Álvaro Mendes (Salomon ibn Ya'ish)
Álvaro Mendes (Salomon ibn Ya'ish) · Historical & Religious Figures
Duc de Mytilène, artisan de l'alliance anglo-ottomane contre l'Espagne
1520 — 1603
Tavira (Portugal) — mort à Constantinople
Álvaro Mendes (Salomon ibn Ya'ish) is recognized among Jewish contributors to Historical & Religious Figures — Duc de Mytilène, artisan de l'alliance anglo-ottomane contre l'Espagne
Origins and early life
Álvaro Mendes was born at Tavira in Portugal in 1520 into a marrano family, that is a family of Jews forcibly baptised in the mass conversion of 1497 and living outwardly as Christians; the sources name the town and the status but not the individual ancestors, and this fiche states that limit.
Work and career
He made a fortune in the diamond trade in India, where he held a royal concession for the mines of Golconda, and moved through Madrid, Florence, Paris and London, becoming a knight of the order of Santiago. In 1585 he settled in the Ottoman Empire and returned openly to Judaism under the name Solomon ibn Ya'ish, a step this fiche records as it records every declared return or departure. At Constantinople he became the most influential Jewish adviser at the court of Murad III, succeeding Joseph Nasi in that role, and the sultan made him duke of Mytilene, that is of Lesbos.
He was the principal architect of the alliance between England and the Ottoman Empire against Spain, corresponding directly with Elizabeth I, who rewarded his services; according to the Venetian ambassador Giovanni Moro, he was the first to bring Constantinople the news of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. He financed the Jewish community of Safed and Tiberias, sent his son to represent him at the English court, and worked to open the empire's ports to English trade. He died at Constantinople in 1603.
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Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ibn-yaish-solomon
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Duc de Mytilène, artisan de l'alliance anglo-ottomane contre l'Espagne
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ibn-yaish-solomon
