life STORIES
Antonio Jose da Silva (The Jew) Antonio Jose da Silva was an
example of just how long the Inquisition
actively continued against Secret Jews, the Conversos. Jose Antonio da Silva was born
in 1705 in His mother, Lourenca Coutinho, was less compromising and it was as a result of
her deportation to Portugal,
when she was imprisoned on a Judaizing charge in
1713 (217 years after Portugal called in the Inquistion!),
that Da Silva and his father moved to Lisbon. While a law student at the A prolific and versatile writer, Jose Antonio da Silva created a series of stage satires criticizing
the evils of contemporary society. These "comedies," which ranged
from burlesque and parody to puppet show and comic opera, and mingled prose
dialogue with song, were popularly known as the works of "The Jew"
and were performed frequently during and after the 1730s. Da Silva's collected works were
published anonymously until the end of the 18th century under the title Theatro comico portuguez. In 1737 the playwright, together with his mother and newly
married wife, was again arrested by the Inquisition. The women were released,
but Judaizing charges were pressed against Da Silva, whose plays had made him many enemies. It
turned out during the investigation, that he had undergone circumcision (a
truly stupid thing for a Converso to do!), later
joining Franciscan order to divert suspicion from his heretical activities. Evidence of Sabbath
observance and unorthodox fasting was provided by a colored slave girl.
Prolonged torture failed to break his will and, when a secret court finally
condemned him, not even the king himself could secure a reprieve. In October 1739 Da Silva was
garroted and burnt at a |