BOOK REVIEWS

Book Comment, Portuguese Jewish history


Inquisição e Independência, Um Motim No Fundao-1580
Inquisition and Independence, A Riot in Fundão-1580



Author, Maria Antonieta Garcia autographing books at a recent book launch in Lisbon


Book Comment, Portuguese Jewish history
mlopesazevedo

Inquisição e Independência, Um Motim No Fundao-1580
Inquisition and Independence, A Riot in Fundão-1580

Maria Antonieta Garcia, Alma Azul, Coimbra, 2006, 227pp

Synopsis

This book is about a riot in the 16th century in Fundão (near Belmonte), the only known public act of resistance against the unHoly Office of the Inquisition to have occurred in Portugal.

On November 22, 1580, in the town of Fundão, in the Beira region, not far from Belmonte, Damião Mendes, a bailiff of the unHoly Office of the Inquisition reported that he was received at the door of a church by Estêvão Sampaio, the senior alderman in the town, and armed men who meant to kill him. He said they confronted him with the intention of impeding the work of the unHoly Office of the Inquisition. Bailiff Mendes complained of being pushed and knocked down, that the armed men broke his rod and took away his sword, that he was left without his hat and cape, and that he fell to the ground. They cut loose his horses and roughed up one of his men. He alleged that Sampaio spoke harshly to him and was rude, that he told him that he would take his rod and, lhe meteria pelo cu acima, and other such vulgar words.

As was customary in that period, the bailiff would have arrived in Fundão secretly, then made an announcement to the population to attend church on Sunday in honour of some saint. When the church was full, the doors would be locked by guards and the Old Christians would be called upon to identify the New Christians who would be handcuffed and led away to the subterranean jail cells of the unHoly Office, except this time, the secret was discovered and the bailiff was in for a surprise.

Esther Muznick, vice-president of the Israeli Community of Lisbon described the book as a good crime novel at the launch of the book in Lisbon. There is an excellent bibliography, several annexes of historical and documents, and twenty pages of the names of the victims of the Inquisition from Fundão from 1582 to 1754.

Maria Antonieta Garcia, born in Fundão, a retired professor of Sociology at the the University of Beira Interior where she founded the Centre for Jewish Studies, is the author of numerous books on Portuguese Jewish history including the critically acclaimed, Judaismo no Feminino (1999), an analysis of the community of Belmonte. Regrettably, none of her books have been translated to English, something the Friends of Marranos hopes to change.

Historical Background, and Portugal’s Marrano King*

In 1578, with the disappearance of King D. Sebastian (unmarried) at the ill-fated battle of Alcacer Quibir (yet another attempt to invade Morocco), Cardeal D. Henrique, Inquisidor general, acceded to the throne. The Cardinal was the only brother of King John III who brought the Inquisition to Portugal after Marrano bribes paid to the Pope and Cardinals were no longer effective. In 1580, with the death of Cardinal Henrique, three nephews/nieces claimed the throne, D. Catarina de Bragança, daughter of the Infante (i.e. prince) D. Duarte and D. Isabel of Bragança, Filipe II of Spain, son of D. Isabel of Portugal and Emperor Charles V, and D. Antonio, Prior of Crato, son of the Infante D. Luis, Lord of Covilha, and Violante Gomes, a New Christian.
The major opposition to Filipe II of Spain was D. Antonio, Prior of Crato. He was acclaimed King in Santarem (a city north of Lisbon, the wealthiest Jewish community at the time of the taking of Lisbon in 1147), in June of 1580. He proceeded to Lisbon where he was received with great jubilation. However, the nobles sided with Philip of Spain and Antonio was defeated in August, in Alcantara. His reign lasted two months, although he attempted to rule Portugal from the island of Terceira (with English and French support) until a Spanish fleet defeated him in 1582. It was during this period of uncertainty and political crisis that the riot of Fundão occurred. The author flushes out this historical setting in the book and annexes several historical documents.

From the Back cover of the book

In July, Fundão, the town where the riot occurred, Estêvão de Sampaio, captain, was the eldest alderman. New Christians struggled against the Inquisition, and everyone, New Christians, and Old Christians, opposed the claim of jurisdiction by neighbouring Covilha and Guarda. They defended the autonomy of their municipality. This is the only known episode of resistance to the Inquisition in Portugal.

Notes
1. Fundão is in the Beira region (near Belmonte). This area, a refuge for Jews, grew demographically since 1391 after the progroms in Barcelona, Sevilha, Toledo, Valencia and Cordova when entire Jewish communities were wiped out. In Sevilha, in 1391, over 4,000 Jews were killed in one day. Following the Edict of expulsion of 1492, the Jewish population of Portugal, and especially Beira swelled again. The street name, Rua Nova (New Street), found in many towns and cities in Portugal is often associated with expansion of the Judiarias during the 15th century. Antonieta Garcia accepts that no less than 120,000 Jews entered Portugal in 1492.

