Page Six

THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, April 2, 1943

The Martyrdom of
Francisco Maldonado de Silva

By LEE M. FRIEDMAN

W

HERE the history of the Jews in
Spain ends, their history in Ameri-
ca begins; the inquisition is the last chapter
of the confessors of Judaism on the Pyren-
ean peninsula and its first chapter on the
continent of the Western Hemisphere."
—M. KAYSERLING.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This important historical account
of "The Martyrdom of Francisco Maldonado de
Silva" is reprinted from Lee M. Friedman's "Jewish
Pioneers and Patriots," one of the current books
published by the Jewish Publication Society of
America. The Jewish News is pleased to publish
this interesting article by special arrangement with
the Jewish Publication Society.

It is interesting to speculate whether, in t he
support which made possible the first voyage of
COlumbus to America, Louis de Santangel was n of
animated by more than a hope . for the conquest of
new markets. Treasurer of Aragon, head of a gre at
business, Louis de Santangel, one of Spain's mo st
eminent Jewish financiers, had at the time onl y
lately been through the harrowing experience of
seeing members of his family burned for apostas y
by the dread Inquisition. Already the explusion o
the Jews from Spain had long been forecast. A t
the end of March preceding this voyage of Colum
bus, the dread edict of expulsion of Jews fro m
Spain was finally promulgated. Did Santang el
dream of an enlarged world in which his fello w
Jews might find a haven of safety?
The Spaniards, in preparing for a final despe r-
ate war to regain the Kingdom of Granada fro m
the Moors, permitted their own prejudices to mak e
them fear the Jews as a potentially dangerous 'ele
went who might give comfort and support to th e
neighboring Granada when once the contest wa
under way. Jews had consequently been banishe d
from Andalusia. As soon as the campaign was over
Ferdinand and Isabella, from religious zeal, ex
tended the edict of banishment to force all Jew s
to leave Spain. Thus when Columbus sailed on tha t
eventful voyage, not only had the civil govern
went made the lot of the Jews of Spain a night
mare, but contemporaneously the activities of th e
Inquisition were stimulated to renewed vigor. Stat e
and Church were eager rivals for the glory of Go d
and earthly prosperity in seizing goods and prop
erty which the harassed Jews had to abandon in a
headlong and blind flight to distant refuges.

Among Early Settlers

As knowledge of the newly discovered continen t
spread, Jews from Spain and Portugal were amongs t
the earliest settlers there. They sought not only a n
enlarged opportunity for commercial activity bu t
some place where, safe from civil oppression and
beyond the reach of the dread Inquisition, they
might openly and safely profess Judaism. This hope
was soon shattered. So many of these Jews, in the
guise of "new Christians" (Marranos) from Spain
and Portugal, sought this retreat, that repeated
efforts were made to forbid their emigration. In
1518, the Spanish government prohibited Jews from
departing from Spain for America. This prohibi-
tion proving ineffective, papal authority was ap-
pealed to. In 1537, Pope Paul III, by his bull
Altitude divini consilii, forbade apostates' going to
the Indies and commanded his colonial bishops to
expel them. As early as 1519, Inquisition officials
had been appointed for the Indies and, theoretically
at least, the true faith in America was thus protect-
ed from the contamination of Jews, heretics and
infidels.
By 1536 the long arm of the Inquisition was
functioning in America. At first its efforts were
sporadic and feeble, but gradually it managed to
organize itself so that, while never operating as
effectively as in Spain, it soon became a dominat-
ing power in Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

Masters

of Commerce

•

vrovr

"Tv

Title-Page of the Account of the "Auto de Fe"
in which De Silva Figured

the high rank which America had attained in this
line of achievement, in that:
Two autos de la fe, the greatest, have taken
place in "Hamerica." The first was held by
God, the First Inquisitor, against the apostacy
of Adam and Eve in Paradise (most probable
is the opinion of those who seek to place the
site of Paradise in America), on Sunday, three
days after the Creation of Man; the second was
held by you (The Tribunal of the Holy Office
of the Inquisition of Peru), on the 23rd of
January, 103 years after the discovery of Peru.
In the auto de fe of 1639, one of the chief victims
was Manuel Bautista Perez, a Jew, reputed to be the
richest merchant of Peru, who was burned at the
stake. But beyond all others, the central figure of
this event was Francisco Maldonado de Silva, des-
cendant of an old Jewish family originating in
Portugal. Francisco, by his bold and courageous
bearing in facing torture, has earned a place in the
long list of American heroes who have died for
religious convictions, and his story should not be
lost.
Diego Nunez de Silva, the head of the de Silva
family, had had his experiences with the Holy
Office of the Inquisition and had been reconciled
to the Church in 1605. The family then moved to
Callao, where he established a reputation as a skill-
ful surgeon. There Dego lived as a Christian and
brought up his family of two daughters and a son
as Christians. His son, Francisco Maldonado de
Silva, born in 1592, was also educated as a physi-
cian. He evidently was of a poetical and philoso-
phical bent of mind and became greatly interested
in theological discussion. When a boy of eighteen,
chance brought to Francisco's attention a copy of
Scrutinium Scripturarum, which he read eagerly.
This was a work written by Pablo de Santa Maria,
born Solomon ha-Levi and originally a learned
rabbi. Rabbi ha-Levi, in 1391, was converted to
Catholicism and soon, because of his learning, be-
came Bishop of Burgos and a great figure in the
Church. In the State, too, he rose to positions of
prominence and influence, becoming regent of
Spain during the minority of Juan II. He wrote

