The towns listed below are:
- Dax
- La Bastide-Clairence
- Nantes
- Peyrehorade
- Rouen
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz
- Tartas
- Toulouse
Sephardic Jews of Dax, France
Historical Overview
Dax, an inland village north-east of Bayonne, was a market town involved in the wine trade and other local industries such as wheat, tar, and leather. In 1633, ten Portuguese families were reported in Dax, but they were expelled in 1684.
Family Names Mentioned
- Fernandez
- Fernandes Villareal
- Flores
For additional details, visit the Dax historical resources page.
Jews in La Bastide-Clairence
Historical Overview
La Bastide-Clairence had a Jewish community established in 1600, numbering 80 by 1630. The Jewish cemetery, opened in 1659, contains 62 inscriptions recorded by Gérard Nahon. The cemetery belongs to the Consistoire israélite de Bayonne.
Notable Family Names
- Dacosta
- Henriquez Lopez Nunez
- Depas
- Alvares
For more information on the Jewish cemetery inscriptions, refer to Gérard Nahon’s work.
Jews of Nantes
There was a small Jewish community in St Nicholas in 1592. As elsewhere in France, Jews were expelled from Nantes in 1615. Like elsewhere, some seem to have stayed. An A. Vaz was naturalised in 1630. In the same year there were reported to be ten Portuguese converso families in Nantes. They were attacked by anti-Spanish rioters in 1636, as the Spanish army invaded France. From 1637 those New Christians with Dutch citizenship were able to live in the city unharassed.
Nantes was a transit point for American silver being transported from Bilbao to the Netherlands.
Jews of Peyrehorade
Claudine Laborde-Sabarots has written about Fernando de Medina (alias Moises Gomez), a Jew from Peyrehorade put on trial by the Mexican Inquisition in the 17th Century. It is reported that he was connected to the tobacco monopoly.
Haim Beinart studied Moshe and Ya’acov Gomez from Peñaorada (same people and place!) on trial in Mexico in 1691. There were reported to have been forty “Portuguese” families in Peyrehorade in 1633. This sounds like a substantial number for a village.
Claudine Laborde-Sabarots wrote an article on “La communaute de Peyrehorade”, but I have yet to read it. I believe she has also studied a cemetery in the village. Not sure if her research focuses on the Jewish community or the village.
Sephardic Jews of Rouen
Zosa Szajkowski reports the following Jewish names in letters in Rouen in the early 17th Century: Antoine Rodrigues Lamego, Diego Henriques Cardoso; Philippe Henriques, Louis Dias de Lemes, Gracia Denis and her son Dominique Pereira, Antoine Fenseca, Fernande Loppe de Paz, Barthelemy and Martin Rodrigues, Domingo Alvares, Diego Fernandes Penso, Simon Loppe Manuel, Fernande de Castro, Manuel Dacosta Borges, Alienor Pimentel, Leonor Rodrigez, Antonio and Francois Acosta, Rodrigo de Morais, Henrique Mendez de Quaros, Jerome Mendes, Antoine Mendez Dacosta, Leonor Rodrigues, Louis Anthonio, Violan Vaes and Marie Mendez, Francois Acosta de Pas, Elisabeth Mendez, Diego Henriques Lamego, Anthoine Fondea Henriques.
Jews in Saint-Jean-de-Luz
Historical Overview
Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near the Spanish border, saw the arrival of New Christians in the 16th century. However, due to hostility and persecution, including the burning of Catherine de Fernandés in 1619, the community faced significant challenges.
For a detailed account, refer to the Jewish Virtual Library.
Jews in Tartas
Isaac de Castro from Tartas ended up in Brazil in the 1640s, but travelled there from Holland. He was brother of the printer, David Castro Tartas who later lived in Amsterdam.
I have seem a claim that around 1634 a Jew from the Levant came to Tartas for eighteen months and taught Judaism. I am a little sceptical. The Castro family seem to have later moved to Bordeaux. Judging by the English, I am guessing that someone has translated from Portuguese.
I note there was once a quay there, so maybe there was river trade. Tartas had a considerable market for rye (seigles) in the mid-18th Century. Not sure if it existed earlier, or if there was New Christian involvement. There may also have been a glassware business in the village.
Jews in Toulouse
The Jewish community of Toulouse was annihilated in 1321 and officially ceased to exist until the 19th Century.
After leaving Spain, and while still nominally Catholic, Balthasar (later Isaac) Orobio de Castro taught medicine at the University of Toulouse.
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