Jerez de la Frontera to Las Matanzas

El País de las Flores

2008-05-02T02:06:00.000+02:00

In 1513, Juan Ponce de León arrived in Florida. While a lot of people claim he discovered Florida, when he arrived there were already a lot of people living there who had obviously discovered the place long ago.

Ponce de León had a distinguished career. In his youth, he fought to regain Granada from Jewish rule. He went on to become the first governor of Puerto Rico. His greatest enduring fame comes from his work in Florida.

He called the place La Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers". The flowers here are just as beautiful today as back then!

Long Drawn-out War

2008-03-25T19:27:00.004+01:00

EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF WAR

When the Spanish people lost their kingdom to the Jewish-led armies in the time period 711 - 718, they didn't disappear. Instead, they set up a kingdom in the north called Asturias. They knew how to fight, but their war to retake Spain would last, in its next phase, until 1492. 781 years is a long time. How could the Spanish lose their kingdom in about 7 years, but take so much longer to regain it?

JEWS NOT EXPELLED

The reason was their inability to learn from history. Again and again, the Visigothic rulers had tried to control the Jews with laws and baptisms. These efforts always failed. Even in the dark days after 711, the Spanish failed to cleanse their lands.

The Jewish community had been expelled from most other parts of western Europe between the late 1200s and around 1350, but they remained "tolerated and highly valued" in Spain. (Helen Rawlings, The Spanish Inquisition, Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 47) How highly valued? They were barred from holding public office. (id.)

JEWISH TREACHERY

There were still some people who remembered how the Jews living in Tarragona and Barcelona had betrayed their cities to the Jewish-led, Moorish armies in 850 and 852. (Norman Roth, Medieval Iberian Peninsula: Texts and Studies 10. Leiden, New York, Cologne: E. J. Brill, 1994, p. 74).

USUAL BUSINESSES

Even though the Jews were at least in theory excluded from public office, they found plenty of other ways to get rich. They most enjoyed working as doctors, tax collectors, and financiers. (Rawlings, p. 48) In 1391, the Spanish people showed just how much they valued these Jews. Following preaching of the gospel as it is Jesus, there were major riots against the Jews in Castile and Aragon.

LARGE SCALE JUDAIZING

At this time, there were about 200 000 Jews living in Spanish-controlled territories. About half were open Jews, and the other 100 000 were conversos. Even though they had been formally baptized for reasons of business, they were in reality "unscrupulous opportunists". (id., p. 48) The people knew they were "public Christians but private Judaizers". (id., p. 49)

This wasn't just unfair prejudice. There were certain signs:

keeping the Sabbath
speaking and reading Hebrew
participating in Jewish ceremonies
eating of unleavened bread
refusal to eat bacon or pork

Jews who did these things (id., p. 49) were said to be judaizing.

MAJOR FRAUD

A well-known case of judaizing involved Juan Falcon the Elder. While masquerading as a Christian, this Jew slaughtered according to Jewish law and denied the existence of heaven and hell. (id., p. 50)

Everyone could see what these Jews were up to. Instead of sending them back to Egypt to make bricks, the nobles decided to try restrictive laws again.

Things got so bad that the Jews had a monopoly of public offices. Their business practices threatened the survival of the Christians. In 1449, a civic law, the Sentencia Estatuto, was enacted in Toledo. All Jews, whether baptized or not, were barred from holding municipal office. (id.)

