Cerqueira is a Portuguese surname.
The Cerqueira Family has its origins best known as coming from Portugal, morespecifically from Camposa, in the parish of Vale, in the termo of Arcos de Valdevez aroundfrom the 14th century.[1]
Its primary origin is Jewish. Levites Sephardim coming from the East settled in theregion of the Iberian Peninsula, it is not known exactly when, because the documents of the Jewish origins from this family are sparse because of the persecution that followed with the Portuguese Inquisition initiated on May 23 and 1536.
In the Holy Bible in the book of 1 Chronicles 26, 2-19 we have the list of the names of the Guards of theTemple. Since these Levites were not priests, their function was to protect, maintain andtransport from the tabernacle of Adonai.When king Solomon inaugurated the first temple (1 Kings 8, 62–66) those of the lineages of theseTemple guard families continued their Levitical roles from generation to generation.Past the Babylonian exile of the People of Israel, occurred approximately 609 BCE to 515BCE, and with the establishment of the second temple, many of these family linescontinued their services.
With the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE came the dispersion of the Jews throughoutthe Roman territory. These Jews began to settle in small colonies throughout Europe (at that time much of the Roman territory).Those who settled in the north (today Germany and Russia) developed theirparticularities and became known as Ashkenazis Jews. The term comes from Hebrewmedieval for Germany, called Ashkenaz (אשכנז).The Sephardim (in Hebrew ספרדים, Sephardi; plural, Sephardim) is the term used to refer to the descendants of Jews from Portugal and Spain. The word comes from theHebrew name for the Iberian Peninsula (Sepharad, ספרד.)The lineages of temple guards who went to Portugal were known as Sekher(transliteration from Hebrew to dam), סכר in Hebrew. https://www.coisasjudaicas.net/2012/07/marra.htmlWith the anti-Semitism and persecutions by the Catholics who recaptured the region aroundof the 12th century, many Jews changed their surnames even before the official beginning.of the inquisition.
To maintain part of their origins and blend in with non-Jews the Sekher changed theirnames for Sequeira, Siqueira, Cerqueira, etc. https://www.coisasjudaicas.net/2012/07/marra.html. All these variations arose due to spelling errors when it came time to officially document something in the notary offices of the time. Of that form giving rise to the various branches of families the aforementioned signs and many more.The Cerqueira family mixed with the Portuguese population and after generations they had many of theirmembers truly converting to Christianity and often turning away fromits Jewish origins.
In the book Nobuario das Familias de Portugal,[2] we have the following: “Franco Moniz Cerqueira, took the coat of arms of the Cerqueiras in which justified his ancestry in 1530 before Dr. Luiz Teixeira passed the Letter in 30of March, whose justification is found in the Archivo da Caza de Alvellos de Amarante”.His coat of arms being a "Golden Rampant Lion with a collar around his neck, in a shieldred”.[3] [4]
The collared lion means loyalty (in this case to the King of Portugal) and as a way of legitimizinghis place in the Portuguese nobility, even though he is of Jewish origin (New Christian).
With the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition by the Catholic Church, we find dozens ofCerqueira's condemned for the practice of Judaism. In the files of the inquisition in the Tower ofTombo de Portugal https://antt.dglab.gov.pt we find, for example, the processes of Helena de Cerqueira https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2358023,Margarida Cerqueira https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2358243, Lucrécia de Cerqueira https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2359164, Bernarda de Cerqueira https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2299992, Isabela da Fonseca https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2353967(daughter de Brás Coelho de Cerqueira), Luís da Silva https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2354729(spouse of Maria de Cerqueira) and many others,all convicted of the crime of practicing Judaism.In the book “Portuguese Inquisition”[5] we find the list of new Christians from the Azores, among them Dias Cerqueira, a farmer.With the discovery of the Americas, many of these ventured into the “new world”. Being oneof those Vicente Cerqueira who, leaving the Azores in Portugal, settled in Ilhéus inBahia Brazil. From his relationship with Monica Fernandes, Alfredo Fernandes Cerqueira was born (1889), farmer.
Notable people with the surname include:
