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THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1 773 TO I902 251
THE JEWS m PORTUGAL
FROM I773 TO I902.
The authors who have dealt with the history of Judaism
in Portugal are very sparing of information on the events
which took place in that country from the last years of the
eighteenth century onwards. Thus we should seek in vain
in most standard works the exact date of the suppression
of the well-known Inquisitions of Lisbon, Evora and
Coimbra.
As to the present situation, it is absolutely unknown.
Such gaps should be filled up, and this is what I propose
to do as briefly as possible.
I shall explain in succession the history of the Inquisi-
tion in Portugal from 1773, the present situation of the last
of the Marranos in that country, and the chronicles of the
Portuguese Synagogues from 1801 to 190a.
Reform and Suppression of the Inquisition.
Contrary to the statement of the principal historian of
the Portuguese Jews 1 , the earthquake of 1755, while
destroying the Inquisitorial prisons of Lisbon, by no means
did away with the Holy Office. The institution was
quickly re-established 2 , and many unfortunate persons
1 M. Kayserling, Qeschichte der Juden in Portugal (Leipzig, 1867, 8°),
Cap. IX, 5, 334 : "Bei dem Erdbeben, das am 1. November 1755 Lissabon
zerstorte, schwand auch das Inquisitionsgebaude von der Erde."
2 Carlos Jose de Menezes, A Inquisifdo em Portugal (Porto, 1898, a vol. 8°),
vol. I, p. 220.
252 THE JEWISH QUAETEELY KEVIEW
were again forced to endure the tortures of the Inquisi-
tion.
Nevertheless the catastrophe of 1755 had one surprising
result ; there arose from the midst of the ruins a man who
by his prodigious activity and his sometimes brutal energy
was destined to effect the most important reforms in Por-
tugal ; this man, Sebastiao Josd de Carvalho e Mello, has
remained famous under the name of Marquis de Pombal.
It has been asserted that he was of Jewish origin 1 ; the
statement is only probable, but it is at least very certain
that he engaged personally and with much zeal in amelio-
rating the lot of the Christaos Novos (New Christians),
descendants of the Jews converted by force 2 in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries.
In the private archives of the Marquis de Pombal 3 are
found all the documents used in the drawing up of the laws
which abolished in practice the power of the Inquisitors
over the New Christians.
It is not without emotion that we see a note in the hand
of the minister of Dom Jose" I 4 , proving that from Sep-
1 A story is in fact told that, the king having expressed a desire that
the descendants of Jews should be obliged to wear yellow hats, Pombal
presented himself with three of these hats. When questioned by the
king, the marquis replied : " I have one hat for myself, one for the Grand
Inquisitor, and one in case your Majesty should wish to cover your
head." Archives Israelites, 1847, p. 858 ; Lindo, History of the Jews of Spain
and Portugal (London, 1848, 8°), p. 375 ; Fred. Dav. Moeatta, The Jews of
Spain and Portugal and the Inquisition (London, 1877-80), p. 97, and other
authors. This story is not reliable. The witticism of Pombal had already
been attributed to the famous Duke of Alba. Of. Pedro Joseph Suppico,
Apophthegmas memoraveis, 1. 1, p. 191 (Lisboa, 1720, 8°).
a They are the Marranos in Spain, the Chuetas in the Balearics, the
anusim of the Babbis. The word marrano does not seem to have the
Hebrew origin which is often attributed to it. It is merely a term of
insult ; marrano (in Portuguese, marrSo) meant pig, long before it had been
used to name the Jews.
3 Bibliotheca National of Lisbon, Collecfao Pombalina, MS. 641, fo 9 . 076,
336 et seq. ; MS. 649, fo'. 21, 33, 34, 4a, 45, 54, 133, &e.
* Ibid., MS. 649, f°. 139, the figures above seem to come from a note of
Salvador Soares Cotrim (f°. 54) ; they are found again without variation,
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL PROM I773 TO I902 253
tember 20, 1540 — the date of the first regular auto da f£
at Lisbon — to 1732, a total number of 24,522 victims
is obtained, of whom 1,454 were burnt. They may be
classified as follows: —
Burnt
Variously sentenced.
In person.
In effigy.
Lisbon . 6,262
6
132
Coimbra. 8,138
335
159
Evora . 8,608
33*
131
Pombal thought that there had been enough victims, and
assuming a purely political attitude, he gave the king to
understand that the Inquisition was very detrimental to
the reputation of Portugal in foreign countries and to the
economic prosperity of the kingdom. Had not the New
Christians, who had escaped from Portugal, largely con-
tributed to the commercial development of the markets
of Bordeaux, London, Amsterdam, Altona, and other
towns?
At last, on May 2, 1768, the king ordered the suppression
of the lists containing the names of the New Christians.
These lists were very inaccurate, and served the purposes of
private revenge 1 .
Pombal took advantage of the first opportunity of im-
proving still more the condition of the New Christians,
who were debarred from public office and constantly dis-
turbed in their commercial pursuits.
A certain Jean Gaspar Lyder, son of a native of Prague
and of Barbara Kulerin, a lady of Vienna, woman-in- waiting
to Queen Dona Mariana, had been appointed judge at
Fundao. He was required to prove the " purity " of his
blood. He appealed ; all the official commissions, including
in the speeches delivered against the Inquisition in 1821 (Diario das Cortes
da Nafdo Portugueza), vol. I, February 8, 1821, p. 63, speeches of Ferr'So,
and in numerous publications ; e.g. in the Historia de Portugal of Oliveira
Martins, vol. II, 1. vi, 5, pp. 156-7 (Lisboa, second edition, x88o,
8°, a vols.).
1 Alvara de lei sdbre as fintas dos ChrisiSos Novos, a de maio de 1768.
254 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
the Council of State (May 34, 1773), were consulted,
although the decision of the general Council of the Holy
Office had to he accepted (April 30, 1773). ^> was *^ e
general opinion that such inquiries ought to be abolished
and, at the same time, every distinction between Old and
New Christians 1 .
