Golluf, Eleazar

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GOLLUF, ELEAZAR

GOLLUF, ELEAZAR (d. 1389), courtier and agent of the royal family of Aragon; member of a prominent Saragossa family. In 1376 he was permitted to carry arms and exempted from wearing the Jewish *badge. From 1383 he served as agent of the infante John, son of Pedro iv of Aragon, and of his wife Violante. After John ascended the throne in 1387 Golluf served as "chief agent of the queen" – in fact her chief treasurer – a position that had not been held by a Jew in Aragon for a century. His ledgers are not preserved, and may have been intentionally destroyed even before the end of the Middle Ages. A devoted Jew, Golluf's activities in Jewish affairs extended beyond his own community. After Golluf's death, his son isaac converted to Christianity, first obtaining the king's promise that he should nevertheless inherit his father's property. His name as a Christian was Juan Sánchez de Calatayud. He was the grandfather of Gabriel *Sánchez, a leading official during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella and a supporter of Christopher Columbus.

bibliography:

Baer, Spain, index, s.v.Alazar Golluf; Baer, Urkunden, 1 (1929), 610–6; M. Serrano y Sanz, Orígenes de la dominación española en America, 1 (1918), 138, 502f.; Lóz de Meneses, in: Sefarad, 14 (1954), 110.