audiobook Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks: A Poem by W. Craig Gaines in History

Description

The distinct religious culture of early modern Spain -- characterized by religious unity at a time when fierce civil wars between Catholics and Protestants fractured northern Europe -- is further understood through examining the expulsion of the Jews and suspected Muslims. While these two groups had previously lived peaceably; if sometimes uneasily; with their Christian neighbors throughout much of the medieval era; the expulsions brought a new intensity to Spanish Christian perceptions of both the moriscos (converts from Islam) and the judeoconversos (converts from Judaism). In Parallel Histories; James S. Amelang reconstructs the compelling struggle of converts to coexist with a Christian majority that suspected them of secretly adhering to their ancestral faiths and destroying national religious unity in the process.Discussing first Muslims and then Jews in turn; Amelang explores not only the expulsions themselves but also religious beliefs and practices; social and professional characteristics; the construction of collective and individual identities; cultural creativity; and; finally; the difficulties of maintaining orthodox rites and tenets under conditions of persecution. Despite the oppression these two groups experienced; the descendants of the judeoconversos would ultimately be assimilated into the mainstream; unlike their morisco counterparts; who were exiled in 1609.Amelang masterfully presents a complex narrative that not only gives voice to religious minorities in early modern Spain but also focuses on one of the greatest divergences in the history of European Christianity.