Publicatie en provisioneel Reglement, van Zyne Hoogheid, den Heere Prince von Orange en Nassau, ["Edict of Prince William of Orange and Nassau ending internal dispute within Portuguese Jewish community of Curaçao"]

(CURAÇAO).

Jacob Scheltus

The Hague

1750

Royal seal on title. Uncut and Unopened. A crisp, clean copy

The years 1744-50 saw ever-increasing communal conflicts between factions within the Portuguese Jewish community of Curacao in the Dutch West Indies. At one point tensions mounted so that warring parties attended synagogue flanked by bodyguards in the persons of Dutch sea captains! (See Emmanuel, p.192). Eventually the severity of matters resulted in arbitration brought before the States General of Holland. Decisions were signed into law by Holland's supreme authority, Prince William of Orange and Nassau on April 30, 1750. The edict begins with this introduction: "There having come to our ears the discrepancies and discords which for some time have arisen between the Parnassim, the Consistory, and the Haham or Preacher of the Jewish Nation at the Island of Curaçao, on the one side, and members of the aforementioned Congregation on the other, from which nothing but the most untoward consequences may result for the commerce and welfare of the aforesaid Island…" See I.S. and S.A. Emmanuel, History of the Jews of the Netherlands Antilles, Vol. I, pp. 181-212; M.H. Gans, Memorbook, p. 268. See Kestenbaum Auction, 37, Lot 210 for a manuscript letter from Manuel Lopes Suasso of the Portuguese Jewish Congregation of Amsterdam to the Governors of Mikveh Israel of Curaçao, dated May 12, 1750, impressing upon the Curaçaoans the importance of abiding by the settlement issued by Prince William of Orange.