Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Teachings Online

The Marranos Jews (Videos)

The story of the Marranos, the lost Jews from Spain, started in the 14th century when the Spanish Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church persecuted the large Jewish community in Spain and Portugal. Many Jews preferred to die rather than to give up their faith and convert. Many other Jews were forced to become Christians. Despite this, the church called them by the disparaging name Marranos which means pigs. They secretly continued to observe their Jewish faith, laws, holidays and Shabbats. Over the generations they lost the knowledge that they were Jews but continued to keep some of the Jewish traditions and laws without knowing why they did so. In 1233, the Papal Inquisition had began. It was first directed at the Albigensian sect in southern France. In Spain, the Papal Inquisition was applied against the Jewish people that were converted by force to Christianity. The secret Jews [...]