Sephardic Ancestry: Uncovering the Family History of Jews of Spanish and Portuguese Descent is dedicated to uncovering the rich history of Sephardic Jews and their descendants (conversos, cristanos nuevoes, marranos, anusim, crypto-Jews)through rigorous archival research and scholarly methods.Led by Dr. Roger L. Martínez-Dávila, a Professor of History at the University of Colorado and former European Commission Marie Curie Fellow at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the research draws on over two decades of experience in more than fifty municipal, church, provincial, national, and papal archives across Europe, especially Spain and Portugul, and the Americas.
What sets this work apart is its foundation in paleography—the specialized skill of reading medieval manuscripts in Latin, Romance, and Germanic languages. Trained by renowned historian Dr. Carla Rahn Phillips, Dr. Martínez-Dávila is internationally recognized for his expertise in 12th–17th century handwriting, an expertise that enables him to authenticate and interpret original archival sources.
The research process combines peer-reviewed scholarship, systematic reviews of digital collections such as Spain’s Portal de Archivos Espanoles (PARES), Portugal’s Torre Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo (digitarq), and on-site manuscript analysis at institutions like the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid.
Through these methods, these resources offer descendants of Sephardic Jews a reliable, scholarly, and accessible pathway to rediscover their ancestral heritage.
Samples of Jewish and Converso Individuals Identified in Manuscripts
