The Curiel family (Dutch: Curiël ''or'' also known as: da Costa) is a prominent

Sephardi Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

family. Until the late 18th century, the family held diplomatic positions for the

Portuguese Crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the nea ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

History

The family's origins date back to the 14th century in Curiel de Duero, Castile, Spain. Part of the Sephardic community in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, the Curiel family settled in

Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

after the 1492 Spanish decree that ordered the expulsion of all Jews who refused conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Abraham Curiel was an eminent

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

and ensured that his children practiced

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

. They were ennobled in 1641 by João IV of Portugal and hold noble titles in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. The Curiel family has links to banking and commerce, the arts, literature and politics. In 1647, David Curiel financed the Spanish delegation to the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pe ...

. Many members of the family sponsored Hebrew scholarship and practiced Judaism, either openly or as crypto-Jews.

Hamburg

Historian

Jonathan Israel Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 26 January 1946) is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies a ...

wrote that in the seventeenth century, "the new Hamburg synagogue, a place of worship for some eight hundred Sephardi Jews, was filled with emblems and reminders of the Curiel family. The eternal lamp, the ''Ner Tamid'', was provided by Jacob Curiel, as was the oil for keeping the lamp burning. And also the ''bimah'' that stood at the centre of the synagogue, the shelves which lined it being reserved for the use of Jacob and his family."

Amsterdam

Israel wrote that

Moses Curiel Don Moses Curiel (1620-1697), in Dutch Mozes Curiël, alias Jeronimo Nunes da Costa, was a Sephardic Jewish nobleman, diplomat, and wealthy merchant, who traded in diamonds, sugar and tobacco. Curiel was born in Florence; he was the eldest son of ...

was "renowned for his wealth, the prestige he enjoyed among non-Jews (the

Stadholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

William III stayed at his house for three days during one of his later visits to Amsterdam), and his handsome donations to the Amsterdam

Portuguese Synagogue The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is a late 17th-century Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam, completed in 1675. ''Esnoga'' is the word for synagogue in Judaeo-Spanish, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardi ...

, his name figured constantly in Dutch Jewish community life and synagogue politics for over half a century." He continues: "his opulent residence on the

Nieuwe Herengracht The Nieuwe Herengracht () is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the ...

, then called the Joden Herengracht, in Amsterdam, testified to the seigneurial grandeur of his life-style and his pretensions to leadership among the Portuguese Jewish 'nation' as the community was known in Holland." Israel noted that

Nathan Curiel Nathan Curiel (1666-1737), alias Alvaro Nunes da Costa, was a member of the Curiel family and Agent of the Portuguese Crown in Amsterdam. Curiel was born to Moses Curiel and Ribca Curiel (née Abas). There is speculation that he was named Nathan ...

possessed a 'medieval illuminated Hebrew Bible of expectational beauty' which his father,

, had purchased from a Spanish Jew from North Africa. According to Israel, this Bible is considered 'the oldest and most venerable item possessed by Dutch Jewry.'

Notable members

Israel ben Meir di Curiel Israel ben Meir di Curiel (1501–1573) was a 16th-century rabbi in Safed, Ottoman Syria and member of the prominent Curiel family who were later ennobled by Joao IV of Portugal in 1641. Biography Israel ben Meir di Curiel was a disciple of Jo ...

(1501–1573), rabbi at Safed, Ottoman Palestine *

Jacob Curiel of Coimbra Jacob Curiel of Coimbra (1514-1576), also known as Jacob Curiel or Duarte Nunes of Coimbra, was a prosperous Portuguese cloth merchant and navy commander. Life and career Curiel was born into a family of crypto-Jews, the brother of Fernão Nune ...

(1514-1576), Portuguese merchant and pirate *

Jerónimo de Curiel Jerónimo de Curiel (c. 1530 – 2 September 1578), or Géronimo de Curiel, was a Spanish merchant and courtier. Curiel was noted for his influence in European diplomacy and mercantile activity from the late 1550s. Diplomatic career Curiel was b ...

(c. 1530-1578), Spanish merchant and diplomat * Alonso de Curiel (d. 1603), Spanish merchant and diplomat, son of Diego de Curiel *

Francisco de Vitoria Francisco de Vitoria ( – 12 August 1546; also known as Francisco de Victoria) was a Spanish Roman Catholic philosopher, theologian, and jurist of Renaissance Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Sala ...

(1540-1592),

Roman Catholic Bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...

, brother of Abraham Curiel * Abraham Curiel (1545-1609), Portuguese physician * Juan Alfonso de Curiel (d. 1609) Professor of philosophy at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is t ...

, converted to

* David Curiel (1594-1666), Portuguese merchant and diplomat * Jacob Curiel (1587-1664), Portuguese merchant and diplomat *

(1620-1697), Portuguese merchant and diplomat * Alexandre Nunes da Costa (1655-1712), alias Selomoh Curiel, merchant and diplomat * Luis Curiel (1655-1724), Spanish lawyer and diplomat, converted to

(1666-1737), diplomat and collector of antiques * Juan Curiel (1690-1775), Spanish intellectual and founding member of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

, son of

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

References

External links

Archives tagged "curiel family"
at

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Curiel family
at

Jewish Virtual Library Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

Jewish Portuguese history Jewish Dutch history Jewish Spanish history Sephardi families Jewish families Banking families Spanish Jews Portuguese Jews British Jewish families Dutch Sephardi Jews European noble families Portuguese noble families