an expatriate, this casein Peyrehorade, likeJorge Medina told de and, Cardoso, his interrogators of his experience rather in detail.10 extraordinary on workon the Franco-Sephardim focused has My previous principally the behavior psychology individual and of and to in conversos relation the Iberian communities faiththat demanded of The theirallegiance.11 purpose diasporic of this paper, contrast, to shedlighton the practical is means,agents,and by in of meaningof judaicization termsof the collective experience the emigres. The primary documents introduce I here,to be sure,shedsomelight on the but of conversos' socialandreligious identities; moreimuncertainty individual allowa viewof the immigrants' the sources sociallifein southwestern portantly, France the timethatthesesettlers at reeducated and became formally informally ethin normative as as Judaism a social,andmoreimportantly, a self-conscious nic group. lendsitselfto Neitherof the documents, will contend,necessarily I a characterization the conversos the French coas of in southwest a steadfast hortdetermined the start,as if impelled someinnatedesires spiritual or from by to the and ancestors become"reunited" "essence," embrace lawsof theirJewish withtheJewish of the showthe process Judaicization Rather, documents people. to havebeencontingent, and in rather mundane, anchored the senseof kinship thatthe members the group question toward of theirfellows. in felt Given the relativerichness the two dossiers repositories anecdotal of of as attentionto that have not paidgreater data,it is perhaps surprising scholars them.Then again,my own interest the documents in derives partfrommy in criticalapproach the immigrants to whoselives the documents partlyilluminate.HadI assumed converso werebound France that in southwestern refugees to "come the out"as a bloc of Jewsanyway, detailsconcerning constructed all natureof theirJewishidentitywouldhave seemedlike relatively insignificant deviations to from norm, the documentary the haveappeared would and sources be of limited haveapwould Tobe precise, dossiers the merely analytical utility. to the of peared corroborate inborn subjects. "Jewishness"the Franco-Sephardi Butthe dossiers a different tell tale. in Judaicization Practice
Jorge de Medina Cardoso and Juan Ibaxiezwere itinerant merchants. Like hundredsof fellow "Portuguese" France,they crossedthe borderinto Spain in to tradein variouscommoditiesand sell variousservices.12 Medinawas a whole-
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of a and in saler, nativeofSabugal northeastern Portugal, a resident SaintEsprit, in nearBayonne. wasforty-eight oldat the timeof his deposition 1676 He years He de was (fol.3r).Juan Paredes Ibafiez), a mercer. hadbeenbornin 1656 (a.k.a. wherehe had been circumto a familyof Iberian in immigrants Peyrehorade, At cisedandresided had untilthe ageoffifteen.13 thatpointIbaiXez continuously said Ibafiez thathe wasknown begunan eight-year forayinto Iberian territory. like in However, name,Abraham. amonghis neighbors France his Hebrew by Ibafiez also been had MedinaCardoso, unlikehis own younger and brothers, as with 48rbaptized an infantin accordance the Catholicrite (fols.39r-39v, both deponents liableto the mostsevereof inquisitorial 50v). This rendered and charges: heresy apostasy. men the were survival, Evidently twoinformants practical forwhommaterial commercial as and ties, had precedence opportunity, well as familial cultural overreligious haveleftFrance would the Otherwise subjects perhaps discipline. had authorities consida rabbinic that altogether, country untilthe mid-1600s was ereda "Land Idolatry," is to say,a country whereJudaism banned, of that leaders had andhence an undesirable Jewish placeforJewsto settle.Although testified cast label largely asidethatcondemning bythe timeourtwomerchants beforeinquisitorial corner of was France still a culturally tribunals, peripheral the Sephardi had At leastwe can suppose if the two deponents that Diaspora. caredto abidestrictly normative of standards Jewishness, wouldhave they by refrained wherewidespread fromcrossing border Spainand Portugal, the into their anti-converso returnees suspend to not converso prejudice onlycompelled observance Halakhah of bedrock their normaof Law),the supposed (Jewish tive Jewishidentity,but also exposedthem to the influenceof Christianity, not to mentionthe possibility persecution, of ruin, incarceration, andperhaps even death,as putative of "Judaizers," regardless whattheybelievedor did.Of the as and marked returnees morally course,cultural territorial commuting14 meanThe hakham in the eyesof respectable rabbinic ("sage," decrepit opinion. Aboab (1555-1628) articuand Immanuel ing "Rabbi") expatriate Spaniard latedan official, when border-crossers he wrotethe foltoward piouscontempt between1626and in in leaders France lowingindictment a letterto converso 1627:
Some[whoareof ourNationtravelto the Lands Idolatry-probably of meaning in because areroguish who, SpainandPortugal particular] vagabonds after... they
work;others [travel there] because of atrociousvices that they have committed; others becausethey have engagedin illegal commerce.Such people go over there [they] tell [the Inquisition (?)] a thousand lies and falsehoodsagainst noble and
to to what do viciously spending [money] have, notwant submit ... virtuous they and of to and [totheLands Idolatry]; in order cover their infamy roguishness up
It [the rogues]have received manybenefits[in the JewishDiaspora]. is appropriate that YourMerciesshould neither supportthem, nor face them; throw them out as calumniatorsof the true virtue and benefitsthat we possesstoday.15
virtuous to whomtheyarenot even worthy serve,andfromwhomthey persons
All the same,it is clearthatneitherof the two traveling in merchants question here was a rogue,much less an outcastfromthe emergingJewishcommunities of southwesternFrance.The merchants'testimonysuggeststhat both Medand ina and IbafiezattendedJewishreligiousservicesregularly socializedmainly
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withtheirfellowexpatriates. that Neithersubject neighcomplained hisIberian borsin the French New southwest reprimanded oranyotherexpatriate had him Christian traveling Spanish Portuguese for to Thereis no indication and lands. in the twodossiers anyof the exileshadassailed commuters treating for that the as thatcouldbe wornanddiscarded Judaism if it werea merecostume quickly to according circumstance. The twodeponents in admitted theyhadpracticed that and Judaism France the namesof scoresof theirfellowobservers-thedead,the living, provided those ensconcedin the Diaspora, well as somewho werestill immediately as convulnerable inquisitorial to of prosecution. Large segments the depositions sistof descriptions the rituals theemigres in of that conducted semi-secretly privatedwellings. data anecdotal thesedepictions assorted are Interspersed among the collectivelifeof the congregants of the realm theirrespecregarding beyond tive congregas in ("congregations,"thiscaseactually conveying "synagogues"). It is immediately rendered noticeable the information twoprisoners the that followed lineof inquisitorial the to generally questioning whichthe HolyOffice all on That a subjected suspected Judaizers. lineplaced highpremium confirming the presumptive of defendants on reconstructing cataloguing the and and guilt and as supposed practice socialextentof crypto-Judaism,wellasopendefection to Judaism In abroad. particular, HolyOffice interested elicitinginforin the was mationregarding of the who Judaizers werestillat large; practices which alleged the claims Jewsandbaptized that consisted; theological JuJudaizing reportedly daizers and the made; waysin whichbothgroups allegedly maligned supposedly to endeavored subvert the and Catholicism, so on.16 Nonetheless, depositions of Medina Ibafiez and oftendeparted from depictions significantly theformulaic of heresyandapostasy the HolyOfficepublished its infamous Edictsof that in of unrecorded Faith,and which likelyguidedthe inquisitors' prodding depoto nents,asdistinctfromthe official According a typical protocol. inquisitorial Edictof Faith,crypto-Judaism entailedthe following amongothers: practices, for in and and shirts, in improved festive clothing; [D]ressing [theSabbath] clean on clean on and clean putting tablecloths thetables, spreading bedsheets thebeds inhonor said of Sabbaths; buildingfire anything during not else a nor them, keepfrom afternoon. ... purginghewing that Judaizers] meat [the Or or ingthem Friday
areto eat, throwing themin waterto bleedit, or takingout the nervefromthe
... Esther not animal....Orfasting fast Queen the of ram's orfrom other any leg meat washing their themselves day to one prior this, eating and cutting fingernails andtheends their of hair.... 17 A number the heretical with of "crimes" the HolyOfficeassociated conthat versosmay have been purelyethnologicalin nature.18In other words,the are to and folklore folkpractice, "crimes" attributable cultural patterns-Jewish internalized and did routines, the like-that merebaptism not eraseamongthe firstgenerations Sephardi of converts Christianity. to Notwithstanding inquisiintorialpresumptions, adherence thesecultural to habitsdid not necessarily
dicate a desire to observeJudaism,let alone impugnChristianity.For example, avoiding pork out of a conditioned, visceral distaste does not make any person "Jewish," much less "anti-Christian."l9 Still other of the supposedcrimes in question may have been inventions and misunderstandings introduced by
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deponents and inquisitorsalike. Some of the customs and beliefs that Iberians are usuallyattributedto "Judaizers" not restrictedto Jews.Others arenot even of normativeJewishorigin.20 Here the inquisitorialnotion that Jewsand Judaizers comes to mind believed that a Mosaic "faith" assuredtheir personal"salvation" kept immediately.So too the bizarrethough infrequentclaim that crypto-Jews the Muslimfast of Ramadaan.21 As Herman PrinsSalomon has argued,an importantfunction of compendia such as the Edicts of Faith was to teach potential informerswhat to say about the people whom they wished to denounce, and detaineeswhat the Holy Office expected them to say about themselves and their fellows.22Here, by contrast, is Medina Cardoso's depiction of his own daily praying,and of Jewishreligious services he attended in Saint Espritfrom the mid-1650s to the early 70s. The account was written by the inquisitorialnotary,as was customary,in the third person: he [of ... in his housein the neighborhood SaintEsprit], hadrecitedeach day one the prayers the observance the Lawof Moses.In the morning saysthe of of withinme [mi Dio whichbegan, "God mySoul,whichyouhavereturned of tefilah the Isof delalma diste mi],"23 afterward en and [somePsalms David], Shemah que the ... rael,andlaterthe Amidah and ... in the afternoon prayed] [service [he is of He Psalms David.... The eveningprayer called]Minha. beganit by saying calledthe harjit and whichhe beganwitha Psalm, thenhe saidthe Shemah [sic]24 with and whilestanding, the He Israel, then the Amidah. always [recited latter] his feet together, that uponsaying meals[literwhenfinishing and somewords, ally:the meal]he tookthreebackward fromthe placewherehe was,which steps to were[meant threecurtsies toward God.Thenhe satin order saythe restof as] the ... prayers.... (Fol.4r) The witness in met [also] withvarious persons a ... hallof thehousein whichDr. Isaac Israel Avilalived,andthe prayers wereappointed thattimewere for de that and of recited withhim.In the dayof thefastof Kippur wasthe Psalms David,25 it for different that God rogations theymade, asking forpardon theirsins.Theysaid ... a Israel following the Amidah all of theseprayer-sessions, the Shemah in and de Israel Avilaread bookthateachonehadandread himself. onlyDr.Isaac And to seated.26 so listento himwhile[theywere] would aloud, thattheothers Theyonly aroseto praythe Amidah, uponcompleting eachone tookthreebackward it and that in steps,as it wascautioned the bookof prayer eachone of themhad.They thembecause the whilecovered withhats,withoutremoving performed prayers while theyprayed. theirhairwasdirty,andso that theirhairwouldbe covered Somekneltoutof devotion, remained and [for of] kneeling the amount timethat that it would to sayfour take whichis thetimeit tookto saytheconfessions credos, theseprayers contain.At the sametime,Dr.IsaacIsrael Avila]hadhis head [de and said lowered read more that the [sic]. slowly Before prayers were atnighton the that eveof thefastof Kippur, Isaac a Israel made practice admonishing] they Dr. [of shouldnot hate one another, that theyshouldbecomereconciled and [literally, for for becomefriends], because it pardon theyconsidered [necessary] obtaining theirsinson thatday.Someof thembecame reconciled. (Fols.4v-5r) of [I]nthe daysof the Fastof Kippur the years[1]660and [1]661,andfrom... and and and be-Av, [ofJ [1]662in the daysof thefastsof Purim, of Tammuz, Tish'a of and and Gedaliah, of Tevet... andsomeSaturdays thoseyears of the previous of in in years... [the congregants gathered] the neighborhood Saint-Esprit, an de hall [literally, high hall]of the houseswhereDon IsaacIsrael Avila a upper
