Trudy Gold
The Duke of Naxos

Trudy Gold - The Duke of Naxos

- Welcome everybody, and yes, over to you Trudy. Another wonderful presentation in store for us, thank you. Thanks for joining. Thank you Wendy, can I have the first slide please? Yes, all right everyone. Why on earth am I showing you a picture of a terrorist house in Kilburn, number 24 Oxford Road, when the schedule says I’m going to talk about Joseph Nasi? All will be revealed. You know it’s fascinating, when you teach this period of history, which I haven’t done for many years, I’ve always really concentrated on modern Jewish history, I’ve been absolutely entranced by Joseph Nasi. There’s so little known about him. There’s only one serious book by Cecil Roth, which many of you might like to read. But what I’ve been trying to do is to get inside the skin of the man because as I reveal more today, you are really going to wonder. He really did walk the world. And the reason I chose 24 Oxford Road Kilburn is because of the man who lived there in 1896. Can we see his face please? Yes, that is Israel Zangwill. Israel Zangwill was an incredibly bright eastern European Jew who was brought up in England. He became known as the Jewish Dickens. He was a political activist. He was a friend of Karl Marx’s daughter, Eleanor. He was a great writer, very important man. He was one of what we called the Kilburn Wanderers. A group of young Jewish intellectuals who included Suleiman Schechter , who really wanted to put a bomb up Anglo-Jewry. A fascinating man.

Those of you in America will know him why? Because he coined the phrase “the melting pot” in a play he wrote about America called The Melting Pot. What’s he got to do with Joseph Nasi? Joseph Nasi is absolutely central to Jewish history because, more than anything else, he set up a colony in Tiberius way before anyone thought about really conquering the land. And this is where Zionism comes in because in October 1896, which is 125 years ago, a carriage drew up at the house of Israel Zangwill, and can we see the next figure please? Can we see? Theodore Herzl got out. And it was at that meeting– He’d been sent there by Max Nordau. And it was at that meeting political Zionism was born. And what I’m saying to you is the dream of trying to find a homeland for the Jews was also a dream of Joseph Nasi. So Theodor Herzl meets Israel Zangwill at that particular house in London that led to his meeting with the Maccabeans, and the rest is history. Can we see the next slide please? And of course, the man who was with him all the way was Max Nordau. And it’s Max Nordau who opened the first time his Congress with an interesting statement. He said, there is only one country in the world free from the taint of anti-Semitism, and that country is England. Next Monday, William and I are going to start talking about the first settlement on of Anglo-Jewry. And the reason we’re going to do that is November the first, 1290, is a very important date. It’s All Saints Day. No Jew could be in England after 1290. And can we come to the next slide please?

Benjamin Disraeli, I’ve looked for a parallel to Joseph Nasi, and the nearest I can come to is Benjamin Disraeli. But more important than that, Disraeli was a great novelist, a very popular novelist. At his height, he sold more books than Dickens. Remember he was the Tory prime minister who used to write books. He once said, whenever I want to read a novel, I write them. And in his book called Coningsby, there is a character called Sidonia. Sidonia is, up until now, I always thought that he was a kind of combination of Disraeli, Montefiore, and Rothchild. I have no evidence whatsoever that Benjamin Disraeli knew of Joseph Nasi, nor did Israel Zangwill. Those of you who are always looking for good reads. If you haven’t read Zangwill’s Children of the Ghetto and Dreamers of the Ghetto, please do so. In Dreamers of the Ghetto, he lists a lot of very important characters who’ve made huge marks on Jewish history like Heiner, like Disraeli, like Herzl. Joseph Nasi is missing. And I’m going to read a description of his character Sidonia from his book Coningsby. And this is Disraeli’s words. As I begin to tell you the story of Joseph Nasi, I think you’re going to find your parallel. The Sidonians of Aragon, Joseph Nasi was from Portugal, were new Christians. This is Disraeli’s words.

Some of them , no doubt, were burned alive at the end of the 15th century under the system of Torquemada; many of them doubtless, wore the San Benito, but they kept their titles and estates and in time they reached those great offices to which we have been referred. But he travels to England, and we’re going to see that Sidonia, that Nasi goes on the move. No soon sooner was Sidonia established in England that he professed Judaism, which Torquemada flattered himself with the fagot and the San Benito, he had drained out of the veins of his family more than three centuries a ago. He also sent for several of his brothers who were good Catholics in Spain, far more than Ferdinand and Isabella could have desired. Then he goes on to say Europe did require money and Sidonia was ready to lend it to Europe. France wanted some, Austria, more Prussia a little, Russia a few million, Sidonia could furnish them all. The only country which he avoided was Spain. Shut out from universities and schools, young Sidonia was fortunate in his tutor. When he was 19, Sidonia, who had then resided some time in Naples, made a long visit to another of his father’s relatives in Frankfurt, possessing complete mastery over the principle European languages. Between Paris and Naples, he passed two years. He observed everything, thought ever, but avoided serious discussion. The moment that he came of the age, he had exhausted all the sources of human knowledge, he was master of the learning of every nation, of all tongues dead or living, of every literature.

