Susana Bastos Mateus and Yaacov Gladstone at the entrance to the Alberto Benveniste Chair of Sephardic Studies at the University of Lisbon

Flight and resistance of the New Christians of Riba-Côa in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, some examples. (Portuguese text below)

Susana Bastos Mateus, PHD student and lecturer at Alberto Benveniste Chair of Sephardic Studies, University of Lisbon
(translated by mlopesazevedo and alexandre teixeira mendes)

The Jewish presence in the lands of Riba-Côa is well documented throughout the
Medieval period. A good example of this ancient reality is found in Foros de Castelo Rodrigo masterly studied by Luis F. Lindley Cintra. Articulated in this text dating from the XIII century, there are many references to the Jewish presence. Some of the titles include, A Jew who buys fish…To know a Jew…Meat that Jew slaughters. (the latter, referring to the prohibition of selling meat slaughtered by Jews)

With the expulsion of Jews from Castela in 1492, their numbers in this border region must have certainly increased. Maria Pimento Ferro Tavares refers to a significant increase in the Jewish communities throughout the 15^th century, preferring the border districts of Beira and between the Tejo and Odiana (p.74).

With the forced conversion of Portuguese Jews during the reign of D. Manuel, this region presented with an elevated number of New Christians, an always fluctuating number due to the great porosity of the border.

The elevated presence of New Christians in this region, many of whom were merchants circulating throughout various localities, including Castela, made this region a target for the tribunal of the Holy office. In this way, similar to the reasoning behind the visit of Jeronimo de Sousa (Inquisition official) in 1583, to Guimarães, Mesão Frio, Vila Real, Torre de Moncorvo, Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mogadouro, the region of Riba-Côa also suffered an inquisitorial visitation by Mateus Pereira da Sá in 1587, traveling to Mata de Lobos, Escarigo, Aldeia da Ponte and Vilar Torpim. Unfortunately, as referred to by Elvira Mea, the documentation of this visitation is very fragmented, which impedes analysis and comparative study. Nevertheless, this inquisitorial action clearly fits in the strategy of the Holy Office to control the more distant territories of the realm, all carried out with the complicitous collaboration of local ecclesiastical authorities.

Already by the middle of the 17^th century, this region was again the target of inquisitorial activity. In 1627, Diogo de Sousa visited a larger territory; Viseu, S. Pedro Sul, Trancoso, Pinhel, Almeida, Vilar Torpim and Torre de Moncorvo. Francisco Bethencourt points out the importance of these visitations to the repressive inquisitorial machinery, …now that the “visitadores” no longer limit themselves to covering the principal towns and cities, including in their itineraries the most peripheral villages… (p.6)

What strategies did the New Christians use to guarantee their survival and improve their living conditions in a region such as this, which suffered intense systematic inquisitorial control on one hand , and on the other, pillaging and destruction caused by the wars with Castella, namely the war of Restoration (1640)?

Proximity to the border permitted this community to establish trans-border networks, especially concerning trade. Also, its geographic position unequivocally facilitated the opportunity for escaping. Pilar Huerga Criado studied the relations established in the border region, tracing the footsteps of some of the Portuguese New Christians in Castela. One of his conclusions shows that Portuguese New Christians from Riba-Cõa preferred to establish themselves in Cuidad Rodrigo, which became a base for their commercial activity. A study of the Spanish inquisition archives, especially from the tribunal of Llerena, would allow a better understanding of the lives and social intercourse of these Portuguese New Christians in Castilian territory.

Notwithstanding, the New Christians of Riba-Côa did not limit themselves to crossing the border, their travels show them to be far more varied and ambitious. Their dual objective of fleeing inquisitorial persecution and searching for new opportunities, carried these men and women far a field from their native land.

Through the study of some of the cases from the Tribunal of the Holy Office in Lisbon, we can verify the significant number of individuals from Riba Côa in Brazilian territory. The examples are very diverse, indicating various motives for crossing the Atlantic. Lets examine some cases.

On June 17, 1731, Antonio Rodrigues Campos was reconciled in Lisbon, being a native of the town of Almeida. He lived in a place called Irará, within the limits of the town of Santo Amaro do Porto de Nossa Senhora da Purificação, Archbishopric of Baia. He was married to Leonor Henriques and cultivated “mandioca” (manioc) and tobacco. Also, in 1731, Antonio da Silva was denounced. He had been a resident of Escalhão and had passed through Minas. He was single and certainly had left in search of fortune.

