Mendes, Benveniste, de Luna, Micas, Nasci: The State of the Art (1532-1558)
This study begins with the appearance in 1994 of two recently discovered letters from the queen and king of Portugal to Emperor Charles V, lord of the Netherlands, concerning the arrest in Antwerp of Diogo Mendes on the counts of Judaizing, aiding and abetting the emigration of Portuguese New Christ...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
1998
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1998, Volume: 88, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 135-211 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study begins with the appearance in 1994 of two recently discovered letters from the queen and king of Portugal to Emperor Charles V, lord of the Netherlands, concerning the arrest in Antwerp of Diogo Mendes on the counts of Judaizing, aiding and abetting the emigration of Portuguese New Christians to the Ottoman Empire, and monopolizing the spice trade. The letters are dated respectively August 26 and August 28, 1532, when the Inquisition was being introduced into Portugal. Yet the Portuguese monarchs plead, seemingly wholeheartedly, with the emperor Charles V on behalf of Diogo Mendes. Diogo Mendes was the principal member of a consortium that annually purchased Portugal's entire pepper and spice import from the Portuguese Crown. Since that year's sum had not yet been paid, liquidation of the Mendes assets would have dealt a crippling blow to the Portuguese economy. The Portuguese monarchs use the Spanish-Jewish family name Benveniste to designate Diogo's elder brother Francisco Mendes, for whom they profess the highest regard. Francisco was the husband of Beatriz de Luna, later known as Gracia Nasci. Starting with an analysis of the royal letters, the study investigates the various names by which Gracia Nasci and her family were known, situating them in their historic, social and religious context and, further, examines the complex epic of Gracia Nasci and her family as they moved from Portugal to the Netherlands, Italy, and finally the Ottoman Empire. The study is followed by two genealogical charts of the Benveniste family, intended in the first place to disentangle two distinct Portuguese branches, whose travels and interests to some extent coincided but who remained aloof from each other, and, secondly, to illustrate the in-breeding characteristic of the Mendes-Benveniste-Nasci-de Luna clan, the full extent of which has not yet been brought to light. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Reference: | Errata "Addenda et Corrigenda: Mendes, Benveniste, de Luna, Micas, Nasci: The State of the Art (1532-1558) (1999)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1454662 |