The neofiti were a group of Italian anusim

Anusim

Anusim is a legal category of Jews in halakha who were forced or coerced to abandon Judaism against their will, typically while forcibly converted to another religion...

, also known as crypto-Jews, living in Southern Italy.

History

The Jewish ancestors of the neofiti were forced to convert

Forced conversion

A forced conversion is the religious conversion or acceptance of a philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death...

 to Roman Catholicism in 1493. They continued to secretly practice certain elements of Judaism, however, as did many of their descendants. The Spanish Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

 ruthlessly hunted the neofiti and many were executed and tortured, especially in Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. Today, some neofiti descendants in Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

 and Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

 have converted back to Judaism and revived their former Jewish congregations.

See also

• History of the Jews in Apulia
  History of the Jews in Apulia
  The history of the Jews in Apulia can be traced to over two millennia. Apulia, in Hebrew:פוליה) is a mountainous region in the "boot heel" of the peninsula of Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea. The Jews have had a presence in Apulia for at least 2000 years...
  
  
• History of the Jews in Calabria
  History of the Jews in Calabria
  The history of the Jews in Calabria reaches back over two millennia. Calabria, Calabria is at the very south of the Italian peninsula, to which it is connected by the Monte Pollino massif, while on the east, south and west it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. Jews have had a presence...
  
  
• History of the Jews in Sicily
  History of the Jews in Sicily
  The history of the Jews in Sicily goes back two millennia. Sicily, is a large island off the Southern Italian coast. There has been a Jewish presence in Sicily for at least 1400 years and possibly for more than 2000 years...
  
  

External links

• New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, 1992, Encyclopedia Publishing, articles "Neofiti", "Crypto-Judaism"
• terminiimerese.wordpress.com
• escholarship.org