*Marrano, at one time a pejorative term applied to Jews who were forcibly baptized in Spain in 1391 and in Portugal in 1497, is in common usage by some academics in Portugal who attribute its origin to the Aramaic-Hebrew Mar Anus, a forced one, like the widely used Hebrew term today, Anousim. Converso or New Christian often replaces the term, but not all Conversos or New Christians, a term adopted by Christianity, were necessarily forced. The term Marrano is used because of its acceptance in Portugal, its association with the forced baptism of 1497 and the Inquisition, and its growing meaning as a badge of identity and resistance to the unHoly Office of the Inquisition (which still exists).

Is Israel an Apartheid State?

LISBON 1506, THE MASSACRE OF THE JEWS, book review

The author Susana Bastos Mateus with Yaacov Gladstone at the Alberto Benveniste Centre for Sephardic Studies at the New University of Lisbon.


Authors Susana Bastos Mateus and Paulo Mendes Pinto
at recent book launch in Lisbon




BOOK REVIEW

Lisboa 1506, O Massacre Dos Judeus
Lisbon, 1506, The Massacre of the Jews

Susana Bastos Mateus, Paulo Mendes Pinto, 2007, Alêtheia Editores, Lisboa.

By mlopesazevedo
(www.friendsofmarranos.blogspot.com)

This is the first non-fiction book in Portuguese, about the massacre in Lisbon of 4,000 Marranos*, Jews who were forcibly baptized in Portugal in 1497. During three days at Pessach (Passover), in April 1506 (Nisan, 28,29,30, 5266), an unruly mob, incited by fanatical Dominican monks killed between 1,000 and 4,000 innocent men, women, and children.
Apart from reference in Alexandre Herculano's classic, History of the Origin and Establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal in the mid 19th century, there has been virtually nothing written by modern Portuguese authors on the subject. The massacre was described in one of the earliest books written in Portuguese, Samuel Usque’s Consolação às Tribulações de Israel, Ferrara, 1553,

Among these were two Dominican friars, who went through the city of Lisbon with crucifixes on their shoulders, inciting the people and calling for all to join them to avenge the death of their god…they attacked the weak and defenceless group of ill-baptized New Christians with spears and unsheathed swords. They killed four thousand of them…

(English translation of Martin A. Cohen, Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1977, p. 205)
The co-authors of this small but well organized book, instructors at the Alberto Beneviste Centre for Sephardic Studies at the New University of Lisbon, refer not only to Usque and other contemporary accounts but also review modern articles and reviews such as Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi’s, Le Massacre de Lisbonne en 1506 et l’image du roi dans le Shebet yehudah, Sefardica, Paris, Chandeigne, 1998.
The book starts with a much needed succinct overall history of Iberian Jews, including their mass migration to Portugal in the 14th and 15th century, especially after the Edict of Expulsion of 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs which resulted in over 100,000 Jews entering Portugal, then with a population of about one million. Although in December 1496, King Manuel, under pressure from his Spanish in-laws, ordered Jews to leave by October 1497, he changed his mind, prohibited their departure and forcibly baptized them in 1497.
The massacre occurred at the height of the plague when over 100 people were dying each day in Lisbon. The Jews were of course blamed for the plague and the prolonged drought. The King had fled Lisbon. During a service on Sunday afternoon at St. Dominic’s church (still standing in Lisbon, next to the Rossio), a New Christian questioned a claim of a supposed miracle involving the crucifix, perhaps pointing out that a piece of wood was incapable of a miracle (the contemporary narrations differ). He was dragged out to the square in front of the church, beaten and quartered before being burned. His brother met the same fate. For three days the rioting and looting continued. The elderly and the young were not spared. At one point there was a mound of over 400 dead bodies in the Rossio (the main square of downtown Lisbon). At one point, German merchants paid for wood for the pyre, which had run out.
Soon after the massacre the King ordered the public execution of the two Dominican monks and about 60 ringleaders. He withdrew certain privileges and imposed sanctions on the city of Lisbon. He renewed for another 20 years, the period in which the former Jews would not be subjected to inquiries about their private religious practices (hence the formation of a unique Marrano culture in Portugal). He also permitted the New Christians to leave the realm and sell their possessions.
The authors offer a historical and political analysis of the consequences of the massacre as well as generous historical explanatory notes throughout the text, making this a useful text to
ordinary readers. A review of Jewish and non-Jewish literature, as well as an extensive bibliography should also appeal to scholars.
The occasional black and white image, mostly of Inquisitorial scenes (there is only one known contemporary image of the massacre itself) lends the work an aura of authenticity and sombreness.
This book a welcome addition to a growing body of recent books on Portuguese Jewish history which are slowly uncovering the constructed memory loss which has concealed the true history of Portugal for far too long. For a fictional account of the Lisbon massacre, see Richard Zimler's 1998 novel, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, available in several languages. The Friends of Marranos (friendsofmarranos.blogspot.com) are accepting donations for the translation and publishing of this book into English.