In the first decade of the 18^th century, there appears various denunciations against the Nunes de Miranda family. The first members of this family are from Almeida, and the younger generations are already natives of Castelo Rodrigo and Vilar Torpim (as in the cases of the brothers Francisco Miranda and Manuel Nunes Bernal). A significant number of family members are scattered throughout lands of Brazil, in Baia and in Rio de Janeiro. It is a curiosity to discover that some of the denunciations were made by relatives imprisoned by the inquisition in Llerena, which demonstrates well the family dispersion and diversity of travels.

A paradgmatical case is of the businessman Manuel de Albuquerque e Aguilar, imprisoned on November 13, 1731 and who appeared in the auto of July 6, 1732 in Lisbon. He was a native of the town of Castelo Rodrigo and a resident of Minas de Ouro Preto, bishopric of Rio de Janeiro, where he was a major diamond merchant. His example is so significant, due to the large fortune he achieved in Brazil, that it merits its own study. Notwithstanding his vast wealth, his case fits in perfectly in this movement of New Christians from Riba-Côa in flight or in search of new opportunities.

Fugas e resistências dos cristãos novos de Riba-Côa nos séculos XVI a XVIII. Alguns exemplos.

Susana Bastos Mateus

A presença judaica em terras de Riba-Côa está plenamente atestada pela documentação, ao longo de toda a época medieval. Um bom exemplo desta antiquíssima realidade encontra-se nos Foros de Castelo Rodrigo, estudados de forma magistral por Luís F. Lindley Cintra. No articulado deste texto, datado do século XIII, encontramos diversas referências à presença judaica. Vejamos alguns dos títulos: “Judeo que pescado conprare”, “Qui auer conoscir a iudeo” ou “Carne que iudeo matar” (este último, referindo-se à proibição de se vender carne de animais abatidos por judeus nas carniçarias).

Com a expulsão dos judeus de Castela, em 1492, o seu número nesta região tão próxima da fronteira entre os dois reinos terá certamente aumentado de forma muito significativa. De facto, Maria José Ferro Tavares refere um crescimento significativo das comunas ao longo de todo o século XV. Diz esta autora que “(...) a fixação deste povo em território português é, ao longo do século XV, desproporcional, acentuando-se a sua preferência pelos lugares fronteiriços das comarcas da Beira e Entre Tejo e Odiana” (p. 74).

Com o processo de conversão forçada dos judeus portugueses, durante o reinado de D. Manuel, esta região passou a apresentar um elevado número de cristãos-novos, um número que seria sempre muito fluído devido ao elevado grau de porosidade da fronteira.

A elevada presença de cristãos-novos nesta região, muitos dos quais mercadores que circulavam por várias localidades, incluindo em Castela, transformou-a num alvo de alguma importância para o Tribunal do Santo Ofício. Deste modo, na mesma lógica que presidiu à visita de Jerónimo de Sousa a Guimarães, Mesão Frio, Vila Real, Torre de Moncorvo, Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mogadouro, em 1583, também a região de Riba-Côa vai sofrer uma visitação inquisitorial, feita por Mateus Pereira de Sá em 1587, percorrendo as localidades de Mata de Lobos, Escarigo, Aldeia da Ponte e Vilar Torpim. Infelizmente, tal como já foi referido por Elvira Mea, a documentação relativa a esta visita encontra-se muito fragmentada o que dificulta a análise e estudos comparativos. No entanto, esta acção inquisitorial insere-se claramente numa estratégia do Santo Ofício para controlar os territórios mais distantes do reino, tudo efectuado em estreita colaboração com as autoridades eclesiásticas locais.

Já em pleno século XVII, esta região será novamente alvo da actuação inquisitorial. Desta feita, em 1627, Diogo de Sousa visitará uma território mais vasto: Viseu, S. Pedro do Sul, Trancoso, Pinhel, Almeida, Vilar Torpim e Torre de Moncorvo. Francisco Bethencourt salienta a importância destas visitações para o aparelho repressivo inquisitorial, “(...) já que os visitadores não se limitam a percorrer as principais vilas e cidades, incluindo nos seus itinerários as aldeias mais periféricas” (p. 6).

Numa região que, como vimos, sofria de forma sistemática um controlo inquisitorial mais intenso e que, por outro lado, sofreu vários saques e destruições provocadas pelas guerras com Castela, nomeadamente durante a guerra da Restauração, quais eram as estratégias utilizadas pelos cristãos novos para garantirem a sua sobrevivência e para melhorarem as suas condições de vida?

A proximidade da fronteira possibilitou a estas gentes o estabelecimento de redes transfronteiriças, principalmente no tocante ao comércio. Por outro lado, esta situação geográfica, facilitava de forma inequívoca as hipóteses de fuga. Pilar Huerga Criado estudou as relações estabelecidas na zona de fronteira, acompanhando alguns percursos de cristãos novos portugueses em terras de Castela. Uma das suas conclusões mostra a preferência dos cristãos novos portugueses, oriundos de Riba-Côa, em se estabelecerem em Ciudad Rodrigo, passando esta localidade a servir de base às suas actividades comerciais. O estudo dos arquivos inquisitoriais espanhóis, principalmente os do tribunal de Llerena, permitirá conhecer melhor as vivências e as redes de sociabilidade destes cristãos novos portugueses em território castelhano.

