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I admired my Aunt Beatriz more than any other person I’ve known. Brilliant, shrewd, and practical, one major character flaw was her downfall. She was blind when it came to her sister Brianda.
As a small boy, I remember watching the two of them together and thinking that Brianda hated Beatriz, a hatred based totally on envy. Brianda envied Beatriz’ competence, her academic accomplishments, the enormous pride their parents took in Beatriz, and as young adults, she was jealous of Francisco’s love for Beatriz.
Brianda always felt that Diogo married her, his second choice, as a consolation prize when Beatriz would not break her vow to Francisco and marry him. She repeatedly said, especially after Diogo’s will was read, that Diogo loved Beatriz more than her. Of course, it was true.

That hatred turned into open warfare after Diogo left Beatriz in charge of his estate and the business of the House of Mendes. Beatriz was well aware of Brianda’s feelings toward her, and did everything in her power to pacify Brianda, including supporting an obscenely opulent life-style. In Venice Brianda became a slut—others would generously say “a very merry widow”—some weeks bedding three different men and joking about it, at their expense. To me, admittedly a subjective observer, it appeared she was trying to embarrass Beatriz, Samuel and me with her scandalous behavior.
It continued until she came under the influence of her “confessor,” a Dominican priest named Vincent Mennotti, a handsome, charismatic, rugged young Italian from Pisa. A farmer’s son, he had caught the eye of Cardinal Fiametta when Vincent was a young seminarian in Rome. Fiametta was known to have an eye for “pretty young lads,” and I can imagine that Vincent satisfied his pederast desires. The cardinal, in turn, taught Vincent how to savor the finer things in life: the best wines, wonderful meals prepared by the finest chefs in Rome, and beautiful frock coats of finest imported silk velvet. Cardinal Fiametta also taught young Vincent his most favorite vice, gambling in all its various forms.
By the time Brianda brought Father Mennotti home for dinner to her luscious Venetian mini-palace, the cardinal was long since dead and Vincent turned his attention to the female gender, having discovered he could flirt and dissemble with the best courtiers of the day. Once he captivated Brianda and made her exclusively his bed partner, he began his campaign to gather up buckets of gold ducats with which to further his gambling career.
Surprise! Surprise! Brianda did not have control of her former husband’s wealth. She tearfully spilled out the story of how Beatriz “manipulated” her husband, and during his declining days influenced him to write a will which left control of the entire estate, including her daughter’s portion, to Beatriz. From what I was able to gather from my good friend David Toricelli who worked in the inner sanctum of the doge’s office, Mennotti and Brianda developed a scheme to name Beatriz as a Judaizer to the Inquisitional Tribunal. Father Mennotti opened the door for her to the doge’s inner chambers, and Brianda told the story of Beatriz’s husband being a secret rabbi to the Jews in Lisbon, of their escape in the dark of night from Lisbon, and their subsequent escape from Antwerp. She gave the Tribunal names of dozens of Jewish families whom Beatriz and Diogo resettled in Ferrara and the Ottoman Empire.
Much of what Brianda told the court was factual truth, and church authorities had ways of checking out her story.
The doge had Beatriz arrested and brought to a dungeon where she was imprisoned with other heretics who had been rounded up by the Inquisition. I was living in Lyon at the time, but Samuel was in Venice, and he, along with Ben Zarella rushed to her aid, providing a bed, meals, and money for purposes of bribing the church authorities.
I immediately sent messengers to royal houses throughout Europe with a request that they weigh in with the Venetian authorities and the Vatican to get Beatriz released as quickly as possible. I implored our friend Dr. Amatus Lusitanius, personal physician to the pope to intercede with Vatican authorities. I sent several urgent messages to Suleiman through his doctor, Moses Harmon. Katherine Brandon, the Duchess of Suffolk and I both contacted Edward Seymour, the guardian of King Edward VI. Bernard Beauvoir and I contacted Henry II of the French court, asking for assistance. All of these folks, creditors of the House of Mendes, sent messages to Venice and to the Vatican. But it was Suleiman, truly “the Magnificent”, who came through for us.
Meanwhile, the authorities arrested Brianda also, charging her with also being a Judaizer, and placed the two young girls in a convent “so they would get the proper religious training.”
We immediately ordered all Mendes ships to boycott the port of Venice, thus cutting the daily customs paid to the doge’s treasury by at least one-quarter. We ordered a work stoppage in all of our Venetian enterprises and closed the doors of our spice and textile shops. Ben closed down his printing presses and notified the Vatican he would do no more work for the church until Beatriz was released from prison. The diamond-cutters in the Ghetto ceased working.
I left for Venice within twenty-four hours of hearing from Samuel about Beatriz’ imprisonment. Once there, I stayed at a friend’s house and kept my presence in the city a secret. Within a few days of my arrival, Sulieman’s most trusted son, Selim, disguised as a stevedore on one of the Fugger galleys, arrived in Venice and together we devised a workable plan.
His father promised a fleet of ten warships; they were on their way, temporarily docked near Ferrara awaiting final orders to proceed. The Duke of Ferrara, Ercole II, was our silent partner in this plan. His people acted as go-between with the fleet’s captain and our messengers, who reported to the duke.
On the thirty-eighth day of Beatriz’ imprisonment, I succeeded in obtaining an audience with the doge and several of the Inquisitional officials. Early in the meeting they hinted that they wanted to settle this matter and release Beatriz. They had received communications from several royal courts and the pope himself, requesting that they bring an end to this. That afternoon, when our meeting continued after the mid-day meal, I brought Selim into the meeting and introduced him.
“My father’s orders are to begin a blockade of Venice in twenty-four hours. Our ships are waiting offshore for my orders. The French and English have promised to join us with their naval power. And, of course, we will have more than seventy ships from the Mendes fleet, equipped with the latest cannons and guns.”
Bishop Gonzaga’s ruddy face turned ashen. The doge began a coughing fit.
“Surely you aren’t suggesting a war over this matter,” Jorge Badillo, the solicitor for the Tribunal, sputtered.
I spoke up. “That’s exactly what we are telling you. Either you release Beatriz de Luna Mendes with a public apology to her and her family, and pay them restitution of ten thousand ducats, or the port of Venice will be closed to all traffic beginning at six in the morning two days hence.”
The doge’s coughing fit ceased. “We can clear this matter up immediately. Our investigation of Beatriz de Luna Mendes has been completed by Solicitor Badillo, and we are prepared to release her. We have determined that this is a family matter, a scandalous quarrel between two sisters over a will, something which should never have been brought to the attention of this Tribunal.”
“I suspect that one of your priests is behind this, a certain Vincent Mennotti,” I said.
“Exactly!” exclaimed Badillo. “We have already begun disciplinary action.”
“Good!”
“Now,” the Bishop began, “ten thousand ducats is a bit steep, Miquez. Surely you aren’t serious.”
“Our records show that we have already paid you two hundred ducats for the Inquisitional apartment. You have kept Señora Mendes locked up for more than six weeks, prevented her from running her business. That will require restitution.”
We continued the discussion for another hour, then Selim and I abruptly left. We’d made our demands, it was up to them to make the right decisions if they expected to avoid the blockade.
To make sure they knew we meant business, we sent word to the fleet’s captain through Duke Ercole that the ships should make their way to Venice and wait two miles offshore for further instructions.