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lived. [And 1674] the ... twenty-sixth ofJanuarythepresent ... from until of day in Alvaro where [of year 1676, havegathered] [ahallof]thehouses they Luis,27 and the Cardoso ... to perform prayers.... lived Gomes, Diego Jacob Rodriguez (Fols. 6r-6v) The sheerspecificity MedinaCardoso's of the is descriptions perhaps most obvious indication theirbasiccredibility. the portions cited,he menof In just tionsthe Hebrew names(andin somecasesthe timing)of prayers minor and faston whichthe Edictsof Faithare,to my knowledge, or completely largely silent-for instance, Tsom the He of Gedaliah of Gedaliah). usesvariants (Fast commonHebrew and "TheFastof Purim" not "the renderings-forinstance, Fastof Queen Esther," was morecommonamongconversos their inas and in Iberia. alsodemonstratesrudimentary mostly He a quisitorial persecutors yet accurate with and contentof the dailyJewish acquaintance the order general mistook liturgy, althoughin one case he or the inquisitorial notaryprobably the morning shachrit service the laterma'ariv for service. itselfthisrudimenBy a into taryknowledge suggests muchgreater degreeof integration normative culture thanone couldhypothesize the moretypical oftenforand from Jewish mulaicrecords depositions of who conversos rendered seventeenth-century by hadneverleftthe Iberian Peninsula. anyrate,theJudaism Medina described At doesnot appear me to consistonlyof material to fromBiblicobbled together cal sources, fromfragments rabbinic of in thatmayhavebeenavailable writing or SpainandPortugal,28 frominquisitors' compendia, questions, "ethnographic" so to speak,andformal Medina's accusations. for Witness, example, complete andaccurate translation the Hebrew of a for (booth blessing inhabiting sukkah or tabernacle) folio 9r of the Salazar in our "Blessed you adonay, are dossier: and us God, Kingof the Universe,who hassanctified in yourcommandments hascommanded to dwellin sukkot."29 reus Medina paintsa reasonably Lastly, to of His alistic,if somewhat sketchy portrait peopleat worship. reference the (wasthisa vestigeof Catholic congregants' hair,theiroccasional dirty kneeling and and of practice?), to the volume changing provide praying, speed Dr.Avila's an interesting alone touchof verisimilitude. hints Inquisitorial andsuggestions me do strike for Neitherdo the details details. probably not account theselatter as mereembellishments Medinainserted give his accountthe ringof truth. to incriminated Medina Cardoso the need feel himself, would already Having why to enhancehis narrative, to do so by including and in thesedetails particular?30 A salientfeature the rituallife that Medinadepictedis its high degree of of regimentation. Centralto that life, according the description, werethe to activitiesof an educator ritualspecialist and de IsaacIsrael fromAmsterdam, in as described "aHebrew Avila,whomIbafiez his own testimony theologian andgreat Rabbi" 40v).As forPeyrehorade, one identified DanielAlIbafiez (fol. an who "governed the congregation ... farin(orAlfarim), unbaptized subject, ... a that in [there,] read... everything iswritten the Biblefrom scrolled parchas ment,"(fol. 43v), performed (fol. marriages 44r) andserved a ritualslaughterer(fol.83r).Medina, in that whohadresided Peyrehorade a time,added for
Alfarin read from the Torah"out loud" (fol. 12r), much as Isaac de Avila had allegedlydone in Saint Esprit.I know nothing about Alfarin besideswhat precious little the two informantsdeclaredabouthim and his two young sons, both
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of whomwereallegedly fromthe moin activeparticipants communal worship the menttheyreached halakhic of majority. contrast historical record the By age allowsfor a fullerprofile Dr.Avila.Diverse indicatethat he taught sources of document inHebrew basicJewish and One to practice the immigrants. French for in that "the Jewish dicates, instance, Avilaperformed first marriage" greater the has Bayonnein 1673.31 Posterity therefore designated Doctoras "thefirst Rabbiof Bayonne."32 this "catechizer" not residein Bayonne was and did Yet a and merelya physician self-styled missionary-inotherwords, manlearned in scienceand rabbinic hakham. Furbut Judaism, by no meansan ordained Aviladid not have the support the Amsterdam of kehillah comthermore, (= whoseauthority purported represent France. contentof a The in he to munity) letterAvilacirculated forged amongthe exilesis quitetelling:In the nameof the prestigious board the Sephardi of comAmsterdam ma'amad governing (the the letterthreatens whodisobeyed excommunication munity), anyone against Avila's strictprogram Judaicization. purpose the missivewasclearly of of The to intimidate local "Portuguese," the as whomAvila correctly perceived reliand so giouslyignorant at leastrelatively indisciplined, thattheywouldaccept his unsanctioned and authority behavelikeproper byhis standards.33 Jews Iftheaura religious of that knowledge Dr.Avilaandhislayalliesin southwesternFrance was the it in projected a factor theirsocialsuccess among refugees, is nevertheless on that significant partof thatsuccess havebeenfounded the may rhetorical association these"experts" between and that drew Judaism the cherishedtiesof kinship thatalready the Sometimes immigrants boundthe settlers. themselves madeexplicitwhatby the mid-1660s the crucial conflation a of was a and compatriotic-genealogical identity religion se. Forinstance, returnee per recalled around 1664that,
preachedto the young [or:unmarried] people telling them that they should keep
of in ... theowner thehouse which Portuguese] [in [the gathered Saint Esprit]
of and did marry someone who them [theLaw Moses] admonishing thathewho not lose and for [that would theinheritanceheritage]hisfathers parents], [or kept law] of hewho and ... sinned spoke ofthe badly [heritage]34 mortally;35proceeding heexhorted toobserve Law Moses, the of so. the there for everyone giving reasons were doing And
having finished that preaching,he read from the prayerbook, as this [declarant] and the others listened to him with great attention and in great silence.... 36
added) (Emphasis
We cannotmeasure effectiveness the above-mentioned the of yet preachers, we do knowthatwhatever camepartly from their carried persuasiveness words the factthat theyarticulated message wasalready to familiar theiraudia that ence. The linkagethesemoralists and drewbetweenreligionandfamilial cultural had that to variant Judeophobia hadasof kinship beenintegral theIberian sailed NewChristians sincethe adventof the converso in problem the latefourteenthcentury.37 between1580and 1640,whenthe SpanishHabsEspecially assumed crownof Portugal hundreds thousands Portuguese of the and or burgs
conversosresettledin Spain, manySpaniards, and both "Old" "New"Christians, came to associatePortuguese so ethnicity with crypto-Judaism, much so that the adjective "Portuguese" (portugu/sla)became a euphemismfor "(crypto-)Jew" in colloquial Castilian usage.38 too, new Spanish designationssuch as "PorSo
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of imserved underscore to that tuguese theNation" suspicions the "Portuguese" and indeedthat were subversive, migrants theirnativedescendants religiously an they comprised alien, tribalentityof merchant Mightthe sheer "Jews."39 of this mentalassociation descentand religionhave madethe of familiarity that to authority refugees-paradoxically-amenable the verypseudo-rabbinic now proposed linkageas the instrument personal collectivelegitithat and of mationin southwestern France? We can only speculate, it is worthwhile in threefactors this yet considering connection. threefactors keyelements whatonemaycallthe "protoAll were in consciousness" the refugees. of of it First, is likelythatseveral the immiJewish felt with an grants utterlyrejected Old Christian by societyand disillusioned andthe conversophoits dogmas, institutions, Catholicism, aggressive Spanish bic tendencies its practitioners. particular, is logicalthat several the of of it In should and havefelt repulsed inquisitorial refugees by persecution, mayperhaps havebecomereligiously to Second,the galvanized theirownopposition it.40 by scholars retained senseof theirown ethnicdifference, several as a immigrants haveexplained I will discuss and in manycasesthe expatriates below.41 Third, mayhaveknownlittleornothingof normative Judaism to theirencounter prior withJewish normative educators French in domains. a Embracingfull-fledged, means with theseIberian outcasts newreligious Judaism thushaveprovided may to buildconsciously dissentfroma identities withsomedignity, Jewish express descentby transof them,anderasethe stigma Jewish societythat persecuted it This of forming intoan ethnic,even"racial" badge Honor.42 is not to saythat a from or was necessarily adopting normative Jewish identity easy, thatit flowed the wellspring the New Christians' and of of perception theirowncultural fathe milialkinship. of and accompanied shiftto Feelings instability inadequacy I normative France. am onlysugin Judaism amongthe refugees southwestern as itselfto conversos a rabbinic gestingthat that adopting Judaism presented alternative abjectdefeatandinfamy. to psychological afforded We mustalsoconsider additional an factor: Collective Judaicization andeconomic as inasmuch it helpedto cementexpurely political advantages, the relations while"normalizing" marchands portugaises istingintra-Portuguese in the eyes of theirnon-Jewish in neighbors, particularly placesto whichthe had that as "nation," is to say,a legal "Portuguese" beenadmitted a mercantile the of tradesmen. historian that The Anne Zinkexplains in France corporation little more collectivestatusof the "Portuguese" thatof a taillable, was meaning This wasa than a recognized to by politicalbodysubject taxation the state.43 accessto royal if statusthatafforded "Portuguese" the comfortable, ambiguous and to and protection the legalability bequeath inherit property-arightdenied to mostforeign in France. of While members this politicalbodywere subjects not natural of crown,the statedidnot treatthemas mere subjects the French of Esther to summarizes advantages the conversos the "foreigners."44 Benbassa with case to havinga legal"nationality" regard the specific of Bordeaux: The[mercantile other] the and under paofBordeaux, placed being corporations
dimensions. and tronage of a saint, combined religious commercial They exercised
of in sectorsand had the rightto limit the number monopoly theirrespective theirmembers. Portuguese, order forma corporation theirturnthat The in in to while wouldserveto coordinate interests preservindividual and commercial financial
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the had members, togive appearance anorganized ingthe unity the of group's ofbeing added) body.45 (Emphasis The paradox, course,is that New Christians of who learned normative Judaismin France enjoyed and their whatever Jewish advantages new"national" Christian-not to mention identityafforded, havehelpedto substantiate may modern and of the innate"Jewishness" mercantile scholarly-views "proclivities"of conversos, to perpetuate mission the HolyOffice,especially and of the whentheserefugees business.46 returned Iberian to landsto conduct SocialTransformations Thereis no doubt,asI havealready hinted,thatforall theirnewfound pride, the immigrants conscious theirinadequacies otherlimitations were and as of novices.Medina, one, notedhis relative for to Jewish inability followor understandHebrew his confirmed own relative prayer (fol.5v).Forhis part,Ibafiez of that whenhe intimated he hadbeena youthat ignorance normative Judaism the timeof the religious did so services simply not knowHebrew, he didnot and understand whatothershad readin the congrega the scrollof the Torah from in that (fol. 47v). Still, the difficulties the conversos experienced the process of learning rabbinic late in Judaism, manycasesrelatively in theirlives,do not to Oncethe adultimmigrants appear havebeendecisive. optedto becomenormative and to Jews,theircommitment the newfound identity to the underlying ethniccommunity theyfeltembodied identity socialreality that in that was,in mostcases,deepandsincere. This applied "Portuguese" border-crossers and to theirmoresedentary fellowexpatriates alike. Evidence thisdepthandthissincerity of includes veryfactthatthe immithe allowed theireducators reshape in with to themradically accordance new grants standards propriety. of Social and religious legitimacy-indeed,excellencewasnow defined terms Hebrew in of and correct literacy liturgical proficiency, divine commandments, called Judaicpractice(consisting mainlyof fulfilling in distinction havof in the case of men, the physical mitzvot Hebrew), and, into a binding (berit ing entered personal pact-the Covenantof Circumcision as Ibafiez milah)-with the God of Israel.47 suggested muchwhen he testified thatDr.Avilahadcometo Peyrehorade fulfillthreefunctions: fromthe read to the and Bible,preachJudaism, circumcise youngmen, including informant's ownbrothers 40v-41r, Ibafiez notedthat (fol. 46v).As forhisowncircumcision, who the had "aHebrew camefrom (fol. Jerusalem" performed surgery 41r).The of us this vagueness Ibafiez's description prevents fromidentifying "Hebrew,"48 Abraham LeviConquefrom ben Rabbi yet we knowthatone suchfunctionary, the Yeshiva Hebron,visitedneighboring of Saint Esprit duringthe last two decades the seventeenth of We alsoknowthat a Dutchmohel (ritcentury.49 ualcircumciser) hadbeencitedforviolatingthe rulesof his profession who in Amsterdam, JacobChamis(or Xamis)de Orta,alias"Moyses Quen"(Mois6s in and Cohen),circumcised Peyrehorade, Bordeaux manymenin Saint-Esprit,
the late 1650s.50 expatriateidentifiedyet another envoy, one Abrahamben An IsraelfromLivornoor Amsterdam,who had also servedas a mohelin Saint Esprit in the 1660s.51
