Samuel Picho

Prior to the expulsion from Spain, some members of the scholarly Jewish Picho family rose to prominence in Christian society. Joseph Picho (d. 1379) was an important figure in the court of Henry II of Castile. After the expulsion in 1492, members of the family settled in Italy and Turkey. Samuel ben Joseph Picho was living in Jerusalem at the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. His letter to a relative, Don Judah ben Moses Picho, is undated, although scholars estimate that it was written at the turn of the sixteenth century. Indications in the letter suggest that the addressee resided in a Christian land. The letter, the main purpose of which is to rouse others to join him in the land of Israel, also includes descriptions of some of the occupations in which Jews engaged at the time—including crafts such as weaving, tailoring, and metal work—and describes the graves of saints.