The origin of the Juárez: the latest cripto-jews persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition in the 18th century

Abstract

A recent doctoral thesis shows how the Inquisition acted against the crypto-Jews in practically all of the Castilian inquisitorial courts further than the Decade of 1720, space storm that historiography to maintained as the end of the great persecutions. These family circles were connected with other cryptic of Portugal or France’s openly Jewish communities. This article discuss the origin of the defendants: the Juárez clan, protagonist of the thesis which was established in the mid-17 th century in La serranía (current Valle del Tiétar / Ávila and Sierra de San Vicente / Toledo), its presence in the area, as well as its economy and solidarity on the basis of the family and patronage. Research is carried out from the notarial protocols, guarded in the historical archives provincial de Ávila and Toledo, to complete the information not contained in the inquisitorial documents.