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Scholars have noted that someNew Christians as circumcision a regarded meansof "saving" soulseven thoughthe notionwasandis aliento norJewish mative The is the of Judaism.2 appeal thisconception among refugees probably attributable theirownLuso-Hispanicity,particular internalization to of in their Christian as doctrine. surprisingly, quasi-Catholic of circumcision Not view the a kindof sacrament fitthe image crypto-Judaism the HolyOfficehad also of that fomented centuries, whichsomeconversos have absorbed they for as and may learned what"Judaism" to entailfromsuchsources the Edicts Faith, of as ought Iberian and if folklore, inquisitorial interrogations,not theirfellowconversos. Moresignificantly ourperspective, claimthatcircumcision from savedsouls the as the milah a means of maywellhaveaugmented sheerinstrumentality the berit of refashioning disciplining and on Frenchsoil of converso immigrants groups as Jewishcommunities faith.IbaiXez, instance,noted that, "it is known of for the [that]thereis a among Judaizers, theyall attendthe congregation, although or distinction, that]thosewhoarecircumcised [in enjoymoregraces privileges and [thanthosewho areuncircumcised], only theyarecounted[in a religious for that (fol. quorum]" 41v). Medina Cardoso, his part,indicated it was"comthat monlyknownamongthe Iberians" everymanwho settledin SaintEsprit submitted the surgery. to Some immigrants, said,submitted morepromptly he thanothers-"eachaccording his levelof devotion" to (fols.1lv-12r). Furthermore, at of when the is which thetime [Inthesynagogue,]thetime theAmidah prayer, called Hazan the or reads the [in person [=cantor] from Sefer thiscasea scroll book theTorah], isassisted twoofthepeople pray, onestanding of he each who by at [theHazan's] andthose arenotcircumcised him. who cannot assist [The side, and and de and G6mez Salazar, Don Marto, Diego deponent] Francisco Fernmndez Pedro DonAndrds Salazar, sons, all theoneshe hasnamed and de his and ... saw assist reader] acollateral, as he was because [Nufiez] notcircumcised. (Fol. [the 8r-8v)
assisted reader the was because at there,ascollaterals, the timethatthe Sefer read, for the never Nufiez,[whom deponent] theywerecircumcised--except Francisco
to of was in then,circumcision France a mark social According the informants, distinction newlyJudaicized Morespecifically, wasa means inclufor of it men. sion in the elite of a new spiritual, by extensionsocialandpoliticalbody: and a Holy Congregation Holy Community or or kedoshah kahal kadosh). (kehillah this Indeed,the men who constituted new Jewishelite sealedtheir inclusion in it by Hebraicizing firstnamesonlyuponbecoming their circumcised. Judaicizedwomenevidently formed of the kehillah well,yet by the 1670sthey as part formed relatively a if withinit. Medina suggested separate not marginal sphere this whenhe recalledthat he had not seen any womenof the Salazar family attendreligious alservices anyof the gatherings the NewJews, or of "because, thoughwomenattendsomeof the [meetings], arenot in sightof the men" they of is to attributable the imposition a (fol. 10r).Thisrelative invisibility possibly
traditionalmekhitzah (partition) between the seats allocated to men and those allotted to women at prayer. Some testimoniessuggestthat men alone attended the home of Isaac de Avila to hear his glosses on Holy Writ.53And yet, other witnesses declaredthat local Portuguesewomen whose husbandshad shops in
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while Spain "have their own books and prayfromthem in the Jewishmanner," other women and girls "listenedattentively"in their homes as their sons and husbandsread to them from religiousworks.One deponent even reportedthat in Saint-Espritthere lived a certain doctora who was "well-versedin the Lawof Moses.'"54 Mourning Rituals and Folklore in Saint Esprit Apart fromdepicting collective worshipat homes and makeshiftsynagogues, Medina Cardosoprovided informationthat is worthy of attention for what it tells us of life in the outskirtsof Bayonne duringa period in which the immigrants'Jewish identity became ingrained.The informationmay be divided into two clusters.The first concerns the rites of mourningthat the community observedfor his daughter,EstherCardoso,in 1673. The second clusterconcerns a "miraculous" event that allegedlyoccurreda yearlater in the Portuguesesection of a local cemetery,at or near the hermitageof St. Simon. Medina testified that when his daughterhad died, he and three other men, including the woman'shusbandand her uncle, washedher body,wrappedit in a new shroud,and interredit. The testimonydoes not makeclearwhetherMedina and the three others assistedthe functionariesof an official burialsociety that had reportedly state of organized been foundedin 1654.55 Given the rudimentary Jewishlife in Saint Espritat the time of the burial,I doubt that the men assisted a true, full-fledgedhevrakadishah Society). Rather,I suspect that (Holy [Burial] the men simply did the best they could under Avila's supervisionalong with whatevertrainedpersonnelwere on hand. Medina'sdescription of the burial and attendant mourning rites, however, makes clear that for whatever amateurishness these rituals exposed, the ceremonies comprisedan importantpublic affairamong the "Portuguese"-a prime occasion for the coalescence of their ethnic, social and culturalties as New Jews. Diego RodriguezCardoso,a relative to the deceased, was present at the interand (fol. ment, as were other notable "Judaizers" several ordinary"Portuguese" 5v). By contrast,Medina providedno indication that local Christiansattended or even knew of, let alone objected to, the proceedings. As in other events that touched the public life of the nascent Jewish community, the instructionof Dr. Isaacde Avila was meticulous and explicit. Two witnessesto anotherburialthat Avila had supervisedreportedthat afterthe deceased had been buriedin the Christianmanner,the Portuguesemournersentered the home of the bereaved,where Avila awaited them, "reciteda psalm," and directed them to wash their hands in a fountain.56So too, after the interment of EstherCardoso,the Doctor led the congregantsin liturgicalceremonies that they did not know, or did not know well, and which they did not fully understand.As Medina recalled, AfterEsther the Cardoso buried, was [from cemetery], accompathey returned Fernqndez Francisco Marto his and nying[thedeponent], brother, [herhusband,] to the homeof [Fernindez of In Marto]. a ... hall of the house,in the presence those ... who wentto the burial... [and] and once [thedeponent] ... FernandezMartohad takentheirshoesoff andsat on the floor,DoctorIsaacIsrael de madeforthemthe rending andhaving Avila,whohadalsobeenat the burial, [?];
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unfastened clothing]57 tohisshirt, Doctor] acutintheir shirts down made [his [the witha knife, then[thedeponent], took and the hands, off making cutwithboth orrippedbitoftheshirt, Francisco a each and Fernandez didthesame, one Marto at time are (Emphasis saying thesame 'Blessed you,O Adonay, of Truth.' Judge 58 added.) the Then... Dr.Isaac Israel Avila de the for] prayed [prayer alleviating soul[folheard in and in ganza] the Hebrew language, which[thedeponent] the others is him.... Hedoes know the[prayer] not what how though it contains to begins, ask thatthesoul thedeparted rest.... God of have In eachof the [ensuing] days, the morning, Isaac Israel Avila de seven Don in Luis and de Nufiez,... Diego Cardoso, Antonio Castillo, Enrique Rodriguez de Pas, D[on] and does Lorenzo and whom Gonziles, others .... [thedeponent] not remember prayed ... out Israel Avila[read loud] de together....DonIsaac ... insuch way [this a him. that deponent] theothers understand hear] and could [or Attheconclusion deponent Femrnndez ... said rogative a and [the Marto] [prayer] a that called [=kaddish]thesoulof ... Esther for ... Cardoso [insuch way] cddiz theothers could understand hear]. it Because wasin the Hebrew [or language, which deponent] notunderstand,doesnotknow what prayer] does he [the [this contained. 5v). (Fol. ritual of Medina notedhis ownrelative Here,aselsewhere, ignorance Jewish and liturgy, that of his fellowcongregants. and the Thushe underlined indisof In functions Avilaarrogated. lightof the Doctor's that pensability the didactic described extensiveinvolvement the lifeof the community the informants in as it is difficult imagine the expatriates theirFrench-born children to that and it, wouldhave knownwhatto do, say,or think as normative in numerous Jews mother situations withoutthe help of theirfreelancing "catechizers." lbafiez's as Moisesde Parethat suggested muchwhenshe wroteto Ibafiez his brother, and lost"(andaba that des, "was perdido)-meaning Mois s wasleft spiritually 59dein forLondon 1674 rudderless-when Avila's Dr. intellectually departure who indoctrinator had of privedthe New Jewsof Peyrehorade the loneJewish visitedtheirtown on a regular basisuntil that time (fol. 46v). We can safely were thatat leastsomeof the immigrants conscious by hypothesize, extension, of the factthattheywouldnot havebecome normative withoutthe enterJews likesof the rabbinic Isaac Avila,andDanielAlfarin. de prising impostor, of None of this is to say that the immigrants weretotallypassivesubjects On a quasi-rabbinic and authority of an alien halakhicculture. the contrary, the exilesproved in of their capable interpreting newcircumstances waysthat to theirage-oldsenseof solidarity justified theirassentto theirnew and spoke socialreality, to theirconformist Juchieflyby investing approach normative daism withdivinesanction. evidenceof this manner offered Medina anecdotal who of self-justification the course enumerating in of "Judaizers" had attended Medina services a sukkah the 1660sor early1670s.Specifically, at in religious knownlomentioned men who hadsincedied:DiegoG6mezde Salazar, two as Pedro de and Mendes, brother, callyandburied "Abraham Salazar," G6mez's buried "Moysn [=Moises] as Mendez." Withoutanyapparent Medina relatedthat fromhis interrogators, prodding
the Salazar familyhad built gravestonesforthe deceasedmen that were"onehalf yardstick"(mediavara) higher than the gravestonesof the other "Portuguese" buried in the communal section of the cemetery (fol. 9v).60At the beginning
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of 1674, Medina continued, an outlying wall had fallen squarelyon the two gravestones,shatteringthem yet leaving all the other Jewishgravestonesintact. Medinaexplained that the New Jewshad understoodthis surprising occurrence as a divine rebuketo the Salazars: Theeventwasconsidered a matter miracle demilagro], because [wall] the as of [cosa didnot break uponthe twogravestones, but whentherewereother[gravestones] next to them.This conveyed God wantedto that,through wall's [the collapse], and of of [altibez] the relatives DiegoG6mezde Salazar punishthe haughtiness hisbrother, wanting callattention themselves the for to to [through] gravestones, whennone were more than And Jewish theothers. notewastakenof the occurrence, because thosewho had [earlier] of should the censured factthat the gravestones in be higher involved these thanthe rest.... [Thedeponent not immediately was where[theywere]related. events]but wasin a conversation (Fol. 10r;emphasis added) To understandthis interpretation, the folk storyitself, it is necessaryto conand textualizethe processof the refugees' The following sections adJudaicization. dressthe historicalcircumstances that processand the dynamicsof its success of among the refugees. The Historical Setting of Individual and Collective Judaicizationin Southwestern France An importantdeterminantof the path to Judaicization undoubtedlythe was economic and socio-political setting in which that phenomenon occurred. SouthwesternFranceas a whole was home to an averageof perhapsno more than 2,000 to 3,000 Iberianrefugeesthroughoutthe 1600s. That is a very tentative yet, I believe, realistic estimate.61By mid-century,Bayonne and Peyrehorade, on which we focus here, were nodes of a wide-rangingregional economy that extended from the border towns of Les Landes and the Pyr6neesAtlantiques through the Biscayanport of Bayonne, onward to Bordeauxand other inland towns in Aquitaine, and fromthere to centraland northernFrance. That regional economy was itself part of a larger,transnationalsystem of trade that linked the Iberianrealmsto the commercialand manufacturing centers of northernEurope,especiallyto Amsterdam,a financialand mercantilecapitalof the seventeenth century.As historiansof the Jews know well, a few thousand Portugueseand Spanishconversossettled in Amsterdamthroughoutthe 1600s, quickly becoming a dynamic element in the Dutch transatlanticeconomy.62 From that hub, Sephardim sent northern Europeanproducts directly to the Iberian Peninsula and received Iberianand colonial productsin return. However, during a period spanning 1621 to 1647, Spain intermittentlyembargoed Dutch shipping to punish the rebelliousUnited Provinces. As a result, Dutch via Sephardimwerecompelledto continue their tradingenterprises their refugee kinsmen and other associates in the French southwest. The refugeesreceived Dutch shipments in the port of Bayonne, then smuggledthe merchandiseby mule train over the Pyrenees,or directly from the French border-townsof the far west into the Basqueand Navarreselands on the other side of the frontier. The traffickers traveledwidely in Spain and Portugal,then returnedto France,
