A History of the Marranos

by Cecil Roth

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 by the infamous decree of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella was the culmination of a series of anti-Jewish persecutions throughout the 14th and 15th centuries in which thousands of Jews were massacred. Thousands of others converted in order to escape death. After the expulsion many more joined the ranks of these "new Christians" as an alternative to exile. A large number of converts, while outwardly professing Christianity, secretly continued to practice Judaism. These Marranos, as they were popularly known, were then mercilessly persecuted by the dreaded Inquisition which through tortures of forced confessions and auto-da-fes sent thousands to the stake. Many others managed to escape to countries outside the reach of the Inquisition where they created a widespread Marrano diaspora. Thousands of Marranos have survived even into our times. This seminal work by the eminent historian traces the tribulation of these secret Judaizers as well as the fate of those who succeeded in escaping to other lands where many of them rose to prominence in various fields of endeavor. This edition, the 5th, is published in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Expulsion (1492-1992).

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Judaica, Jewish

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970),[1] was a British Jewish historian.

A prolific writer, Roth published more than 600 books and articles, which have been translated into many languages, including histories of the Jews in England (1941) and Italy (1946), A History of the Marranos (3d ed. 1966), The Jews in the Renaissance (1959), Jewish Art (1961), and The Dead Sea Scrolls (1965).

He was educated at Merton College, Oxford (Ph.D., 1924)[1] and later returned to Oxford as Reader in Post-Biblical Jewish Studies from 1939 to 1964.[2] Thereafter he was visiting professor at Bar-Ilan University, Israel (1964–1965), and at the City University of New York (1966–1969).

Roth was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1925 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1941.[1] He died, aged 71, on 21 June 1970 in Jerusalem.[2]

Reviews

[Halle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive book about Marranos post 1492 and their dispersal across Europe and the New World

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I’m not alone in admitting that I often find history books hard to get through (an embarrassing admission in my case as I’m a freelance assistant to a historian), but I’ll sometimes push myself for the sake of the subject. That was certainly the case here in this history of the Jews who practiced an underground form of Judaism in Spain, Portugal, Amsterdam, and even the New World. The most grabbing part of it was unfortunately the most gruesome, and that was Chapter V, which was about the methods of the Inquisition, tortures and all. That chapter was as bad as anything as I’ve ever read about the Holocaust, yet it’s the chapter I recommend the most. The legends and practices of the Marranos are a specialized interest, but everyone should learn about what the Spanish Inquisition was really like, horrifying a read as it may be.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chi erano i marrani? come vivevano? cosa ne fu di loro? un buon libro con buone risposte a queste domande.

[daniel dirnfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nos cuenta sovre la vida de los judios durante la inquicicion