De la Caballeria (or De la Cavallería), Sephardic family of

Aragon, Spain Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sout ...

, widely ramified, and influential through its wealth and scholarship, especially in

Saragossa Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributar ...

. The family descended from Solomon ibn Labi de la Caballeria, who had nine sons. The eldest, Bonafos Caballeria, was baptized, and all the others followed his example except Benveniste. Bonafos and Samuel took the name "Pedro" (Micer Pedro). Samuel Pedro attained to high clerical offices, while his brother Ahab-Felipe became a leader in the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

, and Isaac Fernando was assistant curator in the University of Saragossa. The youngest brother, Luis, who was baptized as a little child, was appointed ''tesorero'', mayor, or chief treasurer, by Juan of Navarre. The sons of Isaac Fernando were engaged in farming the public taxes, and through their wealth secured high positions in the state. Pedro de la Caballeria negotiated the marriage of Queen Isabella I of Castile to Ferdinand II of Aragon, and had the honor of presenting to the royal bride a costly necklace, valued at 40,000 ducats, defraying part of the cost himself. Benveniste's son, Vidal de la Caballeria, and his wife Beatrice also embraced

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, taking the name "Gonzalo." One of Benveniste's daughters became the wife of the rich landowner Apres de Paternoy, a Sephardic man of

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, and their descendants were important in Spanish history. Notwithstanding the high offices which this family filled, several of its members suffered from the persecutions of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. Alfonso de la Caballeria of Saragossa, who still maintained his connection with the large synagogue there, took part in the conspiracy against the inquisitor Arbues. The remains of Juan de la Caballeria were burned in Saragossa, at which place, in 1488, Luis de la Caballeria, as well as his son Jaime and several other members of the family, was made to do public penance. Bibliography: "Libro Verde," in ''Revista do España,'' vol. XVIII.

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*{{JewishEncyclopedia Spanish families Jewish families Conversos

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