The text of this law, written largely by the Holy Man Pero Sarmiento, went like this:

We must and do declare, must pronounce and constitute and ordain and command that all the said converts, descendants of the perverse lineage of the Jews, in whatever guise they may be, both by virtue of canon and civil law, which determines against them in the matter declared above, and by virtue of the privilege given to this city by the said lord king of blessed memory, Don Alfonso, king of Castile and Leon, progenitor of the king our lord, and by other lords and kings their progenitors, and by his highness, sworn and confirmed as follows: Since by reason of the heresies and other offences, insults, seditions and crimes committed and perpetrated by them up to this day...they should be held as the law has and holds them, as infamous, unable, incapable and unworthy to hold any office and public or priavate benefice in the said city of Toledo and in its land, territory and jurisdiction, through which they might have lordship over Christians who are old believers in the holy Catholic faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to do them harm and injury, and thus be infamous, unable and incpable to give testimony on oath as public scribes or as witnesses, following
the tenor and form of the said privilegs, liberties, franchies and immunities of the said city, we deprive them, and declare them to be and order that they be deprived of whatever offices and benefices they have had and held in this said city, in whatever manner.
source: Eloy Benito Ruano, "La 'Sentencia-Estatuto' de Pero Sarmiento contra los conversos toledanos", Revista de la Universidad de Madrid, vi (1957), pp. 277-306.

The Spanish people were casting aside the tired notion that baptism made Jews somehow better or different. This sensible principal was known as the doctrine of limpieza de sangre (purity of blood). (Rawlings, p. 51)

DEFENDING TURF

Naturally, this type of legislation greatly depreciated the value of a Christian baptism. If allowed to stand, it would weaken the power of the pope. Realizing this, the pope put out word that the sentencia was "contrary to Christian principles". The Dominican friar Juan de Torquemada, uncle to Tomas, backed up the pope. Recall that the Dominican order was founded by the baptized Jew Dominique de Guzman.

The Bishop of Burgos, Alonso de Cartagena, also spoke out against this weakening of church power. The general of the Jeronimites, Alonso de Oropesa, issued a 1465 order actively encouraging Jews to join his order. The Jews used their money power to marry into many aristocratic familes. (id., p. 52)

JEWS CONTROL THE KINGDOM, CAUSE LONG DEPRESSION

Owing to the Jews' special talents with money, there was a prolonged depression in Castile between 1465 and 1473. This caused popular uprisings against the Jews. (id., p. 53) The Jews controlled the key public positions at this time. Abraham Senor, the chief rabbi of Castile, was principal treasurer to the Crown. Luis de Sant'angel was secretary to the king. The Jew Tomas de Torquemada was the royal confessor. (id., p. 56)

This is why the Spanish Armies made such slow progress against the Moorish Armies.

Pernambuco

2008-02-15T11:04:00.001+01:00

By Dr. Diego Rodriguez

Sugar cane is a sort of grass that grows best in warm, tropical climates, with lots of water, and lots of sunshine. (How Cane Sugar is Made - the Basic Story, http://www.sucrose.com/lcane.html)

Europe didn't offer the best growing conditions, but sugar cane grew just fine on Madeira and the Canary Islands (Mark Johnston, The Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil Between 1492 and 1700, James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota, http://bell.lib.umn.edu/Products/sugar.html).

By the mid-1500s, Madeira's main production was sugar. The island had about 40 sugar mills, which could produce about 6 million pounds a year. By 1552, there were 3 000 Negro slaves from Africa on the island, working for their Jewish masters. (A.H. de Oliveira Marques, History of Portugal, 2nd ed., Columbia University Press, 1976, p. 369)

In the 1500s, when the New World market was just opening up, Jewish global players found that conditions were just perfect.

A group of Marranos (Jews pretending to be Christian) rented the Brazil trade monopoly from the Portuguese king. The group was headed up by the Jew Fernão de Loronha . They got rich off the monopoly, trafficking primarily in rainforest wood. (id, p. 252)(map: http://www.educared.org.ar/vicaria/wl/archivo/206_brasil-mapa.gif)(click to enlarge)

In 1530, the first colonists were sent out by the king, under command of Martim Afonso de Sousa. The state divided Brazil into 15 districts. (id., p. 254)

At this time, the Crown owned the monopolies in wood, slaves, spices, and drugs. (id, 255)

Duarte Coelho was running Pernambuco, which prospered. (id, 256) The Portuguese had Brazil, and the region there where sugar cane grew best was Pernambuco. Production costs in Brazil were about half of what they were on Madeira.

