Primary Source 1

A False Jew by Thomas Weld, 1653

In beginning my research, I was interested in how conversion could be different for Jewish men and women. While I didn't find any specific accounts of women converting, this text presented two interesting questions. This convoluted tale gives the testimony of a man who was found pretending to be a converted Jew and who later admitted to be a spy for the Vatican.
Thoughts it raised:
1) Part of the draw of this story for readers at the time seems to be the fact that a Jew was found to be speaking perfect English. Although this was later found to be non-applicable as he was lying about his identity, it calls into questions notions of English identity at the time. So much of England's view of self seemed to be tied into the idea of separateness from the continent, being above the taint of Catholicism and Judaism. It seemed they were astonished that a Jewish tongue was physically capable of perfect English pronunciation and speech. While few Jewish people at the time would have been able to speak English, given that they were expelled centuries earlier from England, the "proof" that there was nothing linguistically unique about English was troubling.
2) The willingness of this man to be circumcised is intriguing. Although it is rather common now, circumcision was only a mark of Jewishness at the time and was seen as akin to genital mutilation. In many ways, he was not only switching religions as he pleased, but was also blurring traditional views of masculinity. He became something without category, almost "queer" in the same sense as John Rykener is referred to by David Lorenzo Boyd and Ruth Mazo Karras.