*Marranos, at one time a pejorative term applied to Jews who were forcibly baptized in Spain in 1391 and in Portugal in 1497, is in common usage by some academics in Portugal who attribute its origin to the Aramaic-Hebrew Mar Anus, forced one, like the widely used Hebrew term today, Anousim. Christianity adopted the nomeclature of Converso or New Christian, who were not necessarily Marrano. The term Marrano is used here because of its association with the forced baptism of 1497 and the Inquisition, its acceptance in Portugal, and its growing meaning as a badge of identity and resistance to the demonic unHoly Office of the Inquisition (which still exists!).

ZAKHOR
(a personal account)




JUAN MEJIA


My name is Juan Mejía. The short version of my story (the long one would take too long and is much better in person) is as follows. I was born to a middle class Catholic family in Bogotá,Colombia. I was privileged enough to be accepted in an elite Catholic school for boys run by American Benedictine monks. There I learned English and developed a strong sense of vocation and religiosity.
When I was 15, while celebrating Christmas with my family, my grandfather revealed to an astonished congregation its Jewish origins. He didn´t know much,just that in his chilhood hacienda the men met twice a day in a special room and prayed with "towels" on their heads from tiny books in a strange language. Later in life when he confronted his relatives concerning the strange traditions of his family, they confessed to him openly that they were, indeed, Jews. This revelation started me on a journey that would end in Jerusalem many years later. While studying philosophy in the National University of Colombia, I became fascinated with Medieval thought and started to read the works of Maimonides and to find out more about the Jews of Spain and what became of them. The knowledge that the blood in my veins had somehow participated in the splendorous Golden Age of Sefarad made me incredibly proud, although at that time I did not consider the option of conversion. Only many years later, while taking a backpacking trip across Europe, did I find my way back to the land of my ancestors: I decided to take a detour and visit Israel. There, in the Western Wall, I realized the incredible injustice that had been perpetrated against my family and my heritage. I decided to correct the historical mistake and cheat the Inquisition by converting back to Judaism.
The trip back was not easy. Colombia, unlike America, does not have a thriving and learned community that is willing, albeit sometimes reluctant, to receive converts. One cannot go into a bookstore and buy a siddur as easily as one can do in America. And most important of all, the doors of all the synagogues- Orthodox and liberal alike- are closed to those who come from the outside, either to learn Torah or to worship. Only through the indefatigable efforts of a wonderful member of the Conservative synagogue in Bogota, a ger tzedek himself, was I able after a couple of years to see the inside of a synagogue. Meanwhile I studied on my own and read voraciously. With the help of my Ancient Greek teacher I started to teach myself Biblical Hebrew. I had a friend in America buy me a talit and I started to daven regularly on my own. I started to keep kashrut and got more and more involved in my observance of Shabbat.
Fortunately, Hashem was very gracious to me. As soon as I finished my undergraduate studies I earned a scholarship to pursue my Master´s Degree in Jewish Philosophy in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Back in Israel, I studied voraciously -both in and out of the classroom. Having been denied access to synagogues back home, Ishul-hopped and learned in as many yeshivot as I could, while at the same time studying for my degree. After one year of intense studies, plus my many years of reading on my own, I was ready to finish my conversion which I did under the auspices of the Conservative Movement.
During my last year at the University I started to study Talmud intensely at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. There I met my wife, an American student who is now, like myself, studying to be a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary. We even decided to take a full year of intensive study in that Yeshiva as the best way to spend our first year as a married couple: two young Jews in love studying Torah in Jerusalem-what could top that?
Back then, I never thought that the rabbinate was for me. After all, who was I? Just a Jew back from the dark woodwork of the Inquisition after 500 years? Could I aspire to learn as much as people who has been Jewish all their lives and had gone to dayschool? Nevertheless, the thought that in Latin America and in Iberia there are still thousands if not millions of my benei anusi brethren who are denied their birthright to Torah and mizvot made me take the bold step: I would apply to rabbinical school to go back and help correct this mistake. Thank God, like Rabbi Akiva, I was merited to start learning Torah even late in life.
So, baruch Hashem, here I am in my third year of rabbinical school, writing to you from the Holy City of Yerushalayim, hoping that these words communicate to you and the anusim in your community that you are not alone. Help is on the way. In New York I have met at least other three rabbinical students -both in Orthodox and Conservative institutions- who are of anusi origin and who are going to dedicate their lives to this beautiful task of helping our people return to the ways of their Fathers and Mothers. Personally, I am writing a siddur in Spanish for Friday night which, bli neder and be'ezrat Hashem, will be ready this next Hannukah. I have other smaller projects online which I invite you to visit.

http://bogosalen.castpost.com
http://bogosalen.livejournal.com

If you want to get in touch with me, you can write to me at mikveh.israel (at) gmail (dot) com.