The Portuguese tobacco trade, as well as the sugar business, was controlled by the Jewish community. They "controlled the sugar and tobacco industries, and regrettably were involved in slavery, amassing huge fortunes." (Manuel Azevedo, The Nutshell History of Marranos of Portugal, The Jewish Magazine, http://www.jewishmag.com/116mag/marranos/marranos.htm)

The Jews wasted no time in streaming into the area. Earlier experience with sugar cultivation, along "with the institution of slavery, made sugar production the most profitable cultivation in either the Americas or Europe." (Johnston, supra)

Around 1505, the first Negro slaves were brought over. (Jean West , Sugar and Slavery: Molasses to Rum to Slaves, http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_sugar.htm) This was about the same time as the first Jews arrived in Pernambuco (Jewish Community of Recife, Brazil, Museum of the Jewish People, http://www.bh.org.il/communities/Archive/Recife.asp)

Big profits, good growing conditions, and slavery. "The first commercial production of sugar in the new world was undertaken in 1550, when the Portuguese Donatarios built mills near Pernambuco and São Vicente along the Atlantic coast of Brazil." (id.) (pic: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/1492/images/sucre.jpg)(click to enlarge)

There were Jews living in Pernambuco. They pretended to be Christians, but really practiced the rituals of Judaism (Marranos). They claimed to be loyal citizens, but betrayed the Portuguese.

The Dutch wanted to take over in Brazil. With a very big effort the West India Company captured Bahia, the main town in Brazil, in May of 1624, but lost it to the Portuguese again the next year. In 1625, the Company was driven out of Puerto Rico. They lost their remaining forts around the mouth of the Amazon. (Jonathan Israel, Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585 - 1740, Clarendon Press, 1989, p. 160)

Jewish pirates working for the Company harassed Spanish shipping. "One such pirate was Moses Cohen Henriques, who helped plan one of history's largest heists against Spain. In 1628, Henriques set sail with Dutch West India Co. Admiral Piet Hein, whose own hatred of Spain was fueled by four years spent as a galley slave aboard a Spanish ship. Henriques and Hein boarded Spanish ships off Cuba and seized shipments of New World gold and silver worth in today's dollars about the same as Disney's total box office for 'Dead Man's Chest.'" (Adam Wills, Ahoy, mateys ! Thar be Jewish pirates! , Jewish Journal, http://jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=16490)

They captured the Spanish treasure fleet off Cuba in 1628. This theft was worth 11 million guilders. They also stole 40 000 chests of Brazil sugar worth 8 million guilders. (Israel, p. 162)

"Hollanders tried several times to occupy Brazil with the help of marranos. The capture of Pernambuco (Recife) in 1630 was organized by Dutch Jews under the command of Moïse Cohen. A few years later, David Peiscotto left with a 18 ships fleet to help to the defense of Pernambuco besieged by the Portuguese. As a clever strategist, he suggested to attack Portugal up to Coïmbra and to put fire to the Holy Office Palace.

During the Dutch occupation of Pernambuco in 1630, the crypto-Jews revealed themselves in their true colors and claimed their Judaism. They were joined by Dutch Jews." (Herbert Israël, Wanderings in the Carribbean Sea, http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/017/wanderng.html)(emphasis added)

The Jews attacked Pernambuco, where they had been living for more than 100 years. They knew the fortifications, and the military dispositions. Sure they had pretended to be loyal, but then they revealed their true colors. They had been Jews all along, and just wanted to take over the place.

Things got going really well when the Dutch East India Company conquered Pernambuco. This company had many Jews amongst its stockholders. (Marc Reizman, Brazilian Jewry – A concise history, http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/BrazilianJewry.htm)

The company sent Mauritius, the prince of Nassau, with soldiers to conquer Pernambuco. He was accompanied by 200 Jews who would waste no time to exploit the business opportunities. (Compare with Québec)

The Jews who came with the invading expedition and on subsequent trips,
established a variety of businesses in New Holland, which is what the Dutch called their new territory.