On May 35, 1773, Dom J° s ^ I signed the law of the
general constitution and perpetual edict abolishing for ever
all difference of treatment between his subjects, whatever
their origin 2 . Pombal hastened to publish the document
and even a Latin translation 3 ; he made the mistake, how-
ever, of declaring that the Jesuits alone were guilty of
having invented the opprobrious name of " New Christian,"
a name dating from long before the foundation of the
Society of Jesus, often itself persecuted by the Portuguese
Inquisition 4 .
On September 1, 1774, appeared a new law concerning
the Inquisition of Portugal, depriving it, in theory, of all
its tyrannical and arbitrary character.
The Holy Office persevered none the less in persecuting
now and then a certain number of descendants of Jews.
The Inquisitors still found it profitable to confiscate the
goods of those who were condemned, when it was possible.
A new law (December 15, 1774) dealt with this by for-
bidding all confiscation in the case of accused persons who
1 Every fact concerning the preparation of the laws of May 25, 1773,
September i, and December 15, 1774, has been taken from the MSS. of
Pombal (mentioned above), No. 649.
2 Collecf&o das leys, decreios e alvaras que cornprehende feliz remade del Rey
Fidelissimo Horn Jose 1 (Lisboa, in fo., vols. II and III). Each law or decree
is found at its date.
3 Litterae Josephi I Lusitanorum regis Fidelissimi, legem quidem generalis con-
stitutionis et edicti perpetui complectentes, pro aoolenda et extinguenda odiosa
Novorum Christianorum et Veterum Christianorum distinetione ab annis 1500, et
amplius, pessimis et seditiosissimis consiliis in Lusitaniam inveeta, denominatorum
Jesuitarum opera. (Olispone, 1773, in. 12 p. 38.)
* On the antagonism of the Jesuits and the Inquisition, cf. Oliveira
Martins, Historia de Portugal, vol. II, 1. vi, 5, p. 157, who proves the fact,
expressing, however, an opinion which may be questioned.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM I773 TO 1902 255
became reconciled to the Church by a confession, more
or less sincere.
From this time the Inquisition was disarmed, being
unwilling to abandon itself to unproductive labours, and
the descendants of the Jews lived almost undisturbed.
The Holy Office occupied itself with Protestants and Free-
masons, " reconciling " from time to time some indiscreet
person of Jewish blood. But the Holy Office was decaying,
and there were no more pyres in the public streets 1 .
When the French entered Portugal under Napoleon, they
found the Holy Office still in existence there 2 . On
December 8, 1807, the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon
published a pastoral letter urging the people to submit to
the French army, for " this army," said the prelate, " is
that of his Majesty, the Emperor and King of Italy, Napo-
leon the Great, to whom God has entrusted the support and
protection of the Religion, and who is destined to make the
happiness of Nations." Twelve days after (December 32)
another pastoral letter appeared, unreservedly approving
of that of the patriarch ; it was issued by " Dom Jose*
Maria de Mello, titular Bishop of Algarve, Inquisitor-
General." Cowardice so great was to have its reward.
On February 1, 1808, Junot, the marshal of France, pub-
lished in a proclamation that the Catholic religion was to
be protected, " but freed from the superstitions which dis-
figure it."
1 Carlos Jose de Menezes, loc. cit., vol. II, p. 188. The last autos da fi
thus took place on October 11, 1778, at Lisbon ; on August 26, 1781, at
Coimbra ; and on September 16, 1781, at Evora. These autos are mentioned
neither by Dr. R. Gottheil in his fine article in the Jewish Encyclopedia,
vol. II, p. 34a, nor by Mr. E. N. Adler in his copious articles on autos of
Portugal, Jewish Quarterly Review, XIV, p. 718, probably because there were
no Jews among the victims. For Dr. Oottheil, the last Portuguese auto
is that of October 18, 1739, at Lisbon; and for Mr. Adler,that of December 18,
1767, in the same town.
2 The documents concerning the French occupation are obtained from
the Collecfdo de decretos editaes, &c. (Lisboa, 1808), numbered 7-11, 1. 30, in
the British Museum.
256 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY KEVIEW
A second decree of the same date annexed Portugal to
the French Empire.
Finally, by a third decree of the same date, " all the gold
and silver of all the churches, chapels and brotherhoods of
the town of Lisbon" were confiscated, with the exception
of "the silver vessels necessary for the seemliness of
worship." Moreover, the French governor installed himself
with his staff in the very palace of the Inquisition of
Lisbon 1 . This storm quickly passed over, thanks to the
Anglo-Portuguese alliance. The French were driven out
and all was as before. From time to time voices were
raised against the Inquisition. On the death of the Grand
Inquisitor, Jose' de Mello, Joao Bernardo da Rocha, a
Portuguese who had established a newspaper in London 2 ,
declared that this was " a good opportunity of abolishing
this odious office." The revolutionary government of 1 Sao
was unwilling — though the contrary has been stated 3 — to
abolish the Holy Office hastily. A decree 4 of September 41,
1 Sao, ordered, as a first step, that a list should be made
of the prisoners of the Inquisition, in order that "the
scandal for Justice and Humanity resulting from the
arbitrary detention of prisoners " should be abolished.
In the meanwhile, the provisionary government held its
sessions in the Palace of the Holy OfBce at Lisbon 6 .
During the session of February 5, i8ai, deputy Mar-
giochi proposed a law 6 to the effect that the tribunals of
the Inquisition should be abolished, their spiritual power
given to the bishops, their archives deposited in the manu-
script room of the National Library of Lisbon 7 , their
1 Carlos Jose 1 de Menezes, loc. cit., vol. I, p. 221.
a Portuguez ou Mercurio politico, vol. VIII (1818), No. 47, p. 395.
