Sephardic Jewry, Forced Conversion, and the Legacy of the Inquisition
The Iberian Peninsula was a major centre of Jewish intellectual and cultural production during the medieval period. Sephardic Jewry made lasting contributions to Jewish law, philosophy, poetry, and science within complex interreligious societies.
The expulsions and the Inquisition profoundly altered Jewish life in Spain and Portugal. This program examines the historical experience of the Conversos and crypto-Jews, focusing on themes of coercion, concealed identity, and cultural transmission, as well as the re-emergence of openly Jewish communities in the modern era.