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realms wheretheyintroduced from manufactures rawmaterials the Iberian and andoverseas Small townson the French side,suchas St. possessions.63 border were Jeande Luz,Dax, andBiarritz, launching points-and oftenbasesof operations well-for several the itinerant as who of merchants soldmanufactures of northern was Iberia. Bayonne even more European provenance throughout to important economically the exilessinceit wasthe portof entryformanyof thosesameproducts.64 of dossierhighlightsthe fact that the proximity the Iberian JuanIbafiez's who mainland madethe Frenchborderlands to attractive expatriates wished to exploittheirparticipation trans-border Forinstance, testified in trade. Ibafiez that his father, expatriate to an had merchant, servedas a provider the Habhome in the Armada nearSeville,hundreds milesfromthe family's of sburg to AtlanticPyrenees. elderIbafiez alsosecured commission collect The a had testaxesin Utrera 43r).Besides the his (fol. denouncing ownfather, defendant tifiedagainstDiegoRodriguez and anotherexpatriate border-crosser Cardoso, who specialized military in of in provision, this caseto the armies the French de Louis andwhowasa cousinof ourotherprimary informant, XIV, king, Jorge revealsthat Medina dossier Cardoso own inquisitorial (fol. 47v).65 Rodriguez' of fixture the newly becomea prominent by his middleagehe had (allegedly) of communities the Basque Several borderlands. witnesses, Judaicized including his cousinMedina,as well as Ibafiez, as lay paintedRodriguez a semi-official and servedas a synhomein suburban leader, notedthatRodriguez's Bayonne One deponentstatedquiteplausibly the wholesaler that enjoyedthe agogue. to of of protection Colbert,the chief minister the "SunKing." According the and Colbert not careto investigate did informant, religion shielded Rodriguez's who the merchant, at of perhaps the instigation the Dukeof Gramont, wasnotofurrious sheltering for semi-secret in his southwestern territories.66 Jews Ibafiez whose therclaimed thatanother a fromBayonne, certain Ribadeneira, refugee had brother served Provider the RoyalArmies had as to alongwithRodriguez, becomea secretary Colbertandfunctioned a sortof politicaladvocateto as of at chre-tiensthe courtof LouisXIV(fol.60v). Finally, protector the nouveaux two referred the brothers to Salvador Enrique and Ibafiez Cardoso,67 converso and and "atheists" hadbeenbornin Peyrehorade were who physicians reputed married French to descent.The firstbrother, of women,presumably Christian at Ibafiez as in served a physician the resided Paris, where Cardoso, declared, he, court(fol. 59v). royal and Prominent exilessuchas Rodriguez Ribadeneira, the Cardoso Cardoso, brothers that providebut a few illustrations the crownhad been right in its of calculations whenit haddecided legitimate presence the "Merchants to the andotherPortuguese" French Iberian on couldindeedbe quite soil: expatriates usefulto the state.Alongwith the entrenchment the converso enclavesin of southwestern France of the merchants, throughout 1600s,the success converso wisand the us administrators, professionals encourages to discard conventional domthatNewChristians the the Peninsula approached Pyrenean fleeing Iberian and toward and as stone" borderlands, France a whole,asa mere"stepping larger
more importantcenters of Sephardisettlement where the open professionof Judaismwas totally legal.68 In social terms,greaterBayonneand other towns of the FrenchBasqueCoun-
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the to offered converso tryandLesLandes expatriates opportunity buildrelademoof There,the circumstance the refugees' tivelycohesivecommunities. theirconsciousconcentration and maintained probably strengthened graphic or nessof theirIberian and thoughusually (Portuguese Spanish, origins culture as in the eyes of French authorities). Eventually, I have already "Portuguese" to bondsbecameanchors a new,colleccultural inter-familial and mentioned, a the tive religious hencesocialidentity and M6ndez, meramong exiles.Rafael hintedof thisevoof chantwhoreturned Spainfromthe outskirts Bayonne, to in his lutionin 1664whenhe testified he thought former that neighbors France because wereall "Portuguese" hadtaughthim to observe rabbinic they Judaism andkneweachother.69 To fullyunderstand innocuous (even absurd-sounding) seemingly M6ndez's of the it to conjecture, is important address centrality ethnicityto the selfin I identities conversos Portuguese of of origin,a phenomenon willdiscuss the that to section.It isfirst however, underscore the settlement following necessary, was of the "Portuguese" the regionof greater in Bayonne limitedby lawto the of or barrio) Saint-Esprit-lIs-Bayonne, (in arrabal, suburban faubourg Castilian, of across AdourRiverfromthe municipality Bayonneitself. the immediately a formed compact Thismeantthatthe local"Merchants otherPortuguese" and become ethnic and demographic mass,andhence, that they couldultimately as dissension well someinternal a truesociocultural despiteexperiencing bloc in collectivesocialization rabbinic as othervicissitudes a rather of accelerated, Judaism.70 at of Anotherfactorthat complicated process Judaicization the outset, the but mayhave ultimately fomented amongthe exiles, waslogroup-cohesion in chretiens the nouveaux cal Frenchopposition the settlement so-called of to of southwestern The borderlands. sporadic usually hostility French townspeople and a with religious ethnic prejudice. combined fearof economiccompetition to Insomeinstances, hostility no mereinconvenience the immigrants. was such of limitedthe number of In 1597,forexample, city government Bordeaux the suit followed byexpelling host.Bayonne that "Portuguese" the citycouldlegally of Iberian families 1602.71 in Seventeenyearslater,localresidents St. Jeande of Luzlynchedan immigrant whomtheysuspected practicing crypto-Judaism. Her fellowexiles immediately refugein neighboring took Biarritz,72 trouyet in recalled 1632thata few informant ble brewed thereaswell.An inquisitorial had whensomeresidents the earlier localpopulace becomeincensed had years a marhad of conversos caused disastrous that alleged a handful recently-arrived have a itimestorm means sorcery. of to by According the informant, mobwould the converso enclaveof the townhad it not beenfor the intervendestroyed conthe tion of the samemunicipal authorities hadcondemned accused who of versosto deathin absentia.73 its part,the Parlement Toulouse For expelled a it in later, condemned "Portuguese" subjects 1653,1679,and 1680.Fiveyears in for handful conversos burnalive,presumably religious of to treachery, what one scholar characterized an has as "autodaf6."'74
In other instances,however,municipalliberalityand sheer religiousdiversity among local Christiansoffered a relatively consistent, protective cover under which the 6migrds could nurturea sense of communityand relative mental separatenessfromtheir culturalsurroundings despite the lingeringhostility of Gas-
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or of accon, Basque, othernatives.After1597,the citygovernment Bordeaux shielded edictof 1615 Iberian a for tually by immigrants, example, ignoring royal that confirmed French on Judaism.75 Peyrehorade, whereCatholic the ban In and Hugenotcommunities allowed authorities existedside-by-side, municipal an Iberian even of to in Jewish community conversos flourish the 1600s.Ibafiez remarked local Catholics,Protestants, Jewsdid not live in separate that and of but "mixed (fol. neighborhoods, rather together" 60r),andthatthe members eachgroup lawwithout "believed andlivedbytheir[respective in getreligious] French the (fol. of] ting into [thequestion whether otherone wasbad" 42v).76 authorities Saint Esprit, in whichdid not formpartof the hostilemunicipalthe took advantage the Bayonnaise against Iberians of ban ity of Bayonne, by themto settlein thefaubourg-and remain This therefora price.77 is to inviting howJorge Medina de "Porof Cardoso the characterized members the resulting tuguese" colonyas it existedin the late 1600s: Asked Inquisitor Marifn Rodezno] what in those de [by Julio regard wholivein ofSantispiritus were and [the] [=Saint neighneighborhood Esprit] held, ifin [the there who not borhood] livepeople are Jews [the Jorge [sic], deponent, deMedina as said are who in Cardoso] thatallthepersons reside theneighborhood regarded ofthePortuguese All Nation asJews, of and of observerstheLaw Moses. themen andwomen each withas as to] regard other such,[and belonging thatnation, outhaving declare to as themselves another such beregarded observant toone as to There livein theneighborhood Frenchmen other also and some Jews. foreigners whoregard themselvesCatholics, they soregarded. 11v; as and are (Fol. emphasis added.) EthnicIdentityas a Basisof Judaicization formed Medina Cardoso's recourse the ideathatthe refugees to part frequent naof a "Portuguese" or (in nagdo;in Spanish, collectivity "nation" Portguese, motifin the historyof The ci6n)is farfromsurprising. conceptis a recurring Lusitanian conversos since the fifteenth By century.78 the 1600s,the so-called born cristdos-novos Christians) Portugal, thoseof theirdescendants of and (New to an outside Portuguese of had and domains, cultivated continued nurture ethTo nic solidarity economicandpoliticalcooperation. be through wide-ranging and historians definitions ethnicityarecontested, theyvaryamong of and sure, socialscientists. the sakeof clarity, For the one I applyhere to the however, ad Luso-conversos a ratherconventional, is thoughsomewhat hoc definition definitions that echoesthose foundin respected in dictionaries, otherwords, on which there is a reasonably broadconsensus quite apartfromthe significant philosophical differences nuancesthat underlie and scholarly competing to to I approaches the term.79 "ethnic" simplymeanpertaining a groupof By or whoshare suchcultural traits (1) a common as people language languages-in and the caseunder theselanguages Portuguese Castilian-as examination were well as (2) a distinctfolkculture, formed transand and customs, socialmores
mitted at least partiallyin that languageor those languages,and not necessarily shaped by any religion; (3) a common historical past, near or distant, real or imagined,of which the membersof the groupare conscious to varyingdegrees;
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and (5) (4) a commongeographical origin-in this case Iberian; crucially, a and or accurate not, of the commonancestry familial kinshipthat perception, was New In the of distinguishes members the group. thiscase,thatorigin clearly Christian.80 in At a timewhenthe extended was family a basicunitof enterprise the orwas to of resort endogamy crucial Luso-conversos' ganization business, frequent in fomenting the theirethniccohesionandextending reachof theirmercanof New tile networks.81 the Iberian In and Peninsula elsewhere, Christians PorOld andwereviewedby so-called oftensawthemselves, acted, tuguese origin as Christians a singlepolitical,economic,andsocialconstituency irrespective of the conversos' We actualreligious orientation. know,for example,that an in informal consortium moneyed of took cristaos-novos the initiative 1605to newiththe Habsburg crown behalf the entireLuso-converso for on of gotiate naado included the frominquisitorial In amnesty persecution. all likelihood, lobbyists individuals favored who into majority, genuineassimilation the Old Christian as well as thosewho opposed strategy.82 the crownquitetellinglydid that Yet, not hesitateto exactpayment familiesin Portugalfromallknownconverso it did orotherwise, evidently notmatter-forthe partial reputedly crypto-Jewish So concessions the monarchy that of madeasa result the negotiations.83 too the that infamous de Iberian of statutes "purity blood" of (limpieza sangre) excluded New Christian ecclein from private, professional, aspirants membership many and and the bodiesthroughout latemedieval earlymodsiastical governmental who erncenturies effectdidnot distinguish in betweenconversos werefervent Catholics thosewhowerenot.84 and to Whatconverso meantwhentheyreferred their"na~io" howis, refugees the to In ever,important clarify. earlymodern usually Europe, term"nation" a and and/or signified peoplewitha distinctculture origin-racial,geographic, or of political.Yetthe wordcouldalsodenotea group foreignmerchants stufreedom the dentsgranted rightto limitedself-government religious and the by of For in portugaises, sovereign the territory whichtheysettled.85 the marchands The thesedifferent denotations were,in effect,mutually reinforcing. term"nawhile detion"underscored refugees' of kinshipand cultural the ties baggage status the refugees' andeconomic newpolitical, social, scribing relatively vis-avis the French characterMedina Cardoso's As majority. wehaveseen,however, to ization his fellows of an According him,conconveyed additional meaning. versoresidents Saint-Esprit Nation" of believedthatbeing"ofthe Portuguese of and wastantamount being"Jewish." virtual to This equation Jewishness Porhad been the obscures factthatthe settlers already however, tuguese ethnicity, a of conscious forming of an ethnicnaCao before well theybecame "nation" part of foreignmerchants, certainly beforeseveralof them cameto view the and association theirethnicitywithJudaism necessary absolute. of and as Medina's of claimsnotwithstanding, expression solidarity the amongLusoconversos the seventeenth-century not always of orientaa "Jewish" did imply tion on theirpart,eitherin Iberia in the landsof exile. We know,for inor who New stance,that in the eyesof manyPortuguese Christians had fledthe
IberianPeninsula,and to the dismayof severalof their religiousand lay leaders in the Jewish Diaspora,belonging to the Sephardi "Nation"did not necessitate adherence to normative Judaism-especially an open adherence. By the
