The persecution of minorities: Majorcan Jewish converts in the last third of the seventeenth century

Abstract

ABSTRACT The persecution of ethnic or religious minorities has been a longstanding object of historiographical analysis. One widely disseminated thesis affirms that elites collaborate economically with minorities, but when conflict or crisis erupts the latter are used as a scapegoat to satisfy the masses. In Majorca, by negotiating with the nobility and the clergy, Majorcan converts (Xuetes) had attained an important position in trade and credit by the last third of the seventeenth century, but in 1677–1679 they suffered an important institutional attack from the Inquisition. The process led to the imprisonment of more than 300 people, the seizure of their property and, finally, their religious conciliation. In 1688 an escalation of the persecution led to the autos de fe of 1691, which resulted in 43 deaths. Contrary to the usual account, this article suggests that those persecuted were not simply a random group of the community of converts. Rather, the Inquisition’s intervention ensured that it included all economic and religious leaders, who were interlinked by endogamic marriage strategies. The economic factor was fundamental in both 1677–1679 and 1688–1691. The consequences varied for both Xuete families and other spheres of Majorcan society.