Jews vaft number of his nation. Notwithstanding which, they found means to fettle themselves in the territories, and even in the court of the Moguls after Argun's death (P), by the next century. But as we read of neither academies nor learned men amongst them, we may conclude that they were more intent on their worldly interest. It is probable likewife that they enjoyed the fame tranquipeaceable lity in the Grecian empire, during these two centuries; at under the leaft we meet with nothing to the contrary. And what conGreeks. firms us that they enjoyed there a full liberty of their religion, is, that the Greek writers of those times condemned the violence which the Latins exercised against them, in forcing them to be baptized, though themselves were the most forward to judaize. These reproaches were but too well founded, confidering the cruel ufage which the Jews met with from the crufaders, both in the west before they set out, and thro' every place of the east, where they came to; and that the pope and his clergy had revived feveral Jewish customs in the church, fuch as the eating of the pafchal lamb, unleavened bread, and fome others, which the reader may fee in the author quoted in the margin 1. It is time now to take a view of the Jewish state in the western parts, where we shall find them no lefs oppreffed than they were numerous and wealthy. For the latter feldom failed of exciting the jealousy of the clergy, and of producing the former. We begin with Spain, where they began to be perfecuted from the very entrance of the 13th century, by the bifhop of Toledo, who beheld their increase in number and f Id ibid. * Græci in Latinos ap. COTELER. Mon. Ecclef Græc. tom. iii. p. 99-501-504-506-515, h BASNAG. ub. fup. lib. ix. c. 17. § 15. i MARIANA ub. fup. tom. v. CARDOSO las excellentias, p. 373. (P) At least we read in the life of Abu Zaid, who reigned at the beginning of that century, of a Jew who appeared at his courtin great fiate and grandeur, and attended by a number of young pages, upon one of whom he leaned. A merry poet came and kneeled before him, and told him, that he faw the remains of the house of Mofes carried by angels, and was come 4 · P. 487. to pay homage to it (47). But how they, fared when the mogul's monarchy came to be divided into fo many principali ties, and torn with cruel wars, can only be guefied; they never being wanting to promote their own interest by money, and other kind offices among the contenders, and we do not hear of any perfecutions raised against them. (47) D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. wealth A. C. 1209. 1212,' wealth with a jealous eye, and stirred up the populace against them; and putting himself at their head, went and broke into their houses and fynagogues, and plundered them (Q). The crufaders, who were then preparing for their expedition into the Holy Land k, and were foon after to have their rendezvous near that city, compleated what the prelate had begun, from a notion they took, that the deftruction of those enemies of Chrift, would undoubtedly obtain a blessing on their enterprise; and accordingly made fuch havock amongst them, that Abravanel looks upon this perfecution as one of the four fe-. verest ones that nation had ever fuffered1; infomuch, that he reckons that a greater number of them went out of Spain, than that which Mofes brought out of Egypt. The Spanish nobility did indeed interpofe their authority to fupprefs the cruelties exercised against them; but king Ferdinand, who was then endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the zealots by the perfecution of the Albigenfes, and other heretics, encouraged the fame against the Jews, as the worst of them all. It is, The main however, certain, that if the Jews will deal fincerely, they cause of it. must attribute all thefe difafters to their fhameful remiffness, and open tranfgreffion of their law in feveral inftances, which they acknowlege to be of the highest moment, and which the reader may fee in the margin (R).. THEY * MARIANA, tom. xi. c. 22. p. 490. 1 In Ifaiam, cap. 46. their fcrupulous obfervance of (R) It is plain that (in order to render themselves lefs odious And Accused of THEY were fince accused of an enormous crime, viz. of crucifying having stolen a young choirifter of the cathedral of Saragoffa, a youth, named Dominick, and having crucified him. The discovery is, A. C. by the legendaries of thofe times, afcribed to a miraculous light 1250. obferved on the grave in which they had laid him, by the fea fide; upon which he was taken up and fainted, and placed in that cathedral church m. The fact is backed with several other circumstances, almost as furprifing"; but yet justly rejected as fabulous, by all but credulous bigots. However, we do not find that it produced any perfecution; which is ftrange, if they really had been guilty of it; tho' it served to render them odious, and expofe them to the infults of the populace; which fo intimidated them, that it helped to forward their converfion, which was then carrying on with great zeal and fuccefs, if those authors may be credited. Among thofe that were moft zealous for this bleffed work, was the learned Atrives to Raymond Penneforte, general of the Dominicans, who was then in high esteem with James I. king of Arragon, and his confeffor, as well as minister with the pope. He had already, by his credit and addrefs, fuppreffed the violence of the populace against them, and perfuaded that prince, that the most Pennaforte convert them, m BEZOVIUS annal. ad an. 1250. n VINCENT BLASCO periftephan. Arragon, lib. iv. fol. 72. TAMAIO Salazar Martyr Hifp. P. 625, & feq. FASCICUL. temp. in Hift. Germ. tom. iii. fol. 18. WILLELM. MONACH. Veter. Ævi. Analect. & al. And yet they had been fo remifs But another and more fcan- viz. their intermarrying with ftrangers; and as those with Chriftians were fo feverely forbidden, many of them made no fcruple to marry Moorish and Saracen women; infomuch that the