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World Politics, Illegal Jews,
and the Inquisition of Cartagena
by Ron Duncan-Hart Throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries there was a continual Jewish presence on the coast of Colombia, then known as Nueva Granada. By Spanish law, Jews were not allowed, but it was a law rarely enforced, and many concessions were made by the Crown to admit Jews. They were usually identified as Portuguese in Spanish records, but the evidence suggests that it was a mixed community between Portuguese anusim (forced converts) and Sephardic Jews from Amsterdam, Morocco, and the Ottoman Empire. The presence of significant numbers of Jews and Crypto-Jews by the late 1500’s, stimulated the Crown to establish an office of the Inquisition in Cartagena in 1610, responsible for the Caribbean. Here I will use the term “Illegal Jew,” rather than “crypto Jew,” because it seems that many of them were not completely hiding and considered themselves to be active Jews. Some continued to attend minyans, knew the prayers and blessings central to Judaism, observed Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. The descendants of these Jews who stayed in Colombia after 1650 became Crypto-Jews, most of them gradually losing their religious and cultural roots over the succeeding decades and centuries. From the mid-1500’s, Cartagena was a bustling port city, and many foreigners were arriving, attracted by the new economies of mining, landowning, and slave trading. Among these immigrants were many who practiced Judaism even though it was illegal to be a Jew in any of the territories of Spain. From 1580 to 1635 men recognized as Jewish were prominent in the commerce of Cartagena. Then, suddenly between 1635 and 1645 the Inquisition arrested more than one dozen of them for practicing Judaism, and the Jewish community publicly disappeared. Where did they come from? Who were they, and what did they do in Cartagena? Why did the Inquisition choose that time to act against the Jews? What happened to the Jews after 1650? From Where Were the Jews of Cartagena? One hundred years had transpired between the Edict of Expulsion from Spain and these events in Cartagena. Where had the Jews been and why did they suddenly appear in the Spanish colony of Nueva Granada? Actually Jews continued to live for decades, and even centuries, in Spanish territories in both the Americas and Asia. (Kamen 2003:343) They controlled much of the trade between Spain and the Americas for almost two centuries after the Expulsion. The Portuguese Route. All of the Jews arrested by the Inquisition were identified as Portuguese, and there were no Portuguese arrested who were not identified as Jews. So, the term Portuguese was used as synonymous with Jewish. How did this particular circumstance come to be? When Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, a large group crossed the border into Portugal, which was geographically close-by, the language was similar to Spanish, and many already had relatives or business contacts. King John II (r. 1481-1495) welcomed the Jews to Portugal because they were expected to contribute to the ocean-going explorations of that country. Jews were known as the best mapmakers of the time, and they were also experienced in maritime trade and international commerce, all of which were at the heart of Portugal’s national plan in the late fifteenth century. However, there was soon to be a problem. King John died, and he was succeeded by the less forceful King Manuel (r.1495-1521) who was engaged to one of the daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. As one of the conditions for the marriage, Ferdinand forced him to expel the Jews or require their conversion. Having seen the disruption caused by the Expulsion from Spain and not wanting to lose the skills brought by the Jews, King Manuel closed the borders so that Jews could not leave, then ordered that the Jews be rounded up and baptized. In a parallel order, all children between the ages of 4 and 14 were also ordered to be baptized. So, legally there were no Jews in Portugal or Spain after 1497. However, it is estimated that two-thirds to three-fourths of these forcibly converted Jews in Portugal did not comply with the forced conversion and continued practicing Judaism in secret. There were so many Jews still practicing Judaism that in 1537 the Inquisition was established in Portugal to identify and punish them. This provoked a significant migration of Jews from Portugal to Amsterdam, which was recognized as the most open and pluralistic community in Europe. In 1580 another event happened that opened doors for the Portuguese anusim. In that year Spain annexed Portugal, uniting the two kingdoms. This gave free movement for the Portuguese Crypto-Jews and New Christians to move back into Spain and to go into business where they assumed a central role in textiles and in commerce with the Americas. Following these events in 1580, many of the Portuguese anusim migrated to the Americas where they were involved in international trade and mining among other occupations. The Amsterdam Route. In 1581 another momentous event occurred that shaped Jewish history. That year the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, which were Protestant, declared their independence from Spain and established an open society that welcomed Jews. Amsterdam became the most important port for Europe, and the Dutch were known as the most religiously tolerant society in Europe. Holland became a haven for the more wealthy and intellectual elite among Jews from Spain and Portugal. In keeping with its reputation for tolerance, it was a nation where Jewish doctors, butchers, and merchants could practice their professions. