1. "Lawsuits in Elizabethan Courts of Law: The Adventures of
Dr. Hector Nunez, 1566-1591: A Precis." The Journal of European Economic History,
XXV, Number 1, Spring 1996, 157-168.
SUMMARY:
A refutation of Dr. David S. Katz's theme in his book entitled The Jews in the History of
England 1485-1850. Dr. Katz emphasized that Dr. Nunes had gained wealth in Elizabethan
England. Through a thorough examination of the law suits and imprisonment of Dr. Nunes in
1566 and 1569, Dr. Katz's thesis was rejected.
2. "Debt in Elizabethan England: The Adventures of Dr. Hector Nunez, Physician and
Merchant." Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England XXXIV, 1994-1996,
125-140.
SUMMARY:
This extensive paper encompasses his commercial activities, law suits, losses and prison
in 1566 and 1569, and the complete contents of his will dated September 1, 1591. It is
meant to be as total a summary of his life in Elizabethan England as possible.
3. "Elizabethan Marranos Exposed." SHEMOT. Journal of the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Great Britain, V, Number 4, December 1997, 21-24.
SUMMARY:
Mrs. Mary May's suit in the Court of Chancery for debt owed her late husband's estate by
Dr. Hector Nunes, 1591-1599, led to explosive testimony by William Wilson and his son
Thomas, concerning the Jewish religious activities of Nunes' brother-in-law, Alvaro Lima,
and his kinsman by marriage, Fernando Alvarez. Prior to their testimony in 1586, there
aren't any surviving accounts of Jewish religious activities in Elizabethan England.
4. "Elizabethan Marranos Exposed: A Pioneering Study." Casa Shalom Journal, The
Institute for Marrano-Anusim Studies, Gan Yavne, Israel, Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 1998,
4-7.
SUMMARY:
This is a summary of the paper originally published in 1997 by SHEMOT. It focuses on
the Mrs. Mary May suit in the Court of Chancery: its impact upon the accused Crypto-Jews
and Dr. Hector Nunes.
NEWEST PAPER WRITTEN FOR PUBLICATION:
"Social Inclusion and Religious Assimilation: The Protestant Conversion of a
Crypto-Jew in Elizabethan England, Dr. Hector Nunes."
THEME:
Dr. Hector Nunes' almost pathological pursuit for social inclusion in Elizabethan
government and society led to his conversion by 1577 if not earlier.
Frustration and disappointment were Nunes' rewards by the ruling elite for all of his
years of conveying intelligence on Spanish activities in the Low Countries and Portugal,
to Sir Francis Walsingham and Lord Burghley. Also, medical treatment extended to Lord and
Lady Burghley and other members of the English governmental elite, did not culminate in
his lifelong quest for acceptance. In desperation, Nunes turned to the Protestant leaders
including Thomas Watts, Archdeacon of Middlesex, and his compatriot, Edmund Grindal, the
future Archbishop of Canterbury for consolation and comfort. Upon his conversion, Nunes
was readily accepted into their religious circle.
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