Joseph Nasi (1524, Portugal – 1579, Konstantiniyye), known in Portuguese as João Miques, was a Portuguese Sephardi diplomat and administrator, member of the House of Mendes/Benveniste, nephew of Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi, and an influential figure in the Ottoman Empire during the rules of both Sultan Suleiman I and his son Selim II. He was a great benefactor of the Jewish people. A court Jew, he was appointed lord of Tiberias, with the expressed aim of resettling Jews in Palestine and encouraging industry there; the attempt failed, and, later, he was appointed Duke of Naxos. Nasi also supported a war with the Republic of Venice, at the end of which Venice lost the island of Cyprus to the Ottomans. After the death of Selim, he lost influence in the Ottoman Court, but was allowed to keep his titles and pension for the remainder of his life. Etymology Also known as João Miques/Micas and Dom João Migas Mendes in a Portuguese variant, Giuseppe Nasi in Italian, and Yasef Nassi in Ottoman Turkish. Biography Joseph Nasi was born in Portugal as a marrano (practicing Judaism in secret), a son of the doctor Agostinho Micas (d. 1525), a well-known physician and professor at the University of Lisbon. A friend of Maximilian, nephew of the Habsburg king Charles I of Spain. He escaped to Portugal after Charles decided to confiscate the Mendes fortune, and, after the Holy Inquisition began operating against Portuguese Marranos in 1546, moved to Antwerp, in the Habsburg Netherlands, with his aunt, Doña Gracia Mendes Nasi, whose daughter Ana he later married. He studied at the University of Louvain, but had to flee the Inquisition in 1547. He then moved to France and later to Venice, before finally leaving for the Ottoman realm in 1554, where he married his cousin Brianda (Reyna) Mendes (the daughter Ana of Gracia Mendes Nasi). Business and diplomatic career When he arrived in Constantinople together with his aunt Gracia Mendes Nasi, Nasi made a fortunate decision in supporting the future sultan Selim II, against his rival Bayezid; as a result, he was favored by the Seraglio, and eventually became a high-ranking diplomat and minister. Due to his trading connections in Europe, he was able to exercise great influence on Ottoman foreign policy. Among his achievements were negotiating peace with Poland and influencing the new election of the Polish king. He was awarded the monopoly of the