Hi Tom, BE CAREFUL with the interpretation of everything you read about Jews in Portugal. Most Jews only started using a PORTUGUESE name AFTER the Edict of expulsion in 1497 (ONLY 510 years ago), when they were baptized as New-Christians. The PORTUGUESE family names SILVA, PEREIRA, FERREIRA etc. existed long before 1497 (and the portuguese Ferreira family name has NOTHING to do with Ferrara-Italy). So, when the author writes: «The Pereiras, whose origins can be traced to the original family name of Ibn-Dana» he obviously means ONLY THOSE PEREIRAS he is studying. I also think that not every New-Christian/Jewish PEREIRA have the same original family name. And, of course, none of the descendants of the old portuguese PEREIRA families descend from Ibn-Dana. New-Christians adopted every name there was in Portugal (mainly patronymics like Gonçalves, Fernandes, Nunes, etc., and not specially toponymics like Silva, Pereira, Ferreira). So, «Over ten percent of all those that perished were named Pereira. The only other family to suffer such a great loss was the da Silva Family.» is most probably WRONG. «A major contributing reason for the Spanish expulsion was the frequent and false accusation that Jews killed Christians and drank their blood». WRONG again! The goal of the Catholic Kings of Spain was having an unified country (Fernando and Isabel were King and Queen of several kingdoms they united into a single one: Spain), with a SINGLE RELIGION. REMEMBER they ALSO evicted MOSLIMS! Besides, I've red the original documents of many Inquisition trials, and have never seen such accusations in any trial of New-Christians. They were simply accused of being (hidden) Jews, i.e., having ANOTHER Faith (but the "true" one), and that was all. Portugal had to follow the same policy Spain did because King Manuel wanted to marry to the daughter of Fernando+Isabel, and the Spanish kings put this as a condition to allow the marriage. King Manuel protected (by laws he made) those who wanted to remain in Portugal as New-Christians: they could not be persecuted because of their former religious beliefs; at least, half of the members of the board of some trade unions HAD TO be New-Christians - gold$mith$, for instance! etc.. We know that, among New-Christians, the son of a Nunes and a Gonçalves might call himself something else, like, Fernandes! This way it would be harder for the Inquisition dogs-of-the-Lord (domeni_canes) to track the family (in other words, as there were no Id. Cards, it was almost impossible to track all the members of a certain Pereira or Nunes new-christian family). «Inquisitions under first the Spanish and then the Portuguese starting in the 14th century». WRONG: Inquisition only started in Portugal in the mid-16th century! «Once in Lisbon the crowds were informed that their children were to be given to Catholic families who would raise them...». There is another story saying that all the Jews - those who did not want to be baptized - were to come to Lisbon where boats were to sail them to other countries. Instead, they were forced to baptism. There is no evidence of any of this. The crowds of Jews, suicides and parents killing children, etc... In fact, it's hard to believe that ALL, or even most of the Jews living in Portugal (probably over 100.000), or all those having children under 14 (that would be over half of them) came to Lisbon believing they were going to get in a boat to leave the country! We were in the 15th century!! Boats were not that many and were too small to carry passengers! So, I would say that surely 95 or 98% of those 100.000 had to remain in Portugal. Ok... Maybe many of them (thousands!) left the country in the next 100 years, but... how many MORE were born (AND MINGLED), meanwhile? Jews were in Portugal for centuries, they spoke the language... they just had to adapt a little (clothes, hair cut, etc.) and change for another village where they could hide their roots and their religious traditions. Also... Remember that in the late 1400's and early 1500's there were no Baptism records. Everyone could say he was a baptized old-christian (and not a NEW-CHRISTIAN)! And, believe me, many Jews surely did it. ;-) Luis K W Lisboa-Portugal ---------------------- MENSAGEM ORIGINAL ---------------------- I was reading a book called "Indentured Immigrants, A Jewish family odyssey from Madeira to the Sandwich Islands",( about the Perrira and da Silva family), and did not realize the large connection of Jews and Madeira. The only reason that I was reading this book was because the person that wrote it, had family that sailed on the same ship, Stirlingshire, at the same time as my family. My Great Grandparents were Antonio de Freitas da Silva and Julia Agrela. Julia also used the last name Ascensao, her mothers. According to this book, "Because the letters "p" and "f" are interchangeable in the Hebrew alphabet, a variant of the name Pereira in Latin is Fer(r)eira from the word Ferrarius. That is, a blacksmith, or one who works with iron. The family names of this group can be associated with the Italian city of Ferrara where Jews were living from at least the 13th century to possibly as early as the 11th century. The Pereiras, whose origins can be traced to the original family name of Ibn-Dana or son of Dana. (Ibn is another form of patronymic.) The Ibn-Danas left the Holy Land after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem around 2,500 years ago. This initial event ultimately led the family to take up residence in Morocco, Span; mainland Portugal; Madeira; the Sandwich Islands and finally California. The Ibn-Dana changed their name to both Pereira as well as Ferreira while residing on the Iberian peninsula. It is well known that both the Perrira and da Silva families lost countless member to the Inquisitions under first the Spanish and then the Portuguese starting in the 14th century. Over ten percent of all those that perished were named Pereira. The only other family to suffer such a great loss was the da Silva Family. A major contributing reason for the Spanish expulsion was the frequent and false accusation that Jews killed Christians and drank their blood. Ultimately, many Jews left Spain in 1492 under an Edict of Expulsion to seek refuge in neighboring Portugal and elsewhere. According to this book, the Jews in Spain as well as Portugal had to become closet Jews because the law at that time forced them to become Christians. If a Jew did not convert to Christianity, then they had to leave Portugal by October 1497, by order of Queen Isabel on December 5, 1496. On Friday, March 19, 1497, the first day of Passover, Jewish parents were ordered to bring their children between the ages of two and fourteen to Lisbon. Once in Lisbon the crowds were informed that their children were to be given to Catholic families who would raise them as good Catholics. Many parents while assembled in Lisbon killed their children and then committed suicide rather then allow them to meet such a fate. Later in the book it states that "Starting in 1540 the first Auto-de-Fe' took place in Lisbon. Because of this, many shiploads of Jews left Lisbon - the only port for embarkation - bound for the Portuguese island of Madeira." There are several pages in the book that explains the journey from Jerusalem to Morocco, Spain and Portugal and then to Madeira. I thought that this might be on interest to those that do not know the above story. The author of the above book is Phil Pasquini and his web site is http://www.mac.com/philpasquini The story of the Stirlingshire is at http://web.mac.com/philpasquini/iWeb/Pasquini%20Site/Stirlingshire.html Tom Freitas ------------- Clix ADSL até 24 Mb: a partir de € 29,90/mês A Internet mais rápida do mercado, agora com chamadas grátis e downloads ilimitados! Saiba mais em http://acesso.clix.pt/