The Long Journey of Gracia Mendes
Marianna D. Birnbaum, Professor emeritus
of University of California, Los Angeles; visiting professor
of Central European University
The historical biography of a true Jewish heroine in
her day, Gracia Mendes. Born in 1510 in Portugal, the
book details this woman's extraordinary personality
until her death in 1569 in Constantinople (today's Istanbul).
Her life exemplified a perseverance by the Jewish culture
to survive and triumph even in the worst of conditions.
As a young girl, Gracia secretly married successful
Jewish spice trader, Francisco Mendes. But at age 27
she became a widow, yet she went on to raise her children
and run the family business all on her own.
Her travels led her through Antwerp, Venice, Ferrara,
Ragusa, and finally to Constantinople, from where the
Ottoman Empire dominated former Byzantium territories
and offered shelter for battered Conversos (converted
Jews).
The text recounting the last fifteen years of Gracia's
life at the center of the Empire is particularly revealing.
Birnbaum's biography has the unique distinction of being
the first among many studies to pay tribute to a woman
during this period. It is also one of the first titles
to pay equal attention to the lives of the Conversos
in Christian West Europe and in the Muslim East.
Contents
Acknowledgments; Chapter 1. Introducing the Family;
Chapter 2. A Short History of the Conversos: Inquisition
in Spain and Portugal; New Attitudes Toward Conversos;
The Special Status of the Rich; Changing Places - Changing
Names; Chapter 3. Life in Sixteenth-Century Antwerp:
Converso Life in Lisbon and Antwerp; The Family Business;
Pepper and the Mendes Wealth; The Move to Antwerp; Gracia's
Official Entry into the Family Business; Diogo is Accused
of Judaizing; The Emperor's Blackmail; The Emperor's
Matchmaking; Chapter 4. Gracia in Venice: Conditions
in Ferrara and Mantua; A Sisters' Quarrel; The Alleged
Kidnapping; Inquisition by Proxy; Costa's Defense; Brianda
Before the Inquisition; Chapter 5. Gracia and Jewish
Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara: The Ferrara
Bible; Meeting an Old Friend; The Medal Controversy;
The Growing Intolerance in Ferrara; Chapter 6. In
Business with Ragusa: Jews in Ragusa; The Ragusan
Deal; Chapter 7. The Ottoman Empire and the Jews:
The Legal Status of the Jews; Social life and Customs;
The Western View of Levantine Jews; Gracia's Arrival
in the Ottoman Empire; Who is a Jew?; The Mendes-Nasi
Enterprise; The Crises in Ancona and Pesaro; Leading
the Boycott Against Ancona; New Faces in Constantinople;
Gracia and the Resettling of Safed; Jewish Patronage
in the Ottoman Empire; The Decline of the House of Mendes-Nasi;
Appendices: Money, Prices, Values; From Dubrovnik
to Constantinople; List of Illustrations; Bibliography;
Indeces
2003
150 pages, 4 color and 11 black and white illustrations
and maps
978-963-9241-67-1 cloth $43.95 / €36.95 / £ 29.00
978-963-9241-78-7 paperback $24.95 / €19.95 / £16.99
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