Abstract
The accentuation of inquisitorial repression after the fall of the Count-Duke of Olivares and the substitution of the General Inquisitor Sotomayor by Arce Reinoso in 1643 forced many Jewish conversos into hiding and exile. A series of letters sent by Francisco Fernandez Miranda to his brother Simon, an administrator of royal income who resided in Madrid, describes the problems of these forced exiles, the strategies used to hide their escape routes, and the repercussions for their social and family life. The difficulties that these exiles had in settling in their new countries or communities forced some to return to Spain where they tried to pass unnoticed by changing their names and places of residence. This mobility had an important role in the maintenance of communication between Jewish people who were living as Christians in Spain and those living as Jews in other places of Europe, reinforcing the ties and beliefs of the former.
Highlights
The accentuation of inquisitorial repression after the fall of the Count-Duke of Olivares and the substitution of the General Inquisitor Sotomayor by Arce Reinoso in 1643 forced many Jewish conversos into hiding and exile
A series of letters sent by Francisco Fernández Miranda to his brother Simón, an administrator of royal income who resided in Madrid, describes the problems of these forced exiles, the strategies used to hide their escape routes, and the repercussions for their social and family life
The difficulties that these exiles had in settling in their new countries or communities forced some to return to Spain where they tried to pass unnoticed by changing their names and places of residence
Summary
Christians in Spain and those living as Jews in other places of Europe, reinforcing the ties and beliefs of the former. La correspondencia entre ambos personajes se prolongó durante todo el año 1655 y los primeros meses de 16562 y hoy, cuando han transcurrido más de 350 años, estas cartas se nos presentan como una crónica precisa del camino y dificultades a que se vieron abocados por aquellos años muchos españoles para lograr sobrevivir en un ambiente de fuerte hostigamiento hacia los descendientes de los judeoconversos españoles. Ordenaba por entonces sus negocios y ponía al día las cuentas para poder pagar las multas impuestas por la Inquisición como parte de las sentencias familiares. Había sido un año antes, en agosto de 1653, cuando la familia, como tantas otras familias madrileñas en aquel momento, fue detenida y conducida a las cárceles secretas de la inquisición conquense donde se desarrollaron los correspondientes procesos tras la acusación formal del fiscal por sospechas de prácticas judaicas[3].
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