No entanto, os cristãos novos de Riba-Côa não se limitaram a passar a fronteira, os seus percursos revelam-se muito mais diversificados e ambiciosos. O seu objectivo duplo de fuga à perseguição inquisitorial e procura de novas oportunidades, levou estes homens e mulheres a destinos muito mais distantes da sua terra de origem.

Através do estudo de alguns processos do Tribunal do Santo Ofício de Lisboa, podemos verificar o número significativo de indivíduos oriundos de Riba-Côa em terras Brasileiras. Os exemplos são muito diversificados, mostrando que várias motivações estiveram na base da travessia do Atlântico. Vejamos alguns casos.

Em 17 de Junho de 1731, era reconciliado em Lisboa, António Rodrigues Campos, sendo originário da vila de Almeida, morava no sítio de Irará, termo da vila de Santo Amaro do Porto de Nossa Senhora da Purificação , Arcebispado da Baía, era casado com Leonor Henriques e dedicava-se ao cultivo da mandioca e do tabaco.

Também em 1731, foi denunciado António da Silva, morador em Escalhão que tinha passado para as Minas, era solteiro e certamente partira em busca de riqueza.

Nas primeiras décadas do século XVIII aparecem várias denúncias feitas contra a família Nunes de Miranda. Os primeiros elementos desta família são oriundos de Almeida, as gerações mais novas já são naturais de Castelo Rodrigo e Vilar Torpim (é o caso dos irmãos Francisco Miranda e Manuel Nunes Bernar). Um número muito significativo de elementos desta família estará espalhado por terras brasileiras, na Baía e no Rio de Janeiro. É curioso verificar que algumas das denúncias foram feitas por familiares presos pela inquisição de Llerena, o que mostra bem a dispersão familiar e a diversidade de percursos.

Um caso paradigmático é o do homem de negócios Manuel de Albuquerque e Aguilar, preso em 13 de Novembro de 1731 e que saiu no auto de 6 de Julho de 1732, em Lisboa. Era natural da vila de Castelo Rodrigo e morador nas Minas de Ouro Preto, Bispado do Rio de Janeiro, onde era um grande comerciante de diamantes. O seu exemplo é tão significativo, dada a grande fortuna que conseguirá alcançar no Brasil, que o merecerá um estudo próprio. No entanto, apesar dessa fortuna, o seu caso inscreve-se perfeitamente nesta movimentação dos cristãos novos de Riba-Côa, em fuga ou em busca de novas oportunidades de vida.

Bibliografia.

Fontes.

A.N.T.T., Inquisição de Coimbra, Livro 662.

Estudos.

BETHENCOURT, Francisco; Inquisição e Controlo Social, separata de História & Crítica, nº14, Lisboa, Junho, 1987.

CINTRA, Luís F. Lindley; A Linguagem dos Foros de Castelo Rodrigo, Lisboa, INCM, [s.d.].

HUERGA CRIADO, Pilar; En la Raya de Portugal. Solidaridad y tensiones en la comunidad judeoconversa, Salamanca, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1994.

MEA, Elvira Cunha de Azevedo; A Inquisição de Coimbra no século XVI. A Instituição, os Homens e a Sociedade, Porto, Fundação Eng.º António de Ameida, 1997.

NOVINSKY, Anita; Inquisição. Rol de Culpados. Fontes para a História do Brasil (século XVIII), Rio de Janeiro, Expressão e Cultura, 1992.

SILVA, José J.; Monografia do Concelho de Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Gouveia, 1992.

TAVARES, Maria José Pimenta Ferro; Os Judeus em Portugal no século XV, vol. I, Lisboa, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1982.