famed Mofes Cozzi, fo named from the town of Cozzo in the Milanefe, tho' a native of Spain, and one of the most learned and zealous rabbies of that age, thundered out his anathe ma's against that practice with fuch vehemence, that he perfuaded many of them to put away their ftrange wives. At that time the city of Toledo had no less than 12,000 Jews settled in it. (43) R. Ifaac de Garmifa, an. 1236. Bartoloc. ub. fup. tom. i. p. 695. V. p. 75. N. 1210. gentle A. C. 1255. gentle were the most effectual means of converting them °. Upon which feveral perfons were pitched upon to learn the Hebrew and Arabic tongues, in order to fit themselves to dif pute with and convince them of their errors by folid arguments (S). These did accordingly ply their ftudy of thofe tongues, and of the facred books fo closely, that they easily discovered the errors and fables of the rabbies, and were able to beat them at their own weapons. Among other productions brought forth against them, one was the Pugio Fidei, R. Marattributed by fome to our Dominican above-mentioned, tho' tino's Puit did not appear till three years after his death, and was gio Fidei. written by another monk of that order, named Raymond Martini, and only encouraged and promoted by Pennaforte (T). Anonym. in Vit. R. Penneforte. (S) We are told, however, that he fucceeded better against the Moors, of whom he is faid to have converted above 10,000; whilft the Jews contented themfelves with expreffing a great regard for him, on account of his fingular moderation, with out betraying any inclination to turn Chriftians, tho' the king had published fome edicts against them, which if not quite fo bloody and fevere as others have been, yet deprived the recufants of their ancient liberty. Pennaforte hath not only been highly cried up for his zeal, but hath been likewife canonized for his miracles, one of which their legend tells us was, that not being longer able to bear the corruption of the Spanish court, he croffed the fea upon his clock, whilft his staff ferved him for a rudder +. (T) Some have affirmed that he was originally a few, and after his converfion entered into that order, wherein he made fo great a figure for his learning, ABOUT that he was chofen to hold that famed conference with R. Nachmanides, before king Ferdinand, which we mentioned under his name, and wherein they add he had fo much the fuperiority, that he not only filenced that learned Jew, but obliged him, thro' fhame of his defeat, to retire into Judea, as we there hinted. But in this they have. done Martini more honour than he deserved, feeing he was not the person that held the difpute, in which he said but little, but another of his order named Paul; and is the only perfon mentioned in that king's edict, and was accordingly cited as fuch at another difpute held before pope Benedia III. However, with respect to the conference above mentioned; each fide fung victoria. Paul obtained an edit from that monarch, enjoining the Jews to open the gates of their houfes and fynagogues to him, and to furnish him with all their Hebrew books whenever he came † Anonym, in Penefort, apud Bafn, l, ix. c. 17. § 7. to ABOUT the fame time Alphonfo X. king of Caftile, and a celebrated astronomer, being then about compiling those tables which have fince gone by his name, gave no fmall encouragement to the Jewish rabbies; many of whom he found well verfed in that feience, and who by that means easily insinuated themselves into his favour. Among them Judah de Toledo tranflated by his order the astronomical works of Avicenna, and improved them by a new divifion of the stars, which he di to difpute with them (49). On the other hand, our Jewish doc. tor (50), who published an account of that conference, pre. tends that the king was fo well fatisfied with their rabbi's conduct, that he gave him 300 crowns to defray his charges. He hath been fince cried up and quoted by thofe of his nation, as a learned defender of the Jewish religion, and affirmed to have lived in great esteem at Jerufalem, and to have retired thither, merely on a religious account; tho' it appears plainly enough, even from their very account, that he made but a poor anfwer to his antagonist, about the time of the Meffiah's coming, and that the only advantage he had againft him, was owing to the abfurd manner which that monk took to prove the Trinity of perfons against him. There is indeed fome reafon to fufpect this relation, from feveral circumfiances, to have been written, not by that rabbi, but by fome German Jew fome time after, there being feveral German idioms in it, which fhew it could not be written by a native of Gironna. And even this conference made fo little noife, that the pope above-mentioned, who was a native of Arragon, had heard nothing of it, tho' the Jews reprefented it as fo much in their favour, that he blamed the king for having permitted, and friar Paul for having held it. As to the Pugio Fidei, it hath been much cried up fince it first appeared, as the best thing written against the Jews; but that was not till the last century, it having lain dormant till then (1). We fhall not take upon us to pafs a judgment on that work, from which Porcheto, Galatino, N. de Lyra, Finus Ricci, Jerom de St. Fido, and others among the Roman Catholics, and Du Pleffis de Mornay among the Proteftants, have drawn moft of their Jewish learning, but in which there are several arguments against the Jews very jejune and inconclufive. As for the author, he was fo well verfed in the Hebrew and the Jewish books, that it hath given occafion to feveral learned men to think that he was a convert from the fynagogue; tho' if he had been so, it is not likely that his Jewish antagonist Nachmanides, above mentioned, would have forborn upbraiding him with it, in the relation he gave of their conference. (49) Codex leg. artiq. ap. Lindembrok, fol. 235. ap. W genfel. tela ignea. Satane. com. ii. p. 24, & Jeq. (50) Difp. Nachmanid. (1) Bafnag. ub. sup. |