From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ethnic group
The
neofiti
(English:
Neophytes
) were a group of
Italian
anusim
, also known as
crypto-Jews
, living in
Southern Italy
.
History
[
edit
]
The Kingdom of Sicily.
The
neofiti
were descendants of
Jews
who were
forced to convert
to
Roman Catholicism
in 1493. They continued to secretly practice certain elements of Judaism, as did many of their descendants.
In the 1490s the
Spanish Inquisition
ruthlessly hunted the
neofiti
and many were tortured and executed, especially in Sicily.
[1]
Today, some descendants of
neofiti
in
Calabria
and
Apulia
have converted back to Judaism and revived their former Jewish congregations.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]