He brought to the study of this vast aggregated knowledge, penetrative intellect that matured by long meditation and assisted by that absolute freedom from prejudice, which was the compensatory possession of a man without a country, permitted Sidonia to fathom as if by intuition the depths of question apparently the most difficult and profound. He possessed the rare faculty of communicating with precision ideas which are most abstruse. And this is how he ends his chapter on Sidonia. In his comprehensive travels, Sidonia had visited and examined the Hebrew communities of the world. He had found, in general, the lower orders debased; the superior immersed in so sordid pursuits; but he perceived that the intellectual development was not impaired. This gave him hope. He was persuaded that organisation would outlive persecution. When he reflected on what they had endured, it was only marvellous that the race had not disappeared. They had defied, exile, massacre, spoilation, the degrading influence of the constant pursuit of gain, and had defied time. For nearly 3000 years, according to Archbishop Usher, they had been dispersed over the globe.

To the unpolluted current of their Caucasian structure and to the segregating genius of their great Law giver, Sidonia ascribed the fact they had not long absorbed among them the mixed races who presumed to persecute them, but who periodically wear away and disappear while their victims still flourished in the primaeval vigour of the pure breed. After his arrival in England, Sidonia repaired principal courts of Europe that he might become personally acquainted with monarchs and ministers of whom he had heard so much. His position ensured him a distinctive reputation. His personal qualities immediately made him cherished. He could please, he could do more, he could astonish. So, Benjamin Disraeli’s fictional character of Sidonia. And what I’m going to try and weave into this story of Joseph Nasi is that to some he was a hero, to others he was the devil. David Peimer is going to be lecturing on on Saturday, and he’s going to be lecturing on The Jew of Malta. And in England, Joseph Nasi was known about. And Cecil Roth thinks that he was the prototype of The Jew of Malta. I’m just going to, before we actually get onto his biography, and unfortunately there’s no painting of him, of course you’ve got the wonderful Bronzino of his aunt, Dona Gracia. We found an etching, but that’s the best we can do. This is a Christian contemporary of his.

There are a few persons of account in Spain, it’s the offlanders who are not personally acquainted with him. This is Moses Almosnino, a contemporary Jewish scholar, a great gentleman of subtle intellect, most generous, a lover of justice and merciful, all in a high degree of perfection as is demanded of such a person elevated to so high a rank. This is Ferenzius who was related to the Archbishop of . He was in Istanbul as a Hungarian at the turn of the century when we’re going to find out that, believe it or not, Joseph Nasi more or less becomes the roving ambassador to the court of Suleiman. This is how he describes him. A man who both in his appearance and in his open address and in the entire bearing of his body and his conversation was far more fitting to be a Christian than a Jew. This is a Spanish captive, Andros Laguna. He deserves it all for he was a gentleman, expert in arms, well read, and a friend to his friends. And this is the Venetian ambassador. The Venetian ambassadors, as I’ve said to you before, they are wonderful for gossip. Nasi being head of his nation was harmful not only to Venice, but to Christendom. Okay, let’s have a look at his biography.

Can we move on please to the next, yes. Now let’s have again a look at the family tree. This is the linking of two great converso families, the Nasi family, the Benveniste family. And you’ll see that on the Nasi side, there are two daughters and a son. Dr. Miques, who has two children. One is Samuel, the other is Joseph Nasi. There is a daughter Brianda, who marries Diego Mendes. And then you have to turn to the Benveniste family. And you see Diego Mendes, of course, married to Gracia, who is Dona Gracia. So here you go, Brianda, Dona Gracia has a daughter and she marries Joseph Nasi. So Joseph Nasi is both nephew and later son-in-law to Dona Gracia. And we also know that we’ve already discovered that she is one of the most powerful, influential, and interesting women in this period of history. And she is being rediscovered. But it’s a shame that people don’t know more about these characters because they really leap out of the pages at you. So the family had converted, but they were practising Jews in secret. His dates are 1524 to 1579.

