In the 14th and 15th centuries, several
hundred thousand Spanish and Portuguese
Jews were forced to choose between exile
or conversion to Catholicism. Of those
who chose conversion, many continued to
practice Judaism covertly, passing down
their Jewish identity from generation to
generation. In the New World, these "crypto-Jews" continued
to perform Jewish rituals in their homes.
They were known to place Christian icons
in areas of the house where they would
entertain the priest and other visitors.
Sometimes their continued Jewish identification
was an open secret; they were known to
their neighbors as "the Catholics
who do not go to church."
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