Robles, Antonio Rodrigues

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ROBLES, ANTONIO RODRIGUES

ROBLES, ANTONIO RODRIGUES (c. 1620–1690), Marrano merchant. Robles, who was born in Fundão, Portugal, of a family which had suffered at the hands of the Inquisition, settled in London as a merchant in the mid-17th century, but played no part in the crypto-Jewish community. When, however, his property was seized as that of an enemy alien after outbreak of war with Spain in 1656, he successfully obtained exemption on the grounds that although uncircumcised he was not a Spaniard but a Portuguese "of the Hebrew nation." The successful outcome of the "Robles Case" established the right of professing Jews to live in England without interference.

bibliography:

Roth, England3, 164f.; Wolf, in: jhset, 1 (1893–94), 60–66, 77–86.

[Charles Reznikoff]