He is born, as I said, to a converso family in Portugal. His father, Dr. Miques, remember he is a convert, he is the royal physician, he died in 1525. He not only was the father of the royal physician, he taught medicine at the University of Lisbon. And when his father died, it was his aunt, Dona Gracia, who really brings him up. And it was when she went from Lisbon to Antwerp. You will recall that after her husband died, she went to Antwerp to really restock the family business. They were, by this time the Mendes family, were the richest, one of the richest merchant families in the world. And she goes to Antwerp and he comes with her. We know at this time they’re still outwardly Catholic. And we also know that they stopped in London. He studied at the University of Louvain, and then he enters the Mendes Bank. And when Dona Gracia left for Italy, he was left behind. He was only young, it was 1545, so he was 21.

And that is when he had to settle all the family affairs. She’s already given, her husband has died. She’s already given him a huge amount of responsibility. Now he’s one of the, he’s, he’s a converso, he’s a new Christian. and he’s from one of the richest families in the world. So his family, as I told you yesterday, lend money to all the kings of Europe. So he is actually welcome at the court of Charles the Fifth and evidently becomes the jousting partner of his son. He was very well known to the Queen Regent of the Netherlands, who was the sister of Charles the Fifth. And he, he was a great sportsman. By all accounts, he was a very good linguist, he knew many languages. He would’ve had a humanist education. He’d studied medicine in Louvain. He knew many languages. And I was thinking about this with Dona Gracia and her wonderful library. It was something that I was discussing with Shauna. What books would’ve there been in it. Now, when she reemerged as a Jew, it would’ve been full of Hebrew books because one of the problems of the conversos was lack of knowledge of Judaism. But we know that they would’ve been brought up in the humanist tradition.

So they would’ve had books of the Renaissance to study. Remember, she was painted by Bronzino. So he would’ve known Latin, he would’ve known Greek, he would’ve known foreign languages. He would’ve been a sportsman. Look, he’s jousting with the son of the Emperor. So he’s really at the pinnacle of society; however, he had to flee. He saved some of the money. But Charles the Fifth was avaricious. He couldn’t get much of it out, so he fled. And where did he go? He then went to France. Very bad relationship between the Habsburgs and the French, where he becomes very well known to France, to the first of France. He was very much part of his court. And of course, Francis’ first daughter-in-law was Catherine de’ Medici. This is a fascinating period of history with all sorts of characters. You know that wonderful line of Shakespeare’s on Julius Caesar, he doth bestride the narrow world. Like a colossus. And what I find fascinating about this period, there are many of these kinds of characters, love them or hate them, they were big. So you have this man who’s now on the court, he then goes to Italy and, he is, and the story goes that he tried to buy one of the Venetian islands for fugitive conversos. Then they haven’t yet come out as Jews.

But, as I explained yesterday, on the spice ships, on the great ships, what is happening? But the conversos who are under threat, are being brought out by the Mendes family on their ships. Many of them going into the Ottoman Empire, as I’ve already mentioned, the Ottoman Empire, which really, we looked at the numbers a week ago, where the Jewish community is really going to swell. And some of course went to Italy. The problem with Italy though was the counter reformation was seriously stepping up. This is the fight back against Protestantism. And of course, when you are fighting heresy, who are the arch heretics? It’s in 1554 that he finally leaves Europe, and he joins his aunt, Dona Gracia, in Constantinople, where she has assembled her retinue, and he is circumcised and he comes out as Jacob Nasi. Now can we come to the next map, please, Shawna? Here you are. We’ve enlarged it a little so that you can see the various voyages of the family. You see the line when both Joseph Nasi and Dona Gracia made that trip to London. We know that because of the records of their agents there. And of course at this stage their agents are conversos, but they’re outwardly Catholic, and they would’ve prayed in the Portuguese Catholic church in London and then to Lyon and then to Venice. Ghetto had already been established in Venice. It was one of the earliest. But conversos were well-treated. Then of course Ferrara. And then Dona Gracia goes through the Adriatic and takes ship and finally lands in Constantinople, or as the Muslims call it Istanbul, where she manages to get most of her fortune out.

And now she’s joined by her nephew and he marries her daughter, Reyna. Reyna was meant to be exquisitely beautiful. Evidently another story. She betrothed to the court doctor of Suleiman, but she married Joseph Nasi. They would have no children. And it’s fascinating, just as Disraeli had no children, and there’s a big question mark on all of this. And with Dona Gracia, he’s now emerged as a Jew and he becomes an important figure at court. Let’s have a look at Suleiman again. Can we, there you see him? That’s the only picture we have of him. It’s an etching, it’s an engraving. That’s what he looked like. He was meant to be incredibly handsome. So that is all we have to go on. And already there you have Suleiman. Suleiman had welcomed Dona Gracia at court. Remember, she’s a very erudite, incredibly wealthy woman. How well was she acquainted with Roxelana, his wife? Because remember Roxelana was allowed into, she was actually allowed to watch the discussions. And as she was involved in correspondence with many of the famous, my hunch is they knew each other. And what an incredible story. If any of you are story writers, what an incredible story that would be.

