
Balthazar (Isaac) Orobio de Castro (c.1617 in
Bragança,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
– November 7, 1687 in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
), was a Portuguese Jewish
philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
and religious
apologist.
Life
While still a child, he was taken to
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
by his parents, who were
Marranos. He studied philosophy at
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...
and became teacher of
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
at the
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...
. Later he devoted himself to the study of
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, and became a popular practitioner in Seville, and physician in ordinary to the duke of
Medina-Celi and to a family nearly related to the king.
When married and father of a family, De Castro was, at the instigation of a servant whom he had punished for theft, denounced to the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
as an adherent of
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, and thrown into a dark and narrow dungeon, where he remained for three years, subjected to the most frightful
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
s. As he persistently denied the charge, he was finally released, but compelled to leave
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and to wear the ''
sanbenito'', or penitential garment, for two years. He thereupon went to
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
, where he became professor of medicine at the university, at the same time receiving from
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
the title of councilor; but, weary at last of hypocrisy and dissimulation, he went to
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
about 1666, and there made a public confession of Judaism, adopting the name "Isaac." In that city De Castro continued the practice of medicine, and soon became a celebrity, being elected to membership in the directory of the Portuguese congregation and of several academies of poetry. He died at
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
. Esther, his wife, died on July 5, 1712.
Works
Orobio de Castro was a very prolific writer. His work entitled ''Certamen Philosophicum Propugnatæ Veritatis Divinæ ac Naturalis Adversus J. Bredenburgi Principia'' was published at Amsterdam, 1684 (reprinted 1703 and 1731). This work, in which De Castro attacks the
Ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
of
Spinoza, with whom he maintained a friendly correspondence, was translated into Spanish under the title ''Certamen Philosophico, Defiende la Verdad Divina y Natural Contra los Principios de Juan Bredenburg,'' by
G. de la Torre, (The Hague, 1741). ''Certamen Philosophicum'' was translated into english in September 2020, by Walter Hilliger.
All the other writings of De Castro, like the foregoing translation, are still extant in manuscript. They are:
* ''Prevenciones Divinas Contra la Vana Ydolatria de las Gentes'' (Libro ii, ''Contra los Falsos Misterios de las Gentes Advertidas a Ysrael en los Escritos Propheticos'');
*''Explicação Paraphrastica sobre o Capitulo 53 do Propheta Isahias. Feito por hum Curiozo da Nação Hebrea em Amsterdam, em o mez de Tisry anno 5433'' (compare
Adolf Neubauer, ''The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah,'' pp. 21–118, London, 1876);
*''Tratado em que se Explica la Prophesia de las 70 Semanas de Daniel. Em Amsterdam à 6 Febrero anno 1675,'' a
paraphrastic explanation of the
Prophecy of Seventy Weeks;
*''Epistola Invectiva Contra un Judio Philosopho Médico, que Negava la Ley de Mosse, y Siendo Atheista Affectava la Ley de Naturaleza.'' This is identical with ''Epistola Invectiva Contra Prado, un Philosopho Medico, que Dubitava, o no Creya la Verdad de la Divina Escritura, y Pretendió Encubrir su Malicia con la Affecta Confacion de Dios, y Ley de Natureza,'' a work directed against
Juan de Prado, a physician and author of
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
who resided in Amsterdam.
Long after De Castro's death a Jew by the name of
Henriquez published an alleged work of his in French under the title ''Israel Vengé,'' claiming it to have been originally written in Spanish (London, 1770). It has been translated into English by
Grace Aguilar (London, 1839).
De Castro's discussions on
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
with the Dutch preacher
Philipp van Limborch were published by the latter in the work entitled ''De Veritate Religionis Christianæ Amica Collatio cum Erudito Judæo,'' Amsterdam, 1687.
The de Castro family
The various branches of this family are all of Spanish and Portuguese origin. Some have continued to bear the simple name of "
De Castro", others are known as De Castro-Osorio; De Castro Sarmento; De Castro-Castello-Osorio; Pereira de Castro; De Castro Vieira de Pinto; Rodriguez de Castro; Orobio de Castro; De Castro de Paz; Henriquez de Castro, etc.
See also
*
De Castro family (Sephardi Jewish)
*
Marranos
*
Crypto-Jews
*
History of the Jews in the Netherlands
References
*
Further reading
*P. T. van Rooden and J. W. Wesselius, 'The Early Enlightenment and Judaism: the "Civil Dispute" between Philippus van Limborch and Isaac Orobiode Castro', in: StRos 21 (1987), p. 140-153.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orobio de Castro, Balthazar
1617 births
1687 deaths
17th-century Sephardi Jews
Dutch Sephardi Jews
Dutch people of Portuguese-Jewish descent
Academic staff of the University of Salamanca
Academic staff of the University of Toulouse
People from Bragança, Portugal
Court physicians
17th-century Spanish philosophers
17th-century Spanish theologians
Crypto-Jews