Peeters Publishers

THE NEW CHRISTIANS RECONSIDERED: EVIDENCE FROM LISBON'S PORTUGUESE BANKERS,
1497-1647
Author(s): JAMES C. BOYAJIAN
Source: Studia Rosenthaliana, Vol. 13, No. 2 (JULY 1979), pp. 129-156
Published by: Peeters Publishers
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THE NEW CHRISTIANS RECONSIDERED:
EVIDENCE FROM LISBON'S PORTUGUESE
BANKERS, 1497-1647
JAMESC. BOYAJIAN
In nearlyhalfa milleniumsincethefoundationof thefirstIberianInquisition(1483), the

debate over its principalvictims- the New Christians,or Conversos(descendants of
Iberian Jews convertedto Christianity)- has progressedlittle beyond the original
positionsoutlinedin the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturiesby Jewsof the Diaspora. The
has
controversy always revolvedaround thesame questions: weretheNew Christiansin
factthesame people as theformerIberianJews?weretheyacceptableas Jewsafterhaving
livedas nominalChristians,oftenforgenerations?Generally,Jewishleadersrespondedin
two ways correspondingto the two sides of a growingdebate. Those respondingin the
affirmative seem alwaysto have been in themajorityand theiropinionprevailed,as Jews
decided thatthedenial of thefaithin orderto avoid violence,and especiallydeath,did not
constitutean irreparablebreach withtraditionor the nation of Israel. Haham (Rabbi)
Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, a prominentNew Christianapologistin Venice,believed thata
mysticalbond unitedtheNew Christiansstillin theIberianpeninsulaand theChildrenof
Israel.In practicaltermsthismeantthatNew Christianconvertsto Judaismwould onlybe
requiredto circumcisemales and adopt Hebrewpropernames.1If Inquisitorialtestimony
can be trusted,the Sephardim activelyrecruitedconvertsfromIberian (Spanish and
Portuguese)communitiesof theDiaspora.2
The fewJewscriticalof thesepracticesdenounced New Christianslivingin Spain and
Portugaland in theDiaspora as Christiansaftertheforcedconversions,but aware oftheir
Jewishheritage,as cowardsundeservingof acceptanceas Jews.Theyjudged a fictionthat
New Christianscould keep theirancestralfaithin the absence of a livingtraditionof the
Rabbinate and in the midst of a hostile and watchfulgentilehost. Haham Saul Levi
Morteira(1596-1660) (a PortugueseNew Christianconvertedto Judaismin exile) was
representative of this criticalminority.3 Perhaps because of his own historyof sincere
Christianity, untilhis family'scondemnationbytheInquisitionforJudaizingand untilhis
Semiticancestryhad become an impedimentto his ambitionto be a Jesuit,Morteira
declared that the New Christiansof the peninsula were not Jews and doubted their
1 H. P. Salomon,"Haham Saul Levi Morteiraen de Portugeese Nieuw-Christenen,"Studia

- A 17th-century
, X,no.2 (1976),127,and"The'De Pinto'Manuscript
Rosenthaliana MarranoFamily
StudiaRosenthaliana
History," , IX,no.1(1975),39.
2 ArchivoHistórico Nacional,Madrid(hereafter de Toledo(hereafter
AHN),Inquisición ):
Inquisición
legajo174(4),nos.1-4,process ofJuanNuñezSaravia,1630-33, oflicentiate
folios53-55,testimony
Diegode Luneros, Madrid, 26 March1634.
3 Salomon,"HahamSaulLeviMorteira," pp. 127-41.
129

intentioneverto willinglyleave thepeninsulaand theirwealthsolelyto professJudaism.
Morteiracounseled thattheNew Christiansof the peninsulaoughtto be and remain,if
theywerenotalready,sincereChristiansfortheirown salvation'ssake. A curiousattitude
fora Jewishneophyte,yetitwas less offensiveto MorteirathantheabjurationofJudaism
merelyto preserveworldlypossessions.The onlysuitableJewishconvertsfromtheNew
Christianswould be those who, like Morteira,professedChristianitysincerelyand,
nevertheless, wereunjustlycondemnedas Judaizersand exiledby theInquisition.
In modern timesJewishhistorianshave simplytaken up the debate of the Rabbis.
Consequently,polemicsstillare disproportionate to theamountofactual researchintothe
vast documentationleftby New Christiansand the Inquisition.I. S. Revah, Cecil Roth
and Yitzhak FritzBaer have done originalworkof greatinterestand value as themodern
advocates of a crypto- Judaictraditionamong thepeninsula'sNew Christians.4They are
thesuccessorsof the seventeenth-century apologistsof the Marranos(Iberian Jewswho
werealleged to espouse Christianityinsincerelyto avoid exile).Theirinterpretation
based
on the ancientpolemical argumentsis stillthemostwidelyaccepted.A "radical" revision
byEllis Rivkin,B. Netanyahuand otherJewishscholarsassumesthepartoftheMarranos'
ancientcritics.5Netanyahufocusseson thepreconversion period(thatis,priorto 1492/97)
to conclude thattheIberianJewishcommunitywas on thedefensivein thepeninsulaand
was susceptibleto conversionand utterdestructionof its traditionslong before 1492.
RivkinemphasizestheNew Christians'genuineconversionto Christianity, thoughforced,
and efforts to assimilate.
Influencedin partby theargumentsof theMarranos'traditionalapologists,scholarsof
Iberian historyhave also treatedtheNew Christiansas a problemof a racial and cultural
minority in thepeninsula.The traditionalinterpretation maintainsan enduringbarrierof
race and religionbetweenOld Christians(Iberians withno Semiticancestry)and Con-
versos,and convenientlysupportsthe Inquisition'scritics,who attributedthe Spanish
monarchy'sdecline in partto the failureto assimilateNew Christiansand thusaccomo-
date a middle class and its values.6 Recentlya Marxistinterpretation (formulatedby
Henry Kamen) has social-class
grafted conflict
on the traditional
argument;to theracial
and religiousbarriersbetweenOld and New Christians,Marxistswould add a further
class barrier.7
The presentarticle - the by-productof a larger studyof Portuguesebankers who
4 See YitzhakFritzBaer,Die Judenin Christlichen

Spanien(Berlin,1936);I. S. Revahproduced
numerous in theRevuedesÉtudes
articles Juives andother journals;Revahsummarized hisviewin
"Les Marranes,"RevuedesÉtudes 3rdseries,
Juives, XVIII(1959-60), 29-77;CecilRoth'smajorwork
ontheMarranos isA HistoryoftheMarranos (1932),Schocken edition(NewYork,1974).
5 B. The Marranos the late14thto the
Netanyahu, ofSpain:from early16thcentury (NewYork,1966);
EllisRivkin,
TheShaping ofJewishHistory- A RadicalNewInterpretation (NewYork,1971).
b See JaimeVicensVives, totheHistory JoanConnelly
, trans. Ullman,
Approaches ofSpain (Berkeley,
LosAngeles,London,1970),p. 92.JulioCaroBaroja,LosJudíos enla EspañaModerna y Contempo-
ránea(3 vols.,Madrid,1961)is alsotypicalofworks whichareprimarily concernedwiththeNew
Christians'
Jewish andanomalies
origins as a separate racialminority in Iberiansociety
ratherthan
theirmaterial
contributiontopeninsularsociety.
7 Kamen,TheSpanish (NewYork,1971),pp.7-8.
Henry Inquisition
130

financedtheSpanish crownfrom1626 through16478- assumesa perspectivethatblurs
thestrictracial and culturalbarriersbetweenOld and New Christiansand reconsidersthe
New Christians'participationin developmentsof greatergeneral interestfor Iberian
economic and social history.I began by questioningthe tradition,handed down from
WernerSombartthroughHermannKellenbenz,9thatidentifiedthePortuguesebankers
as the heirs of fifteenth-centuryJewishfinanciersof the peninsula and the agents of
seventeenth-century Jewish financiersoftheDiaspora. InsteadI focussedon a substantive
or materialrelationof the Portugueseto Italian banking and the growthof Atlantic
exchangeand an AtlanticeconomywhichoverwhelmedtheancientMediterraneanworld
ca. 1600.Withouttheselinksto Italian techniqueand Atlanticexchange,the Portuguese
bankers mightnever have risen above the modest tradingand pawnbrokingof their
alleged Jewishancestors.Because the Portuguesebankersalso happened to be kinsmen
and business associates of peninsularNew Christiansand membersof the Diaspora's
Israelite congregation,who figuredprominentlyin the argumentsfor the traditional
interpretation, I was temptedto reinterprettheNew Christianproblemand the Rabbis'
ancientdebate in thelightof new evidencefromPortuguesebankers.
A reviewof the familiarstoryof forcedconversionand the New Christians'early ex-

perience with the Inquisitionis useful beforeproceedingwith the argumentand new
evidence.
The Castilian conversion-expulsion orderwas executedat the momentof completing
the reconquista , which finallybroughtthe entireIberian peninsula under the sway of
Christianprincesin 1492.Abolitionof the large non-Christiancommunities,Jewishand
Muslim,was now a possibility.In fact,theconditionof thepeninsula'sJewishcommunity
had been growingmoreprecariousby the year,since the Black Death (1348) and as the
Christiankingdomsbecame morepowerfulthantheMuslim.The 200,000Jewsof Castile
affectedby the 1492 order were already a minorityof the combined Jewish-Converso
populationof the Kingdom (estimatedupwardsof 600,000,or about ten per cent of the
total population).10Thus the 50-60,000who convertedin 1492,includingsome Rabbis
and othercommunityleaders,joined a largernumberof descendantsof the thousands
8 James C. Boyajian,"ThePortuguese Bankers andtheInternationalPayments Mechanism, 1626-1647,"
(Unpublished theUniversity
Ph.D. dissertation: ofCalifornia,Berkeley,1978).
9 Werner Sombart, DieJuden unddasWirtschaftsleben 1913);Hermann
(Leipzig, Kellenbenz, Sephardim
anderunteren Elbe- IhrWirtschaftlicheundPolitische BedeutungvomEndedes16biszumBeginn des
18Jahrhunderts (Wiesbaden, The
1958). traditionof Jewishfinanceand thecontinuity ofthe Iberian
Jewishcommunity from thefifteenththrough theseventeenth centuryarefundamental assumptions of
worksbyJulioCaro Baroja,Los Judíosen la EspañaModerna y Contemporánea and Inquisición
,
Brujería y Cryptojudaismo 1970);AlvaroCastilloPintado,
(Barcelona, "Dansla monarchie espagnole
du XVIIesiècle:les banquiers portugaiset le circuit
d'Amsterdam," , no. 2 (1964),311-15;
Annales
Antonio Dominguez y hacienda
Ortiz,Política de FelipeIV (Madrid,1960)and "Los conversos de
origenJudio despues de la vol.
expulsión," III, Estudios de Social
Historia de España(Madrid,1957);
andJaimeVicensVivesandJorge NadalOller,AnEconomic History FrancesLópez
ofSpain, trans.
Morillas(Princeton,1969).
10 Abraham A.Neuman, TheJewsinSpain.Their andCultural
SocialPolitical Lifeduring heMiddeAges
(2 vols.,Philadelphia,
1944),II; Netanyahu, pp. 241-42.
131

who had accepted Christianity voluntarilyor underthreatof violenceduringor since the
pogroms of 1391 and 1444.The 80-120,000exileswho tookrefugein Portugalratherthan
convertwerepresumablymoreArmin theirreligiousconvictionsand willingto sacrificeto
preservethem.
In PortugalJoäo II (1481-1495)allowed thirty of thewealthiestexiled familiesto settle
permanentlyin Oporto on paymentof a large financialconsideration.The remaining
refugeeswere toleratedonly until the end of the year (1494), when theywere to have
arrangedpassage to a permanenthome in NorthAfrica.Unfortunately forthe refugees,
Joäo did not intend to provide vessels for theirdeparture.In 1494 he revoked their
libertiesand arrangedthattheybe sold into slavery,theirchildrenseized and raised by
Christians.Only a timelychange of monarchshalted the draconianmeasure whichhad
drivennota fewto suicide.As a conditionofhismarriageto theInfantaIsabella (daughter
of the Catholic Kings of Spain), the new Portugueseking, Manoel I (1495-1521),
embarked instead on a policy of systematicforcedconversionof the refugeesand of
Portugal'ssmall nativeJewishcommunity.Again the refugeesrejectedconversion,but
only a fewescaped fromPortugal.Their helplessnessin a strangeland, withoutleaders,
resourcesand provisionsand constantlythreatenedwithviolence,made resistancefutile
and, for a few,fatal. Many were baptized en masse where theystood (em pé) or were
draggedintothechurches.11
Thus the majorityof Portugal'sNew Christianswere exiles fromCastile with close
familyconnectionsto Conversos of Spain. They overwhelmedPortugal'ssmall native
Jewishcommunity,which may have numbered20,000. Yet the PortugueseNew Chris-
tians'experienceof Inquisitionand persecutionwas different fromthatof theirCastilian
relatives.Castile's Conversos - some of theirconversionsdating fromthe fourteenth
century- had existedlongbeforePortugal'sNew Christians.The Spanish Inquisitionwas
institutedfirstin 1483 to stamp out heterodoxyand Judaizingamong the Conversos
beforethe conversionof remainingJewsin 1492. Accordingto Ruth Pike and Antonio
José Saraiva, shortlyafter1492 mostNew Christiansof Spain had achieved a degreeof
integrationinto Old Christiansocietyand had learned to evade the Inquisition and
statutesexcluding themfromthe Church and municipal and royal offices.The art of
concocting spurious genealogies obscured New Christian lineage and eased the
assimilationprocess.But thisis difficult
to prove,forOld Christianscontinuedto harbor
deepseated suspicions of the New Christians and stillmanaged to bar New Christians
fromcertainhonors and offices.We are more certain,however,that the Spanish In-
quisitionwas littleconcernedwithNew ChristianJudaizersafter1550.12
Circumstanceswould be different forNew Christiansin Portugal,firstof all, because of
the forcedconversionof a stubbornremnantof Iberian Jewry.Fear of a large body of
Judaizerswas exaggeratedtoo,since,as a percentageof totalpopulation,Portugal'sNew
Christiancommunitywas supposed to be many times larger then Spain's. One may
11 Salomon, p. 1.
"The'De Pinto'Manuscript,"
12 Antonio (Oporto,1969),p. 185;RuthPike,Aristocrats
e cristàos-novos
JoséSaraiva,Inquisicào and
- Sevillan
Traders SocietyintheSixteenth
Century(IthacaandLondon,1972),p. 144.
132