Now, for he becomes quite an important figure for Suleiman. If you think about it, there were very– When he arrives in Istanbul, he’s already, through his aunt, in touch with the court circles, and Suleiman, this is the age of Turkish expansion and a state of perpetual hostility between Islam and Christianity. Information was the key. Now, think about Islam, think about Christianity. There’s profound differences of language, of faith, social habits, a huge gulf between the two proselytising worlds. Enter Joseph Nasi. He has a knowledge of languages. He speaks Spanish, Portuguese, German, French. He has experience of many of the courts and capitals of Europe. He’s known to European aristocracy. He has personal contacts with rulers. He has personal contacts with statesman. And Suleiman could consider that he would be loyal, why? Because don’t forget that Dona Gracia had been imprisoned in Venice because her sister had reported her as a secret Jew. She’d had to fight to get much of her fortune out.

They have emerged as Jews. If you take the line on Sidonia, there is no way that they’re going to have affection for Portugal or for Spain. And there’s no way they’re going to have affection for the Christian world. So Suleiman realises that with this individual Joseph Nasi, he actually has someone who has everything that he needs to be an ambassador. And more than that. The great Mendes fortune. They have agents everywhere. If you think about the penetration of the traders now, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Indies, remember he is the pepper king, the Mendes fortune, and now it’s Dona Gracia’s and Joseph Nasi’s. He’s in charge of spice ships. He has agents everywhere and they can be useful to Suleiman. Suleiman is a very wily king. He’d even made a deal with Francis the First at one stage because Francis had such enmity with Charles the Fifth that he was prepared to make a deal with inverted commas, The Infidel And something else. Also, he became very friendly with one of the sons of Roxelana and Suleiman. When Suleiman dies, Roxelana had so waried her way into his affections, it is absolutely fascinating that it’s her sons who are going to rule, but which one of them would rule.

And he had become– Joseph Nasi had become very very friendly with Selim. Which one would rule? Would it be Selim or Bayezid? He backed Selim. He was a loyal friend to Selim, and it was Selim who succeeded to the throne. And as in order to help him, he also gave him an absolute fortune. He built an incredible palace on the edge of the Bosphorus in Istanbul called the Belvedere. And when he went around, I’m talking about Joseph Nasi, he had a huge retinue of servants. He lived like a lord. But in that palace, he collected books. He and his mother-in-law had an incredible library. He collected books. He also, like Dona Gracia, he made his home a mecca for all sorts of scholars, thinkers, writers, Muslims and Jews coming together, it was a humanistic court. And with Selim, if you think of the taboo of alcohol, Selim was a creature of the Harem. Here you see Selim. He later became known as Selim the Sot, I’m afraid. I think he had 700 children. I’ve got to check that out. I remember seeing that figure when I was in the Topkapi Palace. Those of you who have not been to Istanbul, it is an incredible treat. And Selim had a fondness for wine. Don Joseph would send him boxes of trinkets. He was a wine importer. The Mendes, one of the– The Mendes more or less had a monopoly on wine from Madeira. So what he would do was in his trinket boxes to the sultan, he would also include prized bottles of wine. And so they have a real friendship, a courtly friendship.

In Istanbul, he is known as the great Jew or the rich Jew. So he had virtually created an intelligence service all over Europe. Now, in terms of Islamic law, he was called the muterferik, the gentleman of the imperial retinue. It’s absolutely unheard of for a Muslim ruler to give that kind of honour to a Jew at this period. Yes, the majority of the Muslim rulers had Jewish doctors as well as Muslim doctors, but he really is favouring him. So he became very interested in all sorts of foreign affairs. And he became very involved in the peace negotiations between Poland and Turkey. Why was he interested in Poland? Because of the large Jewish community there. He’s emerging as a great figure for the Jews and there being constant wars in the East. You’ll remember that, in 1526, Suleiman had managed to take much of Hungary. This is the height of the Muslim empire. And he’s very involved in these negotiations. Roxelana is dead by this time, but we know that in her lifetime, once she is the sultana, she herself was involved in negotiations with Poland. She wanted to stop the Tarter raids against women. You’ll remember that’s how she first came to the Harem, when she was kidnapped by a bunch of Tartars.