3 J. Augusto d'Oliveira Mascarenhaa, A Inquisifao em Portugal (Lisboa,
1899, in. 32), p. 50. It is a little book of no historical value and purely
declamatory.
4 ColkcfSo geral e curiosa de todos 0$ documentos officiaes e historicos publicados
por occasiao da Eegeneracdo desde 24 de agosto, Lisboa, 1820, 4 .
s Carlos Jos6 de Menezes, loc. cit., vol. I, p. 221.
* Diario das Cortes geraes da Jffafao portugueza, 1821, vol. I, pp. 44-5.
T This proposal was not carried out.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1 773 TO 1902 257
property transferred to the State, and their officers re-
duced to pensions equal to one-half of their salaries.
On February 8, deputy Ferrao de Mendonca 1 added the
following proposal : " That all the foolish and barbarous
statutes about sorcery and Judaism, and others which have
made 33,068 accused persons mount the scaffold in a dress
of infamy, and have caused 1,454 of them to be burnt, thus
dishonouring so many thousands of families of all classes,
shall be burnt on a scaffold in the Kocio Street 2 , and that
this last auto da fe shall reduce them to ashes." It is
fortunate for history that this proposal did not become
law.
The last cry of the Inquisition was a request for money.
Its officers had to receive payment. One of the deputies,
the inquisitor Castello Branco, on March 34, asked his
colleagues not to forget that the Inquisition was a State
institution, a regular and legal body, and that it had a staff
whose long services (?) could not be passed over. He
added, however, " As a representative of the people, I vote
for the abolition of the Holy Office, which I consider to be
useless and incompatible with the enlightenment of the
age s ." I think that it is unnecessary after this to
report the discussion 4 — was it a discussion ?— of the
Margiochi proposal, which was unanimously passed on
March 31, 1821, and transformed into a decree the same
day 5 . The Inquisition had at last ceased to exist in
Portugal. I think, however, that a few words on the final
settlement of this tribunal may be of interest. At
1 Diario das Cortes, vol. I, p. 63. See p. 356, note 6. It must not be
forgotten that of the 1,454 burnt, 42a were burnt in effigy, either because
they had escaped, or because they had died before the autos.
3 The Palace of the Inquisition was in this street.
3 Diario das Cortes, vol. I, p. 356.
* Ibid., vol. I, p. 356 et seq. Manuel Borges Carneiro took an important
part in it ; he published at this time an Appendice [ao Portugal regenerado]
sobre as operates da Sancta InquisifSo Portugueza (Lisboa, November 20, 1820,
8°, p. 8), published under the pseudonym of D. C. N. Publicola.
5 Diario das Cortes, vol. I, pp. 404 and 421.
258 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
Coimbra 1 and at Evora, the people invaded the Palaces of
the Inquisition without waiting for any authorization, but
at Lisbon, a law proposed by the deputy FerrSo, ordered
(September 27, 1831) that the prisons should be opened
to the public 2 .
The following is the description of the proceedings which
was given at the time in England 3 and which seems
accurate : —
" On the 8th inst. the palace of the Holy Office was
opened to the people. The number which crowded to see
it during the first four days, rendered it extremely difficult
and even dangerous to attempt an entrance. The edifice
is extensive and has the form of an oblong square, with
a garden in the centre. It is three stories high and has
several vaulted galleries, along which are situated a number
of dungeons, of six, seven, eight, and nine feet square.
Those on the ground floor and in the first story have
no windows, and are deprived of both air and light when
the door is shut. The dungeons on the next storey have
a kind of breathing-hole in the form of a chimney through
which the sky may be seen. These apartments were
allotted to prisoners, who, it was supposed, might be set
at liberty. In the vaulted wall of each dungeon there
is a hole of about an inch in diameter which communicates
with a secret corridor running along by each tier of
dungeons. By these means, the agents of the Inquisition
could at any moment observe the conduct of the prisoners
without being seen by them ; and when two persons were
confined in the same dungeon, could hear their conversa-
tion. In these corridors were seats so placed, that a spy
could observe what was passing in two dungeons, by
merely turning his eyes from right to left, in order to
1 On April 10 the instruments of torture were burnt by the people at
Coimbra. Carlos Jose' de Menezes, A Inguisifao em Portugal, vol. II, p. 304.
" Diario das Cortes, vol. Ill, pp. 1867 and 2432.
s Annual Register of the year 182 1 (London, 1822, 8°), Chronicle, pp. 157-8;
it is a translation of the Courrier Franpais.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL PROM I773 TO 1902 259
look into either of the holes between which he might
be stationed. Human skulls and other bones were found
in the dungeons. On the walls of these frightful holes
are carved the names of some of the unfortunate victims
buried in them, accompanied with lines or notches, indi-
cating the number of days of their captivity. One name
had beside it the date of 1809. The doors of certain
dungeons, which had not been used for some years, still
remained shut, but the people soon forced them open. In
nearly all of them, human bones were found, and among
these melancholy remains were, in one dungeon, fragments
of the garment of a monk, and his girdle. In some of
these dungeons, the chimney-shaped air-hole was walled
up, which is a certain sign of the murder of the prisoner.
In such cases, the unfortunate victim was compelled to
go into the air-hole, the lower extremity of which was
immediately closed by masonry. Quicklime was after-
wards thrown down on him, which extinguished life and
destroyed the body. In several of these dens of misery,
mattresses were found, some of them old, others almost
new, — a circumstance which proves, whatever may be said
to the contrary, that the Inquisition in these latter times
was something more than a scarecrow."
