From the Inquisition to the “Sete Maravilhas” and “Three Cultures” Festivals: Jewish Belief, Identity, and Folklorization in Portugal and Spain

Two related Iberian quincentennials in the late the twentieth century were 1992, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and 1997, their expulsion from Portugal. The following centuries saw the often fatal effects of the Inquisition on those “New Christians” who remained, as secret or "Crypto" Jews. In the early 20th century, rural Portuguese Crypto-Jews were "discovered", and during those years, Hispanists became excited by the "discovery" of old narrative ballads still sung by Sephardic Jews in Mediterranean countries.

In 1992, Spain embarked on a series of activities as did Portugal, initially to a lesser extent, five years later. Along with scholarly research, a Sephardic song revival emerged, and the excitement of the Hispanists re- appeared as a romantic notion that all Sephardic songs were, magically, 500 years old. Christian, Jewish and Muslim co-existence in medieval Iberia was often romanticized as well; the term "convivencia is still bandied about. Festivals of "the three cultures", rather than religions, joined “medieval fairs.”

Since the 1990s, I have conducted fieldwork as an ethnomusicologist, in both contexts, including participant observation as a practicing musician. Here I explore the historical use of secrecy by Crypto-Jews and its transition to auto-folklorization as those in the town of Belmonte initiated a successful bid for “Crypto-Judaism of Belmonte” to be recognized as one of Portugal`s new "Seven Wonders" (Sete Maravilhas), in the culture category. No mention was made of surviving Crypto-Judaism in other areas of Portugal; in Belmonte, with its active synagogue, Jews are no longer “Crypto”. In the festivals, most organizers and performers are not Sephardic; those who are typically are invited, not part of the events` organization.

Both phenomena raise questions of representation and identity, of others and of one’s own community – and of my own role and how it affects these communities.