american-holocaust

182 AMERICAN HOLOCAUSTeconomy. But popular preachers were relentless in their anti-Jewish propagandaand finally, in 1391, Christian hatred and rage exploded in riotsthat swept across Aragon, Catalonia, and Castile. Many Jews were murdered,their identification made easy by the brightly colored "badges ofshame" that all Jews above the age of ten had been forced to displayprominently on their outer clothing since the early part of the fourteenthcentury. Many others converted, simply to save their lives and those oftheir children. By the time the violence died down, of the Jews who remainedin Spain as many may have converted to Christianity and becomewhat were called conversos or marranos as remained outwardly true totheir Jewish faith. 108Anti-Jewish sentiment remained high among the Spanish, erupting fromtime to time in further riots and persecutions. At such times all the ancientcharges were hauled out, as in 1460, with the publication of the FranciscanAlonso de Espina's four-volume Fortalitium Fidei, or Fortress of theFaith. According to Espina, both Jews and most marranos (who in actuality,he said, remained "secret" Jews or "crypto" Jews) were guilty of stealingconsecrated Hosts for profane rituals, of kidnapping and killing Christianchildren for their blood, and so on. Gradually, however, and quietly,more and more ostensibly converted Jews began returning to the ancestralfold. This disturbed not only the Catholic hierarchy and populace (whosefeared sense of deception and treachery in their midst was thus vindicated,they thought), but it also troubled many marranos, because revelations offalse conversions among others endangered the credibility of their ownproclaimed loyalty to the Church-thereby putting their attained postconversionsocial and economic positions at risk.It was, then, not to persecute faithful Jews, but rather to investigatethe marranos for possible falsity in their commitment to Christ that theInquisition was instituted in Castile in 1483, finally spreading to Barcelonain 1487. Although some marranos who were true converts supported theInquisition, all marranos now fell under suspicion. As a result, they werebarred from holding various public and private offices, from attending universities,or from serving in Tomas de Torquemada's heretic burning "Militiaof Christ," while those of their number who were physicians routinelywere accused of secretly killing their Christian patients. 109Under the agony of the rack and other ingenious methods of torturemany marranos confessed to being crypto-Jews and to performing the heinousacts the Church attributed to them. One case can serve as emblematicof hundreds. For a year, from December of 1490 to November of 1491,six Jews and five marranos were tried for using black magic in an effortto stop the Inquisition and eventually to destroy all Christians. The chargeasit was reported at the trial and circulated in different versions for decadesin Spain-claimed that the accused Jews and marranos had kidnappeda Catholic child (named Christobalico) and forced him to drag a