So, in return, for concluding, so a Jew is sent to conclude a peace deal between Poland and Turkey in 1862. He does it so successfully that he is given the monopoly on beeswax, which is something else that further increases his fortune. He has the kind of power that, in 1569, he encourages the Dutch revolt against Spain. I’ve already mentioned to you the counter reformation. Holland has emerged as a Calvinist Protestant country. It’s under the Spanish rule. It finally breaks away from Spain and emerges as one of the great centres of empire. I’m sure you all know of the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch West India Company, and it is actually Joseph Nasi, who knows William The Silent of Orange. He’s very, he’s quite close to that royal family as well. And he sends a letter to the Dutch actually promising them. And it was read out at the Calvinist Consistory in Amsterdam, promising them aid from the Turks if they revolt against Spain. And as a response to all this, he gets more and more from Selim. He becomes the major wine importer through the Bosphorus. He has trading privileges in Poland. It makes him richer than his wildest dreams. And something else. The French king had previously– This is Henry the second, had sequestered– Henry the third, beg your pardon. His family property when he left France. And he obtained the sultan’s firman, an order from the sultan, ordering the the confiscation of a third of the merchandise on French ships docking in Alexandria. Now this is extraordinary. Think about trade. The French are entering the Port of Alexandria.

They need to provision, they need to take on water, they need supplies, they need to trade. Because of the influence of Joseph Nasi, the sultan is prepared to confiscate a third of all French possessions on ships to help his friend because his friend would not forgive the French for taking away his property. He also, he also– There was another revolt in Venice. During the counter reformation, the Jews of Venice were being very very badly treated. And with an ally who was a family member, Nasi decided that they were going to try and stage a revolt in Venice. It failed, but it also gives you a notion of the power of the man. Now, in return for the peace treaty with Poland, Selim made his friend Duke of Naxos. This is an island in the Aegean. He becomes the Duke of Naxos. The Christian Jew had recently been deposed. He also became the count of Andros. So the converso Jew is Count of Andros, Duke of Naxos. You know, when Disraeli entered the House of Lords, someone said to him, how do you feel? He said, I’m dead, but I’m in the Elysian Fields. When I was reading about Joseph Nasi, in some of the articles they referred to him as a court Jew. He was far more than a court Jew, I think. A court Jew was a man who loaned money to various kings. Not only did he do that, he is one of the principle foreign ambassadors now to the most powerful empire in the world.

In his palace in Belvedere, he now has a huge empire to administer. And his local representative is a man called Francisco Coronel, and you may remember because he is a descendant of Abraham Seneor. If you go back to 1492 in Spain, the two main Jewish financiers were Isaac Abravanel and Abraham Seneor, who had previously been the last rabbi of Castile. Seneor had converted, he was 80 years old, to remain in Spain. And in fact, Ferdinand stood godfather for him, but his grandson, beg your pardon, his great grandson, was now the agent of the Duke of Naxos at the Belvedere, this incredible palace on the shores of the Bosphorus. Now in Lepanto, at the Battle of Lepanto, the Muslims suffered a serious defeat. But Nasi’s lands were reconquered by the Venetians. But he was soon reinstated. Now we come to an extraordinary episode. Already back in 1558 before her death, Dona Gracia had obtained various concessions from the Sultan in Tiberius. Why, she and her nephew son-in-law had a dream. And that was the restoration of settlement of Jews in the land. Now that’s why I started with that terrorist house in Kilburn, because it was resurrected 125 years ago.

The other dreams, and we’ve looked at that through the character of David Reubeni, and we’re going to look at again through the character of Sabbateans, the Messianic claimants. Joseph Nasi was no Messianic claimant. They believed that they could get out there and settle the land. Remember, it is all controlled by the Turks. Selim’s grandfather had destroyed the empire based on Cairo. And now all these provinces today, which is today’s Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, they are now all part of the Turkish empire. So it’s in the gift of Selim. And already his father had given land to Dona Gracia. And in 1561 Joseph Nasi obtained extension of the grant. And also he was given authority in seven nearby villages. He had to give payment to the Turkish government. But he now controls a whole area. And in 1564 to 65, he begins to, he doesn’t go there, but he has agents out there rebuilding the ruined walls of Tiberius. They actually rebuild them all. And he never, what he wanted to do was to develop it commercially. Remember he’d already tried to buy a little island from the Venetians. I should have mentioned he’d also suggested to the sultan that he could set up a Jewish colony in Cyprus. You know, the story of Cyprus is a fascinating one. It became British in 1878 when Disraeli, at the Congress of Berlin, obtained Cyprus from the Turks. So isn’t it a fascinating sort of conundrum of history? This dream of the restoration of the Jew.