How Portuguese Secret Jews (Marranos) Saved England

mlopesazevedo

Last year England celebrated the 350th anniversary of the re-admission of Jews after their expulsion in 1290. In 1656 rabbi Menasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, born Manuel Dias Soeiro in Portugal, the son of a New Christian nail vendor, convinced Oliver Cromwell it would be just and profitable to allow Jews to return to England. Although Cromwell’s formal request to Parliament failed and Manasseh died a broken man, Jews did indeed acquire the right to live, work and worship in England, based on the ubiquitous English legal tradition of precedent ( the arrest and seizure of the property of Antonio Rodrigues Robles was reversed on the grounds that he was not a Spanish Catholic but a Portuguese Jew-England was then at war with Spain). Accordingly, by precedent, Portuguese Jews were safe.
Portugal and England have the longest enduring alliance in the world, starting in 1386 with the marriage of John I of Portugal to a cousin of Richard III, Philipa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The marriage cemented the alliance against a common enemy, Castile. While England’s rescue of Portugal from the Napoleonic invasions is generally well known, England’s salvation by crafty Portuguese secret Jews has been kept a secret.
Until recently it was believed that there were no Jews in England between 1290 and 1656 but as revealed by the distinguished historian, Cecil Roth, in the History of the Jews in England, Portuguese secret Jews masquerading sometimes as Catholics, other times as Protestants (Marranos) settled in England during the reigns of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
In 1492, the Sephardic Jews (i.e. Iberian as contrasted with Ashkenazi from Germany/Poland; see Obadiah, verse 20 for biblical reference to Sepharad) were expelled from newly created Spain. Portugal, already a unified nation for more than 300 years did not follow suit although King Manuel, under duress by his future Spanish mother- in-law, in December 1496 ordered the Sephardim of Portugal to leave within ten months. However, the king had no intention of ever letting go of his most creative and learned subjects. Using devious means such as removing children under 14 years of age from their parents to be raised by Christian families, the king forced approximately one fifth of the population to convert to Christianity. Those that resisted were simply dragged by their hair to baptismal founts in Lisbon while they waited for promised ships that never arrived. A handful, such as Abraham Zacuto, the King’s astronomer who developed the nautical tables relied on by Vasco da Gama to find a sea route to India, managed to get out.
The king assumed that the forced ones, Anousim in Hebrew would be assimilated within a generation. He even promised not to inquire into their private religious practices for twenty years, which he later extended. However, the Marranos, outwardly Catholic, remained Jews in their hearts, secretly observing essential Judaism to the twentieth century, despite 300 years of persecution by the Inquisition.
The Spanish expulsion of 1492 caused great suffering and dislocation, including a huge rise in the number of Jews immigrating to Portugal as described by Samuel Usque in Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, published in Portuguese at Ferrara in 1553, a foundational work of Portuguese literature. In 1506, fanatical Dominican monks led an unruly mob through the streets of Lisbon for three days of devastation, plundering and killing two to four thousand New Christians who were blamed for every misfortune in the land. In response, the king hung the Dominican friars and removed travel restrictions imposed on New Christians. Soon a steady stream of the wealthy and educated Marranos started leaving Portugal, settling in Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Rouen, Leghorn, Naples, Bristol, London, and Dublin, before moving on to the New World in the 17th century.
In 1512, the House of Mendes monopoly of the pepper trade enabled it to open a branch office in Antwerp. The heir to the stupendous fortune, recently widowed Dona Gracia Mendes, aka Beatrice de La Luna (the Senhora), the most adored woman in the Marrano world (see The Woman who defied Kings, by Andree Brooks) passed through Bristol in 1537 during her flight from Lisbon to assist her brother-in-law Diogo Mendes in Antwerp. Mendes had an agent in England and financed not only Henry the VIII, but also, John III of Portugal, Francis I of France, Charles V, (un)Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Maximilian (Charles’ grandfather), Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara. In 1532, Henry VIII intervened personally on Diogo’s behalf when Charles V arrested him in Antwerp on charges of Judaizing.
Diogo Mendes’ agent in the ports of Southampton and Plymouth was instrumental in forming a small but vibrant community in Bristol, which held regular secret religious services in the house of one Alves Lopes. One of its members, Dionsio Rodrigues had a distinguished court clientele and had been a former physician to the royal court in Portugal. He was burned in effigy by the inquisition in Lisbon
