Solomon Abenaes

Salomon Aben Yaesh (Hebrew: שלמה יאיש, Turkish: Süleyman Yaeş, also known as Salomon Abenaes; 1520-1603) was a Portuguese-born Sephardic converso merchant and duke of the Aegean island capital Mytilene. Born Alvaro Mendes in 1520 in Tavira, Portugal, into a Marrano family, Yaesh, alongside Solomon Eskenazi, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Ottoman foreign affairs history.

Life and career

He traced his lineage to Yaish Ibn Yahya. He became involved in the courts of Portugal, England, Italy, and France. Trained as a jeweler, he worked as an apprentice to a goldsmith. He became involved in diplomatic affairs under the sultans Murat III, who elevated him to the nobility and granted him the concession of Tiberias along with Mytilene, and Mehmet III. He was appointed high commissioner in Constantinople and had contacts with the divan, and he maintained a elaborate intelligence network in Europe. In 1588 according to Giovanni Moro, the Venetian ambassador in Constantinople, he was the first to announce that the Spanish Armada had been defeated. He aimed to reach a Turkish-British agreement against Spain. He learned what was going on in European capitals thanks to his agents in Europe, and conveyed it to the Ottomans. Meanwhile, Antonio I, who demanded a large amount of money from Solomon, which he refused, accused him of committing illegal acts. Barton supported this accusation.

He was said to have presented a unicorn horn goblet to Cosimo de Medici, as mentioned by in his 1573 treatise. He was an architect of the Anglo-Turkish alliance. Yaesh ensured Britain's neutrality in a possible Ottoman-Austrian war in 1593.

He continued his duty as Duke of Lesbos during the reign of Mehmed III, who came to the throne after Murad III's death. He died in 1603. He had two sons, Jacob and Benjamin, and a daughter, Hanna.