Includes bibliographical references and index.

List of Tables . vii -- Preface . ix -- Acknowledgments . xi -- Maps . xii -- Introduction . 1 -- I. The Cultural Heritage . 2 -- II. Sicily in the Later Middle Ages . 3 -- III. The Historiography and the Sources . 10 -- IV. Some Methodological and Technical Considerations . 15 -- Chapter One: The Formation and Composition of the Neophyti Population in Sicily -- I. Conversions Before the Expulsion . 19 -- II. Expulsion and the Encouragement of Conversion . 21 -- III. Exile and Return . 27 -- IV. Immigrants and Foreigners . 43 -- V. Numerical Evaluation . 50 -- VI. Conclusions . 58 -- Chapter Two: New Christians or Former Jews-Legal, Social, and Economic Frameworks -- I. Royal Policies-Taxation, Discrimination and Protection . 71 -- II. An Uneasy Welcome:ã Attitudes of the Old Christian Population . 83 -- III. Jews, Converts, and the Sicilian Economy . 100 -- IV. Conclusions . 125 -- Chapter Three: In the Shadow of the Inquisition -- I. The First Period-Formal Beginnings to 1500 . 131 -- II. The Spanish Inquisition and the Neophyti: 1500 to 1510 . 143 -- III. The Auto de fé of 1511 . 171 -- IV. Acts of Faith from November 1511 to August 1515: 'Relaxations' and Mass Reconciliations . 191 -- V. The Revolt of 1516 and its Aftermath . 199 -- VI. Conclusions . 214 -- Chapter Four: Tracing a Portrait of Sicilian Converts -- I. Judaizing . 219 -- II. The Evidence of Material Culture . 235 -- III. Group Identity . 254 -- IV. Conclusions . 283 -- General Conclusion . 288 -- Appendix 1: Dates, Coins, Weights, and Measures . 296 -- Appendix 2: Documents . 298 -- Glossary . 323 -- Bibliography . 325 -- Index.

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.

Description based on print version record.