ABSTRACT
In early modern Spanish society, divided by Purity of Blood statutes as well as by the actions of the Inquisition, conversos and Moriscos often chose to clandestinely follow their ancestors’ faith, or at least were accused of doing so. This chapter investigates their identity-construction processes and the interplay between markers of differentiation and senses of belonging. Indeed, the religious substratum of both groups and ritual practices accompanying it were collective in nature. Crypto-Jews and Moriscos formed groups marked by secrecy, which, in many ways, resemble Georg Simmel's secret societies. Religion transformed social relations and solidarities, although in different manners. Myths of origin and collective memory also played central roles, as Morisco and crypto-Jewish communities were both defined culturally and ethnically. However, even though both communities were welded together by resistance to oppression and by the stigma they were subject to, conversos and Moriscos were very different from one another, and both groups were very heterogeneous, due to the broad spectrum of their members’ socio-economic profiles and religiosity. Individuals could combine, alternate between, or substitute different affiliations and belongings depending upon the context, their interlocutors, and their socio-economic strategies.