dispute the actual percentages,but, in any event, the seventeenthcenturyalarmists
were claiming that New Christianscomprisedover one-halfof Portugal's total popu-
lation.13
Presumingtheinsincerity of theNew Christians'late conversion,Manoel forbadethem
to leave Portugalor purchasebillsof exchange,whicheffectively excluded theirengaging
in commerce.He fearedthattheconvertsmighttransfer theirwealthabroad and thenflee.
Onlyin 1507did theNew Christiansachieve a statusof fullcitizenshipand equalitywith
Old Christians.In the decree of that year, Manoel liftedthe New Christians'former
disabilities.Recognizingthe potentialvalue of an urban communityin developingPor-
tugal'scommercialempirein the Far East, Manoel grantedto New Christianscomplete
libertyto participatein commercein goods and moneywithotherChristians.They were
also at libertyto emigrate,temporarilyor permanently. Manoel further promisedneverto
promulgateexceptional laws for New Christiansliving in Portugal and extended for
twentyyearsimmunityfrominquiryintotheNew Christians'religiouspractices.14
Those New Christiansstill sincere about continuingJudaic practicesnow had the
opportunityto quit the peninsulafreelyand resumethe old faith.Some did leave in the
periodafter1507,settlingin ghettosof Italian citiesand citiesof the Otoman world that
had been receivingand welcomingSephardicexilessince 1492.This was to be expectedof
thehardiersouls forwhomno sacrificecould be too great.Yet Portugal'sNew Christians
overwhelminglywelcomed the decree, not in order to leave Portugal and embrace
Judaism,but as an opportunityfinallyto escape thejuridical sanctionsthatforcenturies
had denied themfullparticipationin thesocial and economiclifeof theirhostnation.15
In 1536kingJoao III (1521-1557)revokedthepromisesof 1507,as Portugalestablished
an Inquisitionsimilarto the Spanish tribunals.Effortsto limitthe awfulpowersof the
Portuguesetribunalskepttheirfuturein doubt until1580; nevertheless, theyhad claimed
theirfirstNew Christianvictimsin 1540.16Notwithstanding the late startand years of
hampered activitywhile New Christiansworked in Rome to abort the tribunals,the
PortugueseInquisitionprovedmorelethalforJudaizersthanitsSpanish counterparthad
been. While the Spanish Inquisitionpracticallyceased prosecutingJudaizersafter1550,
thePortugueseNew Christianswere subjectedto an activeand bloody Inquisition.After
sixtyyears or more of Inquisition in Portugal, the tribunalswere processing more
Judaizersthanbefore,findingmorecrypto-Jews.17
The specterof persecutionwithtorture,death and confiscationof propertypersuaded
still more New Christiansto leave Portugal - primarilyfor Spain now. The ensuing
exodus provoked new legislationlimitingthe New Christians'freedomof movement
withinthekingdomand prohibitingtheirflightabroad. Moreover,intensified persecution
followed the PortugueseNew Christianswho sought refugein Spain, for during the
seventeenthcenturyPortuguesecomprisedthe majorityof Judaizersprocessed by the
13 Orabout1million pp. 185-89.
soulsin 1624.Saraiva,
ofa totaloflesstwomillion
14 Rivkin, 143.
p.
15 Ibid.
16 Saraiva, 185-87.
pp.
17 Ibid.
133

Spanish tribunals.Yet thisonlyconfirmsthatOld ChristianssuspectedthePortugueseof
Judaizingwithoutactuallyconfirming thetruthof the accusation.We may stillquestion
whetherthisdegree of persecutionin Portugalwas justifiedin the seventeenthcentury.
True,in 1492/97theNew Christiansin Portugalhad adheredmorestubbornlyto theold
faiththan had the Spanish Conversos.But were theymore likelyto Judaize than were
theirSpanish brethrenby theseventeenthcentury?
The freshperspectiveof a new source - namely,the records of Spain's financial
archives,preservingthe asientos, or loan contractsand accounts of the crown's Portu-
guese bankers18- may provideat least some answersto thesequestionsand clarifythe
PortugueseNew Christians'experiencein thepeninsula.Fortunately, in additionto their
value forfinancialhistory,thesedocumentswere richin genealogicaldata whichwould
have been unavailable otherwise.But how may we approach the mass of data, financial
and genealogical?The wealthof genealogiessuggestsbeginningwiththefamily.
From thedata in the asientosI have reconstructed twenty-eight familiesgroupedinto
seven greatbankinghouses of Lisbon, designatedby the familyname or names of their
leadingbankers:Brandâo,Fernandesda Costa, Mendes,Silva da Lisboa, Silveira,Soares
d'Orta and Tinoco. I have found referencesto four"houses" only - the Fernandes da
Costa, Mendes, Silveira and Tinoco - by name in any source.Brandäo, Silva de Lisboa
and Soares d'Orta are admittedlymydesignationsand further refinement cannotbe ruled
out. Yet theyare based on meticulousstudyof theintricatepatternofblood relationships
and confirmedby actual associationand co-operationin commonenterprises.19 Most of
18 Archivo Generalde Simancas(hereafter AGS), ContaduríaMayorde Cuentas , 3a época(hereafter

CMC, 3a), asientoofthePortuguese bankers, Contadurías
1626-52; Generales
: Contaduría dela Razón,
asiento
ofthePortuguese, 1626-52; andConsejo yJuntasdeHacienda (hereafter
CyJH), consultasofthe
CouncilofFinanceconcerning theasientoofthePortuguese, 1626-47.Fordetailedgenealogy and
bibliographyforthereconstructionofthebanking housesseemydissertation,
"ThePortuguese Bankers
andtheInternational Payments Mechanism, 1626-1647."
19 The381asientos tolight bankers
thirty-five ofLisbonandseventy-eight participatingbankers
brought
anddefined their tooneanother.
relationships ofIberian
Becauseofthedifficulty names- forinstance,
DuarteFernandes, FernäoLópesLópesandFrancisco da Costawerebrothers - thetaskofrecon-
thefamilies
structing andhouseswouldhavebeenimpossible without theasiento'sspecificreferences
to theseand to manyotherrelationships. ThusManuelde Paz,a bankerof thehouseofTinoco,
namedhisparticipants,
regularly andtheir
orpartners, kinshipinhismanyasientos from1626through
1639.In 1635helisted:hisbrothers FernâoandSimâoTinoco;brother-in-law ManuelAlvares Pintoe
Dona Francisca
Riveiro;sister-in-law GomesPacheco;nephewManuelFernandes Tinoco;cousin
Antonio Riveirode Carvalho; andoneunidentified GonçaloNunesde Sepulveda.
participant, AGS,
Contadurías Generales:Contaduría de la Razón(hereafter
CG): legajo120,asientoof28 December
1634,Manuelde Paz; legajo121,asientoof 30 January 1635,Manuelde Paz. Withparticipants
appeared alsothe names offorty-seven correspondentbankersofLisbonandSeville.Theidentity of
thirty-six
foreigncorrespondents - principally
ofAntwerp andVenice- onnotarized receptsforthe
bankers'loandisbursements in theLowCountries andincentral Europe- thecartasdepago(also
included in manyasiento)- revealed broader offamilies
association withcorresponding branches
abroad.Theasiento thusbrought widelyscattered andisolated
families individualstogetherinthegreat
banking housesandeventually linkedthePortuguesebankers toa vastcomplex offamily enterprises.
Themajority oftheseconnections werehithertounknown andnowprovide a clearerpicture ofthe
structureand function of Atlantic exchange thaneverbefore.Supplementary information in the
134

the twenty-eight familiesof the seven houses were relatedto one another.The deciding
factorsthatplaced a familyin one house, and not another,were habitual associationin
enterpriseswithcertainfamilies- firstof all, in the asientosand banking,secondlyin
revenue-farming and monopoly-trading contractsand thirdlyin the ordinarycommerce
of thepeninsula.20
What broughttheseLisbon familiestogetherin thebankinghouses and to mingletheir
blood in marriageallianes? Financial interests,oftenindivisiblefromfamilyinterests,
wereparamount.It is indeed impracticableto speak ofbankingand long-distancetrading
in this period withoutalso mentioningthe family,which provided partners,capital,
informationand the very structureof business ventures.Kinship and, above all, the
marriagecontract(in the absence of, or in conjunctionwith,formalpartnershipagree-
ments) provided a species of bond which held individuals and familiesin numerous
interrelatedenterprises.The reciprocal financial obligations - dowries, personal
property,etc. - and binding agreementsof the marriagecontractmade it a financial
transactionof no mean importance.At least one Portugueseadmittedthathe had gotten
hisstartin tradingwithhis firstwife's6,000ducatdowryforcapital.21Thus thePortuguese
bankers'asientosdocumenteda mere fractionof the associationsor partnershipsof the
Lisbon houses' kinsmenforwhichwe have no formalrecord,but which are implied in
kinshipand marriagealliances.
Marriageas a contructualarrangement, as a policyor house strategy,and endogamous
in
marriage particular, was most often associated with Yet it was very
aristocracies.22
much a partof the greatmerchant'sstrategyof enterprise.The frequencyof consangui-
neous union (withpapal or episcopal dispensation)withthe Lisbon families,matching
uncles with nieces and cousins with cousins,23rivaled the maritalpolicy of the most
minutes andmemorials oftheCouncilofFinanceinMadridandreferences intheprivate correspon-

denceofThomédeSampayo (ca. 1600-66) ofAntwerp, genealogiesthatI gleaned
from processes ofthe
Spanish Inquisitionandthose towhich I had accessin published accounts ofthePortuguese Inquisition
andpublished historiesofthePintoandAboab(DiasAnriques) familiesandparish registersofLisbon
filled
insomeofthedetails ofgenealogy.
20 TheSolis forexample, wasrelated totheGomesd'ElvasCoronel ofthehouseofSoaresd'Orta
family,
andtheRiveiro familyofthehouseofTinoco.Criteria ofkinshipaloneplacetheSolisundereither the
Soaresd'OrtaorTinocohouses.I placedthemunderthehouseofTinoco,sincetheiraffiliation in
banking was almost alwayswith the Tinocos.
21 AHN, : legajo161(9),process ofFrancisco folio40.
Inquisición LopesCapadocia,1663-70,
22 See Lawrence in theSixteenth andSeventeenth Cen-
Stone,"Marriage amongtheEnglish Nobility
turies,"
Comparative in
Studies and
Society History , III (1961).
23 wasa corollaryofthefrequent inwhichfinancial ofthefamilies
interests were
Illegitimacy marriages
moreimportant thantheemotional tiesbetween theconjugal partners.Predictably,therewasevidence
ofillicit
relationsandtheir offspring in Lisbon'sbanking ThoméLopesd'Ulhoa(houseof
families.
Soaresd'Orta)siredandlegitimized a sonwhocarried hisname.Charles deVos,"Limai,sesseigneurs
etseigneuries.
DonThomásLópezdeUlloa,premier Baronde Limai(1621-55)," Wavriensia, XIII,no.
2 (1964),pp.82-85.ThomédeSampayo (ofthesamehouse)leftillegitimate heirswhoclaimed a portion
ofhisestatein 1668.JeanDenucé,"Thomásde Sampayoen hetSpaanschLegerarchief, 1626-66,"
Antwerpsch Archievenblad,2ndseries, II (1927),315.ThePintofamily history (houseofTinoco)spoke
ofillegitimatesofseveralgenerations, whowerepriests ormilitaryadventurers inItalyandtheLow
135

celebrated noble house. Endogamy concentratedworkingcapital in a single clan and
preserved it for common enterprises,as generationaftergenerationintermarriedto
recombinetheircapital. As the scope of theirenterpriseexpanded and as Portuguese
familiesscatteredacross Europe, endogamousmarriagewas essentialto cementingclose
tiesthatwould be effectiveover the greatdistancesthattended to weaken loyaltyto the
kin.It guardedagainstthelocal opportunities in theDiaspora to marryprofitablyoutside
the familyand thus against the dilutionof the motherhouse's (in Lisbon) influenceor
reductionof resourcesavailable foritsenterprises.24
Endogamy was necessarilya defensivestrategy.There were, however,occasions on
whicha familyreached beyond thekin to cementnew ties,to augmentcapital resources
and establishcommercialrelationson a broader geographicalscope essentialto intern-
ational banking.25This offensiveand expansiveside of themarriagepolicywas none the
less effectivelypracticed by Lisbon's families- New and Old Christian.In the con-
sumationof the familyalliances whichproduced the house of Tinoco, forexample,it is
notdifficultto discoverwhatmotivatedtheTinocos' unionswiththePintos,Riveirosand
Countries.Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," pp.13and17.TheBrandäo genealogyclaimed that

