2 - Jesuit Missionary or Jewish Renegade? Eliano’s Confrontation with His Jewish Past

Summary

Eliano arrives in Egypt in order to secure the Catholic conversion of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Within weeks, numerous Jews accused him of apostasy and renegadism. While Eliano was able to avoid intrigues by fleeing to the desert with the Coptic Patriarch, the breakdown of talks with the Copts meant that Eliano was back in Alexandria within a year of arriving. While his family seemed keen to avoid all contact with him, other Jews, angry with Eliano for having converted, accused him of blaspheming Islam and converting to Catholicism under spurious circumstances. They bribed the Ottoman governor, resulting in Eliano’s arrest. Eliano fled Egypt in duress and spent the winter of 1562–3 on Cyprus. The chapter ends with his return to Rome. Chapter 2 underscores just how entangled Eliano’s Jewish and Catholic identities were. On one hand, he was selected for this mission because of his experience with Semitic languages and his time as a merchant in Egypt. Yet, other Jews believed he was an opportunist who used his Jewish background for personal gain as a Jesuit. This tension remains a thread throughout the rest of the book, but evolves based on the given circumstances.