Gracia Mendes Nasi
Encyclopedia
Gracia Mendes Nasi was one of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance
Europe
. She married into the eminent international banking and finance company known as the House of Mendes. She was the aunt and business partner of Joseph Nasi
, who became a prominent figure in the politics of the Ottoman Empire
. She also developed an escape network that saved hundreds of Conversos - forcibly converted Jews - from the terrors of the Inquisition
.
Gracia Mendes was born in Lisbon
, Portugal
, into an ancient and venerable family of forcibly converted Jews known as Converso
s (also called Crypto-Jews, Marranos and Secret Jews). They are believed to have originally come from Aragon
. While still Jewish, they had fled to Portugal when the Catholic Monarchs
, Queen Isabella I of Castile
and King Ferdinand II of Aragon
, expelled the Jews in 1492
. Five years later, in 1497, they were forcibly converted to Catholicism along with all the other Jews in Portugal at that time. Mendes was born 12 years later.
wedding, and then to have had a Crypto-Judaic
ceremony with the signing of a ketubah
. Francisco Mendes (originally Benveniste
) directed, along with his brother Diogo, a powerful trading company and bank of world repute with agents across Europe and around the Mediterranean
. The House of Mendes probably began as a company trading precious objects. Following the beginning of the Age of Discovery
and the finding, by the Portuguese, of a sea route to India
, they became particularly important spice trade
rs. They also traded in silver - the silver was needed to pay the Asians for those spices.
city of Antwerp. Soon afterwards, Mendes moved to Antwerp and joined Diogo. While there, she developed an escape network that helped hundreds of fellow Conversos flee Spain and Portugal, where there had been constantly under threat of arrest as heretics by the Inquisition
. These fleeing Conversos were first directly secretly to spice ships, owned or operated by the House of Mendes, that were regularly sailing from Lisbon to Antwerp. Once in Antwerp, Mendes and her staff gave them instructions and the money to travel by cart and foot over the Alps
to the great port city of Venice
, where arrangements were made to transport them by ship to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in the East. At that time the Ottoman Empire, under the Muslim Turks, welcomed Jews to their lands. The escape route was carefully planned. Even so, many died on the way as they traversed the mountain paths of the high Alps
.
Five years after Dona Gracia settled in Antwerp, Diogo also died. It was now 1542, and in his will he left his niece and sister-in-law control of the Mendes commercial empire, making her into an important businesswoman. Her enormous wealth put her into a position to influence kings and pope
s, which she used to protect her fellow Conversos and spend on her escape network. It is believed she was the driving force behind the publication of the Ferrara Bible
from Sephardic source texts; the second, public printing of this document was dedicated to her. All the while she had to fend off attempts by various monarchs to confiscate her fortune by trying to arrange a marriage of her only daughter to their relatives. Had this happened a large portion of the family wealth would have been lost, as it would have come under the control of her daughter's husband. Dona Gracia resisted all these attempts, which often put her in personal peril.
Under Gracia, the House of Mendes dealt with King Henry II of France
, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his sister Mary, Governess of the Low Countries, Popes Paul III and Paul IV
, and Suleiman the Magnificent
, Sultan
of the Ottoman Empire
. These dealings involved commercial activities, loans, and bribes. Earlier payments to the Pope by the House of Mendes and their associates had delayed the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal
(see History of the Jews in Portugal
).
. She had a dispute there with her sister, Brianda, and had to flee yet again to the nearby city state of Ferrara
. In 1553, she moved onto Istanbul, in the Ottoman domains, where she arranged for her daughter to marry the nephew and business partner, Don Joseph Nasi. Like all marriages in those days, it was arranged by the families.
In 1556, soon after Mendes arrived in Istanbul, the Pope sentenced a group of Conversos back in Italy to death by fire
, claiming they were still practicing Jewish rites. In response, Dona Gracia organized a trade embargo
of the port of Ancona
in the Papal States
. In Istanbul, she built synagogue
s and yeshiva
s. One of the synagogues is named after her (La Señora). These institutions were created primarily to help the refugees to return to Judaism, their ancestral faith.