"natural"offspring wereas common in thatfamily as thelegitimate. Legitimates andbastards had
intermarried andthecompiler ofthegenealogy no
possessed memory of who was and who was not
I.
legitimate. S. Revah,"Une famillede 'Nouveaux-Chrétiens': lesBocarro Frances," Revuedes Études
, newseries,
Juives XVI(1957),p. 74.
24 ofthehouseofSoaresd'Ortaillustrate thepractice ofendogamy in thehouse'sfinancial
Marriages
andtoholda widely
interest andmobilefamily
scattered membership toa greaterhousestrategy.The
Soaresd'Orta,Sampayoand Roiz d'Evorae Veigad'Andrade (or simplyAndrade)exchanged
daughters amongdistantLisbon,Sevillan,Antwerp and Venetianbranches. Simäo Soares(ca.
1580-1632), a bankerofLisbonandSeville, tooktowifehiscousinDonaBeatriz de Sampayo, whowas
thesister
ofhisAntwerp correspondent DiogoTeixeira deSampayo (1581-1665). AGS,CG: legajo123,
asientoof SimónSuárez(SimäoSoares),23 May 1629;legajo127,asientoof MarcosFernandes
Monsanto, 18May1633.DiogoTeixeira married insuccession twoladiesoftheAndrade family -
DonaBranca(1588-1622) andDonaAnad'Andrade (1610-94) - respectively,thesisterandthenieceof
Diogo and Andréd'Andrade, the house'sVenetiancorrespondents. JeanDenucé,"lets over
Spaansch-Portugeesche Geslachten in Nederland en het plaatwerk van D. Henriques de Castro,"
Antwerpsch , 2ndseries,II (1927),pp.47-52.The following
Archievenblad generation continued the
exchange. SimâoSoares'daughter, DonaIsavelSoaresd'Orta(ca. 1610-70) married Diogod'Andrade
(1608-1660) ofVeniceandAmsterdam. Another ofSimäoSoares'daughters, Dona BrancaSoares,
weddedyetanother cousin,SalvadorVaaz Martins (ca. 1600-65) ofLisbon.AGS, CG: legajo142,
asientoofSalvadorVaezMartinez (SalvadorVaazMartins), 1648.Denucé,"letsoverSpaansch-Por-
tugeescheGeslachten," pp.42-52.
25 TheLopesd'Ulhoafamily (houseofSoaresd'Orta)illustrates boththeendogamous andthe
practices
contracting ofmarriages outsidethekinship. In 1619ThoméLopesd'Ulhoa(of Lisbonand then
Antwerp) (1588-1655) notarizedanagreement withhishalf-brother DiogoLopesCaminha (ofLisbon),
wherein Thomérecorded hisintentiontoestablishhimself intherealms ofthecrown ofCastile(thatis,
intheSpanish there
Netherlands), topursue goodmarriage opportunities forhisheirsoutsidetheLopes
d'Ulhoafamily. Theagreement issignificantinthatitindicates thatevenamong familiesofmixed New
andOldChristian suchas theLopesd'Ulhoa,endogamy
heritage, wastheruleanda tradition sostrong
thatitprompted formalagreement within thefamily todepart from it.On theother hand,itindicates
thatopportunities tomarrywithadvantage outsidethefamily werewelcome onoccasion.SeedeVos,p.
35.
136

Solis, each of whichhad a large capital and importantAntwerpbranchesin correspon-
dence with the Tinoco bankersof Lisbon, Madrid and Seville. For the Old Christian
Tinoco familyfinancialconsiderationsoutweighedanynegativeaspectsofmarriageto the
predominantlyNew ChristianPinto family.The Brandâo familypursued the identical
end in unions withthe Soares Riveirofamilyof Lisbon and Antwerp;the Fernandes da
Costa in Unions withtheSouza familyof Lisbon and Antwerp.26
The alliance of Old and New Christiansin thesame bankinghouse and, indeed,in the
same family,introducesanotherdimensionof the alliances and lends the house and its
financesa deeper significance.Althoughmany of the alliances whichcreated the great
houses were consumatedmuch later (during the second half of the sixteenthcentury),
some unions of New and Old Christiansdated fromtheverymorrowof the conversions
and are indicativeof a resolveto assimilateat an earlydate.
It is possible to tracesome of the familyalliances throughgenealogiesto theperiod of
the forcedconversion,1492/97.Beginningwith the house of Soares d'Orta, the Roiz
d'Evora e Veiga familydescended fromDr. Thomás de la Vega (7-1513) who arrivedin
Evora,Portugal,fromCastile in 1492,a refugeeoftheconversion-expulsion. His marriage
allied theRoiz d'Evora e Veiga withtheGomes d'Elvas Coronel family,whichtracedits
ancestryfromtheillustrious(thatis, Old Christian)and noble familyof the kingdomof
Aragon,the Coronel d'Aragäo, and fromFernán Pérez Coronel,regidor(Magistrate)of
Segovia duringthe epoch of the Catholic Kings (1479-1516).The Pérez Coronel lineage
introducedNew Christianheritageof a respectedfamilyconvertedbefore the 1391
pogrom.The Gomes d'Elvas Coronel and theRoiz d'Evora e Veiga intermarried repeat-
edlyduringthesixteenthcenturyand bothfamiliesformedmarriageallianceswitha third
Lisbon family,the Ximenes,that claimed Old ChristianancestrythroughDr. Duarte
Ximenesd'Aragäo (1503-60). All threefamiliesco-operatedcloselyin theircommercial
and financialventures.The Lopes d'Ulhoa familyalso descended fromOld and New
Christiansof variousLisbon families.Althoughthe Soares d'Orta and Sampayo families
did not emerge fromobscurityuntil the late sixteenthcentury,the latter'snumerous
allainceswiththeRoiz d'Evora e Veiga and Gomes d'Elvas Coronel familiesroundedout
thehouse of Soares d'Orta and linkedfamilyfortunesand far-flung enterprises.27
The house of Tinoco tracedone branchof its ancestrythroughthe Pinto and Riveiro
familiesto the union of an Old ChristiancommonerfromMedina de Rioseco, Rodrigo
26 Thedesiretoconcentrateadditional motivated
capitalin enterprise a seriesofunionsamongPortu-
guesefamilies
towardtheendofthesixteenth century.See mydissertation,"ThePortuguese Bankers
andtheInternational
PaymentsMechanism, pp.93-104.
1626-14,"
27 On theXimenes andRoizd'Evorae Veigafamilies see: Denucé,"letsoverSpaansch-Portugeesche
pp.31-32.On theGomesd'ElvasCoronel:Godofredo
Geslachten," Ferreira, Des Grands Maîtresdes
Postesdu Royaume aux administrateursgénéraux des Posteset Telegraphs (Lisbon,1943)and the
Nationale,
Bibliographie parVAcadamie
publiée RoyaledeBelgique (Brussels,1907),XIX,630.On the
Lopesd'UlhoaandSoaresd'Orta:Registos paroquiaes de Lisboa.Registroda Freguesia da Sé, desde
1563até1610(Coimbra, 1927),I, 310,1 August1590,baptismal ofIsavel,daughter ofAnrique Dias
Miläo;p. 415,13 December1586,marriage ofAntonio Lopez Ylloa (d'Ulhoa); III, pp. 26
270-71,
September ofMendoLopezandDonaMorLopez;anddeVos,p. 66.
1597,marriage
137

Alvarez ( Vea . 1530),28 and a New Christianof the Lopes Pinto familyfromOporto
(convertedin 1497). TheirheirscontractedadditionalallianceswithOld and New Chris-
tians. One of Rodrigo Alvarez's sons marrieda sisterof Inigo Lopes Cardoso, whose
familyhad been raised to thegentryand also boasted Old Christianancestry.Two mixed
-
marriages of Dona Guiomar d'Almeida e Pinto(ca. 1560-1620)and Dr. AffonsoPeres
Pacheco (ca. 1560-1620),an Old Christian,and of Dona Guiomar Lopes Pinto (ca.
1575-1640)and JeironimoPaz Pacheco (ca. 1570-1620),also Old Christian- established
withthe Tinocos.29
the Pintos' firstalliance withthe Pachecos of Seville and, indirectly,
The Pintos also contracteda marriageto a gentlemanof the Gomes d'Elvas Coronel
-
family(house of Soares d'Orta) Jeironimod'Oliveira Angel Coronel (ca. 1580-1645),
nephewof theGrand Postmasterof Portugal.30.
Although I cannot trace the Tinoco familyitselfbefore the generationof bankers
Manuel de Paz (ca. 1580-1642),Fernäo (ca. 1580-1644)and Simäo (ca. 1580-1647)Tinoco,
of thePortuguesebankersintroducedintothecircleof thecrown'sfinanciersin 1626,the
Tinocos weretheonlyfamilyofpureOld Christianlineage.31As notedabove, theTinocos
neverthelessmingled theirblood with the Pintos' and the Fernandes da Costas', both
familiesconsideredNew Christianundertheprevailingcriteriaofracialpurity,or limpeza
de sangue.BeforetheTinocos marriedintothePintofamily,theyhad been allied withthe
Pintos'kinsmenof theRiveirofamily.The firstrecordedunion betweenthe twofamilies
had been consumatedin 1586in Lisbon withthenuptialof Fernäo Alvaresof theRiveiro
and Dona Catarina Vaaz of theTinoco family.32 The firstdirectalliance of Tinocos and
28 Theaccount ofRodrigo Alvarez'sorigin is incompleteandconfused. Theauthor ofthePintofamily

- Isaacde PintoofAmsterdam
history - didnotuncover anyevidence ofhisgreat,greatgrandfather's
Jewishancestry orthathehadbeena NewChristian converted in 1497orbeforehand. FromthisH. P.
Salomon deducedthatRodrigo Alvarez may indeedhave been an Old Christian.He citesas additional
evidencethatMedinade Rioseco,thetownofRodrigo Alvarez's origin,apparently hadno Jewish
community (onwhatauthority?). Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 10,note24.ThePintos'
NewChristian ancestryderivedfrom the maternal side- thatis, fromRodrigo Alvarez'swifeandher
clanfrom Oporto, whoseJewish ancestry Isaacde Pintohadnodifficulty indocumenting.
29 Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," pp.13and15-16. ThePachecofamily ofSeville(OldChristian)
eventually Dom
produced Felipe de Nis Pacheco e Medina (ca. banker
1600-60), oftheSpanish crown
(1646-52),GrandChancellor oftheSantaCruzada(thepreaching andsaleofindulgences inSpain),
knightoftheOrderofSantiago. DomFelipewasat oncethenephew andson-in-law oftheTinoco
bankerManuelde Paz. AGS,CMC, 3a: legajo7, asientoofDon FelipeDenisPachecoy Medina,
September 1646through December 1650.
30 Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 17.
31 AGS,CyJH' 452, consultaof13 June 1627.ManueldePaz'snameisconscpicuously absent from
legajo
thelistofNewChristian bankers: ManuelRodriguez d'Elvas,NunoDiaz Mendezde Brito, Duarte
Fernández, SimónSúarezandJuanNuñezSaravia.
32 Registos de Lisboa
, II, 11,on 13 December1586,wedding ofFernando Alvarez(sonof
paroquiaes
ManuelAlvarez ofAlvito andofIsavelTourega ofSetúbal) andDonaCatarina Vaaz(widow ofFernäo
Tinoco);II, 334, on 23 October 1602,wedding ofLeanor Mendez of
(daughter Diogo Fernandez and
Dona BiolanteTinoco)and PeroFernandez Correia(son of GarciaMendezand Dona Biolante
Correia).
138

