P. [49], l. 8. “His wife Benuenida” = Bienvenida Abravanela (Kayserling, “Die Jüdischen Frauen,” pp. 77 et seq., 111).
P. [49], l. 16. “Don Selomo Rophe.” Rabbi Solomon ben Nathan Aschkenazi, surnamed Rophe, or the Physician, was a diplomatist in the Turkish service who secured the election of Henry of Anjou to the throne of Poland. (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. pp. 396, 399, 438, 580; Levy, “Don Joseph Nasi,” pp. 8 et seq.).
P. [49], l. 18. “D. Ben Jaese, Anancus, and Sonsinos, are of great authority with the Turk.” These are the names of Jewish families who played an important part in Turkey in the sixteenth century. This is a chapter of Jewish history on which the historians have as yet shed little light. The materials are chiefly in manuscript, and the present author proposes dealing with them in a communication to the Jewish Historical Society. On the Ben Jaese (Ibn Jachya) family, the reader may provisionally consult Carmoly, “Chronica Familiæ Jachya,” and on the Soncinos, Mortara, “Indice Alfabetico.”
P. [49], l. 20. “Abraham Alholn”: misprint for Alhulu, treasurer to the Pasha of Egypt. (See infra, p. 86.)
P. [49], l. 21. “Don Josephus Nassi.” A wealthy Jew, nephew and son-in-law of Donna Gracia Nasi (see note, infra, p. 163). He was in the service of the Sultan, and conquered Cyprus for the Turks. In addition to the sources indicated by Menasseh, see Levy, “Don Joseph Nasi, Herzog Von Naxos” (Breslau, 1859), and Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. passim.
P. [49], l. 25. “Jacob Aben Jaes.” He is sometimes referred to as Don Solomon. He was of the Ibn Jachya family, and was uncle to Joseph Nasi. For a time he was in the service of Queen Elizabeth, and corresponded with her physician Rodrigo Lopez, to whom he was related. The Sultan created him Duke of Mytilene. (MS. materials.)
P. [49], l. 29. “D. Samuel Palaxe.” (See Henriques de Castro, “Keur Van Grafsteenen,” pp. 91, 94.)
P. [50], l. 6. “D. Benjamin Mussaphia.” Dionysius Mussaphia (1605–1674), physician and philologist, court physician to Christian IV. of Denmark, afterwards Rabbi in Amsterdam (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. x. pp. 24, 26, 202, 227, 243, 244; Kayserling, “Juden in Portugal,” p. 298.)
P. [50], l. 9. “King Cochini.” A mistranslation; should be “King of Cochin.” The Jews of the Malabar coast settled there in the fifth century. Local tradition gives the colony a much greater antiquity. Menasseh gives further particulars of them in his “Humbler Addresses,” infra, p. 85 (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. iv. pp. 470–472; Satthianadhan in the Church Missionary Intelligencer, 1871, pp. 365 et seq.)
P. [50], l. 12. “Mardocheas Maisel.” Mordecai Meisel (1528–1601). The first Hebrew capitalist in Germany. Created an Imperial Councillor by the Emperor Rudolph. His charities were on a princely scale. He built two synagogues at Prague (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. pp. 477, 478.)