It appears that the visit of the people did not take
place without some disturbance. According to a dis-
cussion which was held in the Cortes (October 10, 1821),
the people showed themselves dissatisfied with the attitude
of the wardens ; they demanded that the instruments of
torture should be produced. A deputy appeared and de-
clared that it was " long " since these instruments of torture
had been in existence 1 . In their rage, the people pulled
down and dragged along the streets of Lisbon the statue
of Faith, which stood on the principal side of the Palace 2 .
1 Diario das Cortes, vol. Ill, p. 2588. In the Archaeological Museum of
the Carmo at Lisbon, a whip from the inquisitorial prisons (?) of this
town is shown, No. 2478 on the catalogue.
a Carlos Jos6 de Menezes, A Inguisifdo, vol. II, p. 306.
260 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
December 31, 1821, the prisons were finally closed 1 .
A deputy, Fernandez Thomas, demanded their demolition 2
and the erection on their site of a stone, bearing the follow-
ing inscription : — " An eternal curse on every Portuguese
who shall not hold in everlasting horror this invention
of Hell." The stone was not set up, but a decree of
April %%, 182a, ordered the partial destruction of the
prisons of Evora and Coimbra and the total destruction
of those of Lisbon 3 . On the site of these last the Dona
Maria theatre stands at the present day.
Thus ended the Inquisition of Portugal, after an exist-
ence of nearly three centuries.
II.
The Last Marranos.
Although the name of Marranos has not been generally
applied in Portugal to the descendants of Jews baptised
by force, I will use it because it has become a generic term
in every country. I am anxious, however, that it should
be observed that the name of Christaos Novos, or New
Christians, alone was used by the Portuguese Inquisition.
As to the people, after making use of the expression
tornadico (weathercock), they early fell back on the name
of Judeu or Jew. This is the name commonly given in
Portugal to every individual who is notoriously of Jewish
origin.
Since the law of May 45, 1773, the descendants of
baptised Jews have been legally put on the same footing
as the other Portuguese. But, practically, their fusion
with the rest of the population has taken many years.
Liberty, however, has done much more for this close union
than all the measures taken by the Inquisition. On the
one side, the Catholic population did not care to marry
1 Diario das Cortes, vol. Ill, p. 3428.
1 Ibid., vol. Ill, p. 2710, sessSo 18 de outubro.
3 Ibid., vol. V, p. 701.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL PROM I773 TO I9O2 261
into families of Jewish origin, which the Holy Office
closely watched and often imprisoned without any other
real end than the confiscation of their property. On the
other side, the persecution urged on the victims, gave
them knowledge of their origin, inspired them with
a real hatred for a religion in the name of which the
Inquisition acted, though without respect for the true
Christian doctrine. Forced to have all the appearances
of Catholicism, the Marranos made up for this constraint
by practising the Mosaic Law secretly. Naturally, many
of the rites prescribed were impossible, circumcision, for
instance. But it was possible to pray, fast, observe the
festivals fairly well. This is what the Marranos did.
I have collected from the trials of the Portuguese Inqui-
sition, a large number of prayers recited by the New
Christians ; they are a mixture of the Jewish and the
Catholic rituals. I intend to make a special study of
them. Moreover, these trials are anterior to 1774.
Some of the traditional prayers have been preserved
among the descendants of the Marranos. I will only quote
one here. It is still recited among the New Christians \
and its Jewish character is undeniable.
" Sabbado I Sabbado ! Sabbado santo ! venhas com 08
Anjos; osAwjosnosaccompanhem; accompanhemaminha
alma, quando d'este mundo fdr.
Sabbado ! Sabbado ! Moses ! Moses ! os Anjos vos dirao :
Ao Sabbado nada fards, s6 te occupards em louvar ao
SenJior. Amen ! "
This prayer 2 assumes the observation of the Sabbath rest,
1 It was dictated to me with many others, on June 1, 1902, at Lisbon,
by M. Candido Caetano Vas, in the presence of MM. Leao Amzalak and
A. Anahory, members of the Jewish Committee of that town.
a The following is the translation : — " Sabbath 1 Sabbath ! Holy
Sabbath ! Come with the Angels ; may the Angels accompany us, may
they accompany my soul when it passes away from this world. Sabbath !
Sabbath ! Moses ! Moses ! the Angels will tell you : On the Sabbath you
must do no work, you must occupy yourself only with praising the Lord.
Amen!"
262 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
which is not, as a rule, very strictly observed among the
Marranos; however, they do not eat meat on that day,
and on Friday evening, they light a night-lamp which they
leave burning all day.
The text of other prayers which have been submitted
to me is very corrupt in its present form, because the
prayers have passed from one illiterate generation to
another still more illiterate. There are even some of
which it is difficult to find out the original meaning,
because those who say them do not understand them now.
Mutilated words are repeated with persistent obstinacy,
because they have been handed down in this form. Any
reform with regard to this would be very difficult. The
Marranos of the present day would not consent to change
one iota in their ritual, which is already very much re-
duced. On Kippur Day, which is strictly observed — while
Pesach is now unknown — the Marranos assemble together
and pass the day in repeating incessantly, one after the
other, all the prayers which they know.
Among the customs preserved, I will mention the follow-
ing :—
When it thunders, a lamp is lighted.
When any one dies, there is a fast for the first seven
days ; the house of the deceased is considered as " entre-
fada * " ; all the provisions which are found in it are thrown
away. A fast of one day is held in the first, third, fifth,
seventh, ninth, and eleventh months after the death ; every
Friday a poor person of the sex of the dead person is
invited to breakfast. At the time of the Inquisition, the
Marranos took care to prevent the Catholic priest from
coming to confess and administer the last rites to the
dying man ; they took strong measures for this purpose :
when the death struggle began, and the end was clearly
near, they stifled (abafavam), the sick person. Authori-
1 This word is not classical Portuguese ; it belongs to the Jewish-
Portuguese dialect, and comes from rpn , ignoble.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1773 TO 1902 263
ties of high standing 1 assert that this custom has not yet
entirely disappeared in the North of Portugal, where the
abafadores, suffocators, were formerly very numerous and
formed a kind of sect.