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sametoken,to the 6migres, to manyIberians, Chrisand as both"Old" "New" of stockcouldbe a bonafideobserver Jutians,a personof "OldChristian" andhencea "Jew." is precisely Ibafiez his That described ownfather, how daism, the samemanwhosehousehold in Peyrehorade whotraveled Seville to was but to provide Spanish to the navy(fol. 50v). Neitherdidbelonging the "Nation" Convertolerated. residence a country in whereJudaism officially was require sos in the Sephardi oftencorresponded theirChristian with kinsfolk Diaspora in Iberia, considered to and these relatives of the same"Nation" which part Whenreligious demanded even official it, theybelonged.86 Sephardi propriety suchas the Amsterdam institutions, societyknownas Dotar,whose dowering localbranches the an formed important of the welpart throughout Diaspora fareinfrastructurethe "Spanish Portuguese in of Nation" the West, Hebrew and went so faras to legitimize conversa who its clientsin the Iberian Peninsula, to publicly professed Christianity, moreor less imputing them a Jewishbeby lief in the unityof God.87 the sametime, Sephardim the Netherlands in At andelsewhere concultural even romanticized, Iberian their fostered, heritage, tinuedto speakPortuguese Spanishin theirdailyandofficial enacted and life, measures excludeAshkenazic fromSephardi to and institutions, even disJews who criminated threeethnically-suspect (1) openlyagainst groups: Sephardim to themselves married who (2) non-Sephardim, convertsto Judaism attached communities werenot of Iberian (3) stock,and,especially, Jewsof Sephardi yet BlackAfricanancestry.88 conversos the 1600s,then, the perceived imFor of of distinctnaoio, itself and peratives belongingto a culturally genealogically understood a sortof caste,had a certainpriority as overwhatwe mightconsider purely a hold identification.89 would This religious probably trueevenif we wereableto demonstrate mostconversos arrived exilewerealready in that who of of Iberians that cognizant the centuries-old, imaginary equation Judeophobic all backgrounds betweenJewishness, drew that meantto the bigots whatever and theirconversotargets, New Christian and status.I think it is reasonable of to suppose an overwhelming were that of majority the expatriates aware that equation. and Ourchallenge,then, is to understand claimssuch as thatJuanIbafiez character de Cardoso articulated aboutthe categorically "Jewish" Jorge Medina had coloniesin France acquired the 1670s-for that,in theireyes,the refugee by assertion "ofthe people[I]knew,all wholive in Peyrethat instance,Ibafiez's use horade Judaizers" 40v), andthat"allthejudaizing are residents Hebrew (fol. the of names" (fol. 43v). A discussion whatmayhave motivated coalescence of thatspecifically the forms crux ethno-religious solidarity amongthe settlers, of the following characterize section.In the concluding section,I will briefly the New Jewish culture the communities the twoexpatriates of that described, andexplainthe meaning exilesandtheir that thatculture forthe Iberian had children. The Questionof the Refugees'Motivations
There is no doubt, to be fair, that several socially and politically prominent individualsamong the Iberianexiles in Franceopted early on to become normative Jews. That is partly why studies of the development of Sephardi com-
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that munities the Pyrenees-Atlantiques LesLandes oftensuggest the in too and trendtowards Judaicization largely or full was unproblematic, even inevitable. correct of the Yet,asI haveargued elsewhere, prevalence a rabbinically Judaism New Christians France 1700wasnot natural preordained-not or in among by evenamong elites.Rather, waspartly result fortuitous of circumstance the the it andsocialpressure. As members a suspect of of ethnicminority widelysuspected crypto-Judaism, the immigrants beencollectively casespersecuted had and denigrated, in several in theirnativelands.Once in exile the refugees formed obviousclusterof an in Iberians a foreigncountry. they often lived together, Along the Pyrennees or in becausethey felt Lusitanian Spanishand "New probably largemeasure and In fromtheirneighbors. anyevent,the fact Christian," hencequitedistinct that the immigrants as Castilianand Portuguese their mothertongues spoke bar did an whiletheirneighbors not wasprobably immediate to socialintegration (aswewillsee,thiswasnotalways caseforthe more acclimated children the of the immigrants). in like Furthermore, mostsubjects the seventeenth century, the immigrants unfamiliar the notionof "freedom conscience" were of as with the citizensof westerndemocracies the wouldunderstand phrasetoday.This is the caseeven thoughsomeof the countries centralandnorthern in Europe, suchas the Netherlands, offerforeigners measure religious a of did toleration, and thus acquired as in kingdoms havensfor those reputations the Habsburg such"freedom." I strongly that seeking suspect formanyif not mostof the conversosin exile, the impulse belong,to conform a new socialrealityand to to than statusquo in theirgroup, as strongif not stronger was emergent religious anydesireto be "liberated" orby,anyparticular from, religion.90 We see evidenceof this conformism the behavior conversos such as of in Leonor who her Maria G6mez, mother, Vaez,andtheirservant, JuanCompra, arrived the outskirts Bayonne in disof in fromMadrid 1655.Theseimmigrants covered theirhorror many the local"Portuguese" to were that of expatriates "JuPeninsula to a daizers"; Leonor's who,unlike yet husband, returnee the Iberian while in Spain,reported adhered crypto-Judaic to her,had allegedly practices that in a matter fouror fivedaysthe newcomers accustomed of had themselves to the ideathattheytoo should "Jewish," therehadalready be because everyone becomea follower the "Law Moses," not because anyvaluethe new of of of and arrivals in rabbinic saw to who In as husband, Judaism such.91 contrast G6mez's testified under to conversos tookthe initiative becomeinquisitorial who duress, stool pigeonssometimes unidimenin "Judaizers"exile as fanatical, portrayed sionalindoctrinators, to "error" threatening and constantly spewing theological coerceotherNew Christians adopting corrupt "faith."92 depictions Such into a areabsentin the caseof G6mez.Perhaps on moresignificantly, occasioneven to arch-delators their described ownacclimatization the wayof life of voluntary converso in and socialcharthe emigres termsthatbetrayed quotidian utterly acterof the experience. instance, Portuguese For the informer de Aguila Joao testifiedthat at the age of nine he had stumbled to speak)into Judaism (so
in the Netherlands when he had met and socialized with "some youths [who Yet were]his age who professedthe Lawof Moses."93 another delator remarked ratherdisarmingly that he had adoptedJudaism, becauseany "Judaizer" had not threatened to harm or kill him, but because the alternative was to remain so-
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and ciallyandeconomically anyone"-amongthe isolated--"alone" "without expatriates.94 To be sure,the Judaicization the "Portuguese" wasthe outcomenot of exiles of circumstance socialpressure, of a concerted effortof indocand but only trination the partof Jewishfigures the Diaspora, on someof the in including mostfervent of the A themselves. gamut inforamong newly-Judaicized refugees malsocialandeconomic in contacts between Iberians western former Sephardi such and metropoles, asVeniceandAmsterdam, thosein thediasporic periphery reinforced the Thesecontacts Jewish proselitization. permitted social,political, to and to norms modeled the major communities spread religious, economic by andbecomeadapted the incipient the ones.In practical terms, taskof reedby in of consisted suchactivitiesas comucatingthe refugees normative Judaism anddelivering communal and supervising sermons, prayers, posing organizing furand and works95 religious manuals, bibles,liturgical supplying interpreting for behavior, nishingandcaring ritual circumcising objects, quotidian modeling that maleimmigrants, performinghostof rituals the refugees a and newlyarrived werenot qualified carry emisto learned From latesixteenth the out.96 century, saries self-styled and the missionaries Italy, Netherlands, landof Israel, from the andelsewhere, undertook thesefunctions vehemence. the caseof PeyreIn with horade suburban relied and we that the refugees Bayonne, know,for instance, on one Salvador and Mendes theirunofficial as information source religious of instruction an man between1631and 1653.Mendes, all accounts ordinary by who "livedfromalms," even accorded honorof preaching religious a was the rabsermon virtueof the simplefacthe wascircumcised hadpracticed and by binicJudaism theJewish and in of communities RomeandLivorno, hence"was We saidto knowmore[about Lawof Moses]than the others."97 have althe loseenthatIbafiez Medina and identified sucheducators-Mendes' two ready cal successors-and us described activities, their thereby allowing to contribute an assessment the educators' impact larger historical of and local significance. The Exiles'NewfoundCollectiveIdentity:Betweenthe Idealandthe Real If the refugees common "found to theirlives" sus (hallaron vidas), usea phrase what we muststill establish amongthem,withinthe foldof rabbinic Judaism, thatJudaism the meantto them.Medina's miracle storyregarding destruction of twoheadstones the "Portuguese" plotof the SaintEsprit at burial community a clue. provides Salazar asideits supposed lessonin humility the grieving for family, Leaving as the story as functioned a cautionary intended Medina's tale for community a whole.As Medina related the "miracle" for underscored the exilesthe need it, to cultivatepublicreserve-indeed,communal writlarge-lest the discipline break kehillah honorandunityof "Portuguese" and families theirnascent fragile down.In thiswarning, crucial are and the ideathatkinship religion reciprocal loomslarge,muchas it did in the above-cited not sermon, leastin the idealof wor"Good(orProper) Sephardi judesmo-inPortuguese, Judaism"-that born
thies attemptedto inculcate among the "Hebrews the Portuguese of Nation" in As the Sephardimetropolisof Holland throughoutthe seventeenth century.98 the historian YosefKaplandescribesit, that ideal enshrinedobedience to reli-
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emotional intellectual cultivation, restraint, courtesy, dignified giousauthority, and of piety,andan acuteconsciousness the judgment, goodmanners aesthetic in values the Dutchgentiles of the whotolerated Jewish community theirmidst, of butwhomightconceivably mismembers the "Nation" ceaseto do so should behave. of or were As faras the Iberian vecinos ("neighbors" "citizens") SaintEsprit virtuewerecoextensive. And decorum religious and concerned, then, familial in of affirmation thishomology theirmiracle yet,the immigrants' storyprudish andelsewhere-mayultimately abouttheircommudiscomfort revealanactual was To status. insist,in effect,thatno refugee "more nity'ssocialandreligious borderJewishthan the others"in the conversocolony,with its numerous an that strikes as approaching open acknowledgment me crossing "renegades," no vecino vecina reason regard or as or had to himself herself a full-fledged Jewandhence, thathe or she hadbettertakecareto behaveirreproachably. Saint afterall, hosteda nascentcommunity religious of Esprit, neophytesnot yet considered let totallylegitimate manyrabbis, alone by manyFrenchmen. by The New Jewswho comprised community not yet fully internalized had the been essential as I have noted,neitherhad that law always Jewishlaw,and, to communal For conversos. instance,Ibafiez sugsolidarity amongdiasporic was gestedthat Jewishobservance ratherlax in Peyrehorade, sayingthat no one enforced observance Jewish the left to of fasts,butrather that observance individual of "From ageof thirteen[theJudaizers Peyrehorade] the discretion: the are beginto observe fastsof the Lawof Moses... andthese [fasts] volunis and[observance] leftto the will of whotary; theyarenot observed perforce, everwishesto keepthem"(fol. 41v). Forhis part,the husband the aboveof mentioned the observed LeonorG6mez's hintedthat in Saint Esprit refugees What Jewish dietary regulations lackadaisically.99 is more,the noviceshadonly connection befoundtheir(new)communal in recently identity the imaginary tween confession kinshipand begunto enforcethat identity.In its very and of moralism, then,the settlers' may interpretation the miracle-tale actualleged New and allyreflectthe insecure rather positionthatSaintEsprit's ambiguous even in the worlds cohortoccupied a vis the JewishandChristian vis Jewish 1670s. That exiled conversosexperienced some insecurity-even remorseand is their ambiguity-concerning newfound Jewishness onlylogicalin lightof that It to authorities whomthe that position. is worthwhile remembering theJewish indilookedforreligious however expatriates frequently emphasized, guidance the and of for rectly, urgency atoning the sinof (Christian) idolatry, henceboth At exploitedand soughtto fomentfeelingsof shame.100 the sametime, and the wondered how holy andrespectable they correspondingly, expatriates just couldevertrulybecomegiventhe taintof theirChristian pasts.Forexample, one of the NewJewish of leaders Saint-Esprit, DavidManuel in Isidro, inquired men uncircumcised whowere authorities around 1663whether Dutch-Sephardi buried non-Jewish in rites to cemeteries Jewish according non-Jewish merited
"salvation."Isidrothereby revealed his wishes for those membersof his na.go who had not become Jews when they had died, or who, like himself, were only then becoming socialized in rabbinicJudaismand were not openly Jewish, at least not fully.
