Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation

In the 17th century, descendants of forcibly baptised Jews ("conversos") fled the Iberian Inquisitions to settle in Amsterdam, a city renowned for its commercial ties and religious tolerance. On arrival the conversos lacked clear ethnic or religious identities and had little social organization. Yet, they formed the nucleus of what became within a generation a strongly cohesive community with a highly structured and well-developed sense of its Jewish identity. Drawing on family and communal records, diaries, memoirs, literary works and other sources, Miriam Bodian reconstructs the fascinating story of thow these Portuguese immigrants - merchants, professionals and intellectuals, for the most part - re-asserted their Judaism, while maintaining their Iberian heritage.

Winner of Winner 1998 National Jewish Book Award in History Winner 1998 Koret Prize for History.

"An engaging introduction to the tortuous plight faced by exiled conversos in Amsterdam and their methods of response." -Choice "In this skilful and well-argued book Miriam Bodian explores the communal history of the Portuguese Jews ... who settled in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century." --Sixteenth Century Journal Drawing on family and communal records, diaries, memoirs, and literary works, among other sources, Miriam Bodian tells the moving story of how Portuguese "new Christian"Eimmigrants in 17th-century Amsterdam fashioned a close and cohesive community that recreated a Jewish religious identity while retaining its Iberian heritage. Winner, 1998 National Jewish Book Award in History Winner, 1998 Koret Jewish Book Award in History "In this skilful and well-argued book Miriam Bodian explores the communal history of the Portuguesse Jews...who settled in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century...[I]ncorporating a rich variety of archival sources and contextual data...Bodian's book is very engaging and an extremely useful contribution to the history of early modern Jewry."-- Sixteenth Century Journal "...a wonderful case study of a particular sub-culture within the Jewish world which came to play a decisive role in early modern Jewish history...Clearly and engagingly written, the book is an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the Western Sephardim." --Aron Rodrigue

Miriam Bodian is Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She has taught at Yeshiva University and the University of Michigan and has been a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Oxford.

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