La emigración de los judíos portugueses a América y la «complicidad grande» de 1634-1639

Abstract

The increasing emigration of Portuguese to the Vice royalty of Perú, motivated by the union of the Crowns of Castile and Portugal in 1580, resulted in the uncontrolled growth of Crypto-Jews communities in the Spanish American colonies. Until the 1620s the political climate was positive for new Christians, but economic reasons led to a new offensive against them from 1622 on. This article will discuss the socio-economic conflict that generated the Portuguese migration to America, through a close reading of the text that Fernando de Montesinos wrote at the request of the Court of the Inquisition, entitled Auto de la fe celebrado en Lima a 23 de enero de 1639... With this text I argue that, besides the economic aspect, the growing climate of tension between Spaniards and Portuguese, the identification of Portuguese and Jews, and their role in the slave market of the time were all relevant to the conflict.