Chapter XV (1)

THE KABBALA AND MESSIANIC FANATICISM. THE MARRANOS AND THE INQUISITION.

Internal Condition of Judaism--Division in the Communities--
The Lack of Interest in Poetry--Historical Studies--Leon
Medigo's "Dialogues of Love"--Supremacy of the Kabbala--
Messianic Hopes--The Marranos and the Inquisition--Henrique
Nunes--The Traveler David Reubeni in Rome--Solomon Molcho
--His Relations with David Reubeni--Joseph Karo and his
"Maggid"--Clement VII--Molcho in Ancona and Rome--His Favor
with the Cardinals--Death of Molcho--The Enthusiastic Regard in
which he was held--Duarte de Paz--Paul III--Charles V and the
Jews--Emanuel da Costa.

1500-1538 C.E.

It is astonishing, yet not astonishing, that the surging movement, the convulsive heaving that shook the Christian world from pole to pole in the first quarter of the sixteenth century scarcely touched the inner life of the Jews. Whilst among Christians a radical change took place, in thought, customs, studies, and even in language; whilst their ancient customs and usages were rejected or put aside in some places, and in others freshened up; in a word, whilst a new era started, everything remained unchanged with the Jews. Having had no "Middle Ages," they needed no new epoch. They needed no regeneration, they had no immoral course of life to redress, no cankering corruption to cure, no dam to raise against the insolence and rapacity of their spiritual guides. They had not so much rubbish to clear away. It must not be imagined, however, that within the pale of Judaism all was bright. The refining and civilizing thoughts of Judaism had not yet gained the upper hand. The people were wanting in spirituality, their guides in clearness of mind. Reliance on justification by works and scholastic sophistry were prevalent also among Jews. In the synagogue service spirituality was missing, and honesty in the world of business. The ritual retained all received from olden times, and became filled with unintelligible elements, so that, on the whole, it acquired an unattractive character. Sermons were unknown in German congregations and their offshoots; at best, Talmudical discourses, utterly unintelligible to the people, especially to women, and, therefore, leaving them cold and uninterested, were delivered. The Spanish and Portuguese preachers spoke in the beautiful language of their country, but their sermons were so full of pedantry that they were no more easily understood by the laity.

The breaking up of Jewish congregations into national groups was also a misfortune. The persecution of the Jews had thrown into the large towns of Italy and Turkey fugitives from the Pyrenees and from Germany, who failed to unite themselves with the existing congregations, yet did not amalgamate with each other. There were, therefore, in many towns, not only Italian, Romanic (Greek), Spanish, Portuguese, German, and, now and again, Moorish (African) congregations, but of each almost as many as there were provinces and towns in each country. For example, in Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica, Arta (Larta) in Greece, and many other towns, there was a large variety of congregations, each of which had its own directors, ritual, rabbi, academy, charities, its own prejudices and jealousies. In the face of such division, nothing for the public benefit or general good could be accomplished. The spiritual leaders, although generally moral, and, as a rule, sincerely and fervently religious, humbled themselves before the rich members of their congregation, witnessing insolence and misconduct without daring to reprove them.

Worse than this splitting up into tiny congregations was the faintness, the narrow-mindedness, the self-abasement, not merely of German Jews, but of the Sephardic exiles. Only when it was necessary to die for the faith of their fathers did they show themselves heroic and full of courage; at other times their activity was expended on petty concerns. No new course was taken, not even at sight of the daily changes of the Christian world. The few who maintained themselves on the heights of science kept to the beaten track, served but to level it still more. The ruling idea was to elucidate old thoughts and old thinkers, and to write commentaries, yea, even super-commentaries. The Talmudists explained the Talmud, and the philosophical inquirers Maimuni's "Guide." Higher flight of fancy and greater spiritual insight were not possible. No sound of real poetry came from the lips of those nourished on it, not even a thrilling song of lamentation, putting their grief into words. The only circumstance testifying to change of position and times was interest in historical research, and that was almost entirely confined to the Jews of Pyrenean descent. The endless suffering which they had endured, they wished to preserve for future generations. Present misery brought before them the sorrows of early ages, and showed them that the history of the Jewish race was one long course of painful martyrdom.

Otherwise there was nothing new at this period. Freedom of philosophical inquiry was not favored. Isaac Abrabanel, the transmitter of the old Spanish Hebrew spirit, found in Maimuni's philosophical writings many heresies opposed to Judaism, and he condemned the free-thinking commentators who went beyond tradition. A Portuguese fugitive, Joseph Jaabez, laid on philosophy the blame for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. Free-thinking was the sin which had led Israel astray; thereon must the greatest restriction be laid.

