Benveniste de Porta

A bailie ("bayle") of Barcelona, Benveniste de Porta was one of the most influential members of the Porta family.

Benveniste served as a royal moneylender advancing large sums to King James I of Aragon and receiving as the security the municipal dues owed to the king. Due to his services Benevista have enjoyed the king’s favor at the court. In 1257 he was, for example, granted the right to sell dues of Barcelona and Gerona for the period of two years. The following debts he was allowed to recover by taking dues of Lerida and other placed of his bailiwick. Part of the payment was made by the Jews of Barcelona themselves, who were ordered to hand over 12,000 sueldos to Benveniste.

Meanwhile the King continued his applications to Benveniste for funds. In return for the loans, the dues of Villafranca, as well as 20 squares of land there, and the dues of the Balearic Islands and of Perpignan, were granted to Benveniste.