‘It is not possible to be both a Jew and a Christian’: Converso religious identity and the inquisitorial trial of Custodio Nunes (1604–5)

Abstract

This work analyses the previously unedited inquisitorial trial of Custodio Nunes, a converso who lived in the Portuguese town of Évora and who was put on trial for crypto-Judaism by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1604–5. Custodio Nunes was accused by the Inquisition of being a crypto-Jew, but defended himself, somewhat remarkably, by claiming that he was both a Jew and a Christian. This article will examine the manner in which the trial of Custodio Nunes brings to light problems of religious identity within the converso communities of Spain and Portugal, and the problems of using inquisitorial trial dossiers as historical evidence.