A fresh spirit breathes in the philosophical work of the talented Leon Abrabanel, or Medigo. Its title, "Dialogues of Love" (Dialoghi d'amore), tells the reader that it is not tainted with the insipidity of commonplace philosophy. No one can better show the elasticity of the Jewish mind than this scion of the ancient noble family of Abrabanel. Torn from a comfortable home, thrown into a strange land, leading an unsettled life in Italy, his heart tortured by gnawing pain for the living death of his first-born, who had been snatched from him, Leon Medigo had enough intellectual strength to immerse himself in the Italian language and literature, and reduce his scattered philosophical ideas to perfect order. Hardly ten years after his flight from Spain he might have passed for a learned Italian, rivaling in style the polished writers of the Medici era, and even excelling them in extent of learning. With the same pen with which he wrote Hebrew verses to his son, who was being educated in sham Christianity in Portugal, admonishing him, "Remain continually mindful of Judaism, cherish the Hebrew language and literature, and keep ever before thee the grief of thy father, the pain of thy mother," he wrote his "Dialogues of Love," the outpourings of Philo's deep love for Sophia. This ostensible romance is the keynote of Leon Medigo's philosophical system, which sounds more like a philosophical idyll than a logical system. There is more imagination than reality, and his reflections are suggestive rather than true. Possibly Leon Medigo put his deeper thoughts into a work, now lost, entitled the "Harmony of Heaven." His "Dialogues of Love" throughout was far removed from Judaism. Leon Medigo paid high honor to "Hebrew truth," and endeavored to uphold the scriptural doctrine of creation out of chaos, in opposition to the principles of Greek philosophy, but he did not penetrate to the true spirit of Judaism. Therefore his work was valued by Christians more than by Jews. The Italians were proud to see--it was the first time-- philosophical thought laid down in their own enthusiastically beloved language. The work became the favorite reading of the educated class, and in the space of twenty years went through five editions.

The Kabbala with its futilities soon took possession of minds no longer accustomed to strict logical discipline, and in a measure it filled the void. In the sixteenth century it first began to have sway over men's minds. Its adversaries were dead, or indisposed to place themselves in opposition to the ideas of the age, only too strongly inclined to mysteries, paradoxes and irrational fancies. Sephardic fugitives, Judah Chayyat, Baruch of Benevento, Abraham Levi, Meïr ben Gabbai, Ibn-Abi Zimra, had brought the Kabbala to Italy and Turkey, and with extraordinary energy won zealous adherents for it. Also, the enthusiasm felt for the Kabbala by Christian scholars, such as Egidio de Viterbo, Reuchlin, Galatino, and others, reacted upon the Jews. The doctrine, they reasoned, must have some deep truth in it, if it is so sought for by noble Christians. Preacher-Kabbalists expounded the doctrine from the pulpit, which had not been done before. On questions of ritual the Kabbalist writings were consulted, often as final authorities. No wonder that typical elements of the Zohar crept into the liturgy, conferring upon it a mystical character. With bold presumption the Kabbalists asserted that they alone were in possession of the Mosaic tradition, and that the Talmud and the rabbis must give place to them. In this way the secret doctrine with its tricks and fancies, which had hitherto unsettled only some few adepts, became known amongst all the Jews, and affected the sober minds of the people. The opposition of the rabbis to this interference in the ritual and religious life was rather weak, as they themselves were convinced of the sanctity of the Kabbala, and objected to the innovations only in a faint-hearted way.

The empty Kabbala could not fail to arouse enthusiasm in empty heads. With the Zoharist mystics, as with the Essenes, the expectation of the Messiah was the center of their system. To further the kingdom of the Messiah, or the kingdom of Heaven, or the kingdom of morality, and to predict, by means of letters and numbers, the exact time of its advent, was the labor in which they delighted. Isaac Abrabanel, although he did not favor the Kabbala, gave this Messianic enthusiasm his countenance. The accumulated sufferings of the few remaining Spanish and Portuguese Jews had broken the spirit of many, and robbed them of their hope of better times. The hopelessness and despair of his people, which, if they spread, would further the plans of the church, pained the faithful Isaac Abrabanel, and in order to counteract this dangerous tendency, he prepared three works, based upon the Bible (principally the Book of Daniel) and Agadic sayings, which, he believed, proved incontrovertibly that Israel would have a glorious future, and that a Messiah would unfailingly come. According to his reckoning, the advent of the Messiah must of necessity be in the year 1503, 5263 years after the creation of the world, and the end would come with the fall of Rome, about twenty-eight years later.

The support given to Messianic calculations by so thoughtful and respected a man as Isaac Abrabanel, together with Kabbalistic fancies, seems to have encouraged an enthusiast to predict the immediate realization of Messianic ideals. A German, Asher Lämmlein (or Lämmlin), appeared in Istria, near Venice, proclaiming himself a forerunner of the Messiah (1502). He announced that if the Jews would show great repentance, mortification, contrition and charity, the Messiah would not fail to come in six months. The people's minds, prepared by suffering and the Kabbalist craze, were susceptible to such convulsive expectations. Asher Lämmlein gained a troop of adherents, who spread his prophecies. In Italy and Germany he met with sympathy and belief. There was much fasting, much praying, much distribution of alms. It was called the "year of penitence." Everyone prepared himself for the beginning of the miracle. They counted so surely on redemption and return to Jerusalem that existing institutions were wilfully destroyed. The sober and thoughtful did not dare check this wild fanaticism. Even Christians are said to have believed in Asher Lämmlein's Messianic prophecy. But the prophet died, or suddenly disappeared, and with him the extravagant hopes came to an end.

But with the termination of the Lämmlein "year of penitence," the Jews by no means lost their hope in the Messiah; it was necessary to support them in their misery. The Kabbalists did not cease arousing this hope, ever and anon promising them its wonderful realization. Thirty years later a more important Messianic movement commenced, which, by reason of its extent and the persons implicated in it, was most interesting. The Marranos in Spain and Portugal played the principal part in it.