In 1558, she was granted a long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Israel
, from Sultan Suleiman, in exchange for guaranteeing a substantial increase in the yearly tax revenues. The Ottoman Empire
, under the Sultan, had conquered that part of the Holy Land
some years earlier, but it largely been a desolate place. As a result, she obtained the ruling authority over the Tiberias area. With the help of the Sultan, she then began to rebuild the area's abandoned towns to make them available to her refugees so they could settle there, if they wished. Her aim was to make Tiberias into a major new centre of Jewish settlement, trade and learning. This venture has often been called one of the earliest attempts at a modern Zionist movement. Gracia (Mendes) Nasi died in Istanbul
early in 1569.
, Central and South America and the United States, many of whose ancestors she saved, idolize her.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. She married into the eminent international banking and finance company known as the House of Mendes. She was the aunt and business partner of Joseph Nasi
Joseph Nasi
Don Joseph Nasi was a Jewish diplomat and administrator, member of the House of Mendes, and influential figure in the Ottoman Empire during the rules of both Sultan Suleiman I and his son Selim II...
, who became a prominent figure in the politics of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. She also developed an escape network that saved hundreds of Conversos - forcibly converted Jews - from the terrors of the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
.
Background
DonaDom (title)
Dom is a title of respect prefixed to the given name. It derives from Latin Dominus.It is used in English for certain Benedictine and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of Canons Regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation...
Gracia Mendes was born in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
, into an ancient and venerable family of forcibly converted Jews known as Converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...
s (also called Crypto-Jews, Marranos and Secret Jews). They are believed to have originally come from Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
. While still Jewish, they had fled to Portugal when the Catholic Monarchs
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...
, Queen Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
and King Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, expelled the Jews in 1492
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
. Five years later, in 1497, they were forcibly converted to Catholicism along with all the other Jews in Portugal at that time. Mendes was born 12 years later.
Marriage
In 1528, Mendes married her paternal uncle Francisco (as was the custom among rich Jewish families of those days), who was said by the Portuguese king to be the wealthiest merchant in Lisbon at that time. She never took her husband's name of Mendes, although many historians have since called her Gracia Mendes, based on the modern notion of names. Spanish women of means at that time kept their own names and even today, they frequently use their maiden name hyphenated with their married name. The couple were believed to have been married in the great cathedral of Lisbon, in a public CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
wedding, and then to have had a Crypto-Judaic
Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews"...
ceremony with the signing of a ketubah
Ketubah
A ketubah is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride.-History:...
. Francisco Mendes (originally Benveniste
Benveniste
Benveniste, also Benvenisti, Benvenista, Benvenisto is the surname of an old, rich, and scholarly family of Narbonne, France, several branches of which were found all over Spain and the Provence, France, as well as at various places in the Orient. It is also borne by families in Bulgaria, Serbia,...
) directed, along with his brother Diogo, a powerful trading company and bank of world repute with agents across Europe and around the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The House of Mendes probably began as a company trading precious objects. Following the beginning of the Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
and the finding, by the Portuguese, of a sea route to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, they became particularly important spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
rs. They also traded in silver - the silver was needed to pay the Asians for those spices.
Widowhood
In 1538 Francisco died, leaving Dona Gracia, his young wife, with an infant daughter, Ana, (future wife of Don Joseph Nasi). A few years earlier, Francisco's brother, Diogo, had opened a branch office of their banking house in the Habsburg NetherlandsSeventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France , and a small part of Western Germany.The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by...
city of Antwerp. Soon afterwards, Mendes moved to Antwerp and joined Diogo. While there, she developed an escape network that helped hundreds of fellow Conversos flee Spain and Portugal, where there had been constantly under threat of arrest as heretics by the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
. These fleeing Conversos were first directly secretly to spice ships, owned or operated by the House of Mendes, that were regularly sailing from Lisbon to Antwerp. Once in Antwerp, Mendes and her staff gave them instructions and the money to travel by cart and foot over the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
to the great port city of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, where arrangements were made to transport them by ship to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in the East. At that time the Ottoman Empire, under the Muslim Turks, welcomed Jews to their lands. The escape route was carefully planned. Even so, many died on the way as they traversed the mountain paths of the high Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
.
