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16th. great grandfather
- Don Abraham SENIOR CORONEL
 alias: Fernando PEREZ CORONEL or Fernando NUNEZ CORONEL
Born: 14 Oct 1412 Segovia, Castile, Spain
Baptism: 15 Jun 1492 Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Spain
Occupation: Court rabbi of Castile, and royal tax-farmer-in-chief
Died: 1493/1496
Buried: Monstario del Faral, Spain
Father: Patriarch SENIOR
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Signature of Abraham Senior
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- Dona Violante de CABRERA*
- Dona Maria SANCHES del RIO*
* It has not been determined which of Abraham's two wives was the mother of his children.
- Court rabbi of Castile, and royal tax-farmer-in-chief; born in Segovia in the early part of the fifteenth century;
*a near relative of the influential Andreas de Cabrera. On account of his wealth, intelligence, and aristocratic bearing he was in such favor with the Castilian grandees that he (1469) succeeded in bringing about the marriage of the Infanta (later, Queen) Isabella to Ferdinand of Aragon. Some years later (1473) he effected a reconciliation between Isabella and her brother, Henry IV. of Castile. The queen, whose confidence Senior enjoyed, granted him, in token of her gratitude for the services he had rendered her, a life pension of 100,000 maravedis, which in 1480 was confirmed at the instance of Hernando do Talavera, her confessor.
*The first wife of Abraham Senior was Violante de Cabrera and I assume that she was sister to the above mentioned Andreas de Cabrera making him his brother-in-law which is a fairly "near relative".LL Andreas and his wife, Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, who was a friend and confidant of Queen Isabella, were later awarded the title of Marquis of Moya. Documentation exsists indicating Andreas' "concern" regarding his family's conversion; how exactly is not clear but obviously his family is of Jewish descent.
- Senior received also the royal appointment of "rab do la corte" (court rabbi—for which office, however, he, like many of his predecessors, lacked the proper qualifications) and of tax-farmer-in-chief. He was so highly respected by the grandees that in 1480 the Cortes of Toledo presented him with 50,000 maravedis from the revenues collected through his agency. In the farming of the royal taxes he associated himself with Isaac Abravanel, who soon became his intimate friend. During the war between Castile and the last king of the Moors, especially in the conquest of Granada, Senior rendered the Spanish army valuable services as factor-general.
- His interest in his persecuted coreligionists was an active one. It was through his efforts that the Jews of Castile raised a large sum to ransom those of their own faith who had been taken prisoners at the capture of Malaga. He is said, however, to have sold the jewelry belonging to the captive women, and to have added the proceeds to the ransom-money. When the decree expelling the Jews from Spain (March 31, 1492) had become generally known, Senior, together with Isaac Abravanel, hastened to the queen imploring her to spare them. He was not heeded, however, and was weak enough to yield to the queen's request that he desert his brethren. On June 15, 1492, he and his son were baptized in Valladolid, the king and queen and the primate of Spain acting as sponsors. He then assumed the name "Ferrad [Fernando] Perez Coronel." R. David Messer Leon alludes to him in his comment on the appointment of a court rabbi of Castile "who lacked knowledge, and fear of God—'kemo shehokiaḥ sofo 'al teḥillato,'" as his end proved (see the responsum of David Leon in "R. E. J." xxiv. 135). With Senior was baptized the rabbi Meïr, who was, according to Bernaldez ("Historia de los Reyes Católicos," p. 336, Seville, 1870), his father-in-law, or, according to Elijah Capsali (see "Liḳḳuṭim Shonim," ed. Lattes, p. 73, Padua, 1869), his brother-in-law. (The Jewish Encyclopedia)
As his daughter, Reina, was married to Rabbi Meir MELAMED. That would make him his son-in-law. If Abraham's wife was, as suggested, the sister of Rabbi Meir it would also make him his brother-in-law.LL
- According to Professor Haim Beinart in 'The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain' (p. 420), Don Abraham Senior was referred to, in a letter of 1487 from the Jews of Castile to the Jews of Rome and Lombardy as 'the Exilarch who is over us'*. 'Exilarch' means 'Prince of the Captivity' or 'Head of the Exile'** (that is, de jure King of the Jews in exile), a title dating from the Babylonian Exile of 597-538 BC which appears to have survived in Mesopotamia until Tamerlane the Great sacked Baghdad in 1401. The title was hereditary in and exclusive to the House of David (see II Kings xxv. 27 and I Chronicles iii. 17 et seq.) but was elective amongst the immediate male members of that family and subject to rabbinic approval. Given the fact that the title appears never to have been accorded to (or used to describe) anyone not acknowledged by rabbinic authorities to be of Davidic descent, and that the misuse of such a title would have been most unlikely, it is reasonable to infer that Don Abraham was descended from one of those branches of the House of David that have been traced to Spain (see the Jewish Encyclopaedia) and that the title was accorded to him in an attempt to revive the Exilarchate after it had ceased to be recognised in Mesopotamia, as happened in Egypt in 1081. (Graham Senior-Milne)
- The details of the life and times of Don Abraham SENIOR CORONEL are readily accessible on the internet and the following links will provide some additional information to those interested.
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NOTES:
There is a confilct of information between the details that I originally recorded and that available on the internet.
- Cataline or Catalina del RIO is shown in my original files as being the wife of Juan PEREZ CORONEL, son of Abraham SENIOR.
- Other sources show her as the first wife of Juan BRAVO de MENDOZA.
- The wife of Juan BRAVO de MENDOZA is originally recorded as Maria, daughter of Inigo LOPES CORONEL al CAMERERO, son of Abraham SENIOR.
- Other sources show Maria, a daughter of Abraham Senior, as being the second wife of Juan BRAVO de MENDOZA.
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