Pedro on 12 Feb 2007  •  Link

Coronel, Sir Augustine.

Portuguese Jew and agent at the court of Charles II. of England; born in Beira, Portugal; died after 1665. After living at Bordeaux (1640-44), he settled in Rouen in 1644, where he became an intimate friend of Enriquez Gomez, the Marano soldier and poet, to one of whose works he contributed a sonnet. Early in the fifties he established himself in England as a merchant and royalist agent, and there, associated with David da Costa and the Mendes family, to whom he was related, he received and distributed funds for Charles II. On 'Change he was known as "the littell Jue."
At the restoration, Coronel-Chacon was made consular and financial agent for Portugal in London, and was the first to suggest to Monk a match between King Charles and the infanta Catherine of Bragança. This marriage naturally increased his influence at court, and after embracing Christianity, in 1660, he was knighted in October of that year. As a Christian, Sir Augustine was not fortunate. He became a bankrupt in 1665, and after having been prosecuted by the Portuguese ambassador, was expelled from the 'Change and imprisoned in the Fleet. Afterward he turned informer against some of his former coreligionists, but to no avail. The latter part of his life was spent abroad, a dependent on his wealthy Jewish relatives.

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