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was formed and in 1621 the Dutch West India Company. Both had significant Jewish investors, and the latter was active in colonizing the Americas and establishing trading venues, which were frequently managed by Jews. Sephardic Jews were particularly active in the Dutch West India Company and served as the liaisons with the Spanish and Portuguese populations in the Americas. The Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Spanish There was a long tradition of Portuguese and Dutch settlement in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. On November 17, 1526 Carlos V made an order allowing the subjects of any of his kingdoms to go to the American colonies, and after that foreign immigration into the Spanish colonies was virtually uncontrolled. (Kamen 2003:133) After Spain absorbed Portugal in 1580, there was uncontrolled Portuguese migration into the Spanish colonies. Even Portuguese Jews, who were coming from Amsterdam, could travel freely to Spanish colonies, such as Cartagena, which was the richest port in the Caribbean at the time and attractive for young Jewish merchants who wanted to build capital. Throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, there were few controls on the migration of Sephardic Jews into Cartagena. The Dutch and the Portuguese were the first two European nations to develop overseas trading empires with important African and Asian bases. The Spanish were more occupied with controlling their colonies in the Americas and were less interested in Asia although they did have the Philippines. After the Dutch seized Recife from the Portuguese in 1624, officials in Cartagena feared that the Dutch might make an attempt on their city next. In 1626 the Inquisitors in Cartagena wrote to their Spanish superiors that their colony was being infested with heretics, especially Portuguese (i.e. Jews). It continued to be technically illegal for Jews to enter Spanish territories, but it was a law that could not and was not enforced. However, trade between Sephardic Jewish merchants in Holland and their compatriots in Spanish and Portuguese overseas territories continued in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, even though in Spanish territories it was a clandestine trade. Who Were the Jews of Cartagena? The Jews who arrived to Cartagena were Sephardic, and they came by various routes to this Colombian port city, but most came from Portugal or Spain as New Christians or from Amsterdam where they were practicing Jews. Some had lived in various countries of the Mediterranean world before migrating to Cartagena. Some were involved in international commerce, which meant maritime trade, but others came as doctors, managers, mine speculators, pharmacists, surgeons, tailors, shoemakers, silversmiths, sailors, and penniless adventurers among others. From the early 1600’s there were Jewish settlers and business people scattered along the northern coast of South America from Cartagena to the Guiana coast. A few acquired landed estates and grew sugar cane, others established cattle ranches, and yet others were workers for these large landholders. Sugar became the largest trade item going from the Americas to Europe, and Amsterdam was the primary port for sugar coming into Europe. Jewish merchants played a major role in that trade both from the Americas and in Holland. The Portuguese also controlled the slave trade between Africa and the Americas, and Jews, including people in Cartagena, were involved in that trade. (McKay, et.al. 1996:529) Mining for silver and gold were important industries in the Americas of the seventeenth century, and Jewish merchants were among those who provided the tools and equipment for the miners and in turn bought the gold and silver they discovered. Contraband trade was a bustling business in the Americas, and Jews were active in it. By law the colonies in the Americas could only trade with Spain, not with each other and not with merchants of any other European nation. The problem was that Spain sent only one shipment of goods each year, which did not satisfy demand in the colonies. There were Spanish speaking Dutch Jewish entrepreneurs who stepped in to fill that demand. They developed a system of offloading their goods on remote areas of the coast on land owned by Jewish merchants in Cartagena. The goods could later be brought into the city in small shipments overland without attracting the attention of the customs officials. However, the ships of Jewish merchants also sailed into the port itself with enough frequency that a prominent point of land within the bay of Cartagena is listed on a map from 1631 as “Jews Point”. It is the only point of land given a name in the bay, which is an indicator of the openly recognized importance of Jewish commerce during that period. Colonial officials were aware of the presence of Jews, many of whom were also foreigners, so they were doubly illegal. Most seem to have readily overlooked these irregularities of religion and national origin because they were contributing to the development of the colonies. Jewish commerce helped these early colonies grow much faster than would have been the case without them. Commercial networks between families of Jewish merchants have been identified from Cartagena to Panama, through the mining region of Zaragoza in Antioquia, to Bogota, Cali, Popayan, Quito, and Lima. A census of foreigners in Santa Marta, a smaller port to the east of Cartagena, was