Some of the decisions that guided transliteration, spelling and other terminological issues throughout this work should be made known. With regard to proper nouns, a liberal and flexible approach to their use has been favoured, i.e.: in the case of lesser-known individuals, some of the variations used in the sources have been retained whenever a pattern is observed in their occurrence; others have been retrieved from secondary literature, especially in the case of notable personalities. This way, I hope, we can value some important factors regarding their use: a) the preservation of the historical spelling, b) the individualization regarding homonyms, c) the easy identification of better-known individuals. As for the surname or family name, the same spelling was used whenever possible for all cases, regardless of their source.
As for the remaining expressions, there are important distinctions in the criteria used throughout the thesis. Whenever possible, the names of institutions, positions, prayers, festivities and an endless number of expressions originally transliterated from Hebrew into Portuguese were preserved in their most recurrent form in the sources, paying attention to the specific peculiarity of the cultural and historical context from which they come from. All of them, except those which designate names of institutions and congregations, as well as festive days and religious holidays, have been put in italics throughout this work. Expressions taken directly from the Hebrew are also in italics when the transliteration is less consensual or when there is no transliteration at all in the Portuguese language. In all the cases mentioned, it will be possible to consult the meaning of each expression in the glossary located below, which will serve as an essential guide for the reader less familiar with the topic. In addition, notwithstanding the above clarifications, it will be possible to consult the meaning of the vast majority of the expressions directly in the body text, when they first occur.
Finally, the recurrent use of the word “Portuguese” throughout the book, as well as its various incidences (Portuguese community, Portuguese leadership, the Portuguese, etc.), should be understood in its broadest sense, as identifying the Portuguese character of the names, entities and associated figures, and not necessarily their nationality. In the same way should be understood the use of the expression “nation”, which may designate multiple realities depending on their specific context. Thus, “nation” may broadly designate any mercantile community of common provenance, the imagined community of Portuguese and Spanish New Christians, or in some situations, following the recurrent use in contemporary sources, the reference to a particular Portuguese-Jewish community, such as the Portuguese community of Hamburg. Although I consider it important to highlight these two cases among the myriad of expressions used throughout the study, I have no doubt that, for the attentive reader, these minutiae will themselves be evident in the particular context of their occurrence.