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Forthe expatriates France uncomfortable remained theirNew that in the fact us that was The Jewish identity farfromimpermeable. twodossiers interest here childrenwere attest that at least someof the settlersand theirFrench-born into acculturated theirFrancophone Gascophone and medium, espepartially lived majority, ciallywherethe immigrants interspersed amongthe non-Jewish an as wasthe casein Peyrehorade. this respect, In Ibafiez's testimony provides in to thatof Medina, whoseneighborhood SaintEsprit interesting counterpoint has as Szajkowski characterized a kindof "ghetto."101 him Forexample,Ibafiez declared had that his parents introduced to normativeJudaism sending him to a reading tutorwhowasa Judaizer lived yet by in a Frenchman's in in house,and alsovia "books French," additionto works Chriswritten Castilian 40v). Although his youthhe hadnot learned in in (fol. extian doctrine and extensively the French Churchpresumably (as formally said to childin Peyrehorade do), Ibafiez he pectedhimandeveryotherbaptized hadnonetheless to that a managed memorize fewprayers he hadheardFrench claimed children reciteat theirschool(fol.51r-v).Towit, the youngdeponent Doctrine... to have "read learned" and some"aspects of the Christian [cosas] the whenthe teacher He that,"before taughtthe Catholicboys." alsodeclared ageof ten orelevenhewasnot ... [observant] Law[;]he onlydealtwiththe ofany French con de [solo franceses boyswhowereChristian trataba lugar losmuchachos asicristianos]." 57r;emphasis (Fol. added) a around" Catholic The factthatIbafiez beenableandwillingto "hang had school (poralldse solfaquedar veces,as he put it in fol. 51v), socialalgunas withoutthe ize with Frenchyouths,and learn"idolatrous" in prayers French of awareness Judaism of untilthe ageof eleven,is itselfindicative the slightest of relativeeasewithwhichsupposedly communities faithcoexisted conflicting that in his town.Ibaiez's behavior suggests possibility younger also the generand with ationsof New Jewslearned localvernacular(s) readiness did not the untillater and aversion Christian to ideas, symbols, practices developa visceral in theirlives,if at all. A barely speaks deposition decipherable of Ibaiez's part The evenof amicable and relations between Frenchmen the "Portuguese." tranhad one youngacquaintances, atscripthasit thatDanielRomano, of Ibafiez's teacher with tended French a schoolandmaintainedcordial a rapport hisFrench even andgodfather, "Monsieur Dorces" "Doves"), whilethe youthand one (or his familyobserved at andattended services the Jewish (fols. congrega Judaism betweenanother 45v-46r).Ibafiez painteda slightlymorecasualrelationship own and of his youngconverso Samuelde Vergara, Vergara's compere, friends, of the a localcowhand in dossier, husband the (fol.46v). Meanwhile, another that above-mentioned Leonor of admitted he hadfathered G6mez Saint-Esprit a childby a local Frenchmistress, that thereby suggesting even the existence of a predominantly theredid not preventintimateconJewishneighborhood Such of tactbetween "Portuguese the Merchants" Christians localstock.102 and and betweenthe members both groups, the measured of linguisrelationships not tic acculturation someof the crypto-Jews, but two reminders, only of are
that inter-ethnic contact was inevitable, but that for many yearsthe nouveaux involved themselves in Frenchsociety in orderto maintaina necessary chr.tiensfagadeof Catholic propriety.This involvement may well explain the if flimsy complaint of a Spanish observerin the 1630s that it was impossibleto distin-
BECOMING IN MODERN FRANCE JEWISH EARLY
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from because guishthe "Portuguese" the nativeFrench theyall spokethe same and to language didnot makeknownthe "nation" whichtheybelonged.103 And yet, amongst were et the themselves, marchandsautres portugaises largely successful positingclearboundaries community the late seventeenth in of by As claimedthat the Jewishcongrega Ibafiez in mentioned, century. previously to the had Peyrehorade becomepublicin 1656,while,according Medina, New around their 1663,the yearthat Jewsof SaintEsprit stopped baptizing children Dr.Avilaarrived SaintEsprit in documents confirm that, (fol. 12r).Municipal whilebaptisms were rare the Portuguese already by 1660, they ceased among before1667.And by the eighteenth thesedocuments altogether rarely century refer "New to or The Christians" all,rather "Portuguese"evenJews."104 culat to turalimprint self-styled that left "missionaries" in southwestern France, Jewish wasdeep.Yetwe cannotforgetthe ratherobviousincongruity we that then, knowof this imprint members theseedof because Jewish largely "respectable," ucators' exwent as and congregations to Spain,behaved Christians conducted tensivebusiness to arrested surrendered the Inquisition or there,wereeventually and at to theirfellowexpatriates length. voluntarily, proceeded testifyagainst that by construing themBy itselfthis ironycautionsagainstthe perception selvesas observant "Nation" members the Spanishand Portuguese of in Jews, France weresimply In were a destiny. fact,refugees fulfilling "Jewish" spiritual a and merely forming mentalimageof cultural stability collectivehonor.Rabbiniclawgavepractical, meansand to dailysubstance that imageby providing modelsof socialdiscipline, wellas a "Divine" and as confirmation legitimation of the ethnicsolidarity already "The that unitedmostof the refugees. Embracing Lawof Moses," of the then, servedto counteract instability actualchangeand the dishonor the refugees' of of and as relativeabjection outcasts Catholicism still refugees dependent-culturally, economically-on Spainand emotionally, the had where conversos beenpersecuted countries Portugal, twoarch-Catholic forcenturies frequently and as branded "Jews." TheArizona Center Judaic Studies for Avenue 845 N. Park AZ Tucson, 85721 ENDNOTES Thearchival research underlies study supportedgrants theMaurice from that was this by Amado Foundation theProgram Cultural and between for Ministry Spain's Cooperation ofCulture, and Universities. and Education, Sport, American to these are of to 1. As applied thedescendantsconverts Christianity, terms obvious misnomers. I employ here them merely beconsistent current with and to scholarly popular uses. 2. Thequotation marks in this that indicate notallthe"Portuguese" casehadbeen and in in or from born reared Portugal, hademigrated directly thatcountry. were, Many
were several also the who of (converso) butlived among immigrants were Spanish origin is dominant their where noted, and, culturally "Portuguese," except origin specifically
of fact, children and grandchildren Portuguesesubjectswho had settled in Spain. There
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wereandstill tend to be regarded partof the "Portuguese" A notableinstance bloc. as of this is the author AntonioEnrfquez G6mez,1600-1663),whose G6mez Enrfques (or On him identified as"Portuguese." Enrfquez G6mez, inquisitorial prosecutors mistakenly hiswork, thecontextof transborder see and in and migration trade whichhe operated, for Zur instance Carsten Lorenz imBarock: Biographie Wilke, Judisch-christliches Doppelleben desKaufmanns Dichters und Antonio 1994). (NewYork, Enriquez G6mez 3. Esther to trans. The A Benbassa, Jewsof France: History Antiquity thePresent, from M. B. DeBevoise referred to date (Princeton, 1999),49, 205.Bythe latter thedocuments not and (nouveaux "Jews," to "NewChristians" mostlyto the descenchretiens) applied dantsof Iberian expatriates. of was 4. The openprofession Judaism firstlegalized locallyin 1722-1723,whenthe RevoLetters 205. Patent the as"Jews." Benbassa, Arguably, acknowledged "Portuguese" between1790and 1791, whichnaturalized as French citizens lutionary legislation, Jews articulated the firsttimethe inherent for Jewsto residein France. rightof French des 5. "La de de certes volont6 cespionniers crier communitis des timoigne delafidelit~ conet versos lapininsule de a GOrard Nahon,Mitropoles p&ipheries foi Ibhtiqueleur ancestrale." d'occident: 1993), (Paris, Cairouan, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Jerusalem Sepharades Bayonne, of 237.Notabletoo area fewof Arthur in observations his survey the history Hertzberg's of Franco-Sephardi enclaves the eve of the Enlightenment. writes, on He What madeit possible Jewsto reenter for In France? the firstplace,the resetmeans tlementbegannot with avowed [here Jewsbut withmarranos the author who Not Peninsula. all of thesepeople,decrypto-Jews], werefleeingthe Iberian to became spitetheirJewish ancestry, [Jews] necessarily upontheirarrival themore of France. ... I Some ... retained relaxed theiridentityas partof [ atmosphere the community 'Portuguese of knownas New Christians' buteven [;] Merchants, of No some them among we cannotbe surethatall werereally [crypto-Jews]. doubt thesepeoplethemselves notsure were what were.(Emphasis added) they and Id., TheFrench 1968), 15. Hertzberg on goes Enlightenment theJews(New York, to describe as (ibid.).In ambiguity immigrants "prevalent" religious amongthe Iberian of so doing,he inadvertently not admits factthatmany, just"some," the converso the he exilesin France weresocially culturally and later, vague.A fewparagraphs however, makes innocuous-seeming an observation whichhe discards andall senseof the with any in unsettled of "In identities: all of France the year1700there quality the immigrants' werenot fivethousand Jews." emphasis (17, added) estimate Thislaststatement a number questions. how of First, issucha numerical begs in conceivable or whenno one couldlegally definehimself herselfas a Jewin France in was As 1700? I mentioned of above,the openprofession Judaism prohibited French Seceven if the crownandsomelocalauthorities tolerate did domains, crypto-Judaism. foundin the communal estimate based figures on ond,is Hertzberg's registers population of semi-secret sheds the kehillot? Unfortunately author's apparatus no lighton the matter. The records to the converso for enclaves meager the seventeenth are pertaining century. other At anyrate,I knowof noJewish that communal documents would anything permit Otherdocuments thanrough laterperiod. and estimates, thatfora slightly demographic not of or families households, the total number speakonly of numbers New Christian of individuals. instance, report For one from1636has it that therewereeighty"Porin twelvein Dax,fortyin Bordeaux, families Labastide, in Peyrehorade, tuguese" forty andat least60 in greater Revue I. "Les Juives Marranes," desEtudes Bayonne. S. Rdvah, on 118 (1959-1960):29-77. I basemyowntentative estimates suchdocuments. Third,
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howis it possible determine many in to lived how "Jews" in France 1700,whenaccording to Hertzberg's analysis the own who of several the individuals comprised "Portuguese" enclavesdidnot know"what or neither, both? Christian, themselves-Jewish, theywere" Toputit slightly coulda historian anyother or (or differently, whatmeasure standard by France? determine wasorwasnot "Jewish" seventeenth-century who in observer) Fourth, to who that in, aside,if we assume Iberians immigrated France leavingthe lastquestion became say,the 1640s,somehow "Jews" 1700,whyandhowdidtheydo this? by On the subject theconverso see of in France, Nahon, population seventeenth-century et total of a he 242, MetropolesPeripheries, where provides generous estimate "hardly ... morethanfivethousand see souls." Withrespect greater to Jean Bayonne, forinstance, "A aux in et Des Cavignac, Bordeaux Bayonne: 'marchands portugais' citoyens frangais," Bernhard au sikcle Blumenkranz, en France XVIIe (Paris,1994);Anne Zink,"BayJuifs onne arrives d6parts XVIIesiecle," 1492:l'expulsion juifsd'Espagne, et des au edited in Problems Marranos of Goetschel (Paris, 1996);Zosa byRoland Szajkowski, "Population andSephardim France, in fromthe 16thto the 20thCenturies," ProceedingstheAmerof icanAcademy Jewish of Research (1958):83-105. A usefulsummary the typesof 27 of extantdocumentary sources that (may)permit tentativepopulation estimates, though for des en Histoire Juifs France is Blumenkranz, mostly the eighteenth century, Bernhard 234-248. (Toulouse, 1972),233, andmoregenerally 6. The dossiers as follows: are de ArchivoHist6rico Nacional,Inquisici6n Toledo, 2 Flora and defendant: de Salazar), ArchivoHist6rilegajo183,expediente (1674-1678; co Nacional,Inquisici6n Toledo,legajo158, expediente (1679-1680;defendant: de 2 alias alias de alias JuanIbafiez, JuanLuisOrdofiez, Abraham Paredes, Juande Paredes). Whencitingportions thesedossiers, shallindicate pertinent of I the folio(s)of eachof the twocaseswithinthe bodyof the study. 7. Onewayto approach subject partis to note,ashistories French of the in often Jewry the France in southwestern ceased Iberian do, that toward eighteenth century refugees theirlocalpriests births, As of and notifying marriages, deaths. wewillsee,one informant, observed that Iberian that in had Medina, Bayonne stopped expatriates greater baptiznoted that after1656 the "Portuguese" ing theirchildrenaround1663,while Ibafiez in Peyrehorade even obtained had to synagogue pubpermission maketheirmakeshift lic. Anotherwayto approach question for the the wouldbe to highlight, example, fact thatthe immigrants this in communal burial bought Bayonne occurred plots(in greater S Les moderne 1654.G&rard dans Nahon,"Les farades la France [XVIe-XVIIIe sikcles] Nouveaux Cahiers a in62-63 [1980]: 16-25;here,19);thattheyestablished charitable stitutionthey calledSedacd Sedakd or tzedakah, (fromthe Hebrew, "charity") meaning in Bordeaux 1699(Benbassa, in thesedata,andall otherev52)-and so on. However, idenceof Judaicization decidedto reorient alone,wouldnot explainwhy the refugees themselves of so communities faith,and sociallyandreligiously as to formfull-fledged how the mentalities the immigrants transformed. of Neitherdoes suchevidence were and that contextthatconditioned mayhavecaused explainmuchaboutthe historical transformation. the sametoken,to merely the of affirm (andconfirm) Judaicization By the Iberian cohortin France not identify agents Judacization-people, of does the ideas, delve into the manner whichthe immigrants obtained inand in events,"forces"-or ternalized normative of culture. evidenceof the establishment normative Judaic Lastly, and of Jewishinstitutions patterns life does not say muchaboutwhat being"Jewish" meantto the Iberian exiles. ultimately 8. Important historians Jewsin the French of havefocused southwest mostlyon later material. Muchof it is compiled the following in collections: Gerard Nahon,ed. Jewish