In 1540, Gaspar Lopes, a cousin of Diogo Mendes, was arrested in Milan and compromised the fledging Bristol community. In 1542 the Privy Council ordered the arrest of certain Merchant Strangers and their property. Despite the intervention of the queen regent of the Netherlands, many left although some of the Marranos in London remained, including Martin and Francisco Lopes, uncles of Michel Montaigne on his mother’s side. During the reign of Edward VI the Bristol community revived and included the surgeon Antonio Brandao of Santarem, a nephew of the illustrious medical analyst and author, Amatus Lusitanus (Joao de Rodrigo de Castelo Branco). Beatrice Fernandes, wife of Dr. Henriques Nunes, led secret religious services in her house. However, with the reaction against the Reformation under Mary, the ostensible Catholics once again scattered.
The commercial expansion under Queen Elizabeth and the overthrow of Mary’s Catholicism ushered in a new era. The Marranos were back with a hundred or more members in London. Jorge Anes (anglicized as Ames) and family had been in London since 1521. One of his sons commanded an English garrison in Ireland where he became mayor. Another son, Dunstan was a purveyor to the Queen. Their sister Sarah married Rodrigo Lopes who was the Queen’s doctor. He was the first house physician appointed at St. Bartholomew’s hospital. Unfortunately, he was caught in political intrigue between Spain and Dom Antonio, the claimant to the Portuguese throne (son of Violante Gomes, a New Christian), and was unjustly hung for treason at Tyburn on June 7th, 1594. During the four month trial anti-Semitism reached its apogee, with published rumours that the Jews wanted to buy St. Paul’s cathedral to convert it into a synagogue! Cecil Roth attributes Marlowe’s Jew of Malta and Shakespeare’s Shylock to the fate of Lopez.
The Marranos of London, including, the shipping magnate and arms supplier to Parliament, Antonio Fernando Carvajal a native of Fundao, Francisco Lopes D’Azevedo, the Spinoza family agent, and the Lopes brothers, were outwardly Protestants, but collected money for a hidden synagogue in Antwerp. They held Jewish religious services in secret near the Tower of London. With an extensive network of family ties, Marranos established trade routes between the New and Old worlds, especially in sugar, timber, coffee and tobacco as well as precious stones and spices from the orient. London replaced Lisbon as the diamond centre of the world. (See The Coffee Trader and Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss and The First Global Village, How Portugal Changed the World, Martin Page).
By 1585, Protestant England was at war with Catholic Spain, which had annexed Portugal in 1580. The Spanish king claimed his cousin’s crown when the unmarried Portuguese monarch was killed at the ill-fated battle of Alcacer-Quibir in Morocco. The combined crown lasted until 1640. Phillip the II of Spain, a devout Catholic who had been spurned by Elizabeth the Ist, was intent on doing the Pope’s bidding, re-instating Catholicism in England. Preparations for a massive invasion started.
Hector Nunes was born of New Christian parents in Evora, around 1520, after the forced baptism but before the onset of the Inquisition in Portugal. He attended Coimbra University, as a Catholic of course, and graduated in medicine in 1543. By then the Inquisition had started its monstrous work, especially in Evora. He immediately fled to England to join his family. At first engaged in trade, he was eventually certified by the Royal College of Physicians and even elected Censor of the College in 1562. He became a highly sought after physician, treating the likes of Lord and Lady Burlghey and Sir John Penott, Lord Deputy of Ireland.
He was soon providing Burghley and queen Elizabeth’s Ministers, notably the principal secretary Walsingham, intelligence information on Spanish military and naval movements. Nunes' large scale trading was a perfect cover for his espionage activities. The wily Nunes even corresponded directly with Phillip the Catholic. He had an extensive network of informants including his own brother-in-law in Madrid who was later arrested. Roth notes that Nunes was so important to the government that the Privy Council protected him from creditors. He was appointed as a special commissioner in insurance cases. He was treated unlike any other Portuguese merchant of the period.
On May 30th, 1588, the ‘Invincible’ Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon to invade England with approximately 140 ships, 25, 000 men and 180 priests. They were intent on taking England in the name of Catholicism and root out Protestantism. They had the Pope’s blessing.
Unbeknownst to the commander of the Spanish fleet, one of Nunes’ ships from Lisbon contained more than salt and figs. It is said that Nunes was in the middle of supper when he received the despatch with the news of the Armada’s departure. He arose from his half eaten dinner, and headed straight to Walsingthams house with the news. England was ready for the Spanish invasion. Less than 70 Spanish ships limped back home. Not only was England saved, but also the defeat of the ‘Invincible’ Spanish Catholic Armada had significant military, political, and religious importance for years to come. The power of the Pope and the Catholic Church were curbed and the way opened for Manasseh’s ultimatel successful plea to Cromwell entitled, To his Highnesse the Lord protector of the Common-wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Humble Addresses of Menasseh ben Israel, a Divine, and Doctor of Physick, in behalfe of the Jewish nation.

