Joseph Nasi
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Dom Joseph Nasi (or
Nassi; also known as
João Miques/
Micas and
Dom João Migas Mendes in a
Portuguese variant,
Giuseppe Nasi in Italian, and as
Yasef Nassi in
Ottoman Turkish; 1524,
Portugal – 1579,
Constantinople) was a
Portuguese-
Jewish diplomat and administrator, member of the House of Mendes/
Benveniste, and a nephew of
Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi, and influential figure in the
Ottoman Empire during the rules of both
Sultan Suleiman I and his son
Selim II. He was a great benefactor of the Jewish people.
[1]
A
Court Jew,
[2] he was appointed the Lord of Tiberias,
[3] with the expressed aim of resettling Jews in
Ottoman Syria and encouraging industry there; the attempt failed, and, later, he was appointed to the
Duke of Naxos.
[4] Nasi also brought about war with the
Republic of Venice, at the end of which Venice lost the island of
Cyprus to the Ottomans. After the death of Selim, he lost influence in the
Ottoman Court, but was allowed to keep his titles and pension for the remainder of his life.
Early life
Joao Micas, Yosef Nasi was born in
Portugal as a
Marrano (practicing
Judaism in secret), a son of the doctor Agostinho Micas (?-1525), a well known physician and professor at the
University of Lisbon. A friend of
Maximilian, nephew of the
Habsburg King Charles I of Spain.
[5] He escaped to
Portugal after Charles decided to confiscate the Mendes fortune,
[5] and, after the
Holy Inquisition began operating against Portuguese
Marranos in 1546, moved to
Antwerp, in the
Habsburg Netherlands, with his aunt, Doña
Gracia Mendes Nasi. He studied at the
University of Louvain,
[5] but had to flee the Inquisition in 1547.
[5] He then moved to
France and later to
Venice, before finally leaving for the Ottoman realm in 1554, where he married Ana (Reyna) Mendes, the daughter of his aunt
Gracia Mendes Nasi.
[5]
Ottoman Court
When he arrived in Constantinople together with his aunt
Gracia Mendes Nasi,
Nasi made a fortunate decision in supporting the future sultan Selim
II, against his rival Bayezid; as a result, he was favored by the
Seraglio, and eventually became a high ranking diplomat and minister.
[5]
Due to his trading connections in Europe, he was able to exercise great influence on Ottoman foreign policy.
[3] Among his achievements were negotiating peace with
Poland and influencing the new election of the
Polish king. He was awarded the
monopoly of the
beeswax trade with Poland, and of the wine trade with
Moldavia, and maneuvered in the latter country to keep
princes favorable to his policies in power. In 1561, Nasi backed
Ioan Iacob Heraclid to rule as
despot, supported
Alexandru Lăpuşneanu's return to the throne in place of
Ştefan Tomşa (1564), and ultimately endorsed
Ion Vodă cel Cumplit (1572);
[6] he was himself considered a suitable choice for
hospodar of either Moldavia or
Wallachia in 1571, but Selim II rejected the proposal.
[6]
During the
war between the Ottomans and the Republic of Venice, Nasi's negotiations with the Jewish community in Venetian-ruled
Cyprus were uncovered, and, as a result, the Jewish population of
Famagusta (with the exception of Jews who were natives of the city) was expelled in June, 1568 (
see History of the Jews in Cyprus).
[7]
It is believed that he intended parts of Cyprus to be a Jewish colony
and encouraged the Ottoman annexation of Cyprus in the war to that end;
he was granted a coat of arms by Selim that indicated he would be given
viceregal rank in that colony.
[8] Nasi's relative
Abraham Benveniste (
Righetto Marrano) was arrested in 1570, on charges of having set fire to the
Venetian Arsenal on Nasi's instigation.
[9]
Maintaining contacts with
William the Silent,
[10] Nasi encouraged the
Netherlands to revolt against Spain, a major adversary of the Ottoman Empire (the rebellion was ultimately carried out by the
Union of Utrecht, as the start of the
Eighty Years' War).
[11] For this and other achievements, he was appointed by Selim to become the Duke of
Naxos; he also later became the Count of
Andros. Represented locally by one Francesco Coronello,
[4] Nasi mainly ruled the Duchy from his palace of
Belvedere, where he also maintained his own
Hebrew printing press, which was kept by his wife, Doña Reyna, after Joseph's death.
Settling Tiberias
Joseph Nasi is best known to history for his attempt to resettle the towns of
Tiberias and
Safed in 1561.
[12] He was the first person to attempt to settle Jews in the cities of what was then
Southern Syria by practical means, as opposed to waiting for the
Messiah.
[13]
Nasi secured a grant giving ruling authority from the Sultan, and, with the assistance of
Joseph ben Adruth,
[14] rebuilt the walls and the town. He also attempted to turn it into a textile (
silk) center by planting
mulberry trees and encouraging craftsmen to move there.
[14] Arrangements were made for Jews to move from the
Papal States, but, when the Ottomans and the Republic of Venice went to war, the plan was abandoned.
[12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nasi
NWN: Is this the first Zionist recorded ? He certainly pre-dates late 19th. Century Zionists like Weizmann.