The next afternoon, ten men-of-war armed with cannons, flying the banners of the Ottoman Empire, could be seen from the Port of Venice. Ships were allowed to leave the Port, but no ships were allowed to enter. Merchants, fearing the worst, began to close and barricade their shops. Within twenty-four hours the commercial streets in the city of Venice were deserted.
The next morning Selim and I were summoned to the doge’s office.
The officials who greeted us were stern-faced and apprehensive.
“What do you want this public apology to say?” Badilla demanded of me.
I pulled a sheet of foolscap from my coat pocket and handed it to him. He glanced at it, smirked as if to say “this is ridiculous,” and left the room.
Late that afternoon we were called back to another meeting. To impress them with our will power, we took the captain of the Ottoman fleet with us. Once we were all settled around a table, Badilla read the announcement he’d prepared for the public meeting which he told us was to take place at ten the next morning. Not much time to get a crowd organized to attend, I thought, but I announced, “Very good, we will be here.”

We sent messengers all over the city that night, imploring them to be present in the Tribunal courtroom the next morning. By nine-thirty, every seat was taken and all of Venice seemed represented. Merchants, clergy, Jews from the Ghetto, aristocrats and socialites gathered for what was to become a fascinating piece of history of Venice.
In a packed courtroom with the Doge overseeing the proceedings, Gracia was pronounced innocent of Judaizing, an apology was made to her and her family, and she received a financial settlement in restitution.
Once she was back in her home, she immediately began plans to travel to Ferrara where she would spend many months throwing off Catholicism and studying Torah.
Simultaneously, she planned the final move to Constantinople for her family and business.

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