Marranos: A Lost People
Some people might call them New Jews, some New Christians, and others call them Marranos. The majority of the world population has no idea who the
Marranos are. To begin to explain these secret people, one must first receive a lesson in World History. We will begin in the 1492.
In school, we are brainwashed to connect the year 1492 with the year that Columbus discovered the New World. Yet, if we look at the year 1492, there are other occurrences which are noteworthy. For instance, in the year 1492,
Spain, the country which sent Columbus to America, decided to officially expel the Jews from Spain. The Jews were forced to either leave Spain, convert to
Catholicism, or be put to death. This was not a surprise to the Jews of Spain.
Since 1931, there had been anti-Jewish riots throughout Spain. For years, the
Jews had been converting to Christianity to escape religious persecution. These
Jews were called conversos. The twist to this tale is that these conversos actually were only putting on a front. They still considered themselves Jews.
They practiced in secret.1 The Spanish made every attempt to search out and punish these conversos. Some Jews chose not to convert and they moved to
Portugal. . Unfortunately, Portugal, in 1497, expelled the Jews from its borders as well. Anti-semitism was growing in Western Europe and the Jews needed to escape. The prime choice seemed to be so obvious. The Jews went to the New World.
The immigration of the Marranos to the new world might have begun with none other than Christopher Columbus. This, of course, is not definite, but there has been research which has shown that Columbus was indeed a Marrano.
Apparently his parents were Marranos.2 Even though there are some disagreements about this fact, there is strong evidence to support the claim that Columbus was
Jewish.
As the Marranos arrived in the New World, they were not able to reveal their secret identities and practice as Jews. This was because the Spanish government established inquisition offices in the New World. These office's sole responsibility was to hunt down Marranos and bring them to justice. The inquisitors had to visit every town once a year and gather evidence of "non- believers" of the church. They would reward anyone who came forth with information. The information could be days old or forty years old, it made no difference to the Inquisitors. The punishments for being caught were varied, never merciful. The mildest form of punishment was Scourging. This was when the victim was forced to strip to the waist in public and receive hundreds of lashes.
The Muslims and Jews of Spain during that time did not believe in Christianity. This became a conflict to Isabel uniting Spain. In fear, many Muslims and Jews had converted to Christianity but were suspected to have been practicing their own faith secretly. Isabel felt betrayed and it sparked the start of the Spanish Inquisition. “…establishing an Inquisition, expelling the Jews, converting or expelling the Muslims of Granada and Castile, and sanctioning the Muslims' continued presence in Aragon” (Myerson, 11). Isabel and Ferdinand continued with their plans to unify all of Spain by continuing effort to expel the Moors also known as the Muslims, who held some parts of Spain. In 1492, the Muslim Kingdom of Granada fell to Isabel and Ferdinand. Also, all the Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity were expelled. Isabel felt her religion was the only true one and if she didn't rid them from her country then Spain would be ruined.
One needs to recognize that homelessness impact’s a person’s ability to enjoy basic needs and freedoms. It has important consequences for the way that society perceives and treats people. One of the biggest effects of homelessness is the breakdown of a community itself. Many people do not
Walt Disney as a real man. Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to his parents, Elias Disney an Irish Canadian and Flora Call Disney, a German American. Walt was one of four children. Walt and his brother Roy and sister Ruth grew up in Chicago, where they attended Benton Grammar School together. He worked hard throughout his schooling and helped support his family during difficult times. When Walt was 23 years old, he and his sweetheart, Lilly, were married in Lilly’s hometown in Idaho on July 13, 1925, even though they had very little money at this time in their lives. (Ford NP) Together they had two daughters, Diane Marie Disney and Sharon Mae Disney. (www. JustDisney.com NP) Walt Disney left a legacy of unmatched vision and creativity through his animated films, studios and theme parks before he pasted away on December 17,1966. (Drazon NP) His brilliant vision has lived on with each generation since his death.
On the other hand, some historian books say that he had invaded the west Indies this is because he has set foot into an area saying that he had discoverd it when clearly there were people living there. Another reason is that some books had said that the Vikings from Iceland and Greenland reached there almost 500 years before Columbus.
The initial response of the inquisition was predetermined by the anti-Jewish judgment increased by the black plague in Spain. The lack of scientific development meant that Jews were blamed for the plague pandemic during 1347 to 1350. At the time the Jewish community was an important part of the Spanish economy, as the only moneylenders the King and Queen attempted to protect them. However, measures to stop the plague continually failed this further fuelled hatred towards the Jewish population. By 1492 King Ferdinand and Isabella created the Alhambra Decree that expelled Jews from their territories. They went into great detail to create a subtle form of propaganda, indoctrinating the public into believing Jews were a form of ‘disease’ that would infect good Christians. The converts that were left in the Iberian Peninsula became the main target of the inquisition. These converts called conve...
This can be seen in the introduction to document 35 where it explains the start of the Spanish inquisition, “This court, which was under state control, was established in Castile in 1480, primarily in order to watch over these converts or Marranos, many of whom pretended to be Christians, but secretly practiced Jewish customs.” (The Spanish Inquisition at Work, Doc 35, p. 195) The problem that arose after the Jews would convert into becoming new Christians was that they would still secretly practice Judaism. This was considered as going against the religious zeal of the church, and harming the Christian society values. The church authorities feared that having these heretic Jews around would influence other Marranos to do the same as they did. This was enough for the King and church authorities to expel
attacked them in their homes. Jews had to sell their businesses and other property to
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Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Elias and Flora Disney, gave him the name Walter Elias Disney. Walt was one of 5 children, four boys and one girl. In 1906, his family packed up and moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri. By this time, Walt discovered that he was very interested in art and drawing. “More things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since – or are likely to in the future.” (Disney, 7) Later on, the Disney family had to move to Kansas City because Walt's father, Elias, could no longer take care of his farm when he became very ill. Elias owned a newspaper company to make money for his family and had Walt and Roy, one of his other sons deliver the papers. In 1910, Walt's family once again packed up and moved to Chicago. Walter did not want to move with his family because he wanted to finish school, so he stayed behind and worked for his brother Herb through the summer. In fall, he moved back with his family and enrolled at McKinley High School. Walt did have an interest in his classes, but found a love for drawing cartoons which were featured in his school's newspaper.
Columbus started his voyage in 1492 to sailing to what he thought was Asia which was really South America. He kept two logs on the expedition, one to show the crew so they do not get suspicious, and one to show the King and Queen which to lie about the discoveries, mileage, and probably much more.# His crewmen weren’t paid wonderfully ; despite the money Columbus was given to pay the crew members from the King and Queen he only paid them around a thousand Marvdeis a month, which today would be about a thousand three hundred dollars.#
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