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105 Three large waves of Jewish conversions to Christianity occurred in Spain: (1) at the time of the riots against Jews in 1391, (2) in 1412–14 as a result of the campaign of the preacher Vincent Ferrer and anti-Jewish legislation, and (3) after the expulsion decree in 1492. Scholars differ widely in their estimates of the number of converts. David Gitlitz evaluated the various estimates and concluded that about 225,000 converted before the expulsion and that a further 25,000–50,000 converted in 1492. Of the exiles, more than half moved to Portugal, but in 1497 those who remained in Portugal were forced to convert, and in 1542 about 60,000 conversos remained in Portugal.1 Some conversos defended their conversion by pointing to the “senselessness” of Jewish messianic hopes, but millenarianism found many enthusiasts among conversos , especially among the crypto-Jews or “Judaizers” who continued to practice at least some Jewish rituals. Some of those who converted in 1391 tried to leave Spain for the Land of Israel, believing that their migration would help bring the messiah. A further migration of converts, also stimulated by messianic hopes, occurred after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Stories circulated among conversos that the messiah had already been born. One New Christian in Valencia told of a miraculous young boy who lived on a mountain near Constantinople; apparently only circumcised Jews could look upon him without being blinded.2 The first recorded millenarian incident among conversos after the exile occurred in 1500 in the small town of Herrara in northern Castile. In the fifteenth century Herrara had a Jewish community of substantial size and wealth. Inés Esteban , the teenage daughter of a shoemaker, proclaimed that she had been led by her mother, a boy who had just died, and an angel to heaven to a place where she heard the voices of souls who had been burned “in sanctity of the name.” Most conversos in Herrara believed that Inés was a prophet of the messiah, and many converts came from elsewhere to see her. They ceased work, fasted, and prepared themselves in holiday clothing for the imminent arrival of the messiah, who would 5. millenarianism among conversos (new christians) and former conversos (returnees to judaism) 02 Part 2.indd 105 9/20/10 10:24 AM 106 c h a p te r 5 take them to the Holy Land. Some said that a town created in heaven would be brought down to earth and that the converts would dwell there, eating off golden plates. There were similar occurrences elsewhere. Maria Gómez, a prophetess in Chillón, a small provincial town in Ciudad Real, claimed that she had ascended to heaven, where she was told that all the conversos who fasted, observed the Sabbath , and kept other commandments would be taken to the Holy Land. The older women who followed Gómez were familiar with Jewish practice, but her younger female followers apparently did not have such knowledge. Women were prominent in these movements as both prophets and followers. In contrast to converted men, who had lost the center of their Jewish life when public Jewish institutions disappeared , the center of Jewish life for the women was domestic rituals that they could continue to observe, albeit in an attenuated fashion. There were, however, male prophets who promised imminent redemption. One claimed that he had ascended to heaven, where he met God, Elijah, the messiah, and the prophetesses of Herrara and Chillón. He said that Elijah would come to Spain to collect the conversos who believed in the law of Moses and had kept the Sabbath and other precepts. His followers dressed in holiday garb in readiness for the messiah. Popular prophecy among the converts occurred in other parts of Spain, such as Córdoba and Valencia. Signs in the sky, political events, and wars were taken as signs that 1500 was the year of the Redemption. Most prophetesses and prophets who appeared at the time predicted that Elijah and the messiah would soon appear and take the converts who believed in redemption to Israel on clouds or angels’ wings. Several communities of converts in Castile lived for weeks in a state of exaltation and excitement, leading ascetic lives, fasting regularly, and adhering as rigidly as possible to Jewish observances. The Inquisition learned of the movements and imprisoned and burned many of those involved.3 Not all converso millenarians in postexpulsion Spain...

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