With my blessings of Shalom for you and all your community,

Juan Mejia
(Yochanan ben Avraham Avinu Mimishpachat Mechia)

JEWISH CHRONICAL (UK's oldest Jewish newpaper), April 13, 2007, p.9



Yaacov Gladstone with children of Belmonte
(photo credit: Brian Winter)

VOLUNTEERS IN PORTUGAL FOR PESACH

Yaacov Gladstone and Vanessa Paloma with students in Belmonte, Portugal.
(photo by Brian Winter)

Yaacov Gladstone teaching Hebrew alphabet at Synagogue classroom in Belmonte, Portugal. (photo by brian Winter)




Yaacov Gladstone with two of his Belmonte students

PORTUGUESE FRIENDS OF MARRANOS


PRESS RELEASE

Two volunteer Jewish educators, sponsored by the American Friends of Marranos are in Portugal to work with local Marranos, descendants of Jews who were forced to become Catholics against their will in 1497.

Over 3,000 years ago, in this time, the Hebrews of Egypt miraculously fled the slavery of the Pharaohs. After the destruction of the Temples of Jerusalem, the Hebrew people scattered to many parts of the world, including Sefarad, the Iberian Peninsula. From the very founding of Portugal, Jews played a key role in its development and culture. Just before the forced conversion of 1497, Jewish culture in Portugal was at its height, contributing to a flourishing society. Jewish astronomers showed Vasco da Gama the route to India. Jewish doctors attended to the lepers and the poor. Jewish bankers financed the Discoveries.

In 1497, the Jews of Portugal were forcibly baptized and forced into spiritual slavery, their synagogues turned to churches, their holy books confiscated. Yet, despite the outer appearance of Catholicism, the Marranos continued secret practices, rituals and prayers of their inner Jewish soul, such as the “cutting of the waters’ with olive branches, recalling the parting of the Red Sea.

On April 2nd, at sundown, the Hebrew nation starts celebrating the exodus from slavery with the eight-day festival of Passover, a festival of freedom. In Portugal, the remnants of the Hebrew nation will also celebrate. In Belmonte, where the fires of the Inquisition failed to destroy the Jewish people, the two educators will work to prepare the children to continue this tradition through stories, song, dance and poetry.

The Friends of Marranos support the strengthening of Jewish identity and traditions through education in Portugal. Recently, the newly created American Friends of the Marranos gave generous donations to expand the Lana Liner library of the Beit Israel conservative community of Lisbon, to strengthen Jewish education in Belmonte and to publish a new biography of Captain Barros Basto, in Portuguese and English.

The Friends of Marranos are dedicated to helping Marranos (Crypto-Jews/Anousim) strengthen their Jewish identity, and validate their traditions and customs, which were brutally suppressed by the (un) Holy Office of the Inquisition. Yaacov Gladstone and Manuel Lopes Azevedo are co-founders of the Friends of Marranos.

Yaacov Gladstone is a Jewish educator and history teacher. He holds a masters degree in special education. He is the former director of the Early Childhood Program in East Harlem. He has dedicated his life to bringing Jewish education to the children of the Hebrew nation. He helped bring the Jewish children of Morocco to Israel and worked a number of years as a volunteer worker with the Jewish youth of Ethiopia who in 1984 were airlifted to Israel. This is Mr. Gladstone’s sixth trip to Belmonte where he is well known and loved for his dedication and generosity to the community. At present he lobbies in America on behalf of the Marranos of Portugal. He lives in New York and is the founder of the American Friends of Marranos. While in Portugal he can be contacted at 91 424 1288.

Vanessa Paloma is active as a soloist, performance artist and lecturer. She founded and co-directs Flor de Serena, a Judeo-Spanish ensemble.
In addition to being the Founding Artistic Director of the SYNERGY ensemble and its leader until 2003, Paloma was a soloist with Long Beach Opera, Camerata Pacifica Baroque, Ensemble Nuance (Jerusalem) and the St. Paul Early Music Society among others.
Paloma began her musical studies at a young age at the San Juan Children’s Choir in Puerto Rico and later continued at the Andes University in her native Bogotá, Colombia. After moving to the United States, Paloma studied at Indiana University’s School of Music where she received a Master of Music in Early Music performance, specializing in the music of medieval Spain. Ms. Paloma is a Fullbright Scholar in 2007.
For more information visit www.flordeserena.com



On this trip, the American Friends of Marranos donated thousands US dollars to their Jewish primos in Lisbon, Belmonte and Porto.

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MARRANOS
310 Lexington Ave; Suite 5D
New York, New York
USA 10016