In the Spanish settlement of Peru there early ap-
peared a considerable Jewish community made up
of refugees from Brazil, Mexico, Granada, Puerto
Bello and Buenos Aires. Jews became the masters
of its commerce. No matter how great their worldly
success or how far-flug their influence, these Jews
did not dare openly to practice their religion. Out-
wardly they lived as staunch sons and daughters
of the Church. Their children, ignorant of their
heritage, were brought up as Christians, for
the Inquisition had been established in Peru
in 1570 under Don Diego de Espinosa as
its Inquisitor-General. Between that date
and 1806, when it became less active, thirty-
four autos de fe had been held at Lima.
It had as its victims over one hundred and
twenty-five Jews, of whom twenty-four
A highly provocative experience of a noted pianist with an anti-
were burned at the stake.
Semitically-minded soldier who refused to visit a Jewish canteen
Of all these autos de fe the greatest was
and later became a strong defender of the Jews when he learned
in 1639. Indeed, its historian, an eye-wit-
to know Jews. "CANTEEN" is the title of the feature, written by
ness of the event, begins the preface of his
Victor Wittgenstein, pianist, lecturer and playwright, whose first
narrative with a dedication Al Tribunal

Next Week We Will Publish

del Santo Oficio de la Inquisition de los
Reynos y Prouincias del Pint. He boasts of

play, "Encore," starred Ethel Barrymore. This interesting story
is reprinted from Common Ground, by special arrangement with
the publishers of this - highly important magazine.

this magnum opus, Scrutinium Scripturarum, in
1394, to prove the truth of Christianity. It was a
work so highly regarded and considered so un-
answerable and convincing that it was much favor.
ed as a means of converting Jews.

Father Reveals Secret

The more young Francisco read and pondered
over the words of the Bishop of Burgos the more
questions and doubts arose in his mind as to
whether the learned author really had all truth in
his grasp. He pressed his father for explanations
to answer these doubts and difficulties. His father
sought to avoid such discussions by advising him
to read the Bible and to find his answers there.
Francisco was persistent and refused to be put off.
He sought to argue with his father about his perlex-
ides and unbelief until his father finally revealed
to him that he himself was a Jew and had always
observed the law of Moses and had never inwardly
accepted the Christian faith which he had so long
outwardly professed. Thereafter they studied the
. Bible together, while father instructed son in Jew-
ish traditions, beliefs and practices. Thus Francisco
became an ardent convert to Judaism. Of necessity
all this was guarded as a dangerous secret the least
inkling of which, once suspected by their neigh-
bors, would have exposed them to the greatest
danger.
In 1615-16 the father' died and was buried as a
respected citizen and true son of the Church.
Thereafter Francisco in secrecy pursued his Jewish
studies alone.
Francisco continued to practice his profession
and rose to a position of prominence in the com-
munity, winning a reputation as a skillful surgeon.
Surrounded by wife and family, with his mother
and a sister dependent on him, he was prosperous
and happy. Especially was there devotion between
himself and his sister.

Sister Betrays Him

One day, as a matured man of thirty-five, he
thought that his sister, who was his junior by two
years, should learn the family secret. He revealed
to her that he believed in Judasina as had their
father before him. His sister, brought up as a
devout Catholic, was much shocked by this revela-
tion and even more sorely troubled when he tried
to prevail upon her to become a Jewess. She, in
turn, sought to persuade him to readopt the Cath-
olic faith in which both had been born. When he
refused, in her perplexity she sought the advice
of her father confessor. She was told of the mortal
sin of apostasy and instructed that she could not
hope for sacramental absolution unless she dis-
charged her duty as a true daughter of the Church
by denouncing heresy even though she would have
to expose her brother. Reluctantly she obeyed her
confessor's commands and denounced her brother
to the Inquisition.
Francisco was immediately arrested, on December
12, 1626. It is a curious history which follows. Evi-
dently Francisco was an attractive personality and
an interesting controversialist who endeared him-
self to his grim inquisitors. He freely admitted that
he was a Jew and observed the law of Moses. He
defended his position with ingenuity, both orally
and in writing, and refused to budge.

Held Prisoner 13 Years

Instead of being rushed through the ordinary
steps of an ecclesiastical trial to final judgment,
he was kept in prison for nearly thirteen years.
The Inquisitional officials sought to argue and to
reason with him and, even after no other course
was left but to pronounce judgment, the proceed-
ings were reopened that they might reargue every-
thing all over again. Francisco was adamant. He per-
sisted in refusing to swear on the cross. He repeated
that he was a Jew and would live and die as such
and that, if he had to swear, he did not wish to be
contaminated by a Christian oath but would swear
only by the living God, the God of Israel. A long
sickness intervened, caused by an eighty days' fast,
but it left him as stubborn as ever. We are
told how he spent his time in prison writ-
ing books to fortify, his position. He pro-
duced two of them, each of more than a
hundred pages, written on scraps of paper
pieced together with great ingenuity, with
ink made of charcoal and pens cut out of
egg shells by a knife manufactured out of
a nail. The old narrative says he let his
beard and hair grow like the Nazarenes
and changed his name to Heli Hazares,
"unworthy servant of God."
Finally there was nothing left for the
authorities bur, after a conviction of apost-

-Continued on Page 16.