THE OLIVAL JUDIARIA-PORTO
mlopesazevedo

King John the Ist (Father of Henry the Navigator) created the Olival Judiaria in 1386. It was the new Judiaria, there probably
having been two previous Judiarias within the city
walls and two outside the city wall, ( Miragaia,
which still has 'Stairs of the Jews, Patio of the Jews and
Street of the Jews, and Monchique in which Captain
Barros Basto claimed to have found the remains of the
Synagogue. Around 1826, a stone from the
Synagogue was found which is today in the Carmo archaeological
Museum of Lisbon. I believe it dates from the 14th
Century.
Now back to Olival. It is significant for a number
of reasons. It was here, on Rua de Sao Miguel that
Gabriel da Costa (Uriel Acosta) was born,
grandson of one of the thirty wealthy families that
settled in the Judiaria in 1492 upon their expulsion
from Castile. Gaon Aboab (the grand rabbi of Castile), who died shortly thereafter negotiated the deal with King John the 2nd (each
family paid 10,000 ducats (?) when the usual charge
for fleeing Jews entering Portugal was eight,
half or less if the person was skilled in the arms
industry-i.e. Blacksmiths, tinsmiths etc). King John
built thirty houses for the newcomers who had agreed to
pave the street.
Da Costa committed suicide in Amsterdam in 1640 following his expulsion from the Esnoga for denying the immortality of the soul. Spinoza (Bento de Espinoza) was eight years old). Da Costa is
often referred to as the worlds first secular Jew. All
copies of the book he published were burned, except
for one copy found by H.P. Solomon in 1989 in the
Royal Danish Library, the subject of a book by the
same author reproducing Da Costa's manuscript( written
in Portuguese) with an English translation and
an extensive introduction) .
Another reason for the importance of this Judiaria is
the discovery by a priest last year, at Number 9, Rua
de Sao Miguel, a hidden stone niche for placing the
Torah scrolls (ekhal) behind a wall during the renovation of
the building for seniors facility. The ekhal has been dated to the 16th
century.
Behind the three storey house and going down
towards the old port is the "Escadas da Sinagoga", ie
the stairs of the synagogue (essentially a narrow lane
consisting of a stone staircase), still marked to this
day. It was a quick route to a waiting ship.
The discovery has been reported worldwide
including the New York Times and Israel. The
seniors centre is set to open at the end of the year.
According to the local priest, Father Jardim, the ekhal will be
protected with either a plastic cover or curtain. For
now, a guest book is maintained for all visitors to
sign. He is willing to move the seniors centre to
other premises if the society he created is suitably
compensated.
Nearby, on Rua da Vitoria is the former monastery of Sao Bento, now occupied by the Porto orchestra. Some local historians believe
this is where the original synagogue was. There are
two churches in the Olival. There are virtually no markings of
this great historical area, which incidentally, does
not form part of the nearby Unesco designated world
heritage site. The area is starting to be
re-developed.
In my opinion, it is necessary to act now to
achieve the following:
1. The return of no. 9 Rua de Sao Miguel to the
Jewish-Marrano community,
2. Designate the entire area of Olival as protected
world heritage site. And
3. Erect appropriate signage.

THE HISTORY OF THE MARRANOS OF PORTUGAL IN A NUTSHELL

mlopesazevedo, http://www.ladina.blogspot.com

The Jews of Portugal pre-date the founding of the nation in 1143. When Afonso conquered Lisbon from the Moors in 1147, there already existed thriving Jewish communities in Iberia (Sepharad), perhaps dating as far back as the time of King Solomon. Afonso welcomed his Jewish subjects and appointed Yahia ben Yahi, the chief rabbi of Santarem, as his treasurer, tax collector, and chief rabbi of the newly formed nation state, Portugal.
Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) enjoyed unparalleled freedom, wealth and power. They occupied key positions in government, academia, and commerce, and especially the professions of medicine, science and law. Even when Hebrew was later prohibited, doctors could continue to possess Hebrew books. Places of worship and schools flourished. Jews established the first printing presses in Portugal at Faro, Lisbon and Leiria. The first eleven books printed in Portugal were in Hebrew. The nautical charts of Abraham Zacuto guided Vasco da Gama to India. Portugal even accepted over 100,000 Spanish Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, albeit with conditions.
Following the death of King John II in 1495, his successor, Manuel sought to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabel. As a condition of their consent to the wedding, the Catholic monarchs of the newly created country of Spain demanded the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal as they had done in 1492. Accordingly, on or about the 5th of December of 1496 king Manuel ordered Jews and Muslims to leave Portugal by October of 1497. He permitted the Muslims to leave but he had no intention of allowing the Jews to do so.
The scheming Manuel, coveting the Spanish throne, did not want to lose his most learned, creative and productive subjects, not to mention his personal physician, tailor, royal mathematician, royal astronomer, his government financiers, etc. He encouraged “his” Jews to convert to Christianity. He tried to persuade and cajole them, even bringing converted rabbis from Spain to preach to them. When his impatience grew, he took away their children to be raised by Catholic families, but if they converted, the families would remain intact. Of the stubborn lot of over 20,000 who held out until the end, he ordered that they assemble in the "Estaus" (Os Estãos) palace, today’s national theatre at the north end of the Rossio in downtown Lisbon. The promised ships never arrived to ferry the Jews away. First the King withheld food and water from the assembled for three days, after which he ordered them all baptized, even if Church elders protested! Only a handful of Jews were permitted to leave, such as Abraham Zacuto, the King’s physician.
Henceforth there were supposedly no more Jews in Portugal, only Christians, Old and New. King Manuel ordered the confiscation of all synagogues and their contents. Yeshivas, kosher producing facilities and all communal property were seized. .Hebrew books were prohibited and ordered to be deposited in the synagogues. Contrary to some reports, the books were not burned, Manuel may have been cruel, but he was not stupid. He sold the valuable Hebrew manuscripts, many brought to Portugal in 1492. The books turned up in places such as North Africa and Goa. Many synagogues were converted into churches, including the grand synagogue of Lisbon which was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1755. Many contemporary Misericordia churches are former synagogues such as the Misericordia chapel in Vila Real or the Misericordia church in Leiria.
Following the forced baptism, the King encouraged marriages between Old Christians who had titles and “pure blood” and New Christians. He prohibited the inter-marriage of New Christians. There would be no inquiry as to the religious practices of New Christians in their private homes for 20 years but they were not free to leave the realm. However, following the Lisbon massacre of 1506, when two to four thousand New Christian men, women and children, were slaughtered over a period of three days, (see The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler), the King extended the 20 year period and removed many disabilities such as the ability to emigrate or the prohibition on inter-marriage.
The Lisbon massacre, the subject of a recent book by Susana Mateus Basto and Paulo Mendes of the Alberto Benveniste Centre for Sephardic Studies and Culture at the University of Lisbon, signalled a failure of King Manuel’s policy of integration. Most of the New Christians, outwardly Catholic, had remained Jewish in their hearts. The New Christian secret Jews became known as Marranos, from the Portuguese "marrar", i.e. forced, or from the Aramaic-Hebrew Mar Anus, a forced one, like the widely used Hebrew term today, Anousim, although some historians claim the once pejorative term derives from the Castilian term for swine.

