ZACUTO
ZACUTO
Samuel Zacuto 1450 - 1525, famous Rabbi, court astronomer, historian, writer, inventor,
map maker, astrologer, genealogist, benefactor of Columbus and known as
"mathematician to the King". His ancestors, French Jewish exiles, came to Spain
in 1306. At the behest of the bishop of Salamanca, Zacuto wrote his major astronomical
work, Ha-Hibbur ha-Gadol (1473-78). Zacuto consulted and afforded Columbus an opportunity
to meet with the court of Spain as well as Santangel and Abravanel which lead to his famed
commissioned voyage. In 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, Zacuto emigrated to
Portugal, where he was appointed court astronomer by King John II. Before sending Vasco de
Gama on his sea voyage to India (1496), Zacuto instructed de Gama and his sailors in the
use of his newly perfected astrolabe, his tables and maritime charts. When King Manuel
forced all Jews in his country to convert, Zacuto left Portugal.
The name Zacuto - da Camara
The name is spelled as Zacuto, Cacuto and Cacoto. The last name Zacuto comes from Hebrew,
Zekhuth means merit. The word Zacuto is pronounced in Spanish as Cacuto. Rabbi Zacuto
signed his name in Hebrew Z.Q.T. (Zain, Qoph, Thav) and, as it is known by ethmologists
that in Hebrew the letter Qoph can be replaced by Kaph, and vice versa, the spelling
Zacuto is more correct, as it is in the Portuguese form for the Hebrew word Zekhuth.
Among families associated with overseas expansion, only the
Gama and the Camara managed to join the titled nobility, first by gaining the title
"Dom" as was the case with Gama, and then by acquiring the titles of Counts of
Vidigueira and of Calheta, respectively. Both families belonged to the
lower nobility before the expansion, but it took the Camaras, based in the Atlantic
islands, a century to achieve their rise. Social relations and the social value put on
wealth, service, and honor explain the difference. The rise of the Camaras was seen,
perhaps unfairly, as due mainly to their wealth.This "taint" (?) would
continue to haunt them for generations, even as they were about to become the Counts of
Calheta.
Their opportunity came in the wake of Father Luis Goncalves da Camara's appointment as
confessor ans Master to the young D. Sebastiao. They solidified the
controlling position in the Atlantic islands, and began marrying into the high nobility
only later in the 16th century. Yet marriage alliances could not always compensate for
perceived "taints".(?)
Despite their standing as "cavaleiros-fidalgos", they were seen as typical
"nouveaux riches". Martim Goncalves de Camara was seen as unsuitable companion
for the young D. Sebastiao. The royal letter raising Simao Goncalves da Camara 11 to the
status of the 1st Count of Calheta was very careful to specify that the reasons were
socially appropriate; his service to the Crown and the devoted service of both his
grandfather, Simao Goncalves da Camara 1, and his father, Joao Goncalves da Camara, in
North Africa, stressing their participation, at their own cost, in relief expeditions and
in the conquest of Azemmur. ( Wazmur)
The Camara family governed the Funchal part of Madeira in the male line for 9 generations,
between 1425 to 1656. Simao Goncalves da Camara 11 was eventually elevated among the
titled nobility, becoming the first count of Calheta in 1576. The office and title passed
in 1666 to the Vasconcelos
family, through the female inheritance. The Camara governing Sao Miguel in the Azores
demonstrated even greater longevity, governing the island into the 18th century and
aquiring two more titles in the process, Counts of Vila Franca and Count of Ribeira
Grande.
Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 Rufina Bernardetti Silva Mausenbaum
E-mail: Rufina Bernardetti Silva Mausenbaum