ABSTRACT
The theme ‘Private Devotion and Resistance’ is applicable not only to Catholic worship in Reformation England, but also to a small clandestine Jewish community. Conversos originated in late 14th-century Spain, following violent anti-Jewish riots and widespread slaughter of the Jews. Thousands accepted baptism to escape death, converting to Catholicism, but they were widely suspected of conforming only publicly to the Christian religion, while continuing to practise Judaism privately. The converso community in England continued to be principally involved in trade, and to a lesser extent in medicine, throughout the second half of the 16th century. Documentary evidence reveals that most members of the London community lived in close proximity to each other, and that therefore the potential for archaeological identification of converso households exists. During the late 16th and early 17th century, the reduced community continued to inhabit the same area.
