Conversos in Colonial French Canada
Can anyone shed any light on what is known about Conversos who possibly emigrated to Acadia and Quebec? My grandmother as a child lived with her Galipeau relatives who were from Quebec. She recalls that on Friday evenings, her grandfather would put a close fitting hat on his head, her grandmother would light candles, and they would say prayers in a language that my grandmother did not speak (she knew English and French). The name could have also been spelt as Galapo in earlier documents and the family lived in SW France in the 1500s.
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
It's not clear what you're seeking.
"Galipeau" is the standard spelling French surname, "Galapo" is a (phonetic) spelling variation of Galipeau.
Conversos is not a French surname, it could be a mangled spelling of French surname, however you'll need to provide more data to sort that out.
The ritual you describe sounds like Shabbat, a Judeo ritual performed the night before the Sabbath.
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
Thanks for the quick response. To clarify, what I am wanting to clarify is whether any research has been done that would confirm whether or not there were "crypto-jews" or "conversos" who had emigrated to Canada during the Colonial era. If there were, than could the name Galipeau be among them since there were members of the Galapo family from Spain who fled the Inquisition. The Friday ritual that my grandmother recalls from her early childhood does sound like a Jewish Shabbat.
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Objet : Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
this could very well be «marannes» who were jewish people from Spain and Portugal, who officially converted to catholicism to evade the Inquisition but remained faithful to judaism. (I do not know the English equivalent) There is a history of Marannes within the canadian society; at the beginning of the Colony, only Catholics were admitted.
They may have called themselves «Conversos» not to reveal their religious origins.
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Re: Objet : Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
Can you refer me to a publication on the subject? Do you know if specific families were documented in French Canada as "Marranes"?
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Re: Objet : Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
hi tomel
starting marranes rechearch on net ,
it saying juifs portuguais convertis(conversos)au catholicisme.
please use translator because i can t explain it in english.
sorry about that.
rolande
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
My ancestor, Girard Barcelo (Barsalou), I believe was also a converso. He married in Montreal in 1699. He was born in France. The name Barcelo was a name given to my family by Spain when the family became conversos. The French changed the spelling to Barsalou. There is much information on the internet. Good luck with your search. Mary Jane
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
Thank you for your reply. Do you have any stories about how long your family who were Conversos may have continued some Jewish traditions and prayers? On my Galipo/Galipeau side, they continued holding a Shabat service at least until 1914.
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
I cannot think of any particular stories. My aunts were very religious, very Catholic. I think this type of behavior was common in conversos because their lives depended on appearing Catholic. I've read that my first ancestor in Canada, Girard, was buried one day after his death, which was a Jewish tradition. There is a site that gives lots of information on Sephardic Jews. Haven't been there in a while, but I think it's Sephardicgen. lots of interesting information.
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Re: Conversos in Colonial French Canada
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