Pintos,ca 1600,matchedDona Felipa Tinoco (ca. 1580-1640)and Manuel AlvaresPintoe
Riveiro(ca. 1580-1650).33
I have not uncovereddetailed informationon the originof the remaininghouses and
theiralliances thatquite compareswiththehouses of Soares d'Orta and Tinoco. But the
patternis the same: the shiftingfortunesof Lisbon's Old Christianfamilies,aristocratic
and commoner,and the wealth thatNew Christiansacquired fromcommerce,enabled
New Christiansto contractadvantageousmarriages.Furthermore, commerceand bank-
ing were not the exclusiveprovince of a New Christianmiddle class. Old Christianswith
commercialinterests did notshrinkfrommarriageallianceswithpowerfulNew Christians
withwhomtheysharedinterests. Thus theMendes,a prominentfamilyconvertedin 1497,
allied themselveswiththepartlyOld ChristianXimenesand Gomes d'Elvas Coronel.The
New ChristianFernandes (house of Fernandes da Costa) allied theirfamilywith Old
Christiansof theTinoco and Souza families.The house of SilveirabroughttogetherNew
Christiansof theAçevedo and Paçarinhofamiliesand a respectedOld Christianfamilyof
Lisbon, the Barons of Silveira. The Brandäo descended fromthe large New Christian
house of Duarte Brandäo and son Joäo,whose descendantshad arrangedalliances with
Old Christians.34
In addition to alliances with Old Christiancommoners,New Christiansof Lisbon
linkedthemselveswithfamiliesof thePortuguesenobilityand gentry.The Soares d'Orta
and Sampayo familieswere relatedto the Mendes de Vasconcelos and the Säo Payo (the
Marquis of Villa-Flor) families.Valentin Vaaz de Sampayo (ca. 1595-1660)marrieda
daughterof Dom FranciscoPeixotoda Silva of thede Saa family,kinsmenof the Moura
Corte-Real(Counts of Lumaresand Marquis ofCastel-Rodrigo)and oftheroyalhouse of
Aviz. The Lopes d'Ulhoa familytraced its lineage, throughthe Gomes d'Aldanha e
Ulhoa, fromtheCountsof Monterrey(house ofUlloa), grandeesof Spain. Dom Felipe de
Nis Pacheco e Medina (house ofTinoco) tookas hissecondwifeDoña Mariana de Zúñiga
y Guzmán, a lady of theAndalusian aristocracy.35
The intermarriage of New Christiansand aristocratsis hardlya revelation;in Spain
33 Salomon,"The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 18.
34 OnthehouseofMendesseeCecilRoth,TheHouseofNasi- TheDukeofNaxos(Philadolphia, 1948);
on theFernandesda CostaseeElkanAdler,"Documents surlesMarranes d'Espagneetde Portugal
sousPhilippeIV,"RevuedesÉtudes Juives,XIX(1904),72-73,andRegistos paroquiaesdeLisboa,II,
334,on23October 1602,wedding ofLeanorMendez, etc.;III, 167,on 11April1602,baptismalofLuis,
sonofDuarteFernandez andDona Guiomar da Costa.On theSilveira seeAGS,CyJH'legajo541,
memorialof31January 1637,Jorge de Pazde SilveiraandAlfonso andGasparRodriguez Pasariño;
andlegajo548,memorial of13April1628,BaronJorge de Paz de Silveira. On theBrandäoseeJean
Denucé,"Koningin ChristinavanZwedenteAntwerpen, 1654,enDonGarciade Yllan,"Antwerpsch
II (1927),pp.31-36.
2ndseries,
Archievenblad,
35 RuthPike,Aristocrats ofNewChristian
andTraders, p. 214.Pikedoubtstheauthenticity genealogies.
Arethegenealogies ofthePortuguese bankers andassociated NewChristian reliablethen?
families
Apparentlyso,forI haveverified manyoftheclaimsofthesegenealogies inLisbon'sparishregisters.
The motivesbehindtheaccumulation ofgenealogical dataon theseLisbonfamilies warrant more
credence
thanthegenealogies Pikecites.
Theyinclude genealogies (publishedbyJews oftheDiaspora),
whichattempted,nottoobscure, buttouncover Semiticroots. Finally, information
genealogical from
theasientos
oughttobe reliable, sincetheonlyconcern ormotive behindpublishing theinformation
139

such mixed marriageswere already a scandal in the fifteenth But perusal of
century.36
christenings, marriages and deaths in Lisbon's ca.
parish registers 1560-1610gives the
that the of some New and Old Christiansand - the
aristocrats
impression familiarity
-
gentryin particular wentbeyondtheisolatedexchangeofdaughtersand largedowries.
The Old ChristianPacheco and Tinoco familieswere representedat vital eventsoutside
theirnativeparishfrequently, witnessing weddingsofNew Christians,or as godparantsof
theirchildren.Nobilityappeared in thesame roles.Dom AntonioFurtado de Mendonça
was godfatherof Antonio,infantson of André Lopes Pinto,a New Christianassociated
with the house of Tinoco.37 Among the many witnessesat weddings of the Tinoco,
Fernandesda Costa and Pintofamilieswere,again,Dom AntonioFurtado de Mendonça
and Dom Antonio and Dom Manoel de Mello.38The same gentlemenhad witnessed
weddingsin the Soares d'Orta family.39
It is no accidentthatthe Portuguesebankinghouses consistedof familiesresidingin
Lisbon forgenerations.Mixed marriageand fraternization of Old and New Christians
and even noble families reflectedthe fluidityof an urban societyin that busy port
dominatedby commercialwealth.New Christianscrossedthe traditionalclass lines that
dividedaristocratsfromcommonersin a hierarchicalsociety,as some New Christiansand
aristocratshad become allies in commercialventuresand thenin blood. Furthermore,
fraternization of New and Old Christiansimplied the breakdownof the Semiticfamily
and racial caste barriers.Prior to the forcedconversionthe familyhad preservedun-
diluted the ancient Semitic heritageand ties to the nation of Israel. The familywas
identifiedwiththeexclusivetraditionand ritualof theIsraelites- thereasonalso fortheir
was to identify and establish legalandbinding contractualrelationshipsamongtheparties of the

asiento.
TheXimenes alsomatched daughters withDomAnrique ofthehouseoftheCounts
Pereira ofFeira,
Dom Joäod'AlmadaofthehouseoftheCountsofIdanha(Carneiro family)and Dom Diogode
Menezes.On theSampayo's aristocratic
alliances
see:VictorinoMagalhäes Godinho,L'économie et
l'empire portugais aux XVeetXVIesiècles(Paris,1969),p. 680; Denucé,"letsoverSpaansch-Por-
tugeesche Geslachten,"p.51,letter ofValentinVazdeSampayo. OntheLopesd'Ulhoasee:deVos,pp.
35-36and65-67.On theTinocosee:AGS,CMC,3a: legajo7,asiento of19June1646,DonFelipede
NisPachecoyMedina;andSalomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript,"pp.26-27.
36 Kamen, 29-30.Thefamous LibrosverdesdeAragon andCardinal FranciscoMendozayBobadilla's
pp.
Tizóndela NoblezadeEspaña( 1560)allegedthatmost oftheSpanish hadbeencorrupted
aristocracy by
Jewish blood.
37 TheFurtado deMendonça ofBrazil,
councilors, andadmirals of
family produced governors presidents
theCounciloftheIndiesin Portugal. Antonio Caetanode Souza,Historia da
genealógica Casa Real
Portuguesa (Coimbra, 1954),XII,part2,pp.13,18,27-28and100;Arquivo Historico Lisbon
Colonial,
(hereafter AHC), PapéisAvulsos(hereafter Papéis Bancroft
), Bahia: Caixa 1, 599-1624, Library
Microfilm, reelI, exposureno. 101,copyofa letter from theCounciloftheIndies,Lisbon,admiral-
president ofthecouncil, CondeJoäoFurtado de Mendonça.
38 de Lisboa, II, 334,weddingon 23 October1602,of LeanorMendezand Pero
Registos paroquiaes
Fernandez Correia;III, 228,baptismal on20 March1608,ofAntonio, sonofAndréLopesPintoand
Dona BiolanteRiveiroe Pinto,godparents: Dom AntonioIV Furtadode Mendonçaand Isavel
d'Almeida.
39 Ibid.,III, 276, on23 March1598,ofDona llenaRoizSolisandAntonio Fernandesd'Elvas;
wedding
witnesses included DomManuelandDomAntonio deMello.
140

exclusionfromthecommunionof Christiansand consanguinity withChristianfamilies.40
But withthe conversion,as nominal Christians,the barrierdissolved.If endogamywas
calculatedto preservethecontinuity ofancientSemiticclans after1492/97,itwas notlong
effective, at least not in Lisbon. Indeed, marriagealliances betweenOld and New Chris-
tianscreatednew kinshipsand clans instigatedforfinancialpurposes.41Frequent endo-
gamousmarriagewithinLisbon's bankingfamilies,whichmightotherwisebe interpreted
as theinfluenceofancientracialorJewishclan bonds on theselectionofmates,responded
ratherto financialinterestsof the families.The degree of intermarriage of Lisbon's Old
and New Christiansleaves littledoubt that by the seventeenthcenturymany among
Lisbon's New Christianfamilieswere not of pure Semetic heritage.The Inquisitors
themselvesadmittedand fearedas much.42
Otherkindsof evidencecorroboratethesefindings,suggestingthatby the seventeenth
centuryassimilationof manyof Lisbon's New Christianswas well advanced. New Chris-
tians consideredthemselvesIberian - thatis, Portugueseand good Catholic - even if
manyOld Christianscontinuedto doubt it. They exhibitedthesame prejudicesas other
Iberians,includinga virulantanti-Semitism. They were equally sensitiveof theirhonor.
Letterspatent grantedby Philip III (1598-1621) in 1601 responded to New Christians'
sensibilities,declaringthatanyone labeling personspubliclyas Jewsbe subject to con-
fiscationof goods and property.43 PortugueseNew Christiansalso exhibited notable
public piety in the foundation of hospitalsand convents,giftsto the Church and other
pious works. Many families' sons, especially illegitimatesons, fought and died for
Catholic Spain in the Low Countriesand Italy.New Christianswere as eager to servein
theregularand secularclergyas in militarycareers.44
The dilution of New Christianstock with Old Christianblood blurred the racial
distinction betweencastesand eventuallyprovokeda sternreactionin Portugal.Purityof
blood, ofcourse,excludedNew ChristiansfromthehigherChurchbeneficesand fromthe
40 See MaxWeber,TheCity , trans.Don Martindale andGertrud Neuwirth (NewYorkand London,
1958),pp. 103-04.
41 The ofMedinade Riosecoareappropriate examples ofOld Christians whocarried endo-
Espinosas
gamousmarriage and clanishness to thesameextremes as did NewChristians, and forthesame
financialmotives. See Guillermo LohmanVillena,Les Espinosa , unefamille d'hommes d'affairesen
Espagne etauxIndesà l'époque dela colonisation (Paris,1968).Thereisnomodemstudy ofmarriage
patternsofaristocratic ofPortugal
families andcertainly nothing tocompare withLawrence Stone's
workontheEnglish The
nobility, Crisis the
of Aristocracy, 1558-1641 (Oxford, 1965).We have onlythe
datednoblegenealogy inAntonio Caetanode Souza,Historia genealógica da Casa RealPortuguesa ,
originallypublished in 1735.The relationship ofthearistocracy andNewChristian merchant and
banking familiesof Lisbonis virtually undocumented. Myworkcan onlybe preliminary; a more
thorough ofsources
sifting isrequired.
42 Saraiva, 189.
p.
43 of theSoaresd'Orta,was theNewChristians' agentdis-
Rodrigod'Andrade (1540-105),kinsman
patched toMadridtonegotiate theletterspatent. Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 16,note58.
44 AGS, Juande Silvade Lisboa.Hisbrother-in-law was
CyJH:legajo607,consultas of23January 1643,
killedatChatelet for
fighting Spain in 1638.Don Luis da Pinto
Freitas wasa cavalry in
officer Flanders.
Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 11.Don Manuelde Henavides wasa mercenary in Italy.
AHN,Consejos Surpimidos (hereafterSuprimidos ): legajo13249,no.119,decreto of6 September 1635,
DuarteFernandez. ThePintofamily historyis full ofreferencesto and
priests nuns ofthe Pinto and
Riveiro families.
141

regularorders,as well as fromroyalofficeson racialgrounds,regardlessof thesincerity of
conversionand meritsof servicesto the faithor the crown.But by the beginningof the
seventeenthcenturymixed marriagehad progressedsufficiently to pose a dangerforthe
old racial criteria.Ever stricterstatutesof racial purityand theirOld Christianauthors
soughtto preservea racialbarrier,theonlyexcuseforthepersecutionofNew Christiansas
Judaizers,since no real culturalor religiousdistinctionstilldivided Old and New Chris-
tians.45Ironically,marriages between castes only drove Inquisitors and bishops to
broaden the definitionof "New Christian" to include anyone withjust one of four
grandparentsof Jewishancestry.Only in Portugalin the seventeenthcentury,aftera
centuryof mixed marriage,were statutesproposed that would forbidfurthermixed
marriageor limittheNew Christians'dowriesto 2,000cruzados forthesame purpose.In
thelong term,however,effortsto limitfraternization and mixedmarriagewere futile.In
spite of the Inquisitors'diligence, the stigma of race could not be systematicallyor
universallyapplied to so manyNew Christiansand certainlynot to thesatisfactionof the
racial criteria'sextremeadvocates.46
One tangibleresultof the heightenedpersecutionand stiffening of racial criteriain
Portugal was to reviveNew Christians' consciousness, not of theiralleged Jewishness, but
of a communityof interestsdistinctfromthose of Old Christians.For assimilatedNew
Christianspersecutionwas an unwelcomereminderof theircommonJewishorigin.But
they were used to co-operatingin business ventures and naturallyco-operated in
promotingtheirinterestsas a community.Availing themselvesof growingeconomic
leverage,New Christianslobbied collectivelyagainst strictcriteriaof racial purityin
Lisbon and Madrid.47
In addition to their co-operate effortsand expenditures,Lisbon's New Christians
achievedlastingsuccessmitigating theeffectsof racialcriteriaand persecutionwiththeir
individualwealthand influence.Againstformidableobstaclesthe wealthiestNew Chris-
tianfamiliesassimilatedand attainedthehonorsnormallydenied theircaste.In Portugal,
for example, the purchase of estates and the minor noble distinctionsoffidalgo and
cavalheirofidalgo were common among Lisbon's greatestbanking families of mixed
ancestry.48 Only themoreexaltedtitleswererareamongthesefamiliesin thepeninsula,49
45 The statutes
datefrom1414and 1418.Theyinstituted racialcriteria
in theUniversity of
original
Salamanca fordegrees,etc.,andwereimitatedbyToledoin1449formunicipal offices.
Kamen, p. 1213;
Saraiva,pp. 165-74.
46 Saraiva, 177-78, 185-90and 191-92.
pp.
47 In 1604Lisbon'sNewChristians a papalpardon"forthecrimes ofJudaism"
successfullynegotiated
andtheright offreeexitfrom Portugalfor1,700,000
and 170,000cruzadosrespectively.
TheGomesd'ElvasCoronel wereraisedtothegentryas LordsofMatadasFlores.SeeFerreira, p. 33.
Bankers ofthehousesofBrandäo, Mendes,Silvade Lisboa,Fernandes da Costa,Silveira,Soares
d'OrtaandTinocobecame fidalgosorcavalheiro da CasaRealdePortugal.
fidalgos AGS,CyJH : legajo
444,memorial of17August ÑuñoDiaz MéndezdeBrito;
1626, legajo577,memorialof11March1641,
Jorge dePazdeSilveira; legajo795,memorial of1639,DuarteFernández.AGS,CG: legajo135,asiento
of19April1641, JuandeSilvadeLisboa;legajo127,asiento of19February SimónSuárez.AGS,
1633,
CMC, 3a:legajo123,asientoof6 September 1646,DuarteDias,d'Olivares ManuelAlvaresPintoe
Riveiro andFrancisco Fernandes Solis(bothofthehouseofTinoco)purchased estatesandtitles as
LordsofChiloeches andAlcaudete Salomon,
respectively. "The'De Pinto*Manuscript,"p. 18;Denucé,
"Thomás de Sampayo," p.316.
142

