Book of Trees: Palm and Citron
Chapter 6: Coded names // Conversos: from the Inquisition to the Salem Witch Trials // The Last House of Converts // Generations of Healers
Quick recap:
Last week, I wrote about Margaret Jacobs, my 6th great-grandmother, who recanted her forced confession in the Salem Witch Trials even though that meant a death sentence. And before that: her grandfather George Sr., age 83, who joked that the accusers were “witch bitches” and was hanged for witchcraft.
Note: I just discovered these documents last week, and I’m still grappling with the details and significance. I may update this post over time.
Important terms: A Converso was a Jewish person who was forcibly converted to Christianity during the Inquisition. The Inquisition was a brutal persecution of Jews in the Iberian Peninsula and its colonies that lasted more than 300 years.
THE MYSTERY
George Jacobs Sr. wasn’t a Puritan. So, where did he come from?
Half of my family is Celtic, so I assumed his surname was related to the Jacobites, a Celtic movement that sought to install Bonnie Prince Charlie on the British throne.
But then I found his baptism record: February 13, 1609, at St. Dunstan-in-the-West, London.
For 371 years (1237-1609), St. Dunstan’s served as the converso church—linked to England’s House of Converts (also known as Domus Conversorum), where Jewish converts to Christianity were confined.
George Jacobs, Sr., was the last person ever baptized there.
His father is noted in the records as a barber-surgeon named George Jacob.
The mystery: Who was his great-grandfather? Where did this family come from?
The answer is hidden in a coded name.
THE DOMUS CONVERSORUM:
The House of Converts served as a tool for forced assimilation, similar to the residential schools later established in North America to attempt to eradicate the transmission of cultural heritage among Indigenous families. This earlier version of that effort didn’t involve separating families; instead, it compelled them to surrender all their money and possessions and live in the Domus Conversorum, a church-run environment.
Extract of a 1275 edict, part of a series that limited the rights of British Jews, concluding with their expulsion, or incarceration and forced conversion.
In 1290, the Edict of Expulsion gave British Jews four months to leave or convert.
King’s order to law enforcement, 1290, Edict of Expulsion
The Jewish people could not hide. Due to a 1215 church edict, British Jews had been forced to wear badges in public for most of their lives. Similar to the yellow stars the Nazis required Jews to wear, medieval Jews in Britain wore two white tablets affixed to their shirts.
A 1290 illustration of the expulsion of the Jews. Image shows the white double tabula that Jews in England were forced to wear by law.
Most Jewish people fled Britain after surrendering their property to the crown. Many died at sea because of winter conditions in the Channel.
Those who applied in Britain to stay had to publicly renounce Judaism, be baptized at St. Dunstan’s, adopt a Christian name, and live under church supervision in a Domus Conversorum. They had to hand over all their money and property to the crown and live on a small pension in exchange for menial work. After the Conversos were released, they were required to work in specific professions, including as barber/surgeons (healers).
Between 1290 and 1608, only 48 converts were accepted to live in St. Dunstan’s Domus—fewer than 50 in 318 years.
In 1579, Nathaniel Menda arrived from the Barbary States - North Africa, where Sephardic Jews fled after 1492. He was the Domus Converorum’s first new resident in over 30 years. He lived alone until 1581, when a young man named Cooba arrived.
Cooba was born c. 1555-1565, and fled to London at age 20-25, alone, speaking Arabic and Hebrew. Evidence suggests Cooba came from the Barbary States – the North African coast, where Sephardic Jews fled the Inquisition after 1492. He or his ancestors may have also resided in Italy, which was common and would explain his choice of first name.
Cooba was baptized and took the name “Fortunati Massa.”
For 17 years, these two men lived together in the nearly-empty institution. They were the final two male residents.
THE CODE NAME
In 1911, Aaron Bernstein published Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ, which catalogs every known resident of the Domus Conversorum.
On page 69, it says, “Fortunati Massa (originally ‘Cooba,’) - admitted 1581.”
Cooba is a Sephardic Jewish variant of Ya’akov. In English, we say, Jacob.
Cooba’s converso name, Fortunati Massa, may have had a secret meaning. Fortunati means “Blessed” or “Fortunate.” Massa may refer to the Hebrew מַסָּה (Massah) in Exodus 17:7, a story of being tested.
Publicly: “I’m fortunate to be Christian.”
Secretly: “I’m tested like the Israelites, but I remember.”
In 1598, Fortunati (Cooba) Massa was released from the Domus Conversorum to work as a barber-surgeon (a healer).
Registry of London Barber/Surgeons, 1688
THE CONVERSOS JACOBS?
There are enormous gaps in the records, but what I am piecing together suggests that, during Fortunati Massa's time at the Domus, 1581-1598, his son George Jacob was born. He preserved the name Cooba by making it the family surname.
I confirmed that George Jacob (Barber/Surgeon) and his wife baptized their son George Jacobs on Feb 13, 1609, at St. Dunstan-in-the-West, the converso church.
That baby was George Jacobs Sr.
He was the last baby baptised at St. Dunstan’s when it was the converso church.
And in 1692, at age 83, he was hanged for witchcraft in Salem, MA.
After discovering this information, I confirmed that in the colonies, the Jacobs family, including George’s daughter Ann, continued to work as barbers, surgeons, and midwives. Sometimes restricted for Jews, these professions were risky during the era of Witch Hysteria.
In fact, European fairytale witches resemble racist cartoons of Jews.
