Rodrigo Lopez (c. 1525 – June 7, 1594) was physician to Queen Elizabeth, and is said to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's Shylock in the The Merchant of Venice. Events January 21 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manzs mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... Events February 27 - Henry IV is crowned King of France at Rheims. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Shylock and Jessica by Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879) The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written at an uncertain date between 1594 and 1597. ...

He was born in Crato, Portugal but driven away from Portugal by the Portuguese Inquisition and considered a Marrano. An Inquisition - Auto-da-fe. ... Marranos (Spanish and Portuguese, probably from the Arabic moharrama or muharram or meaning a forbidden thing) were Sephardic Jews (Jews from the Iberian peninsula) who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians, either through coercion as a consequence of the persecution of Jews by the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese...

He made London his home in 1559 and very successfully resumed his practice as a doctor, soon becoming house physician at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Dispite racial prejudice and professional jealousy he developed a large practice among powerful people including Robert Dudley and Francis Walsingham. Rumor held that his success was less due to his medical skill and more to his skill at flattery and self-promotion. In a 1584 libelous pamphlet attacking Dudley, it was suggested that Lopez distilled poisons for Dudley and other nobleman as well. In 1586, he reached the pinnacle of his profession; he was made physician-in-chief to Queen Elizabeth. However, Lopez was held in the queen's favor for, in 1589, she granted him a monopoly on the importation of aniseed and sumac into England. His success continued as he neared retirement. He was viewed, at least outwardly, as being a dutiful practicing Protestant. The main entrance at Barts, which was built in 1702. ... Robert Dudley, by Nicholas Hilliard, 1576. ... Francis Walsingham by John de Critz (detail) Sir Francis Walsingham (c. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

In October of 1593, he was wealthy and generally respected. At that time, he owned a house in Holborn and had a son enrolled at Winchester College. However, also in October, a complex web of conspiracy against Don Antonio began to come to light. Subsequently, Lopez was accused by Robert Devereux of conspiring with Spanish emissaries to poison the Queen. He was arrested on January 1, 1594, convicted in February, and subsequently executed (hanged, drawn and quartered) on June 7. The Queen herself was uncertain of his guilt (hence the delay in is execution) and he maintained his innocence of treason and his being converted from Judiasm to Christianity until his execution. According to William Camden, right before he was hanged he said to the crowd that he loved his queen as well as he loved Jesus Christ. The crowd laughed at this statement taking it for a thinnly veiled confession as in their eyes he was still a Jew and probably many thought a real life example of the character depicted in The Jew of Malta. Holborn (pronounced ho-bun or ho-burn) is a place in London, named after a tributary to the river Fleet that flowed through the area, the Hole-bourne (the stream in the hollow). ... Winchester College is a public school in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, in the south of England. ... Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (10 November 1566 - 25 February 1601), favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, is the best-known of the many holders of the title Earl of Essex. He was born at Netherwood in 1566, the son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and... William Camden William Camden (May 2, 1551 - November 9, 1623) was an English antiquarian and historian. ... The Jew Of Malta is a play by Christopher Marlowe. ...

External links

• Lopez Plot
• Jewish Encyclopedia Lopez Entry