Was Disraeli a Proto Zionist. Was Joseph Nasi a Proto-Zionist. Certainly he’s rebuilding the walls of Tiberius. And like many philanthropists today, he began to do sensible things. Rather than just pouring money into poor Jews, he’s trying to make it a haven. He’s trying to encourage Jewish settlement. He begins to foster silk industry. He begins to foster the wool industry. And he sent a circular letter to the communities of Italy, inviting them to settle there because, you know, ghettos are being established. It’s the period of the counter reformation. it’s dangerous. Let me find a safe haven for the Jewish community. But he never really had time to follow this venture through. But he was titular lord of Tiberius until his death. And afterwards the concession was renewed, but then there was a dispute between Jerusalem and the whole idea was scotched. But I think it’s a very important that you know that, in the 16th century, a humanist scholar, one of the richest men in the world, a , in many ways a genius, he also at his heart had the future of the Jewish people. And he was also involved when Jews were ransomed for piracy. Who do you think was one of the main people who were buying Jews from slavery? Who was doing all he could to aid the conversos? Just as the great Dona Gracia, his aunt and role model, had done? This is an extraordinary family. And not only did he encourage Jewish scholarship, he himself wrote, he wrote a piece, it’s called Ben Porat Yosef in 1579.

It was a polemic against astrology, which records the debate that he’d had with various Christian dignitaries. He was very much a realist, Nasi. He was not– One of the things that’s very difficult because, you know, I don’t have enough sources, there aren’t enough sources. I’ve been trying to get under his skin. With Disraeli, it’s easy, but with him it’s so so difficult. And but then it all goes wrong. Why does it go wrong? Because in the end, when Selim falls, he loses power. He still maintains his– He still re maintains all his wealth, but he wasn’t really able to finish off his dream. But, and as I said, he had no children. His wife outlived him by 10 years. And she, what she did though was to maintain his great library and her home also became the centre. When I say her home, it was a huge palace, for all sorts of visiting Jewish scholars. Much was written there. So Jewish scholarship flourished. And I also should mention, he did help with a colony . There was a large Jewish colony emerging in , and he helped with that. So he’s a great philanthropist. His philanthropy was the kind of making people work for themselves. For example, importing the silk worms to Tiberius. I will create an in an industry. Cecil Roth, as I said before, really did believe that he was the rabbis, The Jew of Malta. Marlowe’s Jew of Malta, which Professor Peimer will talk about, is really the evil one.

And I’m just going to read a little about him because can you imagine the rumours of this Jew who had walked the world, who was the sultan, who was the sultan’s friend, who had a country of his own, he had the island of Naxos, the man who had scorned Christianity, who had deluded all the courts of Europe. And I’m just going to read a little. As for myself– This is Barabas. He is the devil. He is the portrait of Joseph Nasi through the eyes of Christians. As for myself, I walk abroad at nights and kill sick people groaning under walls. Sometimes they go about and poison wells. And now and then, to cherish Christian thieves, I am content to lose some of my crowns that I may walking in my gallery see ‘em pinioned along my door. Being young, I studied physics and began to practise first upon the Italian. There I enriched the priest with burials and always kept the sexton’s arms in ure, with digging graves and ringing dead men’s knells. And after the war I was an engineer, and in the wars between France and Germany, under pretext of helping Charles the Fifth slew friend and enemy with my strategems. Then after that was I an usurer, and with exhorting, cozening, forfeiting and tricks belonging under brokery, I filled the jails with bankrupts in a year and with young orphans planted hospitals. And every moon made some or other mad. And now and then one hanging himself for grief. Pinning on his breast a long great scroll. How I with interest tormented him. But mark how I am blest for plaguing them. I have as much coin as will buy the town. But tell me now, how have you spent your time? So isn’t that interesting? That is 1590, he’s been dead, he died in 1579.

Was he The Jew of Malta that Marlowe knew about because the legends of him must have just spread like wildfire. Just think, the converso who studied medicine, the of one of the richest families in the world, escaping finally the clutches of Christendom, having been at all the courts of Europe, jousting with the son of Charles the Fifth. And then what happens to him, he becomes the roving ambassador to Suleiman and then to Selim and Selim’s closest friend. It’s an incredible story, and I don’t know if any of you are on board of filmmakers. I just think the story of Dona Gracia and the Duke of Naxos needs to be told. And the other thing to think about, isn’t she beautiful, Dona Gracia that Bronzino portrayed. And I suppose the other point, I can find no evidence that Disraeli knew of him. I can find no evidence that Israel Zangwill did. And I went through the wonderful Children of the Ghetto. There’s no chapter on him and there should be. Anyway, I’m going to stop now, if that’s all right with Wendy, and take questions. Just to say that on Monday, as we are coming onto England and over this weekend, please don’t forget, not only have we got some wonderful events on here, but the Edict of Expulsion from England was issued on Tisha B'av in 1290. Jews had to be out of England on Walpurgis Night, which is the 31st of October. There could be no Jew in England on All Saints Day, November the first. So somehow there’s a sort of symmetry to this. Wendy, what do you think of the Duke of Naxos? He had some very forward ideas on philanthropy, didn’t he?

