Converso

Converso
   In medieval and Renaissance Spain, a Jew who had converted to Christianity. Under the relatively tolerant rule of the Muslim conquerors of Spain, a large Jewish community played an important part in Spanish life. This tolerance and prosperity continued for several centuries in regions reconquered by the Christians. During the 13th and 14th centuries, however, pressure from the clergy for conversion and incidents of persecution became more frequent. In 1391 a series of riots and massacres swept through the peninsula. Often, conversion was the price paid to stay alive. Pressure for conversion grew throughout the 15th century and achieved great success. Thousands of Jews became conversos, and they began to prosper within the Christian society, rising to high office in government service, education, medicine, business, and even the clergy. The most successful even married into the aristocracy. Yet the "old Christians" realized that many of those converted had changed religion only out of fear. While many conversos did become true converts to their new religion, some secretly continued to practice their ancestral faith.
   Concern about backsliding conversos culminated in the founding of the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Since experience suggested that the continued presence of Jews in the country encouraged conversos to relapse secretly, in 1492 the rulers ordered the expulsion of all unconverted Jews. Large numbers went into exile in Portugal and especially in Muslim North Africa, but the majority converted, either sincerely or out of fear. Despite (or probably because of) the success of many conversos in gaining wealth, political influence, and high office in church and state, Spanish society watched them closely. The Inquisition was the institution created to detect and punish those who relapsed into Jewish religious practices. During the 16th century, conversos suffered both covert and open discrimination, including exclusion from an increasing number of high offices in church and state and from the most prestigious colleges in the Spanish universities, the ones that controlled access to the highest offices in the country.

Historical Dictionary of Renaissance. . 2004.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • converso (1) — {{hw}}{{converso (1)}{{/hw}}part. pass.  di convergere ; anche agg. (raro) Volto. converso (2) {{hw}}{{converso (2)}{{/hw}}A part. pass.  di convertire ; anche agg. Convertito. B s. m.  (f. a ) Laico che provvede a lavori manuali in un convento …   Enciclopedia di italiano

  • converso — converso, sa adjetivo,sustantivo masculino y femenino 1. Que se ha convertido al cristianismo: un judío converso. Los conversos no siempre eran mirados con simpatía. 2. Pragmática: peyorativo. Que ha aceptado una ideología diferente a la que… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • Converso — puede designar a: El que ha efectuado una conversión religiosa, desde el punto de vista de la religión a la que se incorpora. Un renegado o un apóstata, desde el punto de vista de la religión que abandona. Un cristiano nuevo, denominación… …   Wikipedia Español

  • converso — /kon vɛrso/ agg. [dal lat. conversus, part. pass. di convertĕre convertire ], non com. [che ha subìto una trasformazione] ▶◀ convertito, mutato, tramutato, trasformato. ◀▶ identico, immutato, uguale. ▲ Locuz. prep.: lett., per converso ▶◀ al… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • Converso — Équivalent italien du français Convers (voir Convert). Le nom est rare, porté notamment dans le Piémont et en Calabre. Le pluriel Conversi est lui aussi rare (Émilie Romagne, Lazio). Rencontrée en Savoie, la forme Conversy devrait en être une… …   Noms de famille

  • converso — converso, sa adjetivo y sustantivo confeso. * * * Sinónimos: ■ neófito, catecúmeno, confeso, cristianizado Antónimos: ■ apóstata, renegado …   Diccionario de sinónimos y antónimos

  • converso — |é| s. m. 1. Convertido. 2. Leigo de ordem religiosa. 3. Locutório; conversação …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • converso — converso, sa (Del lat. conversus). 1. adj. Dicho de un musulmán o de un judío: Convertido al cristianismo. U. t. c. s.) 2. m. En algunas órdenes y congregaciones religiosas, lego (ǁ profeso sin opción al sacerdocio) …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Converso — A converso (Spanish: [komˈbersos], Portuguese: [kõˈveɾsuʃ], Galician: [komˈbeɾsos], Catalan: [kumˈbɛrsus] or [komˈvɛɾsos]; a convert , from Latin conversvs, converted, turned around ) and its feminine form conversa was a Jew… …   Wikipedia

  • converso — {{#}}{{LM C10356}}{{〓}} {{SynC10604}} {{[}}converso{{]}}, {{[}}conversa{{]}} ‹con·ver·so, sa› {{《}}▍ adj./s.{{》}} {{<}}1{{>}} {{♂}}Referido a una persona,{{♀}} que ha adoptado otra religión, especialmente referido a musulmanes o judíos que se… …   Diccionario de uso del español actual con sinónimos y antónimos

  • Converso — Als Converso (pl. Conversos) wurden im spanischen und portugiesischen Sprachraum zum katholischen Christentum konvertierte Juden und deren Nachkommen bezeichnet. Konvertiten aus der maurischen Bevölkerung, die vom Islam zum Katholizismus… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”