They were the baillie ("bayle")—the tax officers and treasurers, and alfaquim—senior advisors to the king and royal physician in Barcelona and Aragon in the 12th and 13th centuries.

In the aftermath of the massacres of Jews which began in Spain on 6 June 1391, some such as the de Cartagena family converted to Christianity and became powerful conversos in Burgos.

After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, non-converts were dispersed mainly to Portugal, Greece - Salonica, other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and North African countries.

In Portugal, they were forced to convert to Christianity in 1497 and became some of the richest traders and bankers (the Mendes family) of Europe.

There you were, standing before me, Royal Highness, and I thought: By no means am I going to offend Your Majesty by telling you the plant's true name, 'malva' – 'ill-going'!

[3] Yet, the above nice family legend does not take into account the fact that in both medieval Iberia and Languedoc, before being used as a surname, Benveniste (from the Spanish expression "bien viniste" meaning '(you) have arrived well') was used by Jews as a given name.

The numerically literate Sephardim assisted the Crowns of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona as tax collectors and advisers.

[6] Dr. David Raphael author of books on Spanish Jewry, director writer of the musical documentary Song of the Sephardi, and short film on Nachmanides 1263 Disputation of Barcelona descends from Vidal Benveniste de Porta, bailiff to King James of Aragon and brother of Rabbi Nachmanides (known as the Ramban)