The Marranos are now very few in number at Porto and
Lisbon, where one of them has had himself circumcised ;
many more are found at Covilha, Fundao, and Braganca.
At Covilha, ten families still assemble for Kippur. They
all have a tendency to intermarry only among themselves.
On the other hand, many descendants of Jews have
abandoned all Jewish worship and have become good
Catholics. They do not forget their origin, however, and
Mr. E. N. Adler has met two of them in a single visit to
the Bibliotheca National of Lisbon 2 . One of the most
famous descendants of the Jews, M. Jose* Marcellino de Sa'
Vargas, was minister in the reign of Dom Luiz I ; his
family came originally from Chacim, and was connected
with that of the well-known Parisian bankers, Emile and
Isaac Pereire.
When one sees an attempt to re-establish the Mosaic
Law among the Jews of Kai-feng-fu, one asks oneself if
the same work could not be undertaken, with more success,
among the small groups of New Christians in the North
of Portugal. The greatest obstacle would be, as in China 3 ,
the circumcision of adults. On the other hand, the law 4
punishes by an imprisonment of one or two years, any
one who attempts to make proselytes for any other than
the State religion, Catholicism. It deprives the Portuguese
1 M. Lino d'Assumpcao, Inspector~General of the libraries and archives
of Portugal, has kindly authorized me to say that he has recently been
informed of the existence at the present day of the abafadores, or
suffocators, by a public prosecutor at Braganca. Also M. P. C. Vieira
mentions the existence of this custom a few years ago at Covilha
{A Nafao, 17 de Set. de 1889).
3 Jewish Quarterly Review, XIII, pp. 426 and 430.
3 Jewish Chronicle, August 15, 1902, p. 10.
* Godigo penal approvado par decreio de 16 de setembro de 1886 (_Lisboa, 1886, 8°),
art. 130 and 135.
VOL. XV. T
264 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
who publicly renounces this religion, of all political rights
for twenty years. It is certain, however, that this law is
never put in force x , but it remains in the Portuguese code,
just as the Act of Parliament of 1698, which punishes
apostate Christians with imprisonment, still remains in the
English code 2 . Besides, tolerance in matters of religion is
very great in Portugal, as we shall be able to prove.
HI.
Re-establishment of the Jewish Religion.
The non-converted Jews were expelled in 1496, and
they were forbidden to reside in Portugal on pain of
death 3 . Nevertheless, there have always been some Jews
passing into Portugal, generally from Morocco. The Cortes
has repeatedly demanded their expulsion 4 . The proof
that, in spite of these measures, there were some Jews
in Portugal, is that Joao III, by an edict of February 7,
1537, ordered them to wear a special badge. Joao IV, the
first Braganca, elected in 1640, seems to have been under
obligations to them and to have tolerated them tacitly 5 .
The report of this went even as far as Mexico 6 . When
England became the mistress of Gibraltar, it was agreed
by Article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht in 17 13, that
she would not receive the Jews in that town, but they
were allowed, notwithstanding, to establish themselves
1 The Protestants have made and are still making proselytes in Portugal
without great inconvenience.
a H. S. Q. Henriques, The Jews and the English Law, in the Jewish Quarterly
Review, XIII, pp. 275-7.
3 J. Mendes dos Remedios, Os Judeus em Portugal (Coimbra, 1895, 8°),
documento IX, p. 43a.
* Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris, Ms. portug., 62, f°. 117™, Capitolos
geraes apresentados a El Rey nas Cortes de Torres Novas de 1525, e nas de Evora de
1531, cap. 180.
* Lindo, History of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, ch. xxxi, p. 375.
* Relacion del tercero auto particular de fee que el Tribunal del Santo Officio de
la . . . Nueva Espaiia celebro . . . 30 de marfo de 1648, f°. 42 ro > no. 12
(Mexico, 1648 in 8°).
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1 773 TO T902 265
there 1 . Under the name of English subjects, they could
then go to Portugal, where various treaties permitted the
English to practise then religion freely but in privacy.
In 1 80 1, the Jews obtained a small piece of ground in
the English cemetery da Estrella at Lisbon.
The tombs bore either a Hebrew inscription or an in-
scription in Hebrew and Portuguese. Five graves may still
be seen, of which one is a child's. The oldest bears the
following epitaph 2 in both languages : —
a^stDN *|D» -ira rnwo
"e> -rub 15 dv j»
p"sb *\t>pn
AQUI . IAS . IOZE . AMZALAGA QUE MOBBEU EM XXVI
B FEUEBEIBO B 1804.
In 1 8 10 attention was called to the important firms of
Moses Levy Aboale and Co., and Manuel Cardoso and Co.
The Jews had rendered Portugal a great service by intro-
ducing corn there during a recent famine 3 . Three years
after (1813), Rabbi Abraham Dabella founded a synagogue
at Lisbon, in the alley Da Linheira, under the name of
D'ttBTi "W, Gate of Heaven 4 , which is also the name of
the old Sephardic Community of London. It is said that
in 1830 Joao VI officially allowed the Jews to settle in
Lisbon 5 . What is more certain is that on February 16,
1 8a 1, deputy Jose* Ferrao proposed a law to the Cortes,
recalling all the Jews to Portugal. This law, however,
1 Lindo, loo. cit., p. 350.
2 Translation : "Tomb of the glorious Joseph Amzalak. He rested in
Eden on the 15th of Adar in the year 564 according to the short mode of
reckoning (5564). — Here lies Joseph Amzalaga, 'who died on the twenty-
sixth of February, 1804." The Portuguese text is in a single line, the
tomb measuring 8 ft. by 3 ft. 8| inches.
