Jews of Middelburg
Middelburg is the commercial capital of Zeeland and just up the river from Antwerp. It was also a major centre of Dutch piracy against the Spanish and Portuguese empires.
In 1591 the Moroccan ambassador suggested that Jewish refugees from Antwerp be allowed to settle in Middelburg, but this proposal was rejected. Jews initially went to other cities but, according to Inquisition records, Jews were living in the city by 1668. Jacob Judah Aryeh Leon Templo was Haham in Middelburg before 1643, when he moved to Amsterdam.
It is possible that the home of Paulo Jacomo Pinto, alias Jacob Jessurun Pinto, was used as a synagogue by the Sephardim in Middelburg at this time. He had previously lived in Dutch Brazil [219] and it is possible that others expelled from Brazil settled in Middelburg. After Amsterdam, Middelburg had the second office of the VOC, the Dutch West India Company.
A Jacob Querido was Haham in Middelburg. There appear to have been trade between Middelburg and the Canary Island. My impression is that the Jewish community in Dublin had ties to Middelburg.
Sephardic Jewish Genealogy in Middelburg
The former Middelburg Bet Haim website contained a list of Sephardi Jews buried in the city. These include Samuel Abravanel Soeira, the son of Menassah ben Israel. Surnames associated with burials (my transliterations) in the cemetery include: Aboab, Abrabanel da Serra, Abravanel da Veiga, Almeyda, Almeyda E. Sossa, Alvares de Luna, Arredondo, Baraza, Barua Peres, Ben Israel, Cardozo, Castro y Olive-Ros (Olivares?), Cordova, Coronel, Crespo, da Costa, da Cunha, de Fonceca, del Cano/ Canho, del Rio, Dias /Diaz, Dias da Costa, Dias Vaz, Dionis de Caceres, Dorta, Ferro, Franco Lagarto, Fullana, Gastiel, Gisqviav Reyz, Gomes, Gomes da Silva, Gomes di Sossa / Susa, Gomes Dias, Gomez Dias, Goncales, Habillo, Hakohen/Cohen, Hezkiav de Morales, Hizkiyav, Lagarca, Levi Bondia, Levi Fubini, Lobo, Lobo de Lima, Lopez de Almeyda, Lopez de Castro, Lourenco, Lucena, Lviz Gomes, Mendez da Costa, Montesinos, Montezinos, Netto, Nunes Miranda, Nunez, Oliveira, Pantoja, Pereira, Pereyra Coutinho, Pimentel, Pinto, Salazar, Sanches, Serano, Soliz, Spinosa Henriques, Tebeli, Vaz Aboab, Velosinos, Israel and Israel Dias.
Here is a chronological list of Sephardic graves in Middelburg from the Dutch Jewish genealogical society.
Also referenced is: J.D. van ‘t Hoff, ‘De vroegere Portugeesch-Joodsche gemeente en de kerkeraad der Hervormde Gemeente te Middelburg, in: Archief. Uitgegeven door het Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen 1922, 15-27
W. Smit wrote an article Joden in Middelburg in volume 18 of Zeeuws Tijdschrift, page 11 (1968)
The Zeeland archives are called the Zeeuws Archief. Below, from the archives, are pictures of the tombstones of Abraham de Castro y Oliveros, died 27 Adar 5466 (13 March 1706) and Abraham Lopez de Castro, died 15 Nissan 5469 (26 March 1709)
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