• He certainly did. He was ahead of his time.

• He was a character.

Shall we have a look at the questions?

Q&A and Comments:

Yes, Jerry’s saying Israel Zangwill had a home here in West Sussex. There’s a plaque on the wall of his house. We were given a talk by his daughter. What a fight he had with his Zionist views.

Yes, Israel Zangwill is another story. And of course we have told the story of Zionism, but it will be weaved in again. And it was at the first Congress the Jewish flag was born. Yes.

Q: Did Torquemada have Jewish blood?

A: There is a rumour, Arlene, that he had a Jewish great-grandmother. Quite often the taint in inverted commas of Jewish blood was enough to turn people into self haters. Joseph Nasi is pronounced in Hebrew Nasi. Thank you. Yes, , I do pronounce names badly. It’s one of my great failings.

Q: Do you think constant inter-marriage made them infertile?

A: I have absolutely no idea.

Q: What is the big about Disraeli not having any children?

A: I’ll tell you what’s interesting. He married a woman who was too old to give him children. He was a complete egomaniac. He was a wonderful character. I mean, if you want to get into the psychology of Disraeli, we need Dr. Freud, Dr. Jung, and all the other doctors. He had a thing about older women, and when he married Mary Anne, she was too old to give him children. That’s what I meant. He made a deliberate decision. He was a lot younger than her. I think she was 47, he was 34.

• He didn’t want to be derailed.

• I think that’s it, don’t you? I think so. It’s a good point, Wendy, he had his sister and his wife were great rivals for his affection. His sister devoted her whole life to him. Her fiance had died. He was with Disraeli on tour, and Disraeli wrote to his sister condoling, saying all you’re going to do now is to devote yourself to me. Yeah, he was an extraordinary character. But he was, yeah.

• He wanted to be in the history books, not the visitors book.

• Good point. Yes , I’m going to do everything I can with my pronunciation.

Q: Do I know if this Mendes family is related to Fernando Moses Mendes who lived in Cromwell house in Highgate?

A: He came to England with Catherine of Braganza. Yes, I’m going to be talking about that in the next couple of weeks. Whether he’s related to that family, I don’t know. Certainly Dona Gracia– That line died out because Joseph Nasi was married to Anna. So that line died out. I think a lot of Europeans would be horrified to learn they are descendants of converso. Not necessarily. I think in Portugal today, they’re quite proud of it. It’s quite a strange story.

Q: Did he ever go to Naxos?

A: Yes, he did, but he didn’t stay there. And he had it administered by Abraham Seneor’s great grandson. , there are remains of a wooling production industry from that time. That is extraordinary.

Q: Is Nasi’s former palace still standing?

A: I do not believe it is.

The portrait of Dona Gracia with her daughter by Bronzino is attributed to a court lady of Cosimo de’ Medici. I will have to do more research on that.

Q: How do we know the providence?

A: I will ask Patrick, or maybe Shawna maybe you know because you are an art historian or Wendy.

• What’s the question?

Q: - The portrait of Dona Gracia with her daughter by Bronzino is attributed to a court lady of Cosimo de’ Medici. How do we know the providence of this work?

A: That’s a very good question Louise. We can probably find it out.

• You can find out from .

• A good source is Simon Schama in belonging. Yes, Simon’s a very good historian. When we were in Malta some six years ago, we tried to find a shul there. Someone we asked knew there was one but not sure where it was or the address. We were never to able to find it. There was a Jewish community on Malta, whether there’s a synagogue is another story. It wouldn’t be difficult to research.

Q: In which museum is the portrait of Dona Gracia?

A: I think it’s in–

• My friend, Myrna who is with me right now, says she was in Malta, and there isn’t a synagogue.

Q: - Was there one, was there one?

A; - Yes.

• I think there was originally, but when it was destroyed, I don’t know.

Q: - Well, if The Jew of Malta. Is there something special that Wendy spoke about for Sunday night? Would you like to mention that?

A: - Yes, well it’s completely, it’s off this subject, but we were, our family foundation was engaged together with Israel aid in rescuing Afghans. And it’s been such an astonishing journey that I asked to give a presentation with Israel aid. It was really quite something. Very hair raising and heartbreaking actually, with a happy ending, so I thought that it would be nice to share it. Seeing it so much in the news. And we are living history. We are living history. It’s a story about relationships and and kindness of people who are willing to help and just the challenges of our time. So for those who are free and would like to listen on Sunday at 7:30 our time UK. Thanks.