3 Kayserling, Geschichte der Juden in Portugal, 336.
* A Jitstifa e a synagoga Hes-Haim de Lisboa, pp. 4 and 5 (Lisboa, 1869,
8°, p. 16).
s Lindo, loc. cit., p. 377.
T a
266 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
contrary to what has been written on the subject \ was
never put to the vote 2 . The discussion of the above-
mentioned constitution of i8aa does not enlighten us as
to whether a Portuguese has the right to belong to any-
other than the Catholic religion. This discussion was
incoherent 3 . Besides, as Oliveira Martins says 4 , "the
hundred deputies who were the authors of the laws, were
the only ones to understand them, granting that they did
understand them."
Article 6 of the constitution of 1836, according to which
Portugal is ruled at the present day, is thus worded : " The
Apostolic and Roman Catholic religion will continue to
be the religion of the kingdom. All other religions will
be allowed to foreigners, with their domestic or private
observance in houses intended for the purpose, but without
the outward form of places of worship."
It seems then that foreigners only are at liberty not to
belong to the Catholic religion in Portugal. However,
§ 4 of article 145 of the said constitution declares con-
cerning the rights of the Portuguese: "No one may be
prosecuted on account of religion, provided that he respects
that of the State, and does not offend against public
morality."
It may be gathered from the above extracts, that a
foreign Jew may, in every case, perform the rites of his
religion in a house without the outward appearance of a
place of worship. Moreover, it would be an insult to the
National Religion to practise any other publicly 5 .
However that may be, Salomao Mor Jose" in 1836 founded
a second synagogue at Lisbon in the Travessa da Palha 6 .
During the reign of Dom Miguel I (1838 to 1834) no
1 Kayserling, loc. cit., 337.
3 Diario das Cortes, vol. I, No. 17.
3 Ibid., vol. Ill, 3, 6, and 8 agosto 1821, pp. 1771, 1798, and 1818.
* Historians Portugal, vol. II, 1. vii. 3, p. 217.
5 Codigo Penal, art. 130, § 4 .
c A Justifa e a synagoga, p. 4.
THE JEWS IN P0KTUOA.L FKOM 1 773 TO ig02 267
notice seems to have been taken of the Jews. However,
we see that Levy Bensabath — who began, towards 1833,
the export trade in cork — struggled against the absolute
government of Dom Miguel ; he was even arrested, and
only owed his liberty to the intervention of the English
consul at Lisbon, who protected him, as a native of
Gibraltar. The son of Levy, Marcos Bensabath, took a
still greater part in the struggle against Dom Miguel, and
became an officer in a regiment of light infantry 1 .
March 30, 1833, in the presence of the notary Feliciano
Jose - da Silva Seixas, of Lisbon, Antonio de Castro, a
nobleman of the king's household, made over to Abraham
de Jose" Pariente, merchant, English subject, a plot of
ground situated at Estrella, at an annual rent of 4,000 reis ;
this plot of ground was to serve as a" cemetery for the
said Abraham, his descendants and other persons 2 ."
As a matter of fact, it was only a question of making
regular a state of affairs which had long existed. The
piece of land granted is No. 6 of the rua da Estrella, and is
no other than the old Jewish cemetery, now closed ! It has
a gloomy appearance, the ground being entirely without
vegetation. All the tombs, 150 or thereabouts in number,
are turned towards the East — with the exception of three
graves at the end which are turned towards the North —
and consist of horizontal stones, slightly raised above the
ground; they are quite unornamented, without even the
Levitic or sacerdotal signs Bona. The inscriptions are
generally in Hebrew, rarely in Hebrew and Portuguese,
very exceptionally in Portuguese only. The oldest grave
seems to be that of Samuel Brudo, who died November 4,
1 Innocencio da Silva, Diccionario bibliographico portuguez, vol. X, p. no
v°, Jacob Bensabath (Lisboa, 1883, in 8°). Levy Bensabath saved the life of
the archbishop of Elvas, Athouguia.
2 Archives of the Jewish Committee of Lisbon. The rent is still paid
by this committee. I am anxious to express my thanks here to
MM. L. Amzalak and Anahory, who were kind enough to show me
the documents of these archives. I am also indebted for much informa-
tion to Professor Jos6 Benoliel.
268 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY EEVIEW
1 8 15. The tombs of earlier date than 1833 are num-
erous.
In the south wall, a white marble slab is inserted,
measuring 2 ft. 4^ inches by % ft. 3 inches, on which may
be read :
IN THIS
AND NEAB THIS SPOT
REPOSE THE MORTAL BEMAINS OF
SOLOMON SOLOMON
"bn btr\w 'a'3 prop
NATIVE OP FALMOUTH, ENGLAND
WHO DIED AT LISBON 35TH SHEBAT 5579 — 30TH FEB. 1819.
AND IN THIS V3 ALSO BEPOSE
THE MORTAL REMAINS OF
PHILIP SAMUEL
NATIVE OF WABSAW, POLAND;
WHO DIED AT LISBON IN THE TEAB 558 1 OB 8a.
ESTE QUADBO MEMOBIAL FOI
FEITO PELOS DOUS FILHOS DE
SOLOMON SOLOMON
NO ANNO DE $635, E.V. 1 875
EM CONSEQUENCIA DE SE TEBEM OBLITEEADO
AS INSOBIPCOES PBIMITIVAS.
Translation: — This commemorative tablet was made
through the care of the two sons of Solomon Solomon in
the year 5635 = 1875, because the original inscriptions had
become obliterated.
As we have seen, the Jewish cemetery of the rua da
Estrella 'existed in actual fact long before it was officially
acquired.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1773 TO I902 269
Let us return, however, to the chronicle of Judaism in
Portugal.