These most unfortunate of all unfortunates, who renounced the faith of their people, who in a measure estranged themselves from their own hearts, who were compelled to observe church rites most punctiliously, though they hated them in the depth of their souls, yet despite all this were repelled by the Inquisition and the hatred of Christians-- these converts suffered, without exaggeration, the tortures of hell. The greater portion of them, in spite of all their struggles, could not bring themselves to love Christianity. How could they feel love for a creed whose followers daily required the sacrifice of human life, and on the slightest pretext sought victims among new-Christians? Under Deza, the second Spanish chief inquisitor, almost greater horrors were perpetrated than under Torquemada. He and his tools, in particular Diego Rodriguez Lucero, a pious hangman in Cordova, had committed so many infamies that a good monk, Peter Martyr, pictured the Inquisition thirty years after its origin in glaring colors: "The archbishop of Seville (Deza), Lucero, and Juan de la Fuente have dishonored this province. Their people acknowledge neither God nor justice. They kill, steal, and violate women and maidens, to the disgrace of religion. The injury and unhappiness which these servants of the Inquisition have caused in my land are so great and widespread that everyone must grieve." Lucero (the luminous), called by his confederates, on account of his horrible deeds, Tenebrero (the dark one), brought destruction on thousands: he was insatiable for the blood of Hebrew martyrs. "Give me Jews to burn," is said to have been his constant cry. His fanaticism degenerated into cannibalistic fury.

The officers of the Inquisition had their hands full in consequence of his cruelty, and an ominous disturbance was growing in Cordova. The principal people of the place complained of the proceedings of the inquisitor Lucero, and applied to the chief inquisitor to have him removed from office. But Deza was at one with him, and so the discontented knights, nobles, donnas, priests and nuns, were all accused of favoring Jewish heresy. The third chief inquisitor, Ximenes de Cisneros, was forbearing towards old Christians suspected of Judaizing, but condemned not a few converts of Jewish and Moorish descent to be burned. It was he who used threatening language against Charles V, when he proposed granting the Spanish Marranos freedom of belief for a fee of 800,000 gold crowns. He forbade his royal pupil to tolerate the Jews, as Torquemada had forbidden it to Charles' ancestors. His successors were not less orthodox, that is to say, not less inhuman. Under them the victims were not Jews alone; Christians suffered with them. The reform movement in Germany was felt also in Spain. Luther's and Calvin's onslaught on the papacy, on priestcraft and ceremonies was brought over the Pyrenees through the connection of Spain and Germany, and owing to the nationality of Emperor Charles V. The emperor, so troubled with the Reformation in Germany, empowered the Holy Office to proceed against Lutheran doctrines in Spain, a most welcome task to the bloodthirsty monster. Henceforth, Jews, Mahometans and Lutheran Christians enjoyed equality; at every auto-da-fé martyrs of the three different religions perished together.

The Marranos in Portugal were differently placed from those in Spain. King Manoel, who had by force dragged the Jews to the baptismal font, in order not to drive them to despair had pledged his word that for twenty (or twenty-nine) years, their faith should not suffer molestation at the hands of the Inquisition. Relying on this promise the Portuguese Marranos followed Jewish observances with less secrecy than those of Spain. In Lisbon, where they mostly resided, they had a synagogue, in which they assembled, the more regularly as they outwardly complied with the Roman Catholic rites, and, therefore, in their own place of worship, with much contrition, implored forgiveness of God for their idolatry. The old instructed the young in the Bible and the Talmud, and impressed upon them the truths of Judaism, so as to guard them against the temptation of unreserved acceptance of Christianity. The Portuguese Marranos also had more freedom to emigrate, and left singly or in numbers for Barbary or Italy, and thence went on to Turkey. To check the emigration of the Marranos Manoel had issued an order that a Christian could conclude an exchange or barter with a convert only under pain of forfeiting his possessions, and could buy real estate from him only by royal permission; moreover, that no Marrano, with wife, children and servants, should leave the land without a special license from the king. But orders of this description were made only to be evaded. Spanish Marranos had every reason to envy their fellows in Portugal, and spared no trouble to escape beyond the frontier of the land where the stake was ready, and the fagots lighted for them. Very naturally the vindictive Spanish government opposed them, and induced Manoel to pass a law that no Spaniard could step on Portuguese soil unless he brought a certificate that he was not guilty of heresy.

The Portuguese Marranos, then, would have had a tolerable existence if popular hatred of them had not been so fierce. This unfriendliness after their baptism shows that they were hated less as followers of Judaism than as a different race, and an active, industrious, superior class. The Christians' dislike of them increased when the converts obtained the right of pursuing a trade, of collecting church tithes, of taking office, or even accepting ecclesiastical dignities preparatory to entering one of the orders. At first they showed their hatred by calling them insulting names, "cursed convert of a Jew" (_Judæo Marrano, converso_), till Manoel stopped this by law. Bad harvests, which for many years had brought famine into Portugal, now resulted in a plague, and this added fuel to popular animosity. It was commonly said, "The baptized Jews are grain speculators; they make the necessaries of life dear, and export grain to foreign countries." The person most hated was a Marrano upstart, John Rodrigo Mascarenhas, the farmer of taxes, and through him all the Marranos incurred hatred.

This feeling was employed by the crafty Dominicans to gain the expulsion of the favorites of King Manoel. They not only preached about the godlessness of the converts, but invented a miracle outright to excite the fanaticism of the people. The moment was opportune. The plague raged in Portugal, and swept away thousands daily, while continued drought threatened another bad harvest. Of these troubles, the Marranos alone were the cause, at least so everybody said. The Dominicans loudly proclaimed that, in one of their churches, in a mirror attached to a cross, the Virgin Mary had appeared in a glow of fire, and other astonishing miracles had been seen in it. They were practiced in such deceit. Many people flocked to the church to behold the marvel. On a Sunday after Easter (April 19th, 1506), the church was filled with devotional gazers, among them Marranos, who were compelled to attend.