made in 1606, and they identified 52 foreigners of whom 41 were Portuguese, or Jews. (Vila Vilar, 1979:147-149) The numbers in Cartagena were most assuredly larger. The wealthiest Portuguese Jews in Cartagena were owners of ships who engaged in contraband trade throughout the Caribbean and who also engaged in the slave trade. In the 1630’s three merchants controlled most of the commerce in Cartagena, and two of them were Jewish. They even occupied important positions in local government, being town council members, Town Marshals, and even Mayor. However, most Jews were not so successful. Most of the Jews in Cartagena were New Christians, who had been forced to convert in Portugal. They had left Spain at the time of the Expulsion, only to be baptized against their will five years later in Portugal. Some had traveled and lived openly as Jews in Jewish communities. Some had studied Torah in Salonika and other places, and they taught Jewish traditions and practice to the others who had less knowledge. In the late 1620’s and early 1630’s the group had grown to the point that a Minyan met regularly in the house of Blas de Paz Pinto. Although they could not import a Torah scroll, Paz did have a Bible and a version of a Siddur, both of which were illegal in Spanish territories. The group apparently met daily, saying the prayers and reading from the Torah. Prayers were primarily passed down by oral tradition. Records indicate that many of them observed Shabat without working or lighting fires. They bathed and put on freshly laundered clothes for that day. They observed dietary restrictions against ham and other foods, and they observed the fasts on the appropriate religious holidays. They also observed Purim and the celebration of Esther. Slaves were sometimes converted to Judaism and circumcised so that they were complicit with the owner and thus obligated not to report his Jewish practices. Among the Jews of Cartagena there are repeated references to leaving the Spanish territories and migrating to the land of religious freedom, Holland. Some of them had relatives in Amsterdam who urged them to do exactly that. An untold number did migrate to Amsterdam and others to the Dutch or British Caribbean colonies after they had built some capital in Cartagena. However, others never left and took their chances with the Inquisition. Manuel Antonio Paz had married a Mesitzo woman in Cartagena, and they had children. His family life was there as well as his business, and later in life he became blind, so he never left. Luis Franco lived in Zaragoza and was connected to the mining industry. He lived with a Mulato woman, and they had two daughters, so his emotional ties were with them. He always had outstanding loans to miners, which also kept him in Zaragoza. So, he stayed, even though his father in Amsterdam implored him to come there to live. Eventually, the Inquisition arrested him, and he could not leave. (Navarrete 2002:87-88) Individual Stories of Jews in Cartagena
The group arrested by the Inquisition in 1635 and following was a diverse group, but they shared a Portuguese background. (Splendini, et.al. 1997:429-438) Juan Rodríguez Mesa. One of the most important merchants in Cartagena and also an owner of large land holdings. He was the son of New Christians and admitted to being a follower of the Law of Moses and asked for absolution. As a part of his plea bargain, he identified others who were practicing Jews. His wealth was confiscated, and he was condemned to wear the San Benito habit and appear in the Auto de Fe in the Cathedral. He also received three years in jail, and upon completion of the jail sentence, permanent expulsion from the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Like the others arrested by the Inquisition, his whereabouts after being expelled from Cartagena were not recorded. Duarte Lopez Mesa. Aged 25 years, had lived in Amsterdam and Ceuta, Morocco before coming to Cartagena. He had also traveled to Angola, apparently on a Portuguese slave trading ship. He identified himself as the son of a Jewish family, and he admitted to being a practicing Jew. He attended mass on occasion out of obligation. He gave information on the hopes of Dutch Jews that the Dutch West India Company would replace Spain in the Americas. He was condemned to wear the San Benito, appear publicly in an Auto de Fe and be permanently expelled from the Spanish territories in the Americas. Juan del Campo. From Portugal and 32 years old. His family were Crypto-Jews, and his cousin first told him about the Law of Moses, which his parents later confirmed. His name was originally Gonzalo Báez, but while he was traveling in Spain he learned that his parents had been arrested by the Inquisition in Lisbon, so he changed his name out of fear. After that he traveled to Cartagena. He confessed the wrong of his ways and asked for forgiveness. He was ordered to wear the San Benito habit and appear in a public Auto de Fe after which he was expelled permanently from the Spanish territories in the Americas. Being poor, he had no goods to be confiscated. Manuel Álvarez Prieto. He was of a Jewish family and had lived in Amsterdam. He seems to have been at least temporally insane in the Inquisition jail, and his case was referred to higher authorities. He was eventually released and expelled. Francisco Piñero. At first he admitted to Jewish practices, then later denied that he was a Jew. After being threatened with torture, he admitted that he had previously practiced Judaism, but he confessed and asked forgiveness. He identified twenty-one others whom he accused of secretly practicing Judaism. He