although theirkinsmenoutside the peninsula were more successfulat garneringthe
prestigioustitles.Simäo Roiz d'Evora e Veiga (1543-1618),Baron of Rodes, was onlythe
firstof a Portuguesenobilityin the Low Countriesand theHoly Roman Empire.50Once
theleading Lisbon bankerswere establishedin Madrid as thecrown'sfinanciers(1626),
themajorityofNew Christiansassociatedwiththebankersin thehouses could also aspire
to offices,beneficesand habitsof theseveralmilitaryordersofPortugal,51whichmightyet
carry them a distance up the social scale and away from the stigma New Christian
of
ancestry. Lisbon bankers secured the honors and thendistributedthemamong theirkin
and associates,who apparentlydid notbotherto obscureNew Christianancestry.52
The growingferocityof the PortugueseInquisition and the revival of the Spanish
tribunals'persecutionofJudaizersafter1600was a moreseriousthreatto New Christians
thanracial puritywas. The Portuguesemigrationto Spain, settlementin Seville,Madrid,
Toledo and othercommercialcenters,and illegal participationin the Seville tradewith
America(reservedfornativesof Castile) naturallyled to frictionwithnativemerchants.
ConnectionswiththegrowingSephardiccommunitiesin therebelliousUnited Provinces
identifiedthePortugueseas foreigninterlopers, crypto-Jewsand enemiesof Spain.53The
concessionsand guaranteesof a commercialand social prestigevalue that the crown
awarded to the Lisbon bankersand theirNew Christianassociatesonly multipliedtheir
49 Notuntil lateinthesecondhalfoftheseventeenth didtheSpanish crown

century beginconferring great
titles
on Portuguese bankersin thepeninsula,and thenprimarily on theOld Christian Tinocoand
Pachecofamilies - hence, Don DiegoFernández TinocoCorreayPaz,Viscount delFresno, andDon
Ambrosio deNisPacheco, Marquis ofOlivares.
AHN,Suprimidos : legajo13214, no.1,decrees of1675.
50 Denucé,"letsover
Spaansch-PortugeescheGeslachten," genealogical tablefollowing page51.Alsoin
theSpanishNetherlands: Garciad'Ilhäo(houseofBrandâo)becameLordofBornival andhisson
Fernäod'IlhäobecameBaronofBornival. Francisco da Silva(alsohouseofBrandâo) becameMarquis
ofMonfort bythefavor ofCharlesII ofSpain.Denucé,"Koningin Christina
vanZweden," pp.31-36.
Finally,Francisco Lopes Franco e Feo of
(house Silveira), a in
already fidalgo Portugal Spainand
(1650),waselevated totheLordshipofContich andHelmont intheNetherlands. Denucé,"Thomas de
Sampayo," p.316.InItalyandtheNetherlands theXimenes family (houseofSoaresd'Orta)purchased
estatesandmarried intotheFlemish andTuscannobility toestablish theirownnobility. Denucé,"lets
overSpaansch-Portugeesche Geslachten,"genealogicaltablefollowing pae 51. ThoméLopesd'Ulhoa
(1588-1655) (houseofSoaresd'Orta)achievedthemostspectacular successin theLow Countries,
becoming firstBaronofLimalandBiergein 1621,thenKnight oftheOrders ofAlcántara, Avizand
Calatrava by 1636 and Count
finally and Marquis ofthe Holy Roman Empire in 1646. See de Vos,pp.
33-87.
51 One ofPortugal - Aviz,Cristo andSantiago - from thoseof
oughttodistinguish themilitaryorders
Castile- Alcántara, CalatravaandSantiago- forPortuguese, withexceptions (eg. Thomé Lopes
d'Ulhoa,knight oftheOrderofCalatrava), werebarred from theCastilianorders.
52 Theasientos, area veritablemineof
orloancontracts signed bythecrown andthePortuguese bankers,
privilegesand offices conferredon theLisbonbankers as partof theircompensation forforeign
disbursements andanticipation ofthecrown's revenues in thepeninsula. See mydissertation, "The
Portuguese Bankers and theInternational
Payments Mechanism, 1626-1647,"pp. 155-63.
53 CharlesR. Boxer, andPortuguese in theIberianColonialWorlds:Aspects ofan Ambi-
"Spaniards
valentRelationship, 1580-1640,"LiberAmicorum Salvadorde Madariaga- Recueild'études et de
témoignages a Voccasion desonquatre anniversaire
-vingtième , H.
eds. Brugmans and R. Martinez Nadal
(Bruges,1966),pp.239-51.
143

enemies and popular resentmenttowardthem.54A host of rivals at courtvied for the
crown's favors- habits of the militaryorders,officesin Madrid and throughoutthe
kingdom,monopolycontractsforthesalt,brazilwoodand slave trades,revenue-farming
contracts,naturalizationsfortheSevillan tradewithAmerica,pensionsand ecclesiastical
incomes and privilegesof all descriptions- which the crowndistributedto personsof
meritand rank,but moreoftennow to candidateswho paid thehighestprice.CertainOld
Christiansimpressedwiththepurityof theirdescentand painfullyaware of theirreal or
relative poverty(compared to the bankers) mightwell imagine that the Portuguese
bankers were entirelytoo influential,too visible and too arrogant,consideringtheir
dishonorableprofessionand suspicionabout theirracial heritage.It was easy and con-
venientto believe in theirsecretJudaizing.
In Madrid the self-appointedwatchdogs of racial purity- including their most
renownedpersonality,Franciscode Quevedo yVillegas(1580-1645)55- did nothide their
contemptforthePortugueseand forforeigners in general.Nor did some rivals'own New
ChristianancestryinhibitdenouncingtheirPortuguesebrethrento theInquisition.56The
more visible and privilegedthe bankers appeared, the greaterthe temptationto seek
satisfactionin secretfromthebankeror his nearestkinsman,throughtheInquisition.The
condemnedand confessedJudaizer'spublic humiliationat theauto dafé and thewearing
of theSambenito(penitent'sgarb) and itsdisplayafterwards in thecathedralappealed to
thoseseekingto requitetheirdesireforprivateand secretjustice on the PortugueseNew
Christians.
It would be an exaggeration,however,to say thatLisbon'sNew Christiansall liveddaily
in terrorof the Inquisition.AlthougheveryLisbon bankinghouse had had brusheswith
disaster- sudden arrests,long and secretincarcerations57- themostprominentfamilies
had escaped the disgrace of condemnationsby the Inquisition.The Inquisitionrarely
54 A number ofprivilegesconferredsocialprecedence ontheNewChristians ofthebanking houses:for

example, theprivilege ofridingin a horse-drawn AGS,CG: legajos119-44,
carriage. asientoofthe
Portugués bankers.
55 Franciscode Quevedoy Villegas's La vidadelBuscón(1626)wasparticularly ofthecrown's
critical
foreignfinanciers.
Thepowerandcorruption ofmoney andnewwealth (always arefrequent
ill-gotten)
themes andsubjects ofsatire
inQuevedo.
56 AHN, : legajo171(4),nos.1-4,process ofJuanNuñezSaravia,1630-33. SeveralPortuguese
Inquisición
merchants ofMadrid, Bordeaux andRouengavedamaging testimony theSaraiva(orSaravia)
against
brothers.
Themostprominent wereNewChristians themselves:PauloSaravia,part3,folios 44-57and
64;andAntonio da Costade Paz,part2,folios 38-42.PeroFernandes Correia(house ofFernandes da
Costa)denounced theSaraivas'nephew, Bartolomé Febos,forJudaizing.AHN,Inquisición : legajo146
(4),processofBartolomé Febos,1632-36,folios 24-29, 22August 1633.JoâoRafaelda Silva,sonofthe
banker Joäoda Silvade Lisboa(houseofSilvadeLisboa)denounced a fellow
Portuguese, DiogoRoiz
CardosoofMadridin 1648.AHN,Inquisición : legajo177(11),processofDiegoRodriguez Cardoso,
1641-78,JuanRafaelde Silva,folios17-19, 2 January 1648.Oneofthemostperfidious examples of
NewChristians denouncing one anotheris the case of Francisco
LopesCapadocia, whose daughter
Dona JuanaCapadociaand son DomingoRoiz Capadociadenounced himas a Judaizer. AHN,
: legajo161(9),process
Inquisición ofFrancisco LópezCapadocia,1663-70, folios24-34.
Myimpressions oftheInquisition'sprocesses against Judaizersarebasedonmyowninvestigations in
theAHN,Inquisición.
144

releasedanyone,once arrested,withoutcondemnationand punishment.One occasionally
discreditedan accusor, but it was impossible in most cases, for plaintiffsremained
anonymousand even the specificsof the chargesagainst the accused were kept secret.
Testimonyfavorableto the accused mustemanate fromthe weightiestsource to counter
thepresumptionofguiltwhichhad provokedthevictim'sarrestin thefirstplace. The only
certainsalvationwas proofof Old Christianheritage.For no matterthenumberor weight
of accusationsagainstthe Judaizer,the tribunalswere disposed to recognizetheirfalse-
hood, provided that the accused did not carrythe guilt of Jewishancestryor of kin
condemned by the Inquisition beforehand.For example, the Riveiro family,firstex-
periencedthedangersof theInquisitionwithManuel Alvares'arrestin 1572.The Lisbon
tribunalreleased Manuel Alvares, however,withoutmuch deliberation.58In 1609-10
Toledo's tribunalarrestedFrancisco Dias Mendes (house of Mendes), but released him
(officiallyforlack of evidence) in spiteof theconfessionof his priorarrest(also without
59
condemnation)by the Inquisitionof Coimbra in 1603. Finally,a branchof the Gomes
d'Elvas Coronel familyhad purchased the officeand title"Grand Postmastersof Por-
tugal"in 1606fromthePortuguesecrownfor 70,000cruzados.Theyoutbida rivalfamily,
the Souza Coutinho,whichhad enjoyed thehonoruntilthen.Incensed at the loss, Dom
Cristoväo de Souza Coutinho (ninth Lord of Baiäo) accused Antonio Gomes d'Elvas
Coronel (second Lord of Mata das Flores) of Judaizing,on the groundthatthe Gomes
d'Elvas Coronel had continued to invest in commercial and banking venturesafter
purchasingthe titleand office.But nothingcame of the charge,thanksto the Gomes
d'Elvas Coronel's honorableand predominantly Old Christianlineage.60
Therewereother"miraculous"releasesofindividualsfromthemostprominentLisbon
houses. Scholarshave suggestedthatthesebankersand theirfamiliesand associateswere
immuneto the Inquisition'sprobingand theirdetractors'attacksbecause of thecrown's
protection.61 It is true that in 1626, beforeenteringinto the asiento,some Portuguese
-
bankers significantly, none of themfromLisbon - securedthecrown'sassurancethat
theywould be immuneto prosecutionand even confiscationof propertyforall offenses
against"TheirDivine and EarthlyMajesties",on thebankers'assuranceto thecrownthat
theywere good Catholics.62But the crown'spledge soon proved ineffectualforseveral
reasons.Firstof all, theNew Christians'privateassurancethattheyweregood Christians
was useless againstpopular prejudicesand thejealousy of rivalsas the bankersbecame
influentialand, consequently,hated at court.The arrestand condemnationofthecrown's
New ChristianbankersJoâo and Anrique Nunes Saraiva in 1632 forJudaizing(among
58 Arquivo Nacionalda Torredo Tombo,Lisbon(ANTT),process no.7549,ManuelAlvarezofAlvito,

