Jacob Curiel of Coimbra (1514-1576),[1] also known as Jacob Curiel or Duarte Nunes of Coimbra, was a prosperous Portuguese
cloth merchant and navy commander.[2]
Life and career
Curiel was born into a family of
crypto-Jews, the brother of
Fernão Nunes, and grandson of Jeronimo de Saldanha y Bovadilha, who was a Portuguese nobleman. Curiel rose to become a
captain in the
Spanish Navy, commanding two fleets. Upon discovering that Curiel was Jewish, his sailors freed him because they had respected him.[3][4] He was the father of
Abraham Curiel.[5][6] Historian
Jonathan Israel described him as one of the most influential merchants of the sixteenth century.[7]