Spanish and Portuguese Jews who converted to Christianity, between the 14th and 15th centuries, often under duress from the Spanish Inquisition. They were also known as "New Christians" and/or "Marranos." (derogatory pig people). They were caught between their Jewish cultureculture is not genetically inherited, it is shared, learned, and dynamic- never static and their new Christian faith, which led to a complex and difficult new identitythe name of a person, along with the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or a group different from others.