A Dominican, in a passionate sermon, charged the people collected in the church to murder the accursed converts, because the king favored them; and two others, John Mocho and Fratre Bernardo, walked through the street, bearing crosses, and, crying "Heresy, heresy!" The scum of the populace in the turbulent capital was aroused, and, together with German, Dutch and French sailors, took this opportunity to plunder. Thus nearly 10,000 people went through the town, and killed Marranos, men, women and children, wherever they found them, in the streets, in the houses, or in hiding.

This, however, by no means ended the massacre; it continued two days longer. A German, who was in Lisbon, reported: "On Monday I saw things dreadful to say or write if one has not seen them." Women with child were flung from the windows and caught on spears by those standing underneath, and their offspring hurled away. The peasantry followed the example of the townspeople. Many women and girls were violated in this fanatical chase. The number of new-Christians slain is estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000.

By this slaughter the fate of the Portuguese Marranos was decided. The people were the more embittered against them because they had gained the favor of the king, and they longed for their extermination. Their lives hung on the chance of the continuance of the king's favor. Manoel declared by proclamation (March, 1507) that converts were to be treated as Christians, and that they should be permitted to emigrate; and by another order, that for sixteen years more they should not be liable to be arraigned before a tribunal for their religious conduct. The Christian population remained hostile to the converts, from racial antipathy and from envy of their industrial success, and Manoel himself was compelled to modify his attitude towards them.

The condition of the Portuguese Marranos changed under Manoel's successor João III (1522-1557), the blockhead who brought about the ruin of his country. As Infante he had been the declared enemy of the new-Christians. At first he respected his father's edict to place converted Jews on a par with Christians, and to allow no trial to take place regarding their religious belief within the prescribed time (1522-1524). For this indulgence the Marranos had to thank the old counselors of Manoel, who remembered the violent mode of their conversion, and on the other hand appreciated how much they had increased the prosperity of the little state. For the Marranos were a most useful class on account of their energy, their wholesale business, their public banks, and their skill as armorers and cannon founders. They were the only ones, too, possessed of a knowledge of medicine and physical science and all pertaining to it. There were in Portugal hardly any but Jewish, that is to say, Marrano physicians. When, however, other influences were brought to bear on João, and he gradually freed himself from these wise counselors, his fanatical detestation of the converts gained the upper hand. Queen Catherine, a Spanish Infanta, filled with admiration of the religious tribunal of her country, and the bloodthirsty Dominicans, envious of the power of their order in Spain, besieged the king with complaints of the disgraceful and wicked conduct of the Marranos towards the Christian faith, and urged him to put a stop to the proceedings of the Marranos by instituting an Inquisition. João III thereupon commissioned George Themudo to inquire into the life of the Marranos in Lisbon, their headquarters, and to report to him upon it. Themudo was probably not far from the truth when he informed the king (July, 1524) that some Marranos observed the Sabbath and the Passover, that, on the other hand, they joined in Christian rites and ceremonies as little as possible, were not present at mass and divine service, did not go to confession, did not ask that extreme unction be administered to the dying, were buried in unconsecrated ground, not in a churchyard, that they had no masses said for their departed relatives, and committed other offenses of a similar character.

But João was not satisfied with Themudo's report; the Marranos were put under an espionage system. A convert, an emigrant from Spain, named Henrique Nunes, who afterwards received from the church the honorary title Firme-Fé, was chosen by the king to spy upon them. In the school of the bloodthirsty Lucero he had acquired a fierce hatred of the Marranos, and it was his ardent wish to see the fagots kindled in Portugal. To him the king gave secret instructions to insinuate himself into the families of the converts, to associate with them as a brother and companion in adversity, to observe them and report upon all the information he could gain. Blinded by fanaticism and hatred of his own race, Nunes did not consider how contemptible a rôle, that of a common spy, was allotted to him. He undertook the work only too willingly, learned all the secrets of the unhappy Marranos in Lisbon, Evora and other places, and communicated all that he saw and heard in letters to the king. He betrayed with a brother's kiss those who showed him the hidden corners of their hearts. He informed the king not only that he found no Catholic prayer-books in their houses, that they had no holy images among their ornaments or on their plate, that they did not care for rosaries and other things of that kind, but he gave the names of the Jewish Marranos, making hateful accusations against them. As soon as João received the desired intelligence, he resolved to introduce the Inquisition on the Spanish model into his country, and secretly sent the trusty Nunes to Charles V in Spain to learn something more about it. The Marranos had got wind of this, and were so furious with the treacherous spy, that two of them followed him to punish his perfidy with death. These were Diego Vaz, of Olivença, and André Dias, of Vianna, who were Franciscans, or disguised themselves in monks' dress. They reached him not far from the Spanish frontier, near Badajoz, and killed him with sword and spear. They found letters on him about the installation of the Inquisition. The avengers, or murderers, as the orthodox Christians called them, were discovered, brought to trial, stretched on the rack to betray their accomplices, and finally condemned to the gallows. But the traitor Nunes was regarded as a martyr, almost canonized, and given the honorary title of "Firme-Fé" (Firm Believer).

