The Former Jews of This Kingdom - Sicilian Converts After the Expulsion, 1492-1516

This book examines the presence of the converted Jews in Sicily following the 1492 expulsion, discussing their legal status, economic activities and integration into Sicilian society, and the phenomenon of conversion and return of many exiles. The research is based on the account of books of the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily and other contemporary sources. Detailed inventories of confiscated property offer insights into the converts' cultural world, and can also be of interest to the scholar of social and material history in Early Modern Europe.
By focussing on royal policies towards the converted Jews, and on the process of establishing the Spanish Inquisition in Sicily, the study sheds new light on Ferdinand the Catholic's politics in Sicily and southern Italy.

About the author

Nadia Zeldes, Ph.D. (1997) in Jewish History, Tel-Aviv University, is currently teaching at Tel-Aviv University. She studies the world of the Jews and Converts in Sicily in the context of Mediterranean intercultural encounters, and has published many articles on this subject.

Product details

• Authors: Nadia Zeldes
• Publisher: Brill
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 17.12.2002
• EAN: 9789004128989
• ISBN: 978-90-04-12898-9
• No. of pages: 378
• Dimensions: 166 mm x 245 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 821 g
• Series: Medieval Mediterranean
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History > Middle Ages