The Coffee Trader

“Miguel had no stomach for doom; disaster felt to him like an awkward and loose suit.” 

Though Miguel has recently experienced a major financial setback due to his failed sugar trade, his natural state of mind is optimism. He always believes that he is on the verge of great success. Because of this trait, he cannot resist taking risks, including the coffee business that Geertruid proposes.

“A true merchant never gives in to gloom. A man who has lived as a Secret Jew always has one more trick to save his skin.” 

During the Inquisition in Portugal, Miguel was forced to live publicly as a New Christian, but he practiced Judaism in secret. Living such a double was extremely dangerous and required great skill in the art of deception. As a trader in Amsterdam, Miguel finds that duplicity and deception are useful skills when engaging in commerce as well.

“Saying the words filled him with giddy defiance; he thought of each openly spoken Hebrew word as a knife in the belly of some Inquisitor somewhere.” 

As a Secret Jew in Lisbon, Miguel had to study Judaism in secret or face torture or death at the Inquisitors’ hands. Living in Amsterdam, he enjoys the freedom to practice his religion in public. Unlike Daniel, who takes this privilege for granted, Miguel values religious freedom and says the Jewish prayers aloud at every opportunity.