RODRIGO RODRIGUES

[Fábio Márquez]

 Hello, dear friends of the group!

I apologize for insisting on this topic regarding Mr. Rodrigo Rodrigues. However, after the situation surrounding Antónia Rapoza Pimentel, I noticed that Mr. Rodrigo doesn't list some couples or individuals in his reports. I don't know if anyone here has encountered this situation, but I scanned the book citing some ancestors (in which I located, with the help of JOHN here in our group, baptismal and marriage records) related to the Raposo Marques, and was unsuccessful. Did he only keep records of wealthy families? I apologize for my complete ignorance on this, but Antónia's situation has left me suspicious.

[Cheri Mello]

Rodrigo Rodrigues (and Ernesto do Canto before him) extracted the more prominent families. 

Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: São Miguel island: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada

On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 7:16 AM Fábio Márquez <boni...@gmail.com> wrote:

 Hello, dear friends of the group!

I apologize for insisting on this topic regarding Mr. Rodrigo Rodrigues. However, after the situation surrounding Antónia Rapoza Pimentel, I noticed that Mr. Rodrigo doesn't list some couples or individuals in his reports. I don't know if anyone here has encountered this situation, but I scanned the book citing some ancestors (in which I located, with the help of JOHN here in our group, baptismal and marriage records) related to the Raposo Marques, and was unsuccessful. Did he only keep records of wealthy families? I apologize for my complete ignorance on this, but Antónia's situation has left me suspicious.

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[Fábio Márquez]

Thanks you, Chery!!!

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[Jennifer S.]

Hi all,

Fábio brings up such a good point. The genealogies of the Azores are both incredibly documented, but also discouraging at times...

In my opinion, we do need to consider the genealogies of the Azores within their historical context in terms of concepts of wealth, nobility, and prominence, but also the concept of "limpeza de sangue". I am still new-ish to this group, so this history may have been explained before. Please forgive and ignore this long email if such is the case...  

The populating of the Azores and Madeira islands began in the 15 - 16th century = the time of the exile of the Sephardic Jews of Spain. Many Spanish Jews fled to the Ottoman Empire and other Eastern lands to join their Mizrahi brethren. But others (perhaps the majority) stayed closer to home and simply fled into neighboring Portugal to join Portuguese Jewish communities. 

Unfortunately for them, just a few years later, the royalty of Portugal ordered the forcible conversion of all the Jews in Portugal - which included all of the Portuguese Jews and the newer Spanish refugee families. It is estimated that during those years, as much as 20% of Portugal was of Jewish heritage. These converted Jews were called “New Christians”.

Jews who did not convert suffered severe punishment. It has been recorded that children were separated from their parents or sent to islands (as in the notorious case of Sao Tome). 

The point that I am making is that Rodrigues worked with the records available to him. And, the truth is that the early genealogies were mainly a manner of “proving” that one’s lineage was "honorable", yes, but also free of Jewish or other "undesirable" heritage. To put it bluntly, there was an exaggeration of nobility and a minimization of lineage that was not "pure".

The Inquisition was relentless. "Cristãos-novos " risked losing their property, or worse, their children. They were publicly humiliated, jailed, tortured, and sometimes burned alive by mass mobs (relaxado). Nobody who had "cristão-novo" heritage would purposefully admit it. Often, their Christian (baptized) names were changed or passed down in a way that favored the heritage of one parent or grandparent. So, with very few exceptions, the names of the families associated with cristãos-novos or Inquisition records are difficult to trace. On the other hand, having one "old Christian" grandparent of noble or "pure" lineage was carefully detailed.

Even if one is interested in Sephardic heritage, it is difficult to gather. DNA matches can now also help, of course! 

Also, one can locate inquisition records online: https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/

Best of luck!  

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[JesseAndDeborah Mendonca]

Very informative, Jenni.  Thank you so much.  

Debbie Shepherd Mendonca

Researching:

DE SOUSA, LUIZ, DA COSTA, VIEIRA, PIMENTEL, PEREIRA, CABRAL: São Roque mostly, but Francisco Da Costa was baptized in São Vicente Ferreira

MENDONCA, AGUIAR, ORNELAS: Madeira (Santana fregusia, Santana consuelho)

LUIZ and MENDONCA: Both immigrated to Hawaii in 1896 and 1906

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[Jennifer S.]

Forgive me. I just realized that you both were referring to more recent generations!

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