Five years after Dona Gracia settled in Antwerp, Diogo also died. It was now 1542, and in his will he left his niece and sister-in-law control of the Mendes commercial empire, making her into an important businesswoman. Her enormous wealth put her into a position to influence kings and pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s, which she used to protect her fellow Conversos and spend on her escape network. It is believed she was the driving force behind the publication of the Ferrara Bible
Ferrara Bible
The Ferrara Bible was a 1553 publication of the Ladino version of the Tanach used by Sephardi Jews. It was paid for and made by Yom-Tob ben Levi Athias and Abraham ben Salomon Usque , and was dedicated to Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara...
from Sephardic source texts; the second, public printing of this document was dedicated to her. All the while she had to fend off attempts by various monarchs to confiscate her fortune by trying to arrange a marriage of her only daughter to their relatives. Had this happened a large portion of the family wealth would have been lost, as it would have come under the control of her daughter's husband. Dona Gracia resisted all these attempts, which often put her in personal peril.
Under Gracia, the House of Mendes dealt with King Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his sister Mary, Governess of the Low Countries, Popes Paul III and Paul IV
Pope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, C.R. , né Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was Pope from 23 May 1555 until his death.-Early life:Giovanni Pietro Carafa was born in Capriglia Irpina, near Avellino, into a prominent noble family of Naples...
, and Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
, Sultan
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. These dealings involved commercial activities, loans, and bribes. Earlier payments to the Pope by the House of Mendes and their associates had delayed the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal
Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of the King of Portugal, João III. Manuel I had asked for the installation of the Inquisition in 1515 to fulfill the commitment of marriage with Maria of Aragon, but it was only after his death that the Pope...
(see History of the Jews in Portugal
History of the Jews in Portugal
The history of the Jews in Portugal reaches back over two thousand years and is directly related to Sephardi history, a Jewish ethnic division that represents communities who have originated in the Iberian Peninsula .-Before Portugal:...
).
Final Years
In 1544, she fled once again, this time to the Republic of VeniceRepublic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
. She had a dispute there with her sister, Brianda, and had to flee yet again to the nearby city state of Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
. In 1553, she moved onto Istanbul, in the Ottoman domains, where she arranged for her daughter to marry the nephew and business partner, Don Joseph Nasi. Like all marriages in those days, it was arranged by the families.
In 1556, soon after Mendes arrived in Istanbul, the Pope sentenced a group of Conversos back in Italy to death by fire
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
, claiming they were still practicing Jewish rites. In response, Dona Gracia organized a trade embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
of the port of Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
in the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. In Istanbul, she built synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s and yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s. One of the synagogues is named after her (La Señora). These institutions were created primarily to help the refugees to return to Judaism, their ancestral faith.
In 1558, she was granted a long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, from Sultan Suleiman, in exchange for guaranteeing a substantial increase in the yearly tax revenues. The Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, under the Sultan, had conquered that part of the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
some years earlier, but it largely been a desolate place. As a result, she obtained the ruling authority over the Tiberias area. With the help of the Sultan, she then began to rebuild the area's abandoned towns to make them available to her refugees so they could settle there, if they wished. Her aim was to make Tiberias into a major new centre of Jewish settlement, trade and learning. This venture has often been called one of the earliest attempts at a modern Zionist movement. Gracia (Mendes) Nasi died in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
early in 1569.
Her Legacy Today
But this was not the end. Though she disappeared into oblivion almost immediately and remained hardly known for the subsequent 500 years, that is now changing, possibly due to a new sense of relevance among today's women. Indeed, Dona Gracia is fast becoming a cult figure on the world stage. New York City designated a Dona Gracia Day in June 2010, followed by a similar proclamation in Philadelphia a year later. Israel’s political leaders honored her for the first time in October, 2010. A website (www.donagraciaproject.org) was launched last January. She now has a Facebook page, Dona Gracia Worldwide. The Turkish government sponsored a Dona Gracia evening in New York City and is also sponsoring an exhibit in Lisbon. There have been lectures, articles and festivals in her honor all over Europe. The growing numbers of women in business and the professions who attend the programs identify with her ambition, courage and even personal loneliness. An Italian white wine has been named after her. The Israeli mint has produced a commemorative medal. She now has a museum devoted to her life and deeds in Tiberias. The descendants of those conversos, in Southern ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Central and South America and the United States, many of whose ancestors she saved, idolize her.