Distressed at the growing rift between New and Old Christians, the King sought permission from Rome to introduce the Inquisition has had been done in Spain in the late 15th century. However, Marrano bribes paid to high ranking Church officials in Rome, including Cardinals and no doubt the Pope himself, thwarted the introduction of the Inquisition in Portugal until 1535 and although the first auto de fe was held in 1540, the Inquisition did not get into full swing until 1580, thus enabling several generations of Marranos to develop a unique secret Portuguese Jewish culture.

The ambiguous Portuguese Marranos became known throughout Europe as "Men of the Nation". Being Portuguese in 16th century in Europe was synonymous with being Jewish. The Marranos established flourishing Jewish communities in Amsterdam, Bordeaux, London, Hamburg, Venice, Livorno, Salonica, and Constantinople, amongst others. In the New World, the relatively small number of Marranos established communities in Brazil, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Newport Rhode Island, as well as the Caribbean Islands. The success of the American war of Independence owes its success to the financial and material aid provided by the Marranos, then openly professing their Judaism, such as the money and ships provided to George Washington by Aaron Lopez, the wealthiest merchant of the thirteen colonies, born Duarte Lopez in Lisbon.
The Marranos prospered both in business and government wherever they went. It was a the son of a Marrano, rabbi Manasseh ben Israel (Manuel Dias Soeiro) of Amsterdam, born in Lisbon or Madeira, who convinced Oliver Cromwell in 1656 to allow Jews back into England. The Marranos established the coffee, diamond and tulip industries in Amsterdam (see Coffee Trader by David Liss). They were instrumental in establishing the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, London and New York (see the Paper Conspiracy, also by David Liss). They controlled the sugar and tobacco industries, and regrettably were involved in slavery, amassing huge fortunes.

This rising merchant class created the world’s first truly global Empire (see The First Global Village, How Portugal Changed the World by Martin Page, now in its 8th edition). Lisbon became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. However, not even the huge bribes paid to the pope and cardinals could keep the Inquisition at bay forever. (see History of the Marranos by Cecil Roth or Andree Brooks biography of Dona Gracia Mendes Nasci, the wealthiest banker of Europe). With the onset of the Inquisition, many of the wealthy Marranos left Portugal, contributing to the decline of Portugal. The poor Marranos, the old and infirm had no option but to remain, becoming even more secretive. Thousands were burned at the stake, including most of the leading intellectuals of the University of Coimbra in the early 17th century. Even Antonio Homem, the chancellor of the University and an advisor to the pope was burned alive in 1624 (he also happened to be a Marrano rabbi). The ones that left established the oldest extant synagogues in the U.S.A; England, and Holland, Touro synagogue, Newport, R.I; 1762 (founded in1658), Bevis Marks synagogue, London 1701 (founded 1656), and the Esnoga, Amsterdam, 1675 (amalgamated from three communities dating fro 1598). The Esnoga, undisturbed by the Nazis, stands as the model synagogue for the Western Sephardic world. Bevis Marks in London is a replica, one-quarter its size.