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Les"Nations" portugaises sud-ouest la France du de (Paris, (1684-1791):Documents juives de Le de des 1981), Sim6nSchwarzfuchs, registre deliberations la Nation juiveportugaise Bordeaux (1711-1787)(Paris, 1981). 9. "Jorxe Medina of de to Cardosso," orthography the inquisiaccording thecapricious torialnotaries. 10. Relevant not documents fromFrance strikeme as opaque, to mention non-Jewish thefactthattheyarescarce, purposes reconstructing kindof socialandcultural for of the use has that me phenomena interest here.However, GayleK. Brunelle madeadmirable Idenof notarial otherFrench and and official in sources herarticle, "Migration Religious Modern of 7.4 History tity:The Portuguese Seventeenth-Century Rouen,"Journal ofEarly (November 2003):283-311. Dias11. DavidGraizbord, in Dispute: and Souls in Converso Identities Iberia theJewish who of and 2004).On theactions motivations conversos pora,1580-1700(Philadelphia, "Du returned the Iberian to Peninsula to Catholicism alsoNataliaMuchnik, juand see catholicisme: aleas lafoiauXVIIe les de Revue 307, daismeau Historique 3 (2002): sitcle," 571-609. were 12. Of thesettlers, thosewhowereelderly and women, children, lesslikely people, to crosstheborder whowere men thanthefewer young-to-middle-aged andeitherheads of household assistants, or of associates headsof household. and apprentices, business Giventhe small of in (see paragraph population conversos thesouthwest the concluding and of n. 5, above)it is reasonable conclude to of thatthe problem border-crossing reenclaves in conversos the Franco-Sephardi ligiousrecidivism amongnewlyJudaicized and of the GasconandBasque southwest demographically therefore, was and, culturally in Identities Iberia Converso DavidL. Graizbord, in Dispute: Souls historically significant. andthe 1580-1700(Philadelphia, Jewish 2004),78. Diaspora, or was 13. The deponent not makeclearwhether family of Spanish Portuguese his did or of "He side, origin, Spanish distant Portuguese origin: saidthaton hisfather's he judges and thathe is Castilian an Old Christian, of the bestof Zamora, that on his and and and mother's he doesnot knowif theywereCastilians Portuguese, he doesnot side or knowif theyareof New Christian OldChristian or stock,asidefromthefactthatshe is an observer the Lawof Moses. "Fols.50r-50v. of ... Ehtand this termfromThomas Glick,"OnConverso Marrano F. 14. I borrow useful in and in 1391-1648,ed. Benjamin Gampel World, nicity," Crisis Creativity theSephardic L. it N. (New York,1997), 71. He borrows fromBenjamin Colbyand Pierre van den inHighland A 1969),20. Guatemala IxilCountry: Plural (Berkeley, Berghe, Society of 15. Quotedin CecilRoth,"Immanuel Aboab's Jewish Proselytization the Marranos," Review (1932):152.(The translation mine). 23 is Quarterly the 16. On the subject the Spanish see of inquisitorial protocol, forexample list of requisitequestions in Councilof the HolyOffice,and reapproved 1661by the Supreme en in Solidaridad En Criado, La Rayade Portugal: y tensiones la produced PilarHuerga comunidad (Salamanca, 1994), 239. See also the influential inquisitorial judeoconversa Sala-Molins trans. Le des guidefrom1376,NicolauEymerich, manuel inquisiteurs, Louis (Paris, 1973). "Criterios de 17. Quotedin Maria los AngelesFernmndez Garcfa, para inquisitoriales in en en detectar marrano: criptojudios Andalucia los siglosXVIy XVII" Judios. al los
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Conversos: expulsion 1492y susconsecuencias, AngelAlcal- (ValLa de ed., Sefarditas. ladolid,1995),484-5. Garcia CarcelandDoris from 18. I borrow aptdesignation the "ethnological" Ricardo Moreno 2nd. Historia 2001), 217. However, Crftica, ed. (Madrid, Martinez, Inquisici6n: more the authors of tendto acceptallegations crypto-Judaism or lessat facevalue. 19. Muchnik, n.110. 607, de en "La 20. Thisparagraph from reworks material David Graizbord, Vida losconversos de estudiantes espafiol, la Peninsula in de 1492" Losestudios para sefarditas despues Ib6rica ed.JuliaLieberman (forthcoming). in of 21. Several were Andalusian conversos accused thiscrime 1593.Fernandez Garcia, in Alcala,ed., 487. Melo(1569-1632)(Paris, Alvares 22. H. P.Salomon, Portrait a NewChristian: Fernao of casesfromthe to with comments regard a Castilian D. 1982),27. Gretchen Starr-Lebeau and was whosepurpose to identify punish the fifteenth that,"Even Inquisition, century for to the behavior couldindirectly ... encourage accused voice support Jujudaizing and' or New Christians identify daism. forcing In to solelyasdevoutChristians heretics, achieved the withthe courtdesigned identify thaninnocence, inquisitors to guiltrather who result whattheyhadintended. to [Onedefendant], exaggerated quitethe opposite a ... herdevotion Judaism satisfy inquisitors provides particularly to to the potentexamnonehadexisted." In where a of to Id., heresy pleof thepower inquisitors create Judaizing in theShadow theVirgin: and Friars, Conversos Guadalupe, (Princeton, Spain of Inquisitors, 2003), 107-108. ani of translation modeh 23. This is a clear,thoughsomewhat roughand truncated the binishmati, sentencewithwhichthe melekh ve-qayam, hai she-hehezartah lefanekhah, and noun"Dio," the The Shachrit prayer morning begins. deponent's useof the Sephardi was not the standard Castilian "Dios" (God) is typical."Dio" a meansby whichconversos the beliefin the unityof GodwithwhattheyandSephardi differentiated Jewish To of to considered be the Trinitarian Jews implications the term"Dios." the uneduwhenin fact it doesnot, as it derives to cated,the lattertermseemed denoteplurality, The and fromthe Latinsingular, Deus.DavidM. Gitlitz,Secrecy Deceit: Religion the of to work, 1996),102.It is onlyprudent cautionthatGitlitz's (Philadelphia, Crypto-Jews is on of thoughusefulas a synthesis muchexistingscholarship crypto-Judaism,marred in the Chief and of documentation interpretation. among latter, my byserious problems that the or to view,is the assumption, throughout work, degree apparent a greater lesser of centuries inquisitorial of confessions crypto-Judaism collected activityareby through work of See andlargetransparent readily and reliable. the devastating critique Gitlitz's in Review 1-2 (1998):131-154.Myownposition 39, by H. P.Salomon Jewish Quarterly is to of rendered the inquisition not as radically on the (un)reliability testimony posifor are tivisticas Salomon's. myview,"truth" "untruth" not always In and helpfulterms and rendered. Salomon's the information deponents that thrust, Yet, general describing his insistence the primary that be sources readcritically I believe,appropriate. is, the and the the conflated 24. Perhaps witness service, Shachrit, mornMa'ariv, evening the is it is possible the notary the one whomisconstrued Hethat ingservice, although the to confused or the misread notary's brew, thatI havesimply attempts reproduce inwords. of formant's orPortuguese-accented rendering Hebrew oral Spanish-
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25. On the roleof Psalms the prayers allegedly and in of conversos, in crypto-Jewish the inquisitorial see in the protocol, forexample survey Gitlitz,445-450,462-64, albeit withthe caveatI included n.23,above. in 26. According another and to "read of the fromPeyrehorade, leader prayers testimony in eachone in the lanthe others books, had explained the Hebrew language, although in HaimBeinart, "TheConverso guagehe understood." Community Sixteenth-and 2 The ed. Seventeenth-Century Spain," Sephardi Heritage, R.D.Barnett, vols. (London, 1971),478, n.41. in 27. AlvaroLuisandvarious members his familywereprominent the smuggling of See networks developed that Peninsula. betweensouthwestern and France the Iberian Studia for instance 1. and 1609-1660," Jonathan Israel, "Spain the DutchSephardim, Rosenthaliana 12(1978):1-61. in 28. On thissubject, Yosef of see "The Yerushalmi, Re-education Marranos the Hayim in Lecture Judaic Seventeenth The Memorial Annual Louis Rabbi Century," Third Feinberg March 1980(Cincinnati, 6-12. 26, Studies, 1980),especially 29. Thisismytranslation Medina's largely from of accurate translation theHebrew: own "Bendito Adonay nuestro Dio, reydel mundo, nos santific6 que [Heb.,"MyLord"], Ti6, en susencomiendas nosencomend6 estaren cabafias." y para 30. A skeptical to truthand untruth render blended positionthat deponents artfully of strikes as probably me to all, or even a majority, testimony novelesque inapplicable converso were fools.At thesame no of To deponents. befair, many thesemenandwomen time we mustconsider are theirbackgrounds--no personalities exactlyalike-and two the and that especially psychological placedupon pressure incarceration interrogation thosesuspected heresy. cannot,in the end,simply of to We impute allormostconversos such the tremendous to and be that sophistication sangfroid would necessary render artful Prins is A case that the testimony. stimulating study articulates skeptical position Herman "A at Salomon,"Urielda Costa:'Marrano?'" presented the seminar Literatura Paper 22 Cursos 14 Arribida, Judeo-Portuguesa," da Arribida, Portugal, July,1997,especially to on the deponentLeonor Pina.My own, contrasting of de approach the testimony converso informants described Souls Dispute, is in in 14-16, 106-120. 31. Nahon,MetropolesPriphiries, et 238. 32. Ibid.,241. of The 33. Yosef New New and "Wayward Christians Stubborn Jews: Shaping Kaplan, a Jewish 8.1-2 (1994):27-41;here32. Jewish Identity," History different "TheConverso 466. translation Beinart, in 34. Cf. the slightly Community," 35. Sincethereisno concept a "mortal inJudaism, expression beeithera of this sin" may touchofsyncretism confusion thedeponent's or on (or by part), anattempt the informant to "translate" or for of religious concepts thebenefit his interrogators,a misunderstanding whorecorded deponent's the by the notary testimony. in 36. Thismaterial forms of the testimony Jorge de of Rodriguez Castro Archivo part 1 de Nacional,Inquisici6n Toledo,legajo147,expediente (1663-1665),not Hist6rico foliated.
BECOMING IN MODERN FRANCE JEWISH EARLY
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of 37. In 1449in Toledo,this linkage madeexplicitwiththe promulgation a muwas and from conversos civilservice invalidated which nicipal"Sentence-Statute," excluded Los see theirlegaltestimony, otherthings. the statute, AlbertSicroff, estatuOn among XV tosde limpieza sangre: de entre Controversias lossiglos y XVII,trans.Mauro Armifio that to 1979).Apartfromthis,it seemsreasonable suppose at leastsomePor(Madrid, the New Christians werein fact crypto-Jews, tuguese although natureof inquisitorial on accusations prosecutions and sweeping generalizations this score.On the prohibits "La of see accusations, Graizbord, vidade losconversos." problems assessing inquisitorial 38. Conversos Portuguese of To of wereaware this,of course. cite butone examorigin him mentions his fatherhadwarned against that Ibafiez ple, in folio 48rof his dossier, in was Ibafiez, "Portuguese" (meaning, thiscase,of Porlettingon thathe, the younger attachto whilein Spainlest the usualanti-Portuguese extraction) opprobrium tuguese bothof them. 39. Graizbord, inDispute, 50-54, 116-120. Souls 44, of see the 40. In thisregard, forexample anti-inquisitorial inquisiwriting the two-time torial for defendant AntonioEnrfquez G6mez 1600-1663), example, Lainquisicio'n Id., (c. Rose deLucifer visita todos diablos, Constance Hubbard andMaximP.A. M. de los ed. y to withinthededication his work, Kerkhof (Amsterdam, 1992).Ina tellingcommentary Fernao Alvares(a.k.a.David LosCL Psalmos David(Hamburg, de 1626),the converso Melo acknowledged the Inquisition that Abenatar) Judaism among actually fomented Lord not permit"if had conversos wereearnest who Christians. Specifically, the blessed of ted the Inquisition [Portugal], schoolwhereknowledge Him is taughtand the in a of blood[ofHispeople] renewed, do believethat ... bynow knowledge I is squandered in Portrait and Himwouldhavebeencompletely lost." Reproduced translated Salomon, 67. of a NewChristian, of see 41. On the matter conversos' Kaplan, ethnicity, forexample Glick.See alsoYosef to "The and of Self-Definition Sephardic ofWestern Europe theirRelation theAlien Jews in ed., Stranger," Gampel, 59-76. "La 42. See Graizbord, vidade losconversos." du de territorialesla France sudLes 43. Anne Zink,Paysou circonscriptions:colectivitis ouest l'ancien sous 2000),238. (Paris, regime in and French: 44. PeterSahlins,Unconditionally Citizens theOldRegime After Foreign (Ithaca, 2004),51-52, 162-164. 52. 45. Benbassa, vida of of reworks assessment theeffects theEdicts Faithin "La an of 46. Thisparagraph de losconversos." is that the the 47. Here,of course, idealincorporated assumption an ideal"Jew" a man. between to that usedthisdesignation differentiate 48. It is interesting the defendant or of and Jews, forthatmatter, origin. Judaizers, Iberian origin Jewsof NearEastern et 373. 49. Nahon,Mdtropolesperipheries,
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50. DavidWillemse,Un "portuguis" loscastellanos: primer entre El inquisitorial proceso contra 1654-1657(Paris, Gonzalo dePaiba, 1974),Iv. Bdez 51. Archivo de 1 Nacional, 177, Inquisici6n Toledo, Hist6rico legajo expediente (16641670),fol. 55v. 52. Kaplan, New "Wayward Christians"; Gitlitz,207. 53. Carsten Lorenz du clandestin dansla France XVIIesiecle: Wilke,"UnJudaisme Un riteau rythem l'imprimerie," Transmission de in en et passages monde ed. Esther juif, Benbassa (Paris, 1996),308. 54. Ibid.,304-305, citing, respectively, ArchivoHist6rico Nacional,libro 1129,fol. libro1114,fols. 191r,197v(Domingo Guterres 475v (Martin Rodrigues); Gongalves); andagain,libro1129,fol. 682v (Maria Le6n). de 55. It is logicalto speculate a hevrah that in was kadishah founded 1654,whena priest "served a frontman" quoteBenbassa, forthe immigrants' as of (to 51) purchase a burial de later du plotat theCampot Saint-Simon, calledleCimitiere Fort.On theburial plot,see des de Leon,Histoire Juifs Bayonne 1893;Lafitte 1976),199-202. (Paris, Henry Reprints, 56. Wilke,"UnjudaYsme 310. clandestin," 57. It is unclear whoseclothingMedina referring to is here. 58. At leastone detailis unusual of here.Rabbinic opinionhas it that the rending a mourner's Solomon See, clothingmustoccurwhilehe or she is standing. forinstance, Codeof Jewish Law:Kitzur ShulhanArukh,trans.HymanE. Goldin(New Ganzfried, York, 1996)4:91. 59. According Medina's to fol. deposition, 6v. 60. The veryfact that conversos is shoulderectraised gravestones noteworthy-and cusindicative Ibero-Catholic timesSephardim of influence-sincein Medieval perhaps buried buried theirdeadunder gravestones Ashkenazim theirs flat (meanwhile, tomarily underraisedones, perhaps On the Sephardi following Christian pattern). traditional burial see Laws customs for instance A Herbert Dobrinsky, Treasury Sephardic and C. of Customs PolHerman see customs forinstance (NewYork, 1986),69-109.On Ashkenazi in Lands lack,Jewish MA, (1648-1806)(Cambridge, 1971),40-49. Folkways Germanic 61. According the report an inquisitorial to of agent,thereweresome290 Sephardi households in France 1636.Revah,66-67. Other (about1,160people)in southwestern estimates muchmore comare that For Nahonsuggests Jewish Gerard generous. instance, munities seventeenth-century in more France "hardly comprised thansomefivethousand souls." Metropolesperipheries, et 242. Id., 62. On thissubject, forexample The see Reluctant DanielSwetschinski, Cosmopolitans: Amsterdam Jews 2000), 102-164. Portuguese of Seventeenth (London, Century 63. Jonathan Israel, "TheSephardi Life to Contribution Economic andColonization I. in Europe theNewWorld and in Centuries)," Moreshet Sepharad: (Sixteenth-Eighteenth TheSephardi ed. 2 1992),2:379-80. Legacy, HaimBeinart, vols.(Jerusalem,
177
France Iberian and in betweenconversos southestern 64. On the economicrelations in see of "Trade Relations Marranos France"; I. markets, Szajkowski, Jonathan Israel, and An France: Economic Religious in Bridge "Crypto-JudaismSeventeenth-Century a within Diaspora: Betweenthe Hispanic World the Sephardic and Diasporas Diaspora," and Maritime (1540-1740) (Leiden,2002), and Jews,crypto-Jews, theWorld Empires Souls 78-89. Graizbord, in Dispute, en Moderna Los 65. On DiegoRodriguez see Cardoso JulioCaroBaroja, Judios laEspafia 2 vols.,3rded. (Madrid, 1986)2:156-164. y Contempordnea, 66. ArchivoHist6ricoNacional,Inquisici6n Toledo,legajo 177, expediente11 de See 2:154. (1641-78),fols.124v-125r. alsoCaroBaroja, Carto were 67. Ibafiez that gaveno indication the Cardosos related DiegoRodriguez
doso.
