Marranos---------Michael.

[Guest guest]

Namaste M,

 

Some Marranos were Crypto-Jews but many also were already non

religious, and used the opportunity to expand their horizons. Much

the same as many Jews today are secular. Many Marranos married into

Spanish and European Royalty and the upper classes, and are spread

across Europe and the European colonies. Some came back to Judaism,

others didn't.

 

According to Rabbi Cukierkorn, the forced conversions were more a

Portuguese than a Spanish phenomenon, and the source of the word

Marrano is the old Portuguese verb "marrar" meaning "to force." In

old Portuguese, "marrano" means "forced one." If one looks up the

maning of "anus" (Hebrew for "forced one") in one's Hebrew-

Portuguese dictionary, one will find "marrano."

 

Many were persecuted by the Spanish Inquistion aka Dept of Iberian

Homeland Security.

....ONS...Tony.