One would have expected the fanatical king after this occurrence to pursue with greater zeal his object of establishing an Inquisition, so as to proceed against the Jewish Marranos whose names he had obtained from Nunes. The king did, indeed, institute a strict inquiry to discover the accomplices of the two Marrano monks. Contrary to expectation João issued no restrictions against the Marranos. Also the inquiry about the conspirators for Nunes' death seems to have been intentionally protracted as much as possible. Documents plainly say that the king gave up the plan of establishing the Inquisition. A chance, the boldness of an adventurer, appears in the first instance to have brought about this favorable alteration in the mind of the weak, vacillating king.

Coming from the far East, and emerging from obscurity, appeared a man of whom it is hard to say whether he was an impostor or a foolish fanatic, and whether he intended to play the role of a Messianic or of a political adventurer, but he caused a great stir among Jews, affecting the Marranos in the extreme West. David, an Oriental by descent, long resident in Arabia and Nubia, suddenly appeared in Europe in a peculiar character, and by means of both fiction and truth started the wildest hopes. He declared himself a descendant of the old Hebrew tribe of Reuben, which, he alleged, still flourished in Arabia in independence, and he claimed to be a prince, the brother of a reigning Jewish king. He, therefore, called himself David Reubeni.

Loving travel and adventure, he journeyed much in Arabia, Nubia and Egypt, and came finally to Italy. The report was that he had been sent by his brother, who commanded 300,000 chosen warriors, and by the seventy elders of the land of Chaibar, to the European princes, especially to the pope, to obtain firearms and cannon with which to fight the Mahometan people, who hindered the union of the Jewish race on both sides of the Red Sea, and to assist the brave Jewish army to drive the Turks out of the Holy Land.

David Reubeni's appearance and manner were such as to inspire confidence. In both, there was something strange, mysterious and eccentric. He was of dark complexion and dwarfish in stature, and so excessively thin that continuous fasts reduced him almost to a skeleton. Possessed of courage and intrepidity, he had at the same time a harsh manner that admitted of no familiarity. He only spoke Hebrew, and that in so corrupt a jargon that neither Asiatic Jews nor those of southern Europe understood him. He came to Rome (February, 1524), and accompanied by a servant and an interpreter, rode on a white horse to the Vatican, and requested an interview with Cardinal Giulio, in the presence of other cardinals. Pope Clement also gave him audience, and accepted his credentials.

Clement VII (1523-1534), one of the most excellent popes, an illegitimate scion of the Florentine Medicis, was sensible and kind, and earnestly desired to see Italy freed from the barbarians, that is, the Germans. But he reigned at a time when Europe had lost its balance. On the one side Luther and his Reformation, which gained ground daily, threatened to undermine the papacy; and on the other, Charles V's powerful realm, Spain and Germany with Burgundy and a part of America, almost crushed Italy into servile dependence. If Clement quarreled with the emperor, the latter favored the Reformation, and set about restraining the papal power. If the pope became reconciled to him, the liberty of Italy was menaced. Thus, notwithstanding his firm character, he was continually wavering, and like most of his contemporaries had recourse to astrology, in order to learn from the stars what was beyond the wisdom of men.

To Pope Clement VII, David Reubeni seems to have handed letters of introduction from Portuguese captains or business agents, whom he may have met in Arabia or Nubia. These credentials the pope sent to the Portuguese court, and when they were there declared trustworthy, David was treated with the greatest distinction, and received all the honors due an ambassador. He rode through Rome on a mule, accompanied by ten Jews and more than two hundred Christians. The plan of a crusade against Turkey, by which the most dangerous enemy of Christianity would be driven out of the Holy Land by an Israelitish army, attracted the pope, because it promised to restore to him the control of military affairs, but its execution was thwarted by the complexities of his position. Even the most incredulous of the Jews could not conceal from themselves the astonishing fact that a Jew was treated with respect and politeness by the Vatican, and were convinced that there must be at least a grain of truth in David's report. Roman and foreign Jews pressed round him who seemed to open a hopeful future to them. Señora Benvenida Abrabanela, wife of the rich Samuel Abrabanel, sent him great sums of money from Naples, a costly silk banner embroidered with the Ten Commandments, and many rich garments. He, however, played his part in a masterly manner, keeping the Jews at a respectful distance.

At length a formal invitation came from the king of Portugal, summoning David Reubeni to his court. The latter left Rome, traveling by sea with a Jewish flag on his ship. In Almeirin, the residence of king João III near Santarem, where David arrived, like a wealthy prince, with a numerous retinue bearing beautifully embroidered banners, he was also treated with the greatest honor, and a scheme was discussed with him as to how the weapons and cannons could be transported from Portugal for the Israelite army in Arabia and Nubia. David's appearance in Portugal seems to have changed the feeling towards the Marranos, and João was persuaded to give up the intended persecution of them. For so great an undertaking João would need their support, their money and their advice. If he wished for an alliance with the Hebrew king and people, he must not persecute the half-Jews in his own country. So his zeal for the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal suddenly cooled. One can imagine the astonishment and joy of the Marranos in Portugal, when they understood that not only might a Jew be admitted into Portugal, but that he was received at court, and treated with respect. Thus, then, had come the hour of deliverance of which they had so long dreamed. Unexpected help had come to them, freedom and deliverance from their anguish; they breathed again. Whether or not David Reubeni had declared himself the forerunner of the Messiah, did not matter to the Marranos; they believed it, and counted the days to the time when he would make them behold the new Jerusalem in all its splendor. They pressed round him, kissed his hands, and treated him as if he were their king. From Portugal the supposed message of salvation passed to Spain to the still more unfortunate Marranos there, who received it with ecstasies of joy. These poor people had fallen into a morbid, eccentric, irresponsible state of mind. Daily and hourly they suffered torments of soul, through having to join in religious customs which they abhorred with their whole heart. It was no wonder that many of them lost their mental balance, and became quite mad. In the vicinity of Herrara, a Marrano maiden proclaimed herself a prophetess; fell into trances and had visions; declared that she had seen Moses and the angels, and promised to lead her suffering companions into the Holy Land. She found many believers among the Marranos, and when this was discovered, she was burned together with thirty-eight adherents. Messianic expectation, that is, redemption through a miracle, made the atmosphere in which the Marranos breathed and lived. At the news of the arrival of an ambassador from a Jewish kingdom at the Portuguese court, a crowd of Spanish converts fled to Portugal to be near their supposed redeemer. David, who enjoyed the privilege of traveling about in Portugal, appears to have behaved very circumspectly: he gave them no promises, and did not encourage them openly to acknowledge Judaism. He knew well that he was walking on the edge of a precipice, and that one expression, one act of his directed towards bringing back new-Christians to Judaism might cost him his life. Nevertheless, all eyes were fastened on him; all were aroused and excited by the wonderful events which would certainly come to pass.

