ABSTRACT
In his Triumpho del Govierno Popular y de la Antigüedad Holandesa, published in 1683, Daniël Levi de Barrios (1635–1701) describes the history of his famous Amsterdam Portuguese kahal (congregation). Until then he had led an adventurous life and travelled a great deal, from Spain to Italy and then via Tobago to Amsterdam. He also moved back and forth between two different cultures, that of Catholic Spain and that of the Jews. In Livorno, Tobago and Amsterdam he had forged links with the Jewish world, but he had also spent twelve years living as a Catholic captain in the Spanish Army in Brussels. His work prose, poetry and plays therefore contains elements borrowed from classical mythology and Spanish Catholic culture as well as Judaism. The influence of Spanish literature is particularly evident. In his Triumpho he conveys much information about the Portuguese congregation and its institutions.
