The songs and poetry of Leonor de Carvajal and the Crypto-Jewish oral tradition in New Spain during the Inquisition

Among the Inquisition documents recently acquired by the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, is the trial of Leonor de Carvajal, sis ter of the more famous Luis de Carvajal. The songs and poems recorded in Le onor de Carvajal's trial, including a version of the Mosaic Law in verse, p roved to be damning evidence against Leonor and the rest of the family. Thi s study examines several texts, some of which are published here for the fi rst time, taking into account their historical context and underscoring the ir importance in the Crypto-Jewish oral tradition.