David Reubeni's appearance and the hopes it awakened took strongest hold upon one noble, talented, handsome youth; indeed, the whole course of his existence was changed. Diogo Pires (born about 1501, died a martyr, 1532), whose glowing, poetic imagination under more favorable circumstances might have accomplished much in the domain of the beautiful, became a tool in the hands of the self-proclaimed envoy from Chaibar. Pires, who was born a new-Christian, had acquired a good education; he understood and could speak Latin, the universal language of the time. He had risen to be royal secretary at a high court of justice, and was a great favorite at court. With Hebrew and rabbinic literature he must have been familiar from his earliest youth, and he had been initiated into the Kabbala, probably by one of the Marrano teachers. At the time when David and his chimerical plans made so much stir in Portugal, Diogo Pires was completely possessed by wild dreams and visions, all of which had a Messianic background. He hastened, therefore, to David, to ascertain whether his mission was in accordance with these visionary revelations. David Reubeni appears to have treated him with coldness, and to have told him plainly that his military embassy had nothing to do with Messianic mysticism. But Diogo Pires fancied the coldness of the alleged envoy to be owing to the circumstance that he had not accepted the sign of the covenant, and he forthwith proceeded to undergo the dangerous operation of circumcision. The consequent loss of blood laid him on a sick bed. David was highly incensed when Pires told him of this, as both of them would be in danger, if it came to the king's ears that a Marrano had so emphatically and openly declared himself a Jew; for it would be asserted that David had persuaded him to take this course.

After circumcision Pires (who took the name of Solomon Molcho) had yet more terrible visions, owing presumably to his bodily weakness. Their import always had reference to the Marranos and their redemption by the Messiah. According to his own account a strange being (Maggid), who communed with him from Heaven in a dream, charged him to leave Portugal and set out for Turkey. David Reubeni also had advised that he should leave Portugal with all speed, as the act of circumcision might involve also David in danger, and frustrate his schemes. Leaving Portugal cannot, then, have been difficult for Marranos. Diogo Pires (or Solomon Molcho) reached Turkey, and hoped for a Messianic mission and a martyr's death.

A great sensation was made there by this enthusiastic, handsome young Kabbalist, the new Jewish recruit. At first he gave himself out as a delegate from David Reubeni, of whose good reception at the papal and Portuguese courts rumors were current even in the East, and had not failed to inflame people's imagination. In Salonica, Joseph Taytasak's Kabbalistic circle took possession of him, and greedily listened to his dreams and visions. At Adrianople Molcho converted to the Kabbala the sober-minded Joseph Karo, who had left Spain when a boy, and had hitherto busied himself entirely with Talmudic learning. Enthusiasm is infectious. Karo fell into the same Kabbalistic enthusiasm as Molcho. He also had his dream-prompter (Maggid), who taught him inelegant, mystical interpretations of Scriptural passages, and revealed the future. He was so faithful an imitator that, like Molcho, he lived in the most certain expectation of being burnt at the stake as a "burnt-sacrifice of a sweet savour unto the Lord." Molcho inoculated his followers with a longing for martyrdom. His captivating person, pure enthusiasm, romantic disposition, past career, astonishing knowledge of the Kabbala (though born a Christian), everything connected with him, raised up a host of adherents, who greedily listened to his mystic utterances, and believingly accepted them. He often preached, and words flowed like a torrent from his lips. Gray-headed men went with questions to the youth, seeking explanations of obscure verses of Scripture, or revelations of the future. At the urgent request of his friends in Salonica he published a brief abstract of his Kabbalistic sermons, the substance of which was: The advent of the Messiah is at hand; his reign will begin at the end of the year 5300 dating from the creation (1540). The sack and havoc of Rome (May 5th, 1527), confirmed the Messianic hopes of Kabbalistic zealots. Rome, the iniquitous Catholic Babylon, filled with the spoils of the whole earth, was taken by storm by German soldiers, mostly Lutherans, and was treated almost as a hostile city by order of the Catholic emperor, Charles V. The fall of Rome, according to Messianic and apocalyptic principles, had been predicted as a sign of the Messiah's advent. Now Rome had fallen. In Asia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, and Germany, hopes of the coming of the Messiah were stirring in Jewish hearts, and were associated with the name of Solomon Molcho, who was to bring about their realization.

