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228
HISTORY
OF
THE
MARRANOS
Tartas,
where
one
of
the
most
mourned
Inquisitional
martyrs
had
been
born.
At
Nantes,
in
Brittany,
there
was
from
the
close
of
the
sixteenth
century
a
considerable
colony,
viewed
askance
by
the
local
merchants,
but
protected
and
encouraged
by
the
wise
policy
of
Henry
IV.
The
settlement
was
broken
up
by
the
decree
of
expulsion
issued
against
the
Jews
in
1615;
though,
even
after
this
date,
a
few
Marranos
managed
to
find
their
way
thither.
At
Rouen,
there
was
a
similar
colony,
headed
by
Jodo
Pinto
Delgado,
a
poet
of
great
repute
in
his
day.
It
was
alleged
that
the
New
Christians
settled
here
monopolized
the
trade
of
the
city
and
amassed
enormous
fortunes,
after
which
they
took
the
first
opportunity
to
leave
for
some
place
where
they
might
observe
Judaism
publicly.
Meanwhile,
they
continued
to
act
in
public
as
devout
Christians
—
so
much
so
that
when
in
1613
an
attempt
was
made
to
dislodge
them,
they
had
no
difficulty
in
obtaining
certificates
of
orthodoxy
from
the
curés
of
the
parishes
in
which
they
lived.
From
1631,
the
Estates
of
Normandy
became
outspoken
in
their
complaints
against
these
unwelcome
settlers.
Nevertheless,
no
steps
were
taken
against
them;
and
the
community
might
have
managed
to
develop
in
the
same
manner
as
those
of
Bordeaux
or
Bayonne
excepting
for
an
internal
quarrel
which
broke
out
in
1632.
Delgado
and
his
friends
were
denounced
to
the
authorities
as
Judaizers.
The
little
group
was
broken
up.
Half
of
its
members
sought
safety
in
flight;
the
rest
were
transferred
under
arrest
to
Paris.
Here,
they
brought
counter-charges
against
their
enemies,
to
precisely
the
same
effect,
backed
up
by
further
certificates
testifying
to
their
own
impec-
cable
orthodoxy.
Finally,
as
the
result
of
the
payment
THE
MARRANO
DIASPORA
229
of
an
enormous
bribe,
they
were
released.
The
Rouen
colony
never
regained
its
previous
prosperity;
and
not
long
afterwards,
with
the
commercial
decline
of
the
port,
it
came
to
an
end.
Some
members
of
the
Rouen
community
subsequently
settled
in
Hamburg.
Here
(attracted
by
the
commercial
possibilities
of
the
place,
now
one
of
the
principal
ports
of
Northern
Europe),
a
considerable
body
of
Portuguese
Marranos
had
been
established
ever
since
the
close
of
the
previous
century.
As
early
as
1577,
the
settlement
was
already
of
some
importance.
The
city
was
a
Pro-
testant
one,
while
the
new
immigrants
were
titularly
Catholic;
but
it
had
become
increasingly
evident
that
they
practiced
Judaism
in
secret.
In
1604,
the
Court
of
Aldermen
(Biirgerschaft)
complained
to
the
Senate
at
the
state
of
affairs,
but
nothing
was
done.
By
1612,
the
community
numbered
some
125
adults,
without
counting
children
and
servants.
Their
utility
to
the
city
was
far
from
negligible.
In
the
period
1604-7,
they
contributed
10,000
reichsthalers
in
extraordinary
taxation
to
the
civic
treasury,
besides
the
ordinary
dues
which
they
shouldered
with
the
other
inhabitants.
They
first
created,
and
subsequently
monopolized,
trade
with
the
Peninsula.
They
were
the
sole
importers
of
colonial
products
such
as
tobacco,
cotton,
and
spices.
When
in
1619
the
Bank
of
Hamburg
was
established,
the
Portuguese
immigrants
took
a
prominent
part
in
it;
and
over
forty
of
them
figured
on
its
earliest
roll
of
shareholders.
Meanwhile,
the
disguise
of
Christianity
was
being
slowly
laid
aside.
By
1610,
there
were
already
three
small
synagogues
in
the
city.
In
the
following
year,
three
representatives
of
the
“Portuguese
Nation
resident
in
this
city
of