The Persistence of Jewish Otherness among the New Christians of Spalato – Integration, Persecution and Trade

In this interview, Lena Sadovski talks about her current research into the community of New Christian merchants trading between Apulia in southern Italy, and Spalato, modern day Split, in Dalmatia in the 15th and 16th century.Lena explains who the New Christians were, and why they moved between Apulia and Spalato. She shows how, and why this route of international trade was so important for Spalato and their colonial over-lords, the Venetians, and the types of goods moving in both directions.  This trade also highlights the importance of family connections within and between the communities of New Christians in both Apulia and Spalato.   And despite the New Christians having converted from the Jewish faith to Christianity several centuries earlier, Lena shows that the memory of their religious alterity could be weaponized by their opponents in moments of conflicts, underlining the persistence of Jewish ‘otherness’ despite decades of successful integration into the Dalmatian society.Photo credit - Državni Arhiv u Zadru, 16: 59/66.7-IV, fol. 188r.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.