In 1845, Queen Dona Maria II made Sir Isaac Lyon
Goldsmid baron of Palmeira 1 . On the death of Rabbi
Abraham Dabela (1853), his synagogue was managed
by a committee composed of MM. Leao Amzalak, Levy
Bensabath, Abraham Cohen, Fortunato Naure, Mair and
Moise's Buzaglo ; the private synagogue of the Travessa
da Palha was directed by M. Moise's Anahory, who
transferred it to the rua do Crucifixo, on the death of
Salomao Mor Jose - , and finally to the alley Dos Apostolos 2 .
In the meanwhile, the two congregations united, owing
to the efforts of MM. Isaac Cardozo and Abraham de
Esther Levy ; the first synagogue alone remained in
existence now. This state of things did not last long;
in i860, the new synagogue in the alley Dos Apostolos was
founded ; it was rented in the name of a Jewish congre-
gation 3 , and, I think, under the title of D^n J*y, Tree of Life.
The position of this synagogue has since been changed,
but it is still the principal synagogue of Lisbon. There is
another less important, called Hes-Haim a d .
While the events which I have related were taking place,
the community of Lisbon summoned Rabbi Jacob Toledano
of Tangier, who died in 5659, and whose tomb bears the
titles of J&om tbwn Dann. This tomb is found in the new
D"n TVn of Lisbon 4 , the history of which is interesting.
On the thirtieth of March, 1865, in the presence of the
notary Joao Baptista Seola, of Lisbon, Joaquim de Oliveira
sold a plot of ground situated in this town to " Joaquin
Bittancourt 6 , Josuah Levy, Moses Amzalak, Marcos Auday,
1 Lindo, History of tfie Jews in Spain and Portugal, p. 377 ; Kayserling,
Gesehichte der Juden in Portugal, p. 338.
2 A Justifa e a synagoga, pp. 5 and 6 ; the author of this pamphlet says
(p. 6), that Salomao Mor Jos6 died in 1854 ; the tomb of this Rabbi in the
old Jewish cemetery of Lisbon bears the date of wiii or 1861.
* A Justifa e a synagoga, pp. 6, 10, and la.
4 Cemetery of the Calcada das Lagas.
5 It is one of the forms of the French name Bethencourt.
270 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
Salom Bensaude, Mayer Levy Blumberg, and M. de S. Saruya,
all inhabitants of this town, and all of the Jewish re-
ligion V But for interments in this gi'ound to be legal, an
authorization from the Government was necessary. This
was obtained, October 30, 1868 — an important date, for
it was, in a manner, that of the official recognition of
the Jewish community of Lisbon. By a decree (alvard)
countersigned by the Bishop of Vizeu, minister, King Dom
Luiz I granted " to the Jews of Lisbon permission to con-
struct a cemetery for the burial of their co-religionists 2 ."
Another document has, since that time, confirmed the
■legal existence of the Jewish religion in Portugal ; an
alvard (decree) of the Civil Government of Lisbon ratified,
June 30, 189a, the definite constitution of the hebra,
DHDn tvbtn 3 . This association has the following aims :
to give the assistance of religion to every Jew who is
ill ; to take upon itself the care of the cemeteries and
the burial of all the Jews in the kingdom, even if they
are passing visitors * ; to take charge of the savings bank
of the poor, which is yet self-managing ; to keep the
registers of the deaths, marriages and births 5 . The society
was definitely established March 27, 1892, in the course
of a meeting presided over by M. Simeao Anahory, assisted
by MM. Leao Amzalak and Jose - Cardozo, secretaries.
On the seventeenth of Ab, 5660 (August 13, 1900), the
community of Lisbon united under the presidency of
M. R. Simeao Anahory, assisted by M. Judah Benoliel, vice-
president, and MM. Moyse's de S. Bensabath and Moyse's
1 Archives of the Jewish Committee of Lisbon.
» Ibid.
3 Estatutos da AssociafSo Gemilut Hassadim, irmandade Israelita de soccorros
muluos na hora extrema efuneraes, Lisboa, 1892, 8°, p.^21.
4 It is for this reason that in a corner of the new cemetery, the tomb
of a stranger may be seen, whose body was found on the shore, and who
was supposed to be a Jew.
5 Extracts from these registers are acknowledged to be authentic by
the Government of Portugal, where the State is in the hands of the
clergy.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL PROM 1773 TO I9C2 271
Azancot, secretaries. A plan of complete organization was
adopted, which, however, has not yet received the sanction
of the Government.
The Kehila of Lisbon will include all the orthodox Jews,
both Sephardim and Ashkenazim, having at their head
a committee (Mahamad), consisting, in 1903, of MM. Leao
Amzalak, president ; Jose 7 Cardozo and Isaac Azulay, secre-
taries ; Salomao de M. Sequerra, treasurer, and twelve other
members.
Article 31 of this scheme of organization may be quoted.
The following is the translation : " If the Portuguese Jews
disappear from this town and from the whole kingdom, the
German Jews who are here at that time may take under
their care and for their own use the synagogues, estates,
portable objects, and other articles of value in the possession
of the Portuguese at the time or accruing later, but shall
restore the whole to the Portuguese congregation if it is
re-established."
But this hypothetical disappearance is improbable ; the
Kehila of Lisbon is full of vitality. It numbers at the
present day about 400 persons, natives of Gibraltar, Mo-
rocco or the Azores, most of them ship-owners and mer-
chants 1 . There are several professors, however, who should
be mentioned : MM. Alfred Benarus, an old pupil of the
£cole des Beaux- Arts, Paris ; Bensaude, professor at the
Industrial Institute ; Joseph Benoliel, professor at the
" Marques de Pombal " Industrial School, who conducted
a course of Hebrew in 1888 at the Curso superior de Letras,
and is the author of several works, among them a curious
translation of Camoes and of Loqman 2 .
Among the members of the community of Lisbon I must
1 Kayserling, loc. cit., p. 337, was wrong in speaking of from five to six
hundred families.
