Marriage
In 1528, Beatrice de Luna Gracia married the very rich black pepper trader Francisco Mendes Benveniste who belonged to the same very prominent Jewish family as her mother - Benveniste from Castile and Aragon. He was the great grandson of Don Abraham Benveniste of Castile. She never went by her husband's name of Mendes or Benveniste, although many historians have since called her Gracia Mendes, based on the modern notion of names. According to Spanish customs, Spanish women retain their own names, even after marriage. The couple were believed to have been married in the great cathedral of Lisbon, in a public Catholic wedding, and then to have had a Crypto-Judaic ceremony with the signing of a ketubah. Francisco Mendes (originally Benveniste) directed, along with his brother Diogo, a powerful trading company and bank of world repute with agents across Europe and around the Mediterranean. The House of Mendes/Benveniste probably began as a company trading precious objects and currency arbitrage. Following the beginning of the Age of Discovery and the finding, by the Portuguese, of a sea route to India, they became particularly important spice traders. They also traded in silver - the silver was needed to pay the Asians for those spices.
Read more about this topic: Gracia Mendes Nasi
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“The parent who loves his child dearly but asks for nothing in return might qualify as a saint, but he will not qualify as a parent. For a child who can claim love without meeting any of the obligations of love will be a self-centered child and many such children have grown up in our time to become petulant lovers and sullen marriage partners because the promise of unconditional love has not been fulfilled.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“From infancy, almost, the average girl is told that marriage is her ultimate goal; therefore her training and education must be directed toward that end. Like the mute beast fattened for slaughter, she is prepared for that.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Every marriage tends to consist of an aristocrat and a peasant. Of a teacher and a learner.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)