68. The notion that southern France was,all told, a meretransit point formigrating 66. is See conversos articulated various in works. forinstance Revah, Nahon's indispensNew ableworkoccasionally givessanctionto the notion-see forexampleid., "From in Christians thePortuguese to Nationin France," Beinart, Moreshet ed., sepharad, Jewish viewwithrea et 244, complex 2:33-yet, in Mitropolespe'ripheries, Nahonrenders more of not but "community" gard onlyto Saint-Esprit, to whathe callsthe entirePortuguese the French southwest. 1 69. Archivo de 177, Hist6rico Nacional, legajo expediente (1664Inquisici6n Toledo, 1670),fol. 16v. and that in 70. Myconclusion thisrespect resembles of Zsajkowski. "TheMarranos Id., Volume of The Weiss 1964),110. (NewYork, Sephardim France," Abraham Jubilee 71. Leon,19. El 72. Anne Zink,"Lacomunidad y judiade Bayona su contexto," Olivo49 (1999): 55-64;here57. 2 de 73. Archivo 177, Hist6rico Nacional, legajo expediente (1650Inquisici6n Toledo, 215. See Souls 1653),fol. 39r-39v. alsoGraizbord, inDispute in out. sentences neverhavebeencarried Furthermore, 1695the 74. The original may to a Parliament course again,andallowed few"Jews" conducttradein sechanged yet the "An lectedcitiesunderits jurisdiction. Szajkowski, Autodaf6 Zosa against Jewsof in n.s. Toulouse 1685," Review, 49 (1958-59):278-81. See also Elie Jewish Quarterly Archives marrane XVIIesiecle," au 14 filibre d'evasion Juives (1978): "Toulouse, Szapiro, 19-21. 75. Zink,"La comunidad 63. judia," of Protesthat 76. Fol.42v.I havefoundno evidenceto suggest the repression French of revocation the Edictof Nantes tantism under and XIV's Richelieu, Louis subsequent the If settlers. anything, crown in 1685,affected the French attitudes toward converso communities. withHuguenot showed favorto the conversos of irrespective its relations coexistence, By the sametoken,religious thoughnevercomplete,seemsto have preminoridominated areas in whereProtestants suchasLesLandes, significant comprised the see in ties.On the highdensity Protestant of communities LesLandes, forinstance
178
of journal social history
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to The veryinstructive in Mark Refmap Greengrass, Longman Companion theEuropean c. betweenthe state ormation, 1500-1618(London,1998),375. On the relationship andthe Huguenots the1600syet before Edictof Fontainebleau, forexample in see the the casestudy, and DavidParker, Rochelle theFrench La in and Conflict Order Monarchy: France 1980). Seventeenth-Century (London, 77. Zink,"La comunidad 64. judia," 78. On theorigins a newconsciousness genealogy of of fifteenth-century Sepharamong di Jewsand theirChristianized Conversion "Mass see descendants, DavidNirenberg, andGenealogical Past Mentalities: andChristians Fifteenth-Century in Jews Spain," and Present (2002):3-41. 174 79. Forinstance, American the "Of 3rd Heritage Dictionary, ed.,s.v."ethnic": orrelating to sizable of a and racial, national, religious, groups peoplesharing common distinctive or the Meanwhile, Compact linguistic, cultural DictionaryCurof English heritage." Oxford rentEnglish, ed., proposes national 3rd to of "relating a group peoplehavinga common or cultural For tradition." Noticethe absence religion thesedefinitions. anthropoof in Ethnic to see Fredrik Barth, "Introduction," ed., logical approaches ethnicity, forexample and The and (Boston,1969), Groups Boundaries: Social OrganizationCulture Difference of and G. in Studies Society Hisand 9-38; Carter Bentley, "Ethnicity Practice," Comparative 29, tory 1 (1987):24-55. 80. See n. 89, below. 81. Bemardo de Hombres negociosjudios Belinch6n, libertad,hacienda. Honra, y L6pez y de 2001),41. sefardies (Alcalai Henares, 82. On the subject the outlookandcomposition the lobbying of of cohort,see Claude B. Stuczynski, NeThe "NewChristian Political in Leadership Timesof Crisis: Pardon of 1605," Bar-Ilan in V Studies History (forthcoming). gotiations 83. Ibid. and discussion the phenomenon limpieza its limitssee Henry of of 84. Fora general The A Historical Revision 1997),115-133.The most Kamen, Spanish (London, Inquisition: treatment stillSicroff. is complete monographic 85. Brunelle, especially n.12. 289, 86. Kaplan, New 29-30. "Wayward Christians," in 87. On thissubject, Miriam see Societies Veniceand "The Bodian, Dowry Portuguese Amsterdam: CaseStudyin Communal A withinthe Marrano Differentiation Diaspora," statutes Italia 1-2 (1987):30-61;especially Bodian that noteselsewhere theDotar's 44. 6, soeven violated law in socio-sexual mores Jewish andupheld prevalent Ibero-Christian to candidates wereJewish who ciety by categorically according the rabbinic excluding definition-in thattheirmothers Jewish-butwhowere thedaughters not were ofJudeoof fathers. the sametime,theDotar At the included daughters "Porstatutes Portuguese relamen was women.The "clear tuguese" and non-Jewish message that extramarital tionsbetween 'Portuguese' anda gentilewoman of a man class)did (presumably inferior
179
relations a not constitute blemish 'Portuguese' on whileextramarital a honor, involving Nation woman werea scandal a disgrace." Hebrews thePortuguese and Id., of 'Portuguese' 1997),115. (Bloomington, 88. On the Sephardi see and construct the "nagio" its boundaries, YosefKaplan, of "TheSelf-Definition Sephardic of and Jews Schorsch, Jews," Glick.See alsoJonathan andBlacks theEarly in 7 Modern World 2004), especially Chapters and 8 (Cambridge, of in (166-216).Not thattherewereno contradictions the "racialization"the "Nation." See forinstance Hebrews thePortuguese 43. Nation, Bodian, of of 89. In this connection,it is interesting compare ethno-religious construct the to to France earlymodern noin Spanish Sephardi identitythatdeveloped southwestern Tamar tionsof citizenship arand or (naturaleza). (vecindad) nativity nativeness Herzog that and an guesintriguingly, against earlier understanding, the earlymodern scholarly to was just Spanish "community" not onlydefined reference religion, as Catholicism by an State.Indeed, doesnot explainthe formation thatcommunity of the Spanish and of was factor "limited that of natural important integration" the ideathat processes [social] relaindividuals exist not merelyas spiritual atomsdefined merelyby theirparticular individuals withGod.Rather, Correspondingly, tionships peopleexistaspartof groups. weregranted deniednaturaleza in or "because behaved certain waysthat wereacthey and of and or members," "belief trust" such knowledged the authorities bycommunity by Nations: affiliation. Defining individuals on Id., group depended theirexplicitor imputed America and in Modern and (New Haven), 120. Immigrants Citizens Early Spain Spanish to This wasin sharp it contrast, seems,to the constructively ambiguous approach natThe renuralization French that stateadopted towards "Portuguese." lettres-patentes the of deredthe "Portuguese or Merchants" neitherfull-fledged, "natural" "native" subjects the French New at king,norforeigners, leastin the sensethatthese"Portuguese" Chriswere in tians(as distinctfrom"true" merchants residing placeslike Paris), Portuguese to whichforeignfromthe royalRightof Escheat d'aubaine), (droit according exempt erscouldnot bequeath inheritproperty didnot enjoythe legalprotections and and/or and afforded "natural" On d'aubaine vis-a-visthe "Merchants other subjects. the droit see 51-52, 162-164. Portuguese," Sahlins, 90. See my discussion Graizbord, in Dispute, in Souls 89-104, 128-136,and the case studyin 143-170. 1 91. Archivo de 177, Hist6rico Nacional, legajo expediente (1664Inquisici6n Toledo, 1670),fols.51r-52v do 92. Forexample, the deposition Joaode Aguilain Arquivos Torre see of Nacionais, de no. Tombo, processo 7.938(1650). Inquisigio Lisboa, 93. Ibid.,fol. 2v.Tobe sure,Aguilacontinued stating thatadults thiscase,"rab(in by his him that bis")convinced aswell,butit is significant he mentioned youngplaymates that first. The casual nature the initialencounter of withthesematessuggests this"Juat was mundane daicization" an informal, social,andrather phenomenon leastas much as it wasa matter formal of reeducation. his dosthe of 94. I amparaphrasing deposition Bartholomeu Nunes,from inquisitorial sier (Portuguese in of tribunal Goa, 1618),as excerpted the dossier the of Inquisition, de defendant Manuel Mendes Archivo Hist6rico Nacional, Cardoso, Inquisici6n Toledo, 6 legajo166,expediente (1622-1625),not foliated.
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95. Mostof the religious textshad been translated Spanish, whichacquired into the status a semi-sacred of see in On language the Sephardi Diaspora. thisphenomenon, for CecilRoth,"TheRoleof Spanish theMarrano Studies instance in in Diaspora," Hispanic inHonour I. Gonzdlez ed. Pierce(Oxford, Llubera, Frank 1959),299-308. of 96. Thisparagraph reworks fragment Graizbord, in Dispute, On the relia Souls of 74. one and as ("Booklet"), addigiousmanuals, of whichwasknownsimply the "Librito" tionalHispanophone muchof it highly literature wasavailable the immigrants, that to see Lorenz 295"Un 281-311;especially didactic, Carsten Wilke, Judaisme clandestine," 297. 97. Wilke,"Unjudaisme 306-307. clandestin," 98. On thisethos,seeforinstance The Yosef "Bom Sephardic Judesmo: Western Kaplan, in A ed. 2002). Diaspora," Cultures the of Jews: NewHistory, DavidBiale(NewYork, 99. Evenworse, we sawearlier, as in had regarded Ibafiez it thatthevecinos Peyrehorade one of the mostpolitically Salvador of Cardoso, prominent expatriates theirnumber, brother "atheists." as alongwithCardoso's Enrique, despicable 100.ThatJewish moralists should is teshuvah surprising. (repentance) hardly encourage Yetthespecific homileton for is emphasis atoning Christian idolatry evidentinSephardi ical material, instance,in Abraham for del La (1666), Sixth Pereyra's Certeza Camino SecondChapter, whichassails miserable of thosewhofollowidolatry" life "the Tractate, in the vainhopethattheywill avoidinquisitorial to the scrutiny. Pereyra urges faithful embrace in theirsoulsandperforming works Judaism wholeheartedly cleansing by good accordance Halakhah "recover muchlosttime." with to so ed., Mechoulan, HisHenry en de del Edicion Lacerteza caminode Abraham de panidadjudaismo tiempos Espinoza: y (Salamanca, 1987),205. Pereyra 101.SozaSzajkowski, Marranos Sephardim France," 110. "The and of 102.Among other things,Zink,Paysou circonscriptions, 233-253, showsthat local Franco-Christians Portuguese and and coexisted peacefully wereunitedby theirresentmentof the municipal authorities Bayonne. latter to of The refused allowthe merchants of Saint-Esprit commercial at privileges the Bayonnaise port. 103.Fr.Diego de Cisneros, inquisitorial I an informer, quotedin Jonathan . Israel, in Seventeenth-Century 260. France," "Crypto-Judaism 238. 104.Zink,Paysoucirconscriptions,

Becoming Jewish in Early Modern France

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Becoming Jewish in Early Modern France: Documents on Jewish Comunity-Building in Seventeenth-Century Bayonne and Peyrehorade Author(s): David Graizbord

FRANCE BECOMING IN MODERN JEWISH EARLY

virtuous to whomtheyarenot even worthy serve,andfromwhomthey persons