1572;Salomon, p. 16;I. S. Revah,"Genealogie
The 'De Pinto'Manuascript,' Isaacde
deFeconomiste
Pinto,"Mélangesa la memoirede JeanSarrailh
(Paris, 196),II, 268and 270.
59 AHN, Diaz Méndez,1609-10
: legajo142(3),Francisco (unfoliated).
Inquisición
bUFerreira, 33-34.
pp.
61 Thisisthe enla EspañaModerna ,and
positiontakenbyJulioCaroBaroja,LosJudíos y Contemporánea
Herman Kellenbenz, SephardimanderunterenElbe.
62 AGS, : legajo466,consulta of 24 August1629,JuanNuñezSaravia.Ironically, JuanNuñez
CyJH
Saraviasuffered
mostfrom arrestandcondemnation bytheInquisition, 1632-34.
145

other crimes) was a spectacular scandal and a warningthat the immunityhad little
practicalvalue forthegreatestbankers,if,like theSaraivas,theirfamilieswere notallied
closely to powerfulfidalgos and noble families or of predominantlyOld Christian
heritage.Neither did the crown's guarantee of immunityprotectproperty,as the In-
quisitionimposed finesand confiscationstotaling320,000 ducats on the Saraivas. The
crownlearned that,over theshorttermat least,it had an interestin theconfiscationsand
the ruinof its own creditors.63 To the extentthatPortuguesebankersescaped arrestand
persecutionby the Inquisition,theyrelied on theirgood reputationsand connectionsto
the aristocracyand Old Christians,not on thecrown'sguarantee,to parrytheirenemies'
libels.64These connections,as noted above, predatedthebankers'arrivalin Madrid and
entryintothe asiento(1626) by severalgenerations.
The Inquisitionsdid not,by any means,monopolizetheviolenceperpetratedon New
Christiansin the peninsula.Clashes betweenthebankerstheirservantsand families,on
the one hand, and the servantsof Old Christianand some aristocraticfamilies,on the
other,were fairlycommonplace and were widely reportedby court chroniclersand
gossips.65The Fernandes da Costa familywas notoriousfor several violent incidents
involvingtheirkinsmenand servantsand clientsoftheCountsof Medina de las Torres.In
spiteof the Inquisition'sclose observationof the Fernandesda Costa afterthe incidents
and theobvious rancorof theirenemies,theFernandesda Costa, theirpersons,property
and reputations(as good Catholics) remainedintact.
63 AHN,Inquisición : legajo174(4),nos.1-4,JuanNuñezSariavia,1630-33. Antonio Ortiz,
Domínguez
"El procesoinquisitorialdeJuanNuñezSaravia, banquero deFelipeIV,"Hispania, XV,no.41(1955),
661-73.
64 Theinterests ofthePortuguese bankers andthearistocracywerefrequently linked.Sometitled nobility
ofthepeninsula hadlargesumsondeposit withthegreatbankers ofLisbonandMadrid. TheTinoco
bankers, forinstance, heldsubstantial fromtheMarquisofCastel-Rodrigo,
deposits theCountof
Lumares andtheCountdela Roca,ca. 1645-52. AGS,CMC,3a: legajo7,asientos ofDonFelipedeNis
Pachecoy Medina,1646-50, deposits, 1645-52.
TheInquisitions' molestationofthesebankers, which
threatened to ruintheircredit,also threatened thedepositsof thesearistocratic creditors.This
circumstance contrastswiththepresumed ofaristocratic
pattern indebtednesstothebankers, so often
citedasa reasonforthearistocracy's toward
hostility thebankers andtheNewChristians. Furthermore,
itmaybeworth and
noting pursuing elsewherethatthefamilies of Portuguesenobilitythatfraternized
withthePortuguese bankers andweretheir depositorsinsomeasientos werea group- including the
MouraCorte-Real, de Saa and Mello- identified withtheHabsburgs in Spainand as so-called
renegades whocontinued to serveSpain(as did thebankers) aftertherebellion in Portugaland
restorationofanindependent Portuguese monarchy.
65 Jenonimo de Barrionuevo, "Avisosde DonJeronimo de Barrionuevo, 1654-58,"Bibliotecadeautores
Españoles desdela de la
formación lenguaje hastanuestrosdias (continuación)(Madrid, 1968),CCXXI;
"Cartasdealgunos padres dela Compañía deJesús- sobrelossucesos dela Monarquía entrelosaños
de 1634y 1648,"Memorial histórico Español- colección de documentos, opusculosy antigüedades
(Madrid,1863),XVII; JosefPellicer de Ossuay Tovar,"Avisoshistóricos que comprehenden las
noticias
ysucesos masparticulares occuridos
ennuestra Monarquía desdeelaño1639, porJosef Pellizer
yTobar,cronista delreyno deAragón," Semanarioerudito, ed.Antonio VallardesdeSotomayor (1790),
XXXI-XXXIII. Theviolence between NewandOld Christians alsosurfacedin Lisbon.Duringthe
latterhalfofthesixteenth century a brotherofAndréLopesPintowasmurdered in Evora.André
LopesPinto's sonkilleda noblemen inchurch after
hehadcalledPintoa Jewinpublic.Salomon, "The
Pinto'Manuscript," pp. 13and 15-16.
146

The less prominentNew Cristianfamiliesallied and associatedwiththegreatfidalgo-
bankersof Lisbon in thebankinghousesprobablybenefitedfromthehouses' prestigeand
protection.Thus, thougha numberof New Christiansfellvictimto theInquisitionin the
earlydecades of the seventeenthcentrury, the familiesassociated in the greatbanking
houses remainedrelativelyuntouched.66But in the wake of intensifiedanti-Portuguese
feelingin Spain, afterthe rebellionof Portugalin 1640,neitherthe prestigeof the great
bankersnorthepoor protectionofthecrownguaranteedtheirallies' securityanylonger.67
The house of Silveira'sNew Christianassociates,AffonsoRoiz Paçarinho and his son-
in-lawCaptain Estevâo Luis Diamante ofSeville,werearrestedby theInquisitionin 1646,
condemnedforJudaizingand fined100,000ducats.68Yet theSilveira'sleadingbankers-
Pero da Baeça, Baron Jorgeda Paix da Silveira,Baroness Dona Beatrizda Silveira and
Dom Diogo da Silveira- werestillunassailable aftertheirassociates'disgrace.In 1653the
Inquisitionof Cuenca arrestedFranciscoMendes da Costa (alias FranciscoDias Mendes
de BritoII), an in-lawof theTinoco bankersand kinsmanof the house of Mendes. The
tribunaltriedand condemnedFranciscoin 1657as a Judaizer,but lethim offlightlywith
public humiliationand a token 6,000 ducat fine. One of Francisco's accusors also
denouncedhis brother-in-law Dom Pero Pacheco, brotherof Dom Felipe de Nis Pacheco
e Medina (Grand Chancellorof theSanta Cruzada and theTinoco's leading bankersince
1647). Because of the Tinoco's good reputationas Old Christiansand theirnumerous
aristocraticconnectionsthe Inquisitorsnever took the accusations seriouslyand never
In spiteof the feudwiththeCount of Medina de las Torres
institutedan investigation.69
and clashes withpowerfulOld Christians,the Fernandes da Costa were able to protect
theirmore vulnerableassociates until 1658,when theirenemies finallyengineeredthe
66 The wasGarciad'Ilhäo(1590-1655) - an in-lawoftheBrandäofamily anda
singlemajorexception
financierofthecrown, TheInquisition
1626-33. arrestedGarciain 1634;somehow heobtained release
without punishment andfledtoFrancebefore hispubliccondemnation in1634.Domínguez "El
Ortiz,
proceso de Juan Nuftez Saravia,"
pp. 573-81.Garcia first
d'Ilhäo's wife,Dona Gracia,hisbrother-in-
law,FernâoBrandäoda Meçquita, andGarcia'sbrother, FernäoDiasd'Ilhäo,livedunmolested inthe
peninsula afterGarcia'scondemnation andflight. FernäoDias d'Ilhäocarried on Garcia'sbanking
enterpriseinMadrid. AGS,CG: legajo127,asiento ofGarciad'Ilhäo,23December 1633;legajo128,
asientoofFernando DiazdeIllán,16June1634.By1640Garciad'Ilhäohadsettled inAntwerp andwas
a correspondentbanker forthehousesofFernandes daCostaandBrandäo. AGS,CMC,3a: legajo956,
accountof Paymaster Generalof theArmyof Flanders, ThomásLópezde Ulloa (ThoméLopes
d'Ulhoa), 1642-48: asientosand of
letters creditfrom Spain.In Antwerp Garciad'Ilhäoenjoyeda
reputationasthemostpiousCatholicof allthePortuguese NewChristiansinthattown.Isaacde Pintoof
Amsterdam accusedGarciaofrevealing to theSpanishauthorities hisfamily'sintentiontoespouse
Judaism inHollandon theeveoftheirdeparture from Antwerp in 1647.Salomon, "The 'De Pinto'
Manuscript," p.30.In 1654Garciahosted QueenChristina ofSweden ontheoccasion ofherabdication
andconversion toCatholicism.Denusé,"Koningin vanZweden,"
Christina pp.31-36.
67 toward the in as misfortunesmounted, tothepointthatnot
Antipathy PortugueseSpaingrew Spain's
only"NewChristian" but"Portuguese" hadbecomesynonymous with"enemy" and"Jew". Boxer,pp.
239-51.
68 AHN, : legajo5096(2), processof CaptainEstevanLuis Diamante;accountsof the
Inquisición
Paçarinhos.
69 Ibid.: Diaz Mendesde Britoand family, folios3-42.
legajo142(6), processof Francisco 1653-57,
Captain Estevan de Airesda Fonseca was theaccusor.
147

arrestof an in-law,FranciscoLopes Pereira,who was condemnedin 1664.70Needless to
say,theFernandesda Costa bankersand theirmanyheirswerepersonallyuntouchedby
thescandal and were assimilatedthroughmarriageswithSpanish gentry.The bankersof
thehouse of Soares d'Orta sufferedno comparablescandal, even afterthe flightof their
leading banker,Salvador Vaaz Martins,in 1648to France to escape his creditors.71
The evidence of the Lisbon bankinghouses is leading to an apparent paradox: the
Lisbon banking families,offspringof Old Christiansand assimilatedNew Christians
alike,ofpious reputationin thepeninsulaand in CatholiccitiesoftheDiaspora, produced
a numberofpublicJewsofAmsterdam,Hamburgand theItalianghettos.The conversion
of some membersof the Lisbon familiesto Judaismdoes not,however,contradictthe
assertionthatby theseventeenthcenturytheNew Christiansallied in thebankinghouses
and some otherNew Christianfamilieswerefarremovedfroma Jewishracial or religious
heritage.Re-examinationof themostcelebratedconversionsin thelightof the evidence
fromtheLisbon bankerswillillustratemypoint.
The house of Mendes produced one of the most celebratedJewishfamiliesof the
sixteenthcentury,the Mendes Nasi. The Mendes had establishedbranchesin Antwerp
and Lyons by 1512, in Venice by 1550 and Anally made their way fromVenice to
Constantinopleby 1555,wheretheyformallyconvertedtoJudaismand adopted thename
of Nasi. Once establishedin the Ottoman realms,the Nasi co-operatedin the Porte's
effortsto develop the economyof the EasternMediterranean.The Sultan honoredJoâo
Migues Mendes, Duke of Naxos, forhis services.72
Here apparentlyare eventsimpossibleto reconcilewithourhypothesis.But theMendes
Nasi's conversionwas veryearly - withinone generationof the forcedconversionsof
1492/97.The branchin questionhad retiredfromthepeninsulaby 1512,thoughtheydid
not revertimmediatelyto Judaism,at least not publicly.The Mendes Nasi had therefore
notembarkedon thepath to assimilationin thepeninsula.On theotherhand, thebranch
thatremainedin the peninsula opted forassimilation,as did any otherNew Christian
tacitlyby not abandoning the peninsula duringor soon afterthe period of unrestricted
emigration,1507-36.
The seventeenth-century conversionsof New Christiansto Judaismwere an altogether
different phenomenon,because New Christiansthemselveshad changed. Afterseveral
generationsindividualswere seekingout the ghettosof Italy,Holland or the empireand
convertingto a faithof whichtheyknewnothing,adoptinga culturalheritagewhichwas
nottheirown. The moststridentadvocatesof a survivingcrypto-Judaism in thepeninsula
have despaired of explainingjust how isolated groupsin the peninsula,watched by the
Inquisitions,preserveda trueMosaic tradition.73It is not enough thattheycould referto
70 Caro
Baroja,LosJudíos enla EspañaModern y Contemporánea, II, 35.
71 AGS,CG: ofSalvador
legajo142,asiento BaezMartinez, 1648.
72 See Roth,TheHouse Nasi- theDuke Naxos.
of of
73 In the toa newedition ofRoth's
A History Roth'sfinal
, H. P. Salomonrelated
preface oftheMarranos
musingsovertheproblem. According to Salomon,evenRoth- a prominent proponentofcrypta-
Judaim'ssurvival in theIberianpeninsula- wasconvinced ofthepreserving of
ofthepreservation
Mosaictraditionforlongaftertheforcedconversion.
H. P.Salomon, inRoth,
"Introduction," ,4History
oftheMarranos (1932),Schocken edition(NewYork,1974).
148

