Benveniste

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Benveniste
Immanuel Benveniste.jpg
Coat of arms (Printer's Mark) of Immanuel Benveniste, Amsterdam, 17th century. It includes the Star of David, a lion cub of Judah, a castle and 10 moons - the Kabbalist symbols of the 10 Sefirot (attributes/ emanations ). Probably the symbols in the coat of arms of Mendes/Benveniste families from Portugal and Spain. [1]
Origin
Language(s)Spanish, Sephardi
Meaning Italian "Bene veniste" and Spanish Bien venida = welcome (or Bien viniste = your arrival was good).
Region of originSpain, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Ottoman Empire, Western Europe
Other names
Variant form(s)Benvenuto and Benveniste (in Italy), Benvenist (in Catalonia), Benveniste (in Castile), Bemvenist and Bemveniste (in Portugal), Beniste or Benisti (in North Africa), Bienveniste, Benbeneste, Beneviste, Benvenista, Benvenisto, Ben-Veniste.

The Benveniste family is an old, noble, wealthy, and scholarly Sephardic Jewish family of Narbonne, France, and northern Spain established in the 11th century. The family was present in the 11th to the 15th centuries in Hachmei Provence, France, Barcelona, Aragon, and Castile.

Contents

Family members received honorary titles from the authorities and were members of the administration of the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. They were the baillie ("bayle")—the tax officers and treasurers, and alfaquim—senior advisors to the king and royal physician in Barcelona and Aragon in the 12th and 13th centuries. They held the title of "nasi" (prince in Hebrew), since they are considered by the Jewish tradition as descendants of King David and members of the House of David in the Jewish communities (mainly Barcelona) and were prominent religious and secular leaders in the 11th to the 14th centuries.

In the 14th to the 15th century, they held the titles of "Benveniste de la Cavalleria"—"of the knights" (a name given by the Knights Templar to their treasurers and tax collectors) and “don”—a noble person in Aragon and Castile. In the aftermath of the massacres of Jews which began in Spain on 6 June 1391, some such as the de Cartagena family converted to Christianity and became powerful conversos in Burgos. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, non-converts were dispersed mainly to Portugal, Greece - Salonica, other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and North African countries. In Portugal, they were forced to convert to Christianity in 1497 and became some of the richest traders and bankers (the Mendes family) of Europe. Today, the name is borne by families in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Israel. It was also used as a prænomen. [2]

Origin of the name

The Italian name is a composition of the words "bene" meaning "well," and "veniste" meaning "came." The name was given to babies, a welcome to the world, a way of thanking God for a descendant. The name was gradually adopted as a last name, relating to the father. There are many variations of the name in Italy and the Mediterranean countries: Benvenuto, Benvenuti, Benvenga, Benvenisti and more.

At this time one of the ministers, a sworn enemy of the Jewish minister, burst into laughter, and said to the king: "Your Majesty, that Jew-minister expert in our country's flora was making fun of you. He deliberately gave you a wrong name for that flower in order to embarrass you before your ministers and viziers. That is not a 'bienva,' but a 'malva'." The king angrily asked the Jewish minister to explain, threatening him with dire punishment. The minister said: "Your Majesty, I am ready to accept your judgment. But first, I beg you, hear me out carefully. Your Majesty, when we were out in the field, you asked me to tell you the name of that plant. There you were, standing before me, Royal Highness, and I thought: By no means am I going to offend Your Majesty by telling you the plant's true name, 'malva' – 'ill-going'! So I told you that the plant is called 'bienva' 'well-going'!". The king was mollified, and he said to the Jewish minister: "You have vanquished those of my ministers who wish you ill. I am pleased with your explanation. And to commemorate this occasion, I hereby; dub you bien veniste ('Benveniste') or 'your arrival was for good'". [3]

Yet, the above nice family legend does not take into account the fact that in both medieval Iberia and Languedoc, before being used as a surname, Benveniste (from the Spanish expression "bien viniste" meaning '(you) have arrived well') was used by Jews as a given name. It was one of the votive names typical for medieval Jews in southwestern Europe: it expressed a wish for the child to be welcome in this world. As many other names based on father's given names (patronymics), it gradually became a hereditary family name. [4] Some sources claim that in Eastern Europe, the family adapted the surnames Epstein and Horowitz. [5]

People

The beginning - Narbonne, Aragon and Barcelona

Frankish Empire in the 5th to the 9th century and a map showing Charlemagne's additions (in light green) to the Frankish Kingdom, including Septimania Frankish Empire 481 to 814-en.svg
Frankish Empire in the 5th to the 9th century and a map showing Charlemagne's additions (in light green) to the Frankish Kingdom, including Septimania

The first appearance of the name Benveniste was in the 11th century in southern France (present-day Septimania and Provence).

Earlier, in the 8th century, the region was shaped by Charlemagne from the Frankish Kingdom of the Carolingian. The big Narbonne Jewish center was established, according to Jewish and Christian sources by prominent Jews from Bagdad at the request of the Carolingian kings. The Babylonian names of Makhir, Hasdai, Sheshet and Shealtiel are the names of chief rabbis and leaders - Nasi (considered by the Jewish tradition as descendants of King David) of the Jewish center.

The numerically literate Sephardim assisted the Crowns of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona as tax collectors and advisers. In 1150 Aragon and Barcelona were united by the marriage of their rulers. The Sephardic Jewish families appear together with the name Benveniste in official and Jewish documents of Narbonne, Barcelona and Aragon from the 11th-13th century AD with the title Nasi added to their names. They appear in the travel books of Benjamin of Tudela from the 12th century. [6]

Bonastruc de (ca) Porta - Nahmanides Nahmanides painting.jpg
Bonastruc de (ça) Porta - Nahmanides
Kingdom of Aragon, County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Castile (Castilla) in 1037 Map Iberian Peninsula 1037-es.svg
Kingdom of Aragon, County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Castile (Castilla) in 1037

Aragon, Kingdom of Castile and the expulsion of the Jews in the 15th century

Sephardim in Portugal

Greece, Italy and Turkey

Other countries

Dr. David Raphael author of books on Spanish Jewry, director writer of the musical documentary Song of the Sephardi, and short film on Nachmanides 1263 Disputation of Barcelona descends from Vidal Benveniste de Porta, bailiff to King James of Aragon and brother of Rabbi Nachmanides (known as the Ramban)

See also

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References

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Sources