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Archiver > AZORES > 1999-09 > 0936324534


From: "LUIS K. W." <>
Subject: [AZORES-L] Re: The first Pereira to the Azores
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 03:08:54 +0100


A little bit of History:
There are Jews in Portugal since probably 2000 BC.
Oh! I'm sorry. They probably were not called "jews" yet!
They kept coming (they surely came with the Greeks, with the/as Phenicians,
with the Romans, with the Germanic peoples, with the Arabes, etc.) during
ages.
Their "Sephardic" name means something like: the most Eastern (just like
"Iberian" for the Greeks, and "Algarve" for north-africans).

The "Discoveries" were (also) financed by merchants, many of thems were
Jews (I don't think they could be called "bankers").
They were expelled almost one century after Prince Henry (Infante Dom
Henrique).
If you ever take the Book of "Mercês" (Royal Grants) of Dom Joao II, and
open it in the first page, it starts by a lot of people called AARAN,
ABRAHAM, etc... :-)))).
Even after their "forced" (or faked??) conversion, king Manuel I made laws
protecting the "new-christians".
For instance: at least HALF of the leaders of the Goldsmiths Trade Union
HAD TO be "new-christians".

What is the convent sponsored by prince Henry?
I think that the Synagogue you saw in Tomar is the one that was built when
Abraham Zacuto (physician/doctor of king Joao II) was living there... i.e.,
before the "expulsion" of the Jews.

Luis
Lisboa-Portugal
----------
> From: Richard Matera <>
> It was interesting that you, Doug, mention how Jews "assumed" names
during
> the Inquisition/Expulsion period. I found similar situations researching
my
> Italian ancestors. The Italian Jews in the southern Kingdom of Naples
were
> connected to the Jews of Aragon. When they were forced to covert or be
> exiled in Italy, many converted for "appearances" and changed their names

> (in Italy, many Jews took town names). It was not uncommon for Jewish
> families to hide their Jewish faith by changing their names; and why not
a
> noble name!
> Another interesting experience I had was in 1972 when I visited Portugal.
My
> uncle and I went to Tomar to see the Convento there sponsored by Prince
> Henriques (Prince Henry the Navigator). Our guide mentioned that many of
the
> prince's financial backers were Jewish and that, even though the Jews
were
> officially expelled, there was a large Jewish community in Tomar. Later,
we
> visited the site reported to be a secret synagogue in Tomar.
> I have possible Jewish ancestors on my Matera line in Italy but it is
> extremely difficult to prove it. That is the problem when tracing Jewish
> roots -- they may be extremely difficult to find. My Matera ancestors are

> listed as a "Jewish family in Montemurro" in one archive, but there are
no
> other records proving it except for this "mention." When I was in college

> (back in the dark ages), I met a retired Christian Brother who had worked
in
> the Vatican Archives as a genealogist. He was interested that my surname
was
> the name of a town and suggested back then that I research the
possibility
> of Jewish roots. He told me that the Vatican has many records on Jewish
> families but refuses to open them up to the public. (I guess they do not
> want to be blamed for the forced conversion of the Jews.)
>
> Richard
>

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