theOld Testament.By 1600severalgenerationshad grownup withouttheRabbinate and
writtentraditionand insteadhad grownup in Christianity. Moreover,the evidencefrom
Lisbon's familiessuggeststhateven theSemitic the
family, lastbulwarkagainstdilutionof
traditions,had broken down. It seems reasonable that the descendantsof individuals
willingto sufferexile and even martyrdomfortheirfaithin 1492/97and stillsincereabout
theirJudaismwould nothave toleratedtheslow death of traditioneither,but would have
made everyeffort and everysacrificenecessaryto removethemselvesand theirheirsfrom
thepeninsulalong before1600.74
But whytheconversionof some assimilatedor assimilatingNew Christiansto Judaism
after1600? Many conversionscan be attributedto considerationsof convenience and
financialand familyinterests.Amsterdam'sPortuguese,who were not welcome thereas
Catholic merchants after 1578, converted to Judaism in order to participate in
Amsterdam'slivelycommerce.Meanwhile, New Christiansof adjacent Antwerpwere
contentto live and die Catholicforthesame purpose.WhythePortuguesein Amsterdam
and Hamburg preferredconvertingto Judaismover the Reformedreligionis stillpuz-
zling. The Jewishcommunity'seasy acceptance of New Christiansand the hostilityof
Protestants(who wanted to exclude Portuguese and Spanish merchantsfrom their
churchesand thusfromtheirmerchantguilds?)may be partof the explanation.But we
cannotbe certain,forcrucialProtestantattitudestowardNew Christiansare notyetwell
understood.
Althoughwe cannotestimatetheirnumber,we knowthatmanymorePortuguese,New
and Old Christians,were leaving the peninsula than were convertingto Judaism.The
acceleratingexodus and dispersion throughEurope and the New World after 1580
coincided with the expansion of the Atlantic economy and Portuguesetrade, which
required a geographicallyscatterednetworkof factorsand correspondentsin the bur-
geoningcommoditymarketsand portsof the Atlanticand of NorthernEurope.75Thus,
conversionof PortugueseNew Christiansto Judaismin theDiaspora was onlypartof the
"push and pull" of a largerPortuguesemigration.Of course,businessand financewere
not the only motivesforthe New Christians'wanderingsand conversionto Judaism.76
Some leftPortugalbecause theyhad found that theirancestrywas an impedimentto
ambitionsin theirprofession;77 otherssimplyfollowedto join kinsmenalreadyabroad.
74 Theweakness oftheIberian-JewishheritageofPortugueseNewChristians intheseventeenth is
century
readilyillustratedinthesignificant oftraditions
discontinuity from IberianJewry beforetheconver-
sionsof1492/97 toNewChristiansconvertingtoJudaism inSephardic which
communities sprang upin
thelatesixteenth and in theseventtenth -
centrurynamely, in Amsterdam and Hamburg. These
communities borrowed vocabularyandpracticesrelatingtoprayer andritualfrom LevantineJewish
tradition- a signofthepoverty oftheir owntraditionssupposedly from
inherited theonce richand
self-sufficient
traditionofIberian
Jewry. On theLevantine influenceseeSalomon,"The 'De Pinto,"
p.
22,note79,andp. 39,note118.
75 See my dissertation, "The Portuguese Bankersand the International Payments Mechanism,
1626-1647," pp.59-64.
76 Nordo I imply thatmanyoftheconverts didnotbecomesincere andsteadfastinJudaism.
77 Forinstance, Saul LeviMorteira noviceand Isaac Cardosoin medicine.
as a Jesuit YosefHayim
Yerushalmi, FromSpanishCourttoItalianGhetto , Isaac Cardoso:A Studyin Seventeenth-Century
Marranism andJewish (NewYorkandLondon,1971).
Apologetics
149

Those unable to insulatethemselvesfrompersecution, byvirtueoftheirwealthand family
connectionsin thepeninsula,fledto avoid arrestor condemnationby theInquisitions,or
because theywere exiled by the tribunals.Once in the Diaspora New Christiansused to
thinkingof themselvesas Iberiansand Catholicscontactedtheirfellows,manyof whom
had alreadyconvertedto thefaithofIsraeland who introducedthemto theirlostheritage.
A sense of community,as well as business ties,led the Diaspora's New Christiansto
identify withtheSephardim.
It is instructivealso to reconsiderin detail a few seventeenth-centuryconversionsof
-
New Christianfamilies theDias Anriques(or Aboab), thePintosand Riveiros(house of
Tinoco) and theSampayos (house of Soares d'Orta).
The Dias Anriques claimed to be the descendantsof Abraham Aboab, alias Duarte
Dias, fromone of the thirtyrefugeefamiliesfromCastile that the Portuguesecrown
permittedto settlein Oporto in 1493. The earliestconversionsof the Dias Anriques to
Judaism(in Florence and Venice) did not occur untiljust priorto 1600. Later, Aboabs
appeared as public Jews in Amsterdamand Hamburg. The compiler of the Aboab
genealogy,Isaac de MathathiasAboab (1631-1701),was born a Jewin Amsterdamand
was,understandably, mostinterested in thefamily'sbranchesthatfoundtheirway "back"
to thehouse ofIsrael. Isaac mentions,thoughwithoutmuchelaboration,hiskinsmenwho
remainedin the Peninsula as Christiansallied to Old Christianand noble houses of the
peninsula.78Missing,however,are referencesto theDias Anriques'relationto familiesof
theTinoco, Silveiraand Brandáo bankers.
I.S. Revah published theAboab genealogy.He was convincedthatthe genealogyand
brief familyhistorydocumented the survival of a Judaizingcommunitywithin the
peninsulathatwas cognizantof itsJewishheritage.In theretentionof theclan's Hebrew
patronymic,"Aboab", Revah especiallysaw proofof a consciousnessand continuityof
theJewishpast thatmysteriously had survived,submerged,overa periodof a centuryand
more.Otherfamiliesrelatedbymarriageto theAboab clan also employedalleged ancient
Hebrew and Iberian-Jewish names of theirancestors- Naar (alias Pina) and the Curiel
(alias Nunes Ramieres),forinstance.79
Anotherconclusionmustprevailwhenwe examinethecircumstancessurroundingthe
Aboabs' conversionand compare themto otherNew Christianfamilies.That so many
Sephardic familiesunrelatedto the clan of Revah's published genealogy adopted the
78 Onebranch ofthefamily aristocratic totheMarquis ofPolinanoandtoDonJuan

arranged marriages
de Salamanca,alderman ofSevilleandknight ofBurgos.Twomarriages oftheDias AnriquestoOld
Christiansproduced theCountsofMola,theBaronsofCampomarino andDon FrayFrancisco de
Vitoria,BishopofTecumanandArchbishop ofMexico.I. S. Revah,"Pourl'histoire
desNouveaux-
Chrétiens La relation
portugais. genealogiquedeI. deM.Aboab,"Boletim deBibliografía
Internacional
II (1961),276-312.
Luso-Brasileira, Fromtheasientowe alsoknowthatDuarteDias Anriques (ca.
1580-1632) participated
briefly oftheSpanishcrown.
(1628-29)as financier AGS, CG: legajo122,
asientoof11 March1628,DuarteDiaz Enriquez.
79 Revah,"Pourl'histoire
desNouveaux-Chre pp.278-81.
tiensportugais,"
150

Aboab name,80is, to say theleast,suspicious.It is doublysuspicious,since so manyother
seventeenth-century refugeesfromthepeninsulahad no inklingofan ancientpatronymic,
let alone a Jewishpast, at the momentof conversionto Judaism.The Abas, Abendana,
Aboab, Cabessäo, Casseres,Curiel,Guedelha, Naar, Senior and otherpatronymicsneed
nothave been theheritagepreservedin thepeninsula,because convertsin theseventeenth
centurycould call on the memoryof Jewslong exiled fromthepeninsulaand preserving
theunbrokentraditionsof Iberian Jewryto supplythe patronymicand a familyhistory.
On theotherhand,is itprobablethata viable subculturenotpreservinga traditionofsuch
elementaryimportance as a family name could have existed in the peninsula for
generations?
Of greaterdistinctionthan the patronymicswere the priestlyappellations Levi and
Cohen. A number of PortugueseJews convertedafter 1600 attemptedto justifythe
assumptionof such appellationsin theirfamilies,althoughproofor traditionwas often
non-existentfortheirclaims. The Jewishcongregationswiselyrecognizedfew of these
claimsas legitimate.The Pintofamily- some ofwhomconvertedto Judaismin the 1640's
- never substantiatedthe addition of Cohen to their name in spite of the equally
unsubstantiated claimsof thekindredRocha Pinto(Cohen da Rocha) of Hamburg.81Nor
could Jewsof theproud Pintoand Riveirofamiliesproducean ancientpatronymic;there
simplywas no traditionforit fromIberianJewry.The Riveiroswerealwaysknownin the
Diaspora as Riveiro; the Pintos only adopted, for no discerniblereason, the article
("de")before theirbaptized Christianname - hence,de Pinto.82The Pintosand Riveiros
were perhaps too proud to adopt a name that was not really theirs.But many other
succumbedto thetemptationto
converts,anxiousto betterassimilateto theirnewidentity,
adopt so renowned a name as Aboab or Senior. Diogo Teixeira de Sampayo (house of
Soares d'Orta) assumedthevenerablename AbrahamSeniorTeixeiraat his conversionto
Judaismin 1647 in Hamburg.The implicationwas thatDiogo Teixeira - by reputation
thewealthiestPortugueseto emergefromAntwerpand convertto Judaism- descended
fromthe famousJewishbankerAbraham Senior,financierof the war againstGranada
(1482-92).83Diogo Teixeira did not descend fromtheoriginalAbraham Senior,nor was
he theonlyPortugueseJewto adopt theSeniorname. AntonioSaraiva Coronel,although
no relationto theSampayo or AndradefamiliesofDiogo Teixeira'slineage,was knownas
80 Hermann Kellenbenz, "Tradiciones Nobiliarias

de losgrupos Actasdelprimer
Sefardíes," simposiode
estudiosSefaries(Madrid,1970),pp.49-54.IsaacAboabda FonsecaandAndréandAntonio Faleiro
wereamong themany whoadopted theAboabname,although theywerenotofthesameclanorfamily
astheDiasAnriques. Salomon, "HahamSaulLeviMorteira," pp. andDenucé,"Bijdrage
127-28, totde
Geschiedenis vanoudSpaansch-Portugeesche Geslachten indenNederlanden - De Afkomst vanAna
de Milan(c 1548-1613), Stammoeder vanhetgeslacht Teixeirade Matos,"AtwerpschArchievenblad,
2ndseries,III (1928),19-37,
especially36-37.Salomon, "The 'De p.21,note76,the
Pinto'Manuscript,"
FaleirosofAntwerp, Hamburg andVenice.
81 Salomon,The'De Pmto
Manuscript, p. 11.
82 Ibid., 7.
p.
83 MaxGrunwald, "Le procès RevuedesEtudes
del'inquisition DiegoetManuelTeixeira,"
contre Juives,
LIX (1910),231-47.Denucé,"Bijdrage totde Geschiedenis van oud Spaansch-Portugeesche Ge-
slachten,"pp. 19-37;
Kamen, p. 25.
151

Abraham Senior too. Before 1700 Diogo Teixeira's heirs,securein theirJewishidentity,
had dropped the pretenseand were known henceforthby the familynames of their
Christianbaptismal- Teixeirade Mattosand Sampayo.
The seriesof New Christiangenealogiesthatappeared in the seventeenthcentury,of
which the Pinto and Aboab genealogies are representative, attempted,therefore,to
re-establisha lost traditionof Iberian Jewryor to establisha traditionand historyof
Judaismin familieswhoseancestorswereas likelyOld Christiansas Jews.The inadequacy
of mostof theseefforts revealstheveryreal breakand lack of a Jewishpast. Patronymics
and the priestlyappellationsservedthe same purpose,but the ancientSemiticclans to
whichtheyapplied had long since disintegrated in thepeninsula.
The briefhistoryof the Pinto family(house of Tinoco) and the allied Riveiro family
supports my contentions.Isaac de Pinto (1629-81) composed the familyhistoryin
Amsterdamca. 1671.84In it he relatedthecompletegenealogyof his familyand muchof
therelatedRiveirofamilyand theirrelationshipto theOld ChristianPacheco and Tinoco
families.Like Isaac de MathathiasAboab, Isaac de Pintowroteas a Jew,but a neophyte.
Isaac de Pintoinsistedon his kinshipto Joäo da Rocha Pinto(allias Zacharias Cohen da
Rocha, 1589-1649)of Hamburgin orderto lay his family'sclaim to theCohen title.In his
zeal foraccurate detail - verifiablein Lisbon's parish registers, processesof the Portu-
guese and Spanish Inquisitions and in the asiento- Isaac, conveyedto the
nevertheless,
readerdetails of incidentsquite irreconcilablewiththe "official"account of his family's
coming to the Jewishfaithand theirsettlementin Rotterdamin 1647. Guided by the
evidenceofthefamily'sblood alliance and financialassociationwiththehouse ofTinoco,
as revealedin the asientos,I can reconstruct a moreconsistentversionof theseevents.
Isaac portrayedhis grandfather Manuel AlvaresPintoas a New Christianconsciousof
his Jewishheritage and always intending,one day, to lead the familyback to that
tradition.The returnto Judaismwas the firstconsiderationof Isaac's grandfather in his
decision to remove his familypermanentlyfromPortugalca. 1606. Secondarily,Isaac
attributedhis grandfather'sdecision to the past nuisance of persecutionand fear of
perhapsworseconsequences of persecutionin the future.The deathbed prophecyof an
adolescent (Isaac's uncle) was the immediatecatalystof the move fromLisbon. The
prophecyforetoldthat the familyheaded by Isaac's uncle Rodrigo Alvares Pinto and
fatherGil Lopes Pinto would some day be veryprosperousand famous,but only in a
distantland.85
Isaac's version of the exodus is attractiveand readable. But above all, it diverted
attentionfromthe facts embarassingto the Pinto family'sJewishidentity.In other
passages,in apparentcontradictionof the grandfather's alleged crypto-Judaism,conver-
sion to Judaismdid notenterhismindat anypoint.Isaac confessesthatin orderto tearhis
familyfromthepeninsulahis grandfather had onlywithdifficulty bannishedthoughtsof
the comfortsand luxuriesof the pleasant life to which he had become accustomedin
Lisbon. This is theveryattitudewithwhichHaham Saul Levi MorteirareproachedNew
84 Salomon,"The'De Pinto'Manuscript,"
85 Ibid., 20. pp. 1-62.
p.
152

Christiansand which led him to doubt that any New Christianscould be crypto-Jews
intendingto revertto Judaism,unlessabsolutelyforcedto by circumstances.86 Indeed, in
leavingPortugal Isaac's family did not as
settle, theyeasily could have, in Amsterdam or
Hamburg, where religious toleration would have allowed them to practice Judaism
openly.Instead thePintoscame to Antwerp,where,by priorarrangementwiththesenior
branchof thefamilyin Lisbon, theyrepresentedthefamilyas factorsof thebrazilwood,
salt and sugar trades.87Furthermore, the seniorbranch- headed by André Lopes Pinto
(Isaac's maternal grandfather) and his heirsremainedin thepeninsulaas theassociates
ofthekindredRiveiro,Tinoco and Pacheco families.88 UntilthearrivalofGil Lopes Pinto
and Rodrigo Alvares Pinto in Antwerp,the Pintos,Riveirosand Tinocos of Lisbon had
correspondedwith André and Antonio Faleiro and Company, who now moved on to
Hamburgand Venice.89
ThirtyyearslaterwhenthePintoscontemplateda move fromAntwerp,theyresponded
again fromfinancialmotivesratherthanfromdeepseatedreligiousconviction.Antwerp-
surroundedon the south by advancing French forces(after the debacle of Spanish
militarymightat Rocroi, 1643) and fromthenorthby theDutch - experienceda marked
decay of securityin the 1640's,makingbothbankingand commercemoreprecariousand
less advantageousforthe Pintos.Joäo da Rocha Pintohad leftAntwerpby 1644; Diogo
Teixeira de Sampayo contemplatedhis family'sflightat the same time as the Pintos.90
Isaac faithfullyrecountedhow his fatherand uncle had takenprecautionsand measures
86 Salomon, "HahamSaulLeviMorteira, pp.127-41.