Many became owners of sugar mills. However, sugar cane harvesting is very intensive labor and Brazilian Indians turned out to be unreliable workers. To find the necessary workers, the mill owners turned to Africa
for slaves. The West Indies Company controlled the shipment of slaves because it owned the ships. But once on the ground in Brazil, Jews were responsible for the selling and buying of black slaves, often at prices that were four and five times what they had paid the West Indies Company for them.

There is some historical evidence that slaves working for Jewish mill
owners fared somewhat better than those working for Christian owners. It is said that those working for Jews had the Sabbath off.

The Dutch in New Holland continued to allow religious freedom, as in
The Netherlands. As a result of this policy, many Portuguese conversos who lived in the Portuguese controlled areas of Brazil moved to New Holland and dropped their forced conversion to become full-fledged Jews once again.

One Dutch survey during those years listed the New Holland population as
12,703. Of these, 2,890 were white and half of them were said to be Jews in
the city of Recife. Most of the Jews who were merchants could be found
on the Rua dos Judeus - street of the Jews. It was on this street that the
first synagogue in the Western Hemisphere was built in 1630. It was called
Kahal sur Israel, the rock of Israel. Its first rabbi was Isaac Aboab da Fonseca who came from Amsterdam to lead this congregation. (id)

This is most interesting. The Jews ran the slave trade on the ground. They were part owners of the company that shipped the slaves. And they ran the sugar business in general (Azevedo, supra) And they were more than half the population (aside from their slaves).

Nieuhoff, the traveler, writing in 1640, says: "Among the free inhabitants of Brazil the Jews are most considerable in number; they have a vast traffic, beyond all the rest; they purchased sugar-mills and bought stately houses in the Receif." (Cyrus Adler and Hühner , RECIFE (PERNAMBUCO), http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=153&letter=R)

The Jewish sugar business was prospering. And the Jews needed lots of slaves. Between 1636 and 1645, the Company auctioned no less than 23 163 African slaves in its Brazil territory. This was a big number, so the Jews needed to secure their supplies. In 1642, Company forces conquered Angola. (Israel, p. 163)

The company allowed very liberal terms for Jewish religious practice in Brazil. By 1644, there were 1450 Jews in Pernambuco. (Israel, p. 165)

"Very liberal": Slavery? No problem. Ritual mutilation? No problem. Usury? Go right ahead.

The Portuguese Catholic planters in Pernambuco became dissatisfied. "They disliked Dutch rule and passionately hated the Jews". Many of the Portuguese were heavily indebted to the Jews, so they launched a revolt against the Dutch. "The Dutch troops withdrew to their forts, and to Recife, along with the Jews." (Israel, p. 168)(compare with Béziers) And then they were forced to leave (see Chapter 150)

The first Jews came, and they were just refugees fleeing persecution. They got to know the lay of the land, and when the time was right, they took over the place. Attacking from without, in 1630, with cooperation of those within (betrayal and treachery).

And once they got control, lots of slavery, which resulted in enormous profits and wealth. Producing harmful products, which destroy health. (Compare with Béziers and Carcassonne )

Ah, but that was all ancient history, right?

The government anti-slavery unit has freed 1 000 slaves from a sugar cane plantation in Brazil, where is still plenty of slavery. ('Slave' labourers freed in Brazil, BBC, Jul 3, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6266712.stm?loc=interstitialskip)

The plantation was owned by a company called Pagrisa, the largest ethanol producer in the Pará region. The company is owned by three Jewish brothers, Murilo, Fernão and Marcos Villela Zancaner. They will be prosecuted by the federal court. (Charles Nisz, Federal Court hears charges against Pagrisa for slave labor in Pará, Amazonia.org.br, Sep 25, 2007, http://www.amazonia.org.br/english/noticias/noticia.cfm?id=253375)

The more things change, the more they remain the same.