{{Refimprove|date=November 2016}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox ethnic group|image= |group=Neofiti |population=unknown |popplace=Southern Italy |langs=Unknown, probably Sicilian, other Italian dialects, and/or Italkian |rels=Catholicism and Crypto-Judaism until the 16th century |related= *Italians *Jews}}
The '''''neofiti''''' ({{langx|en|Neophytes}}) were a group of Italian ''anusim'', also known as crypto-Jews, living in Southern Italy.
==History== thumb|left|150px|The Kingdom of Sicily. The ''neofiti'' were descendants of Jews who were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1493. They continued to secretly practice certain elements of Judaism, as did many of their descendants.
In the 1490s, the Spanish Inquisition ruthlessly hunted the ''neofiti'' and many were tortured and executed, especially in Sicily.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-jewish-story.org/neofiti.html |title=Expulsion of the Sicilian Neofiti (Marranos) and their resettlement |website=The-jewish-story.org |date= |access-date=2016-11-18}}</ref>
Today, some descendants of ''neofiti'' in Calabria and Apulia have converted back to Judaism and revived their former Jewish congregations.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
==See also== * Dönmeh * Allahdad * Banu Israil * Chala * Converso * Marrano * Targum Neofiti * Jews of San Nicandro * History of the Jews in Apulia * History of the Jews in Calabria * History of the Jews in Sicily
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://terminiimerese.wordpress.com/cultural-factors/surnames-indicative-of-jewish-heritage-the-neofiti/ terminiimerese.wordpress.com] * [http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/91z342hv;jsessionid=12F3609EC7FEDD94179CBCB56DAC4DA4#page-1 escholarship.org]
Category:Jewish Italian history Category:Italian people of Jewish descent Category:Crypto-Jews