87 André
LopesPintoandtheRiveiros wereamongthemajorsaltexporters ofPortugal.In 1618 alonethey
freightedsaltin200vessels (mostly Dutch)toAmsterdam andtheBaltic.E. M. Koen,etal.,"Notarial
Records inAmsterdam relating tothePortuguese Jewsinthattownupto1639,"StudiaRosenthaliana,
X,no.1(1976),p. 102,in 1615BentoOsorio(thePintos' factor
inAmsterdam) wasshipping saltfrom
SetúbaltoRigaforAndréLopesPinto;X,no.2 (1976),p. 219,in 1616BentoOsoriodespatched thirty
shipsto Setúbalto load saltfromAndréLopesPinto,Francisco Roizda VeigaandAntonio Dias
Riveiro,forDunkirk, Holland, Zeeland,Danzig,Königsberg, Riga,etc.AtthesametimeAndréLopes
PintoandtheRiveiros contracted tosupply thePortuguese ofCeutaandTangier,
garrisons 1616-20,
andfarmed theduties onsaltextraction andexport from January
Portugal, 1615-December 1620.Luiz
Figueiredo Falcäo,Livroemquese contem todaa Fazendae RealPatrimonio dosReinosdePortugal,
IndiaenIlhasadjacentes e outras particularidades(1607)(Lisbon,1859),pp. 10-29;Virginia Rau,A
exploracäo e o comerciode sal de Setúbal - estudode historia
economica (Lisbon,1951),pp. 155-57
AndréLopesPintoandPuarteAlvares Riveiro werealsoimportant merchants ofbrazilwood, first
as
monopoly contractors,1594to 1609,andlateras licensed traders
between BrazilandLisbon,1609-25.
AHC,Papéis: Bahia,1599-1624, Caixa 1,Bancroft Library Microfilm,reel2, exposures 598-605 and
854,AndréLopesPintoandDuarteAlvares 2 October1618,
Riveiro, accounts ofbrazilwood loadedat
Bahia,1617-18.
88 TheRiveiro scionswereDuarteDiasd'Olivares, financier
oftheSpanish crown (1641-52) and
family's
associateofthehouseofTinoco,andAntonio Dias Riveiro.Bothweremarried toladiesofthePinto
family.AGS,CG:legajos135-46, asientosofDuarteDiasd'Olivares.
89 Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 21.
yu A. Cassuto, "O livrodas pregoems dosJudeus de Hamburgo," Revista Lusitana, XXXI
portugueses
(1933),pp.80-98,placesJoâoda RochaPintoinHamburg in 1649.ThelastyearthatJoäoda Rocha
Pintoappeares as a correspondent banker inAntwerp was 1641.AGS,CG: legajo135,asientoof 14
January 1641, Antonio Vaezde Guzman.
153

necessary for flight,should it become unavoidable, almost from the day following
Rocroi.91
The Pintos' goal was not necessarilyRotterdamor Amsterdamand conversionto
Judaism even then. Where the Pintos arrangedto transfertheirfortunewould surely
determinethepath of theirflight.FlightbehindFrenchlineswould have takenthePintos
to the Catholic cityof Rouen, to which theyhad taken the precautionof forwarding
120,000florinsof theircapital.Venice,whereinhad residedIsaac's uncle,RodrigoAlvares
Pinto,while duringthe 1630's(as a Christian),was anotherpossible refugein whichthey
mightlive as Catholics.The family'sVenetiancorrespondentwas holdinganotherlarge
capital for the Pintos in that event.92The Rotterdamroute,however,offereddecisive
advantages. Rotterdamwas the closestof all to Antwerpand was already the home of
some kinsmen.Throughoutthelast phase of thestrugglein the Low CountriesSpanish-
controlledtownson the borderhad paid a kind of 'protection'to the Dutch to halt the
destructiveraids that ravaged the countrysideand posed a danger to settlementsand
travelers(includingmerchants).93 Last but notleast,commercialadvantagesoflocatingin
Holland (whose forcesstillheld much of Brazil and the Portugueseslaving stationsin
WestAfrica)weresuperiorto thoseofRouen or Venice and musthave countedheavilyin
a familyof merchantsand bankers.In 1647thePintosfinallyarrivedin Rotterdam.
When theyarrivedin RotterdamthePintoswereremarkablyignorantofJewishdietary
laws, ritualand othertraditions.Isaac de Pintomade no effortto hide theirignorance.94
Yet it was common knowledgethatNew Christiansof Antwerphad intimatebusiness
contactsin Amsterdamand kinsmenin the Sephardiccommunitythere.The Pintoswere
no exception.Theirmajorcorrespondent in Amsterdamwas Baruch(Aboab) Osorio,alias
Bento Osorio, prominentmember and founderof the Beth Israel Concregation.95A
daughter(Isaac's sister)and a son-in-lawofthePintoswerealso establishedin Rotterdam
a fewyearsbeforethe Pintosarrived.96It is therefore to believe thatthe Pintos,
difficult
notlivingunderthescrutiny ofan Iberian-style Inquisition,ratherlivingamonga number
of alleged crypto-Jewsof Antwerp'sPortuguesecommunity, could not have acquired at
least a rudimentaryknowledgeof the religiontheyintendedto espouse one day. How
muchmoredifficult to believe thatthePintos,Riveirosor otherPortuguesecarriedthose
traditionswiththemfromtheIberianpeninsulain theseventeenthcentury?
The Pinto familyhistoryfurtherillustratesthe irrelevanceof Semiticheritageto con-
version.I referto theheirsof Manuel AlvaresPintoe Riveiro(anotherof Isaac de Pinto's
91 Salomon, " The'De Pinto'

p.29.
Manuscript,"
Ibid.
93 Parker,TheDutchRevolt(IthacaandNewYork,1977),p. 257.
Geoffrey
94 Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript,"
yo Ibid., 22. p. 38.
p.
96 Ibid.
DiogoSoaresCarloswasa kinsman of theSoaresRiveirofamily
(houseof Brandâo)and a
correspondent ofDuarteBrandäoSoares,theBrandäo's 1639-47.
leadingbanker, AHN,Inquisición:
legajo171(4),no.2,folio123,process
ofJuanNuñezSaravia;Antonio Gradix's
Rodriguez from
letter
Bordeaux, 31 August1631,mentions a largerbillof exchangedrawnby DiogoSoaresCarlosof
Antwerp infavorofDuarteBrandäoSoares.
154

uncles) issuingfromtwounions.The heirsof the firstunion - childrenof the pious Old
ChristianDona Felipa Tinoco - surfacedin Amsterdamin the 1650's as Jews,adopting
the name of Riveirofromthepaternalside. The second union - withDona Catarina de
Riveiro(like herhusband,theproductofmixedOld and New Christianancestry)97 - was
morelikelyto produce heirsaware of an alleged Jewishtraditionand ancestry.Yet these
heirsremainedin Spain, assimilatedand inheritedtheirfather'sestatesand title,Señorde
Chiloeches!98
This phenomenonwas repeated again and again in the Pinto and Riveiro familes,
makingnonsenseof any attemptto attributeconversionsto a continuousJewishheritage
or racial bond. Rather,thosewho soughtout Amsterdamand Hamburg's ghettosdid so
forreasonsquite apartfroma consciouslyinheritedJewishtradition.Veryhighon thelist
ofreasonsmusthave been financialand businessinterests, whichrequiredthatindividuals
notonlyturntheirbacks on thepeninsula,but thata fewalso convertto a faithof which
theyhad known nothingin the peninsula. Otherconvertswere typicalof a segmentof
Iberian society(New and Old Christianalike), frustrated in its ambitionsand of secular
mind," which sought an outlet in the ample commercial opportunitiesof the Diaspora.
Some of these convertsfound the rigidityof an alien faith(Judaism)and traditionsas
intolerableas lifein the peninsula - hence,the curioussurfacingof formerpublic Jews
again in thepeninsula.100
To conclude,itis a mythto maintaina continuity ofreligion,traditionor even race from
Iberian Jewryprior to 1492/97 and forcedconversion,to the New Christiansof the
seventeenthcentury.The Portuguesebankinghouses of Lisbon demonstrateratherthe
discontinuity of thatheritage:in thesincereeffortto assimilatebymarriagevirtuallyfrom
themomentoftheforcedconversionsin 1497; in theconsequentdisintegration or dilution
of the ancient Semitic clans; in the converts'ignorance of Jewish religiousand family
traditionsat thetimeof theirespousingJudaism;and in theirrelevanceof racial heritage
to theconversionof manyof themostprominentSephardicfamilies.
Finally, the evidence fromthe Portuguesebankers suggeststhat the New Christian
"problem"has obscuredas muchas itexplained.The problemdrawsattentionto theNew
Christians'peculiarcharacterand inheritancefromJudaismas a separateracial minority,
ignoringforthemostpartevidenceof theirrole in theeconomiclifeof thepeninsulaand
frequentfraternization and collaborationwiththeOld Christians.Historiansmustseek a
balanced interpretation of the New Christianswhich considersequally the materialor
97 Salomon,"The4DePinto'Manuscript," pp.27and28.DonaCatarina de Riveiro andDomDuartede

Riveiro
werebothgrandchildren ofa ladyoftheTourega familyanda mateoftheNewChristian Dias
Anriques(Aboab)family. Revah,"Pourl'histoire desNouveaux-Chretiensportugais," p. 291.
98 Salomon,"The'De Pinto'Manuscript," p. 18.
99 Denucé,"letsoverSpaansch-Portugeesche p. 50.
Geslachten,"
100 thebestexamples ofthisphenomenon areHectorMendesBravoandGasparBocarro, whohad
Perhaps
themisfortune intothehandsofthePortuguese
offalling Cecil
Inquisition. Roth, "TheStrange Caseof
HectorMendesBravo," Hebrew UnionCollege XVIII,pp.221-45;I. S. Revah,'Unefamille
Annual, de
lesBocarro
'Nouveaux-Chretiens': Frances," pp. 73-87.
Undoubtedly therewere many othersin the
sameposition.
155

economic factors,and the culturaland "spiritual",even if as a resultmen sometimes
appear to be morematerialand pettycreaturesand less emotionaland idealisticthanwe
care to admit. Hence, financialconsiderationsmade allies of some Old Christiansand
New Christianswho werealienatedfromone anotherin 1497and eventuallybrokedown
racial and culturalbarriersbetween some of them; and financialconsiderationswere
powerfulfactorsdispersingthePortugueseacrossEurope and attracting some assimilated
Portuguese New Christiansto Amsterdam and to Judaism in the seventeenth
century.
156


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THE NEW CHRISTIANS RECONSIDERED: EVIDENCE FROM LISBON'S PORTUGUESE BANKERS,

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In nearlyhalfa milleniumsincethefoundationof thefirstIberianInquisition(1483), the

1 H. P. Salomon,"Haham Saul Levi Morteiraen de Portugeese Nieuw-Christenen,"Studia

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4 See YitzhakFritzBaer,Die Judenin Christlichen

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A reviewof the familiarstoryof forcedconversionand the New Christians'early ex-

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18 Archivo Generalde Simancas(hereafter AGS), ContaduríaMayorde Cuentas , 3a época(hereafter

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minutes andmemorials oftheCouncilofFinanceinMadridandreferences intheprivate correspon-

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Countries.Salomon, "The'De Pinto'Manuscript," pp.13and17.TheBrandäo genealogyclaimed that

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28 Theaccount ofRodrigo Alvarez'sorigin is incompleteandconfused. Theauthor ofthePintofamily

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was to identify and establish legalandbinding contractualrelationshipsamongtheparties of the

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49 Notuntil lateinthesecondhalfoftheseventeenth didtheSpanish crown

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54 A number ofprivilegesconferredsocialprecedence ontheNewChristians ofthebanking houses:for

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58 Arquivo Nacionalda Torredo Tombo,Lisbon(ANTT),process no.7549,ManuelAlvarezofAlvito,

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78 Onebranch ofthefamily aristocratic totheMarquis ofPolinanoandtoDonJuan

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80 Hermann Kellenbenz, "Tradiciones Nobiliarias

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86 Salomon, "HahamSaulLeviMorteira, pp.127-41.

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91 Salomon, " The'De Pinto'

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97 Salomon,"The4DePinto'Manuscript," pp.27and28.DonaCatarina de Riveiro andDomDuartede

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