2 Camoes, Ines de Castro, Episode des Lusiades; Translation into Hebrew verse
by Joseph de M. Benoliel (Lisboa, 189a, 8°, p. 24). Fabulas de Logman,
vertidas em portuguez e paraphraseadas em verfos hebraicos por Jose" Benoliel
(Lisboa, 1898, 8°). A peculiarity of these translations is that all the words
used are biblical.
272 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
mention again MM. Jacob Bensaude, author of numerous
grammatical works, appointed Professor of English at the
College du Porto by a decree of November 5, 1880 ; Salamao
Saragga, a distinguished Hebraist; Dr. Raoul Bensaude,
a former student at the hospitals of Paris, and consulting
physician to the King of Portugal, &c, officiates as rabbi
at Lisbon ; there is a hazan, M. Levy Ben Simon of Jaffa.
A boys' school has been established at Lisbon as well as
a Cosinha Economica Israelita, a hasher restaurant ; it is
proposed to found an asylum for Jewish travellers. The
kosher restaurant distributed 2,390 meals in 1901 ; it is
managed by the Benevolent Society Somej JWophlim, founded
thirty-seven years ago 1 .
But the principal work of the Kehila is the erection of
a synagogue, for those which exist now are only modest
rooms.
The first stone of this synagogue, called mpn nj?B>,
Shaare Tikvah (Gates of Hope), was only laid on the
eighteenth of Tyar, 566a (May 35, 190a), in the presence of
a large number of spectators 2 . The plan was made by
M. Vicente Terra, an architect of Lisbon. A committee of
ladies 3 and a committee of men 4 have been formed for
the building of the new synagogue. The old Sephardic
community of London, which is connected by so many
bonds with Portugal, has also a committee 5 in communi-
cation with those of Lisbon.
A few years ago a municipal councillor of Lisbon, the
Vicomte de Rio Sado, a great " protector of animals," asked
in vain for the prohibition of the Shechita. His request
was refused by the minister Thomas Bibeiro, and in the
1 Seculo, 26 de mav<;o de 1902.
a In accordance with the law, the synagogue will be situated in an
enclosure without any outward sign of a place of worship.
3 Mesdames E. Abecassis Seruya, E. Cohen Sequerra, E. Levy Azancot,
R. Cardozo Anahory, Benoliel Levy, and D. Benoliel de Levy.
1 MM. A. Anahory, M. Seruya, Levy Azancot, S. Cagi, and J. Pinto.
6 The Rev. Haham Dr. Gaster, president ; Joshua M. Levy, treasurer ;
Simon Seruya and E. N. Adler, members.
THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL FROM 1773 TO 1902 273
slaughter-house of Lisbon the Jews have a special place,
Matanca para Israditas.
I may mention here a curious trace in the popular Portu-
guese language of old and now unconscious antisemitism ; to
signify that a man is " base, despicable, without moral worth,"
he is called safardano. M. Theophile Braza lately pointed
out this word to me, which he derives from Sepharad, "H?!?.
Outside Lisbon only one other Kehila exists in Portugal,
that of Faro, which numbers fifteen families with a syna-
gogue and a hazan. The Jews enjoy much consideration
there; in 1893, for instance, there were public rejoicings
and a great banquet to celebrate the circumcision of the
son of M. Abraham Amram \
Fanaticism has not, however, entirely disappeared yet ;
it has been said quite recently that the Jews of Faro seek
to obtain Christian blood, and pass their time in the syna-
gogue in " breaking up wooden crosses with blows of ham-
mers 2 " — accusations which are purely and simply absurd.
The number of Jews in Faro was much greater in former
years ; the death of the aged, the emigration of the young
to Lisbon, the absence of new-comers in consequence of the
stagnation of trade, all cause the dwindling of the commu-
nity of Faro 3 . This community was established towards
1820, the year when the cemetery was bought. In 1830 it
had a minyan (a congregation of ten adult males), and
from that time a minister of religion (chazan) ; services
were held in a house which was bought for that purpose
by the congregation. In 1850 a new synagogue was
established in the house of M. Joseph Siseu. Ten years
after services were established by M. Samuel Amram in
1 Diario Popular, September 25, 1893.
2 A Nagao, 14 de set. de 1889.
s I wish to thank here M. Joaquin Rosa Bernado, resident of Lisbon,
and M. David Sabath, chemist at Faro ; it is to their kindness that I owe
the information which I give on the kehila of Algarve. The inscription
quoted here was copied by M. Sabath, and I have only changed the last
word of the third line.
274 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
another house. The two synagogues have always existed
since then. Twenty-five years ago the cemetery was
enclosed with walls. The following inscription found at
Faro some years ago was placed there : —
dv "ipy nw ivmn DV3
wsbtt nwn jw &3k6
13D3H "1BB3 t^y3B>l KWI
nr I3p3 13P31 "n "3 "3 did p spv i
Translation: "On Thursday, the 16th of Shebat, 5075
(1315), died the glorious Rabbi Joseph Ben Tom. May he
rest in peace. He was buried in this grave."
This is a precious relic of the past of this Kehila, which
was, in the fourteenth century, the head quarters of one of
the seven great Jewish districts of Portugal.
A few Jews are found at Evora, Lagos and Porto, but
their numbers are too small for common worship.
Lastly, at Sao Miguel (Azores), there is an old Kehila,
which has supplied that of Lisbon with distinguished mem-
bers, but it tends to disappear ; it was found necessary to
send some young men there lately to make minyan. It is
a mistake to trace to the fourteenth century the origin of
this community 1 , which dates from the eighteenth century.
On the whole, the condition of Judaism in Portugal is
not bad : antisemitism is unknown there ; the population
have no hostile feeling against the Jews ; they even delight
in doing justice to the uprightness of their lives and their
incomparable activity.
Cabdozo de Bethencoukt.
1 Jewish Chronicle, November 26, 1880.
