conversos

Conversos, also known as cristianos nuevos, were Jews or descendants who converted to Christianity in the Crown of Castile and, later, the Iberian realms during the late medieval period. Conversions occurred in a context of persecution and coercion, notably the 1391 pogroms and the eventual 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain. Some converts were baptized under duress; others embraced baptism for social or economic reasons. The term conversos overlapped with "new Christians," and a later, pejorative label, "Marranos," appeared in popular discourse.

The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478, sought to enforce orthodoxy among baptized Jews and other suspected heretics. Conversos were scrutinized for possible relapses into Judaism or the covert practice of Jewish rites, a phenomenon described as crypto-Judaism. Trials and auto-da-fés occurred, and punishments ranged from penance and property confiscation to imprisonment or execution. In Portugal, similar processes produced cristãos-novos and contributed to pressures of conversion and departure; some descendants maintained Jewish customs in secret, across Atlantic horizons.

Legacy: The phenomenon shaped Iberian and Atlantic history by prompting migration to the Americas and the emergence of Sephardic diaspora communities. It also contributed to the development of sangre limpia ideas and other forms of social hierarchy based on ancestry. The term "conversos" is now primarily a historical label, distinct from living Jewish communities, though some contemporary groups trace Sephardic heritage to these generations.