was condemned to wear the San Benito habit and appear in a public Auto de Fe in which he would confess and hear his sentence read. He was poor and had no goods to be confiscated, but he was expelled from Spanish territories in the Americas. Blas de Paz Pinto. He was of a Jewish family, and was the leader of the local minyan, which met in his house. After long and repeated interrogations by the Inquisition in which he denied knowing his religion origins, he admitted at one point to a past conversion to Christianity. Although identified by several others as practicing Judaism, he refused to confess it. He was tortured repeatedly, resulting in broken limbs, a broken foot, and a broken jaw so that he could not eat. A doctor was called for medical attention, but it became obvious that he was dying. Before he died, he was sentenced to life in prison, appearing in the San Benito habit in a public Auto de Fe, and confiscation of goods. Although Paz could not speak because of his condition, a priest was called who affirmed that he wanted to be reconciled to the Church. Later, the last sacraments were administered to him although he seems not to have received it, and he died shortly after that. Luis Gómez Barreto. An important merchant in Cartagena, he was accused by others, who had been arrested. He denied practicing Judaism and denied having done anything against the Church. He was jailed for a number of years, his goods were confiscated, and he was expelled from the Spanish colonies in the Americas. He was 80 years old when he was finally able to leave Cartagena. He was never to return. (Splendini, et.al. 1997:458-459) There are many other cases processed by the Inquisition during this period, which cannot be discussed in detail here, but some of the names are Francisco de Heredia, Manuel López de Noroña, Manuel de Acosta, Manuel de Fonseca Enríquez, Antonio Rodríguez Ferrerín, Francisco Rodríguez Carnero, Luis Fernández Suárez, Fernán López de Acosta, Francisco de Ortega, Manuel Franco Diaz, Francisco de Silva Castillo, Melchor Báez Méndez, and Francisco Rodríguez de Solís. (Splendiani, et.al. 1997: 443-463) Conclusions: What Happened to the Jews after 1650? The Jews of Cartagena virtually drop from public view after 1650, and there are probably various factors that explain it. One, after the Inquisition suppressed the Jews by arresting prominent members in Cartagena and Zaragoza in 1635, the Jews who remained in Cartagena were more careful to hide their identity. Two, many of the surviving Jews voluntarily left the colony, moving primarily to Dutch and British territories. Three, the Governor of Cartagena expelled all Portuguese from the Province after Portugal broke from Spain in 1640. (Vila Vilar 1976:187) This required the Jews who wanted to stay in Nueva Granada to move to the inland provinces, such as Antioquia, which was a mining center. Some of the descendents of these Jews retained their identity as Crypto-Jews. In recent decades, some families living along the Magdalena River and in Antioquia still identified themselves as of Jewish descent. Perhaps, in a reflection of this, a common saying in Colombia today is that the people from Antioquia are the Jews of Colombia because of their hard-working entrepreneurship. Today, there are people reclaiming their Jewish identity in Colombia, mostly in the central regions of the country, ranging from Antioquia (Medellín) to Cundinamarca (Bogotá) and Valle (Cali). Four, other Jews assimilated into the Christian society and lost their religious and ethnic identity. There are a few cases of Jews in Cartagena after these events, but there was not a community until after Colombian independence from Spain in 1821 when the Inquisition was abolished and Jews were allowed finally to legally migrate to that country. By 1650 the century long experiment of Jews living in Cartagena came to an end, and the Jewish presence in the Caribbean shifted to the Dutch and British colonies, which began to replace Cartagena as centers of maritime commerce. Only Crypto-Jews remained in Colombia, and they faded from public view, as only Crypto-Jews knew how. References
Kamen, Henry. 2003. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power 1492-1763. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. McKay, John, Bennett Hill, John Buckler. 1997. A History of World Societies. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Navarrete, Maria Cristina. 2002. “Judeo-conversos en la Audiencia del Nuevo Reino de Granada. Siglos XVI y XVII.” In Revista Historia Crítica. Universidad de los Andes. Pages 73-90. Consulted online at http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/revistas/rhcritica/navarrete.htm. Splendiani, Anna María, José Enrique Sánchez Bohórquez, Emma Cecilia Luque de Salazar. 1997. Cincuenta Años de Inquisición en el Tribunal de Cartagena de Indias, 1610-1660. Tomo II. Documentos Procedentes del Archivo Histórico Nacional de Madrid (AHMN). Sección de Inquisición, Cartagena de Indias, Libro 1020, Años 1610-1637. Bogotá: Centro Editorial Javeriana and Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispánica. Vila Vilar, Enriqueta. 1976. “La sublevación de Portugal y la trata de Negros”. Ibero-Amerikanishches Arch. Jg. 2, H 3. 1979. “Extranjeros en Cartagena (1593-1630)” in Jamrbuch fur Geschichte von Staat, Wietshaft und Gesellschaft Lateinamerikas. BD, 16. Ronald Duncan-Hart is Cultural Anthropologist, Institute for Tolerance Studies, Oklahoma City. This article is edited from a paper presented at the 06 SCJS conference. |
Society For Crypto Judaic Studies
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