The philosophers Baruch Espinoza, Frances Sanches, Uriel Acosta, Montaigne, and David Ricardo were all Marrano descendants. So were rabbis Ben Israel and Aboab Fonseca, the first rabbi in the Americas (Recife, Brazil, 1635). The father of French impressionism, Camille Pissaro was descendant of a Marrano born in Bragança, in the Tras Montes region of Portugal. So too were les freres Peyrere (Pereira) of Bordeaux and later Paris, contemporaries and associates of the Rothchilds. Portugal has yet to recover from this extraordinary brain drain.
It was not until the liberal revolution of the early 19th century that the Inquisition was abolished. Although the Marquis of Pombal invited Jews back to Portugal at the end of the 18th century, very few took up his offer. Some Jews from North Africa and Gibraltar did establish communities in Lisbon, Faro, and the Azores in the 19th century but eventually disappeared. The only surviving remnant maintains a synagogue in Lisbon, Shaare Tikve, and recently a museum opened in the Faro Jewish cemetery.
However, to the surprise of many, indigenous Marranos did survive nearly 300 years of the Inquisition. In 1920, Samuel Schwarz, a Polish engineer working in Portugal, encountered a community of Marranos in the interior of Portugal (Belmonte) who had managed to preserve some of the secret rituals, including prayers, of their ancestors. At first distrustful and denying any Jewish connection, they opened up only after Schwartz recited a Hebrew prayer, in which one of the women elders (women handed down the secret prayers from generation to generation) recognized the Hebrew word, Adonai.. Today Belmonte boasts a modern new synagogue and professional Jewish museum.
About the same time as Schwartz learned of the Marranos of Belmonte, Captain Barros Basto, a decorated World War I veteran founded a synagogue for Marranos, the Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto on the second floor above a store. This charismatic army captain embarked on campaign to convince Marranos to return openly to normative Judaism. In full uniform, sometime on horseback, he travelled the isolated communities of Tras Montes and Beiras, founding several Jewish communities, including Bragança, Covilha and Pinhel. Some estimate his adherents at the time upwards of 10,000. Cecil Roth, who first met him in 1926, described Basto as the most charismatic man he had ever met. In 1930 Roth published the Apostle of the Marranos, a short biographical monogram translated into French. Roth’s pioneering classic, History of the Marranos, published shortly thereafter owes much to the Captain’s infectious enthusiasm.
The Captain was a visionary leader. In the middle of the depression and in face of the wave of anti-Semitism in Europe, and with the financial help of the descendants of the Marrano Diaspora in New York, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Hamburg and the Kadoorie family of Shanghai, the Captain built a huge magnificent synagogue in Porto, which he dubbed, "the Cathedral of the North". He wanted to make sure no Marrano would feel ashamed walking into a synagogue. He would impress them. It would be a source of pride and a beacon of strength to all the Marranos of Portugal, especially in the north. While the Nazis were destroying synagogues throughout Europe, and the students of the German college next door were throwing rocks at the windows of the newly built synagogue, one man stood up and built a lasting memorial to the Marrano legacy. He is a true hero.
It did not take long for the Catholic Church to respond. They built a bigger church, in the same architectural style as the synagogue, just up the road. Teachers and doctors who had adhered to the Captain’s call suddenly had no students or patients. There were mischievous public demonstrations against the presence of synagogues in the provinces. The totalitarian government led by Salazar in Lisbon was not too enamoured with the Captain, who had hoisted the Republican flag in Porto in 1910. The powerful enemies of the Captain organized a campaign to destroy him. He died a broken man and the Marranos once again withdrew into obscurity. (see Barros Basto, the Marrano Mirage by Alexandre Teixeira Mendes, forthcoming, www.Ladina.com)
However, the story is not over. Today, following the visit of the Sefardi chief rabbi Shlomo Amar to the Mekor Haim Kaddoorie synagogue in Porto in 2004, another Marrano renaissance is in the air. There are active Marrano, Conservative, Orthodox and Liberal communities in Porto, Belmonte and Lisbon. There is a nascent kosher industry producing wine and olive oil, including the first kosher port wine ever produced. Portugal’s first kosher restaurant will open shortly. Every month it seems, there is a new book published on Marrano Jewish history. There is now a Portuguese branch of Sefer publishers, one of the largest Jewish publishers in Brazil. The tanach was recently launched in Portugal. The first book on the Lisbon 1506 massacre of New Christians sold out quickly. There are new Jewish museums in Belmonte, Faro and Porto. Another two will open next year in Covilhã and Trancoso. Who knows, a yeshiva may be next. There is a future for Jews in Portugal; they did not die in vain. The Inquisition did not succeed.