eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
Last week we began to write about Beatriz de Luna Mendes, later known as Doña Gracia Mendes Nasí. We said that Beatriz moved from Portugal to Antwerp (today Belgium) and continued there the successful commercial and financial company of her late husband Francisco Mendes. Beatriz used her money and influence to help her Jewish brothers escape from Portugal and reach Turkey. In Antwerp, which at that time belonged to the Empire of Charles V of Spain, Beatrice still hid her Jewish status and observance. Beatrice dealt commercially with King Henry II of France, with Emperor Charles V himself, with his sister Maria, who was the governor of the Netherlands, with Popes Paul III And Paul IV and with the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. These businesses involved commercial activities, loans to the monarchs and bribes to the church to prevent the Inquisition from persecuting the anusim (Jews converted to Christianity against their will) in Spain and Portugal.
The story of Beatrice in Antwerp is fascinating, but too long to relate. Whoever wants to know more details about the incredible life of this great woman can read Cecil Roth’s “Doña Gracia” or a new book “The Woman Who Defied Kings” by Andrée Aelion Brooks, both books in English.
We shall briefly state that in 1544 Beatrice escaped from the Netherlands (and the Empire of Charles V where the Inquisition ruled) and settled in the Republic of Venice. Venice offered the “conversos” Jews guarantees so that they could conduct their business without being disturbed by the Church. However, those who wanted to live openly as Jews had to live in the city’s ghetto (the first Jewish ghetto was in Venice).
In Venice Beatriz continued with her business with great success. She and her brother-in-law and her nephew Yosef Nasi dealt with import and export of black pepper, grains and textiles.
From Venice she moved to Ferrara. Ferrara was (I think …) the only city in Europe in which Jews were allowed to freely practice their religion. This city-state was eager to welcome the Mendes family. And it was in Ferrara, in 1549 that “Beatriz” became “Gracia” (Hanna) Mendes or Nasi (her Jewish maiden name) and for the first time in her life she was able to openly practice Judaism. It was also there that Ana, her daughter, changed his name to “Reina” (both “Gracia” and “Reina” were typical Spanish Sephardic names).
The Jewish community of Ferrara was composed entirely by Sepharadim who came from Spain and Portugal. The privileged life dedicated to the Tora and Ma’asim Tobim (philanthropy) of the Jews of Ferrara, as described by Cecil Roth (p. 65-81), deserves a separate article. Let us briefly state that the most prestigious and wealthy families in the city, such as the Abarbanels (the sons of Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel), the Modena and the Nasi were benefactors of all Jewish causes. The houses of these patrons and philanthropists were always open to receive Talmide Hakhamim (Rabbis and Tora scholars), supporting them economically and providing them access to something very precious and difficult to find at that time: libraries with Jewish books and manuscripts, a rarity that these wealthy families owned at their home. In those days there was an incipient but Jewish community, mostly Sephardic refugees, in Erets Israel, in Yerushalayim and especially in Tsefat (Safed). Among the Tora giants that belonged to those colonies were Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575), his teachers, like rabbi Ya’aqob Berab, and his students, like rabbi Moshe Alshekh haQadosh and many other geniuses of Tora and Qabbala. The Jews of Ferrara supported the Jewish colonies and the Rabbinical academies of Tsefat and Yerushalayim.
One of the most important projects supported by Doña Gracia was the financing of Jewish books in Spanish, so that Judaism could become accessible to “converts” who did not know Hebrew. In 1552, Doña Gracia financed the “Libro de oraciones para todo el año” (Book of Prayers for the Whole Year), written by Rabbi Yom Tob Atias, previously known under his “converso” name Jeronimo de Vargas. She also funded the publication of “The Consolations of the Tribulations of Israel,” written by Rabbi Abraham Usque, published in 1553. That same year these two rabbis were in charge of the first “Jewish” translation of the Bible into ancient Spanish. The famous “Bible of Ferrara”. In the introduction both Rabbis wrote a beautiful letter of gratitude to Doña Gracia for her support (Roth, p. 79).
In Ferrara, Doña Gracia continued to help the “converts” of Portugal and Spain to escape the inquisition. In 1553 she and her family moved to Turkey.
To be continued…
Fuente: halakhaoftheday.org
