A Man of Three Worlds: Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe

In the late fifteenth century, many of the Jews expelled from Spain made their way to Morocco and established a dynamic community in Fez. A number of Jewish families became prominent in commerce and public life there. Among the Jews of Fez of Hispanic origin was Samuel Pallache, who served the Moroccan sultan as a commercial and diplomatic agent in Holland until Pallache's death in 1616. Before that, he had tried to return with his family to Spain, and to this end he tried to convert to Catholicism and worked as an informer, intermediary, and spy in Moroccan affairs for the Spanish court. Later he became a privateer against Spanish ships and was tried in London for that reason. His religious identity proved to be as mutable as his political allegiances: when in Amsterdam, he was devoutly Jewish; when in Spain, a loyal converso (a baptized Jew).
In A Man of Three Worlds, Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers view Samuel Pallache's world as a microcosm of early modern society, one far more interconnected, cosmopolitan, and fluid than is often portrayed. Pallache's missions and misadventures took him from Islamic Fez and Catholic Spain to Protestant England and Holland. Through these travels, the authors explore the workings of the Moroccan sultanate and the Spanish court, the Jewish communities of Fez and Amsterdam, and details of the Atlantic-Mediterranean trade. At once a sweeping view of two continents, three faiths, and five nation-states and an intimate story of one man's remarkable life, A Man of Three Worlds is history at its most compelling.

García-Arenal, Mercedes

Wiegers, Gerard

Religion & Spirituality

Johns Hopkins University Press

In the late fifteenth century, many of the Jews expelled from Spain made their way to Morocco and established a dynamic community in Fez. A number of Jewish families became prominent in commerce and public life there. Among the Jews of Fez of Hispanic origin was Samuel Pallache, who served the Moroccan sultan as a commercial and diplomatic agent in Holland until Pallache's death in 1616. Before that, he had tried to return with his family to Spain, and to this end he tried to convert to Catholicism and worked as an informer, intermediary, and spy in Moroccan affairs for the Spanish court. Later he became a privateer against Spanish ships and was tried in London for that reason. His religious identity proved to be as mutable as his political allegiances: when in Amsterdam, he was devoutly Jewish; when in Spain, a loyal converso (a baptized Jew). In A Man of Three Worlds, Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers view Samuel Pallache's world as a microcosm of early modern society, one far more interconnected, cosmopolitan, and fluid than is often portrayed. Pallache's missions and misadventures took him from Islamic Fez and Catholic Spain to Protestant England and Holland. Through these travels, the authors explore the workings of the Moroccan sultanate and the Spanish court, the Jewish communities of Fez and Amsterdam, and details of the Atlantic-Mediterranean trade. At once a sweeping view of two continents, three faiths, and five nation-states and an intimate story of one man's remarkable life, A Man of Three Worlds is history at its most compelling.

Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603) was one of the most important rulers in the history of Morocco, which to this day bears the mark of his twenty-five year rule in the sixteenth century. Though famed for his cunning diplomacy in the power struggle over the Mediterranean, and his allegiance with Britain against Spain in the conquest for the newly discovered Americas, he was more than a political and military tactician. A descendent of the Prophet Muhammad himself, al-Mansur was a charismatic religious authority with ambitions to become Caliph and ruler of all Muslims. Spanning four continents, Dr. Garcia-Arenal places this fascinating figure in a context of political intrigue, discovery and military conquest. With insightful analysis, a glossary and a guide to further reading, this book is the ideal introduction to a multifaceted figure who fully deserves the epithet "Maker of the Muslim World".

Ahmad al-Mansur: The Beginnings of Modern Morocco (Makers of the Muslim World)

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Oneworld Academic

Sangre y leche fueron símbolos omnipresentes en los territorios de la «Monarquía Católica», en España y su Imperio colonial. Situados a medio camino entre la naturaleza y la cultura, a lo largo de las edades Media y Moderna, la sangre y la leche tejieron una poderosa analogía entre la reproducción fisiológica y la reproducción cultural. Como exploran los artículos de este libro, estos símbolos desempeñaron un papel determinante en los procesos de ordenación, jerarquización, y por supuesto también, de exclusión social dentro de la monarquía. Partiendo de perspectivas tan diversas como la religiosa, la social, la jurídica o la antropológica, los autores de este libro analizan esta privilegiada encrucijada simbólica para interrogarse sobre el origen y desarrollo del discurso de la «raza» en la España altomoderna.

De sangre y leche: Raza y religión en el mundo ibérico moderno

Pereda Espeso, Felipe

History

Marcial Pons Ediciones de Historia, S.A.

This is a book about revolutionary movements of a messianic and millenarian character, led by a "mahdi", in Islamic terms, a charismatic messianic leader. It also addresses the question of mediation between God and men and the political repercussions of this question in the history of the pre-Modern Muslim West. Mahdism is considered in relation to sufi ideas, terminology and symbols which shape notions of authority and of legitimate power when claiming direct, intimate contact between the holy and the divine. The relationship between mahdism and the legitimacy of power, the process by which the messianic paradigm becomes inseparable from the claim to the caliphate are amply discussed. The contents of the book range from the times of the Muslim conquest of North Africa and Iberia, to the first part of the XVIIth century with the end of Muslim Iberia and the beginnings of European intervention in Morocco.

Messianism and Puritanical Reform: Mahdīs of the Muslim West (Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World)

Europe

BRILL

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Books by García-Arenal, Mercedes

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by García-Arenal, Mercedes. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Man of Three Worlds: Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe

A Man of Three Worlds: Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew in Catholic and Protestant Europe

Ahmad al-Mansur: The Beginnings of Modern Morocco (Makers of the Muslim World)

De sangre y leche: Raza y religión en el mundo ibérico moderno

Messianism and Puritanical Reform: Mahdīs of the Muslim West (Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World)