The Conquistadores and Crypto-Jews of Monterrrey by Raphael David T

Author:Raphael, David T. [Raphael, David T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carmi House Press
Published: 2015-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

A Footnote on Juan Morlete

Juan Morlete was born in 1557 in Arcila, the Portuguese fortress on the northwestern coast of Morocco, close to Cabo Spartel in the vicinity of Tangiers. He came to New Spain in 1575-1576 and resided in Mazapil and later in Saltillo. He served as a representative of the Inquisition in Mexico and as a royal scribe. Although he has attained notoriety for being the official who apprehended Governor Carvajal and Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, his origins in Arcila indicate he was of Jewish origin.

In his document of limpieza de sangre (purity of blood), he claims that his parents were Lucas Morlete, son of Juan Morlete and Isabel Tirado, and Estefanía Gómez, daughter of Rodrigo Báez and Isabel González. He claims that his paternal grandfather was a barber of German extraction in the fortress of Arcila, and that his father was a druggist. However, in the same document, other testimonies indicate that he was descended from converted Jews. According to one testimony provided by the lawyer Nuño Nuñez de Villavicencio, he stated that he did not know Morlete nor his descendants, but he had heard that his parents were Portuguese who were suspected of not being “clean” of Jewish admixture and that they were descendants of converted Jews. (De León 1962, 255-256)

This easily explains Morlete’s behavior. Descended from Jews, yet brought up as a believing Christian, he did his utmost to prove himself a Christian by dissociating himself from his despised Jewish roots. This kind of behavior was seen frequently in pre-expulsion Spain, where the worst enemies of the Jews were often those turncoat New Christians of Jewish descent in their midst who wanted nothing to do with their former kinsmen.

It is worthwhile to review the circumstances under which the Jews of Arcila were converted. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many fled to Portugal and thence on to Morocco. The entry point into Morocco was the port city of Arcila. However, the Count of Borba in Arcila forcibly converted many of the Jewish exiles, as is related by the medieval Hebrew chronicler Elijah Capsali:

“Now when the Jews remaining in Arcila heard that their brothers who had come to Fez had found rest, they decided that they too would go there, for there was great famine in Arcila.” When he saw that the Jews were leaving, the Count of Borba “sent priests to persuade them to convert, but they ignored them. Afterwards he decreed that they had to leave within no more than the following two days, and they kept to their plans.

“When the [Count of Borba] saw that the Jews had ignored him, and were intent on leaving and had remained strong in their faith and had not converted, he said: ‘Only if you do the following will you save your lives. You may go on your ways, but your sons and daughters must remain behind’ . . . It was then that many converted, because they were unable to accept this terrible decree, and they took pity on their children .

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