In Spain and Portugal the Marranos held yet more firmly to their visions of Messianic redemption, and to David Reubeni, whom, with or without his consent, they took for a forerunner of the Messiah. Their illusion was so complete that they boldly inaugurated enterprises which could only end in death for themselves. Several Spanish Marranos, condemned to the stake, had curiously enough found a place of refuge in Portugal (in Campo-Mayor), where they were suffered to remain unmolested. A company of young people from among them ventured to attack Badajoz, whence they had fled, for the purpose of rescuing some Marrano women languishing in the Inquisition dungeons. Their irruption greatly alarmed the inhabitants, but they succeeded in rescuing the unfortunate victims. The incident made a great stir in both countries, and led to most prejudicial results for the pseudo-Christians. This occurrence, as well as the denunciation of several Marranos for disrespect to an image of the Virgin Mary, again induced the king to consider the scheme of establishing a court of Inquisition. David Reubeni's favor with the king of Portugal was of brief duration. He was at first received by João III with extraordinary friendliness, and often admitted to audience (when conversation was carried on by means of an Arab and Portuguese interpreter), and received the distinct promise that eight ships and 4,000 firearms should be placed at his disposal to enable his brother, the alleged king of Chaibar, to make war upon the Turks and Arabs, but the king gradually cooled down. Miguel de Silva, Portuguese ambassador at the papal court while David was at Rome, had held the alleged Jewish prince of Chaibar to be an adventurer. He was recalled to Portugal, and opposing the other councilors, who were deluded by David's daring character, made strenuous efforts to deprive him of the king's favor. Moreover, the homage so remarkably and openly offered to him by the Marranos had roused suspicion concerning him. Miguel de Silva, intrusted with the commission to establish the Inquisition in Portugal, pointed out that the king himself, by favoring the alleged Jewish prince, plainly fortified the Marranos in their unbelief, or adherence to the Jewish cause. Then came the circumcision and flight of the royal secretary, Diogo Pires (Solomon Molcho). This occurrence gave great offense at the Portuguese court, and it was insinuated to the king that David had been his abettor.

Thus it came to pass that David Reubeni suddenly received orders to quit Portugal after he had tarried there and been treated with distinction for nearly a twelvemonth. Only two months' grace before embarkation was granted him. The ship that carried him and his retinue was cast away on the Spanish coast, and David was taken prisoner in Spain, where he was forced to appear before the Inquisition. However, before that could take place, Emperor Charles set him free, and David Reubeni betook himself to Avignon, under papal jurisdiction. As soon as King João broke with David Reubeni, every reason for sparing the Marranos vanished. The vacillating king was hard-pressed by the queen, the Dominicans, and some of the nobles, to decide on introducing the Inquisition. The bishop of Ceuta, Henrique, formerly a Franciscan monk and a fanatical priest, brought about the decision. In his diocese of Olivença five new-Christians were suspected of Jewish practices. He made short work of them. Without greatly troubling as to whether the tribunal of the Inquisition was or was not sanctioned by the pope, and legally established by the king, he prepared stakes and fagots, and burnt the victims to death, having condemned them without regular trial (about 1530). The people jubilantly applauded him, and celebrated the murder of these Jewish-Christians with bull-fights. Far from wishing to hide his deed, Henrique boasted of it, and pressed the king to commence in earnest the chastisement of the heretical and sinful new-Christians. João decided to address himself to Pope Clement respecting the organization of commissions of inquiry in Portugal.

But there were still some priests left from the previous reign who loudly raised their voices against this violent treatment of the Marranos. Two especially deserve to have their names made known to posterity--Ferdinand Coutinho, bishop of Algarve, and Diogo Pinheiro, bishop of Funchal. They had been witnesses of the inhuman cruelties with which, under Manoel, the Jews were driven to baptism, and in no way could recognize them as Christians, neither when there was question of punishing them for relapsing into heresy, nor of intrusting them with judicial power or spiritual benefice. Coutinho, untiring in ridicule of the mistaken zeal of the younger priests, reminded the king that Pope Clement VII himself had not long before allowed several Marranos to acknowledge Judaism openly in the very city of Rome. This pope, convinced of the injustice shown to new-Christians, with the consent of the college of cardinals had given them an asylum at Ancona, permitting them freely to confess themselves Jews. In Florence and Venice also they could live without molestation. Nay, the papal consistory itself had given out that the Portuguese Marranos were to be regarded as Jews. He considered, so Coutinho expressed himself in his friendly consideration of the question, that instead of the new-Christians, accused of outraging what Christians hold sacred, the witnesses ought to be punished for bearing false testimony. The new-Christians should be won to the true faith only by gentle means. At length the king decided to submit the question to the pope, who, should he sanction the establishment of the Inquisition, would at the same time absolve him from the promises made to the Marranos. The Portuguese ambassador at Rome, Bras Neto, received orders to obtain a bull to that effect from the pope. But what so easily, by a stroke of the pen, had been conceded to Spain, cost the king of Portugal many efforts and a struggle, and he was never able fully to enjoy his Inquisition.