Q: - This is from Micheal. Any other books on Joseph Nasi besides Cecil Roth?

A: I’m writing historical mysteries during 16th century. I want to include Nasi as a character. Yes. Now there’s lots of articles. Go online and start researching. He really, he is the subject of a book.

Q: Did you, do you like him? What do you think of him? Have you read Disraeli’s books?

A: He must have felt Jewish. Yes, I’ve read all of Disraeli’s books. There’s a wonderful line. All is race, there is no other truth.

Q: Who inherited the fortune?

A: It would’ve come through another branch but eventually dissipated.

• Isn’t he your heartthrob Trudy?

• I beg your pardon.

• Isn’t he your heartthrob?

• Well, I’m not sure. I’m beginning to find a few more in this, in this period of lockdown Wendy.

• You’re being fickle.

• In fact, Joseph Nasi is becoming a contender. Oh, it’s in the National Gallery of Washington. Oh, don’t you love our people? They are so well informed.

• Absolutely.

• This is for Mona. Stephen Masson is saying Coleridge went to the synagogue in Malta in 1805 to 1806. And this is Marcia. We did a Jewish tour in Malta. There’s still a small Jewish community. So that’s interesting. Marian says she visited the Jewish Slave Cemetery. A fascinating story.

And this is from Howard. We live in Malta. Our current synagogue is an apartment. There was a very old synagogue, and in the seventies it was finally destroyed in the course of development. Thank you Howard. Don’t you just love our group?

• That’s incredible. Okay, I’m passing the message on there.

• [Mona] It’s unbelievable.

• Thank you.

Q: - So another question, this is from Brian, so maybe Howard, you can answer this. Before establishing a synagogue, a Jewish community had to establish a cemetery. Is there a Jewish cemetery in Malta?

A: You’ve got to remember what the Mediterranean was like in the period of the 16th century and the wars between Islam and Christianity and all the slave ships. People being ransomed for slavery and being sold in Istanbul and also in Italy. Tragically, people were a commodity.

How can Canada access the Disraeli presentation. Presumably, Wendy, the same as you can any other of our presentations?

• If you just have a link, and you are not on our contact list, then I suggest that you contact Judy, or wait a second, let me just find what our new email address is. It’s lockdown University. Let me just check with the new email address is, because, you know, initially we used Judy and Lauren. Trudy, do you know the Lockdown University email address? Hold on.

• I’ve stopped being a thinking person.

• Okay, Beverly, I can’t pronounce foreign languages and I can’t do anything like technology.

Oh, and this is from Steven again, Moses and Judith Montefiore went to the the synagogue in Malta in 1827. Yeah, that’s, you see, that’s another fascinating story. Montefiore’s travels because they kept a diary. So that’s interesting.

• [Female] So it’s info@lockdownuniversity. We visited the catacombs where there were Jewish graves in Malta. Okay.

• Do I know this is from, have you, did you find it Wendy?

• I did, sorry, it’s, so all of you… So all our participants who already are operating from a Zoom link, why don’t you just send us your email address. And we’ll send you to our, to our list, And then you will get the programme every Sunday.

• Fantastic, you’ve all got that.

This is from Linda. Do we know that in Tiberius there’s a hotel called Dona Gracia where they do a whole Dona Gracia story and dress visitors in clothes of that era. Very interesting to hear about her in that atmosphere. A lot of you are absolutely fascinated by Malta. There’s an old Jewish cemetery in Kalkara, Malta. There’s a Chabad in Malta and a shul in a house.

And Brian kindly has written info@lockdownuniversity.org. Thank you, so has Sarah, hi Sarah. Point of info. One of the was Rabbi Isaac Luria, who was also a wool merchant. Now is that because Joseph Nasi and Dona Gracia had set up the industry there? That’s interesting. Okay, I think, is that all of them? I think that is it, I think that is it, Wendy, yes. Thanks Trudy, thank you for that outstanding presentation. Thank you everybody for joining us tonight.

• Can I just ask you a question?

• Sure.

• Do you like Joseph Nasi?

• I do, I do.

• He did walk the world, didn’t he?

• It’s interesting how one carries one’s Judaism with us. It’s part of the DNA, and eventually it’s, I suppose.

• It was so important to him, wasn’t it?

• Yeah.

• As it was to Disraeli. Fascinating. All right, God bless everyone, take care.

• Thank you very much, take care.

• Bye Mona. Bye.