As I mulled this over yesterday, I saw George Jacobs Sr.’s disastrous witch trial in a new light.
From the transcripts:
Jacobs: Have you heard that I have any witchcraft?
Churchill: I know you lived a wicked life.
Judge: Let her make it out. Doth he ever pray in his family?
Churchill: Not unless by himself.
Judge: Why do you not pray in your family?
Jacobs: I cannot read.
Judge: Well but you may pray for all that. Can you say the Lords prayer?
Let us hear you?
Note: He mist in severall parts of it, & could not repeat it right after many trialls
Jacobs couldn’t recite the Lord’s prayer.
PATTERNS OF PERSECUTION
The Salem Witch Trials relied upon confessions under (threat of) torture. The confessor must name other witches or die. Property was seized. Outsiders, minorities, Quakers, and Healers were targeted; Botanical medicine was equated with witchcraft.
The Spanish Inquisition relied upon confessions under (threat of) torture. The confessor must name other heretics or die. Property was seized. Healers were targeted; Jewish, Indigenous, and Muslim medicine were equated with heresy.
George’s family fled the Inquisition.
Eighty-four years after his birth and baptism at the Domus Conversorum, he faced the same process.
When they tried him, they used the Inquisition’s test for conversos: Can you recite the Lord’s Prayer?
MAY-AUGUST 1692: REFUSING TO CONFESS
Up until the moment her was hanged, George Sr. still could’ve confessed and lived. Everyone who confessed was spared. But, had he done so, he would’ve given legitimacy to the murderous court. And he would’ve had to name other names.
“If you accuse me of being a wizard, you might as well accuse me of being a buzzard. I have done no harm.”
Similarly, Margaret exclaimed: “I could not contain myself.”
Grandfather and granddaughter chose death rather than lie. But, this discovery that they may have been the descendants of Jews, I see this as them also choosing death rather than perpetuating persecution.
Salem, Massachusetts - Site of Witch Gallows
JEWISH HEALERS
For thousands of years, Jewish communities produced physicians, herbalists, and healers.
This knowledge was passed intergenerationally.
If my hypothesis is true, it would’ve gone from:
Cooba → George Jacob → George Jacobs Sr. → Margaret Jacobs
That’s five generations, from the Barbary Coast to Salem. This transmission continued through nine more generations to my mother, who taught me the herbal medicine I write about and will pass on to my children.
Next week: Also, why do survivors of persecution sometimes marry people who dominate them? I turn to my father’s family line - Holocaust survivors - and the pattern repeats. And, we solved a couple of your mysteries, and I want to share that.
RECIPE:
Date Honey (Silan):
Dates come from palm trees. Date honey is one of the oldest sweeteners mentioned in the Bible.
Ingredients: - 2 cups pitted dates (Medjool) - 3 cups water
Recipe:
1. Soak dates in water overnight
2. Simmer dates and water for 45 minutes until broken down
3. Strain through cheesecloth, squeeze to extract all liquid
4. Reduce the liquid over low heat for 1-2 hours until the syrup reaches
5. Store in a jar in the refrigerator (keeps for months)
Use on bread, in tea, or over yogurt.
CRAFT:
Etrog in Honey: (Segulah)
Ingredients: - 1 etrog (or citron, or thick-skinned organic lemon)
Raw honey (enough to cover)
Glass jar with lid
Instructions:
1. Wash etrog –
2. Slice thinly (~1/4 inch).
3. Layer in jar: citron, honey, citron, honey.
4. Seal, store in a cool/dark place for a minimum of 2 weeks. Longer is better.
5. Use throughout the year: in tea when sick, as medicine, as a blessing.
THE PRACTICE
What knowledge did your ancestors preserve for you?
Wisdom that kept them alive, Medicine, Languages, and Recipes?
What are you preserving for the next generation?
What do you know that must outlast you?
Next week: We solved a couple of your mysteries. Also, why do survivors of persecution marry people who perpetuate harm? I turn to my father’s family line - Holocaust survivors - and the pattern repeats.
How Can I Help?
What natural or historical technique do you want to learn next? Comment with your request—I'll add it to my list for future tutorials.
Have a mystery? My friend and I can help. No charge. We just love a good story.
Find me on Substack: https://enidly.substack.com/
Enid Baxter Ryce is the author of the books Plant Magic at Home, Ancient Spells and Incantations, The Borderlands Tarot, and the forthcoming Grace Flows Through You. Her artwork has been exhibited at the National Gallery of Art, the Getty, and the Library of Congress. She's a professor at CSU Monterey Bay, a fellow of the Sephardic Stories Initiative, and makes her art supplies from plants in her garden.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
Jewish Encyclopedia: “Domus Conversorum” - Full history 1232-1608
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/232 - Geneological study of Jewish Heritage found in Early Colonial America
Salem Witch Trial Documents: - Salem Witch Papers No. 078: George Jacobs Sr. - Trial examination, May 10, 1692 - Salem Witch Papers No. 079: George Jacobs Jr. - Arrest warrant and flight - Salem Witch Papers No. 080: Margaret Jacobs - Confession, recantation, letter from prison - Salem Witch Papers No. 081: Rebecca Jacobs - Arrest and examination - Robert Calef, More Wonders of the Invisible World (1700) - Contemporary account
Genealogical Records: - St. Dunstan-in-the-West baptismal register, February 13, 1609 - George Jacobs Sr. will, January 29, 1692 and August 12, 1692 (Essex County probate)