Now the weak hand of the amiable Kabbalist Solomon Molcho seized the spokes of this revolving wheel. From the East he had gone to Italy to fulfill the Messianic mission with which he was inspired, or with which he was credited. He wished to speak fearlessly before princes, in the capital of Christendom, of the approaching redemption. At Ancona, where he arrived with followers towards the end of 1529, certain malevolent persons, according to his own story, persecuted him. They were in fact prudent men, who were informed of his life in the East, and feared that, as a result of his impetuous striving for martyrdom, evil consequences would ensue for Jews all over the world, or at least for the Marranos in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Molcho, when cited, is understood to have confessed fearlessly that he preferred Judaism because it taught the truth. The bishop of Ancona discharged him as one of the Portuguese Marranos to whom freedom of religious confession had been allowed by the pope and the cardinals, but forbade him to preach against Christianity. Molcho remained some time at Ancona, where his preaching became very popular, even priests and Christians of the higher classes coming to the synagogue. However, he seems to have compromised himself, and in consequence repaired to Pesaro with the duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria della Rovere I, who thought a settlement of Marranos in his little state would be advantageous. But there was no rest for Molcho; he burnt with impatience to be at Rome to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, though without any clear conception of what to do. He waited for some prompting from on high, which, he believed, could not fail him. In obedience to a vision he abandoned his retinue at Pesaro, and set out alone on horseback for Rome. At the first sight of the Eternal City his feelings overcame him, for Molcho, like Luther, held Rome to be the seat of anti-Christ; he sank into fervent prayer, imploring redemption and forgiveness of sin for Israel. A voice broke in upon his prayer, predicting in verses of the Bible, "Edom (Rome) shall be the heritage of Israel, his foot shall be unsteady, but Israel will gain the victory." In this mood he entered Rome, and took up his abode at an inn kept by Christians. He put on a tattered suit, blackened his face, wrapped dirty rags around his feet, and leaving his horse and clothes at the inn, he took his stand among the tribe of beggars on the bridge over the Tiber, opposite the pope's palace. This equipment was in accordance with Messianic tradition, which had it that the Messiah would tarry amongst the lepers and ragged beggars of Rome, to be summoned thence to triumph. For thirty consecutive days the Portuguese enthusiast led this miserable existence, neither eating meat nor drinking wine, but contenting himself with the scantiest and poorest fare, and waiting for the prophetic ecstasy.

In this condition of bodily tension and mental exaltation, Molcho fell into a deep sleep, and had a confused dream, noteworthy because part of it was afterwards fulfilled to the very letter. It was predicted in this vision that a devastating flood would break over Rome and a northern country, and his native land be panic-stricken by an earthquake, that when he himself reached his thirtieth year he would be raised to a higher degree, and clad in Byssus, because of his own free will he had devoted himself to death. He would return to Rome, but leave it again before the flood took place. Then the Holy Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, would rest on the Messianic king, the dead would rise from the dust, and God give His people glory.

Next morning, enfeebled by his long mortification and his troubled sleep, Molcho dragged himself back to his inn, and rested. He laid aside his disguise, and went out to hold converse with Jews (February, 1530). Being still a complete stranger in Rome, and in order to avoid the denunciation of his opponents, he gave himself out as a messenger from Solomon Molcho. In spite of this he was recognized, and denounced to the Inquisition as a seditious Marrano. He had some time previously entered into intercourse with the pope and some of the cardinals, to whom he predicted the flood. Clement VII, who for several years had been drinking of the cup of sorrow, and experiencing humiliations such as had fallen to the lot of few popes before him, who had been forced to crown at Bologna his deadly enemy, Charles V, as king of Italy and emperor of Rome (February 22d-24th, 1530), was but too readily inclined to listen to dreams and visions. Other unknown relations may have existed between the pope and Molcho, in consequence of which the latter was regarded with surprising favor by the pope. Molcho had friends also among the cardinals. Lorenzo Pucci, for example, grand penitentiary of the papal see, who had taken Reuchlin's part against the Dominicans, was attached to him. Hence, while the papal police were lying in wait for Molcho, at the gates of Rome, he escaped over the walls, and hastened to the pope, from whom he obtained a pontifical passport that guaranteed him against harm.

Furnished with this, Molcho came back secretly to Rome, and one Saturday suddenly appeared in the chief synagogue, where, to the astonishment of all present, he preached on a text taken from the prophetical portion. His adherents in Rome increased so largely that he preached in the synagogue every Sabbath until autumn, without meeting with opposition. He inspired his hearers, yet seemed powerless to disarm his opponents. Molcho was the Jewish Savonarola. He spoke with unshakable certainty of his visions, and even announced to the king of Portugal (through the ambassador, Bras Neto) the earthquake which threatened Lisbon, so that precautionary measures might be taken. Molcho was himself so firmly convinced that the flood would come to pass that, when the predicted time approached, he went to Venice. Molcho and David Reubeni, who meanwhile had returned from Avignon to Italy, again met face to face. They looked at each other coldly and with amazement; each expected miracles from the other. Each desired the other to acknowledge his sublime mission. They were both embarrassed. Molcho's eyes were opened on this occasion to the true character of his once-admired master. He no longer believed in Reubeni's ignorance, but felt convinced that, Talmudic and Kabbalistic learning not being in keeping with his character as an Arabian prince, it was assumed by him in order to deceive people. Molcho even recanted his declaration that he was David's emissary. "Before the God of heaven and earth I proclaim the truth, that my circumcision and the abandonment of my country were not counseled by flesh and blood (David), but took place at the express command of God." Molcho was a deluded enthusiast, whereas David was an adventurer intentionally deceiving others. After his unsuccessful attempt to win over the king of Portugal and Charles V to his schemes, David went to Venice with the purpose of influencing the president of that republic, which had close relations with the East. Remarkably enough he found sympathy there; the Venetian senate sent a man well acquainted with the country to question him respecting his plan and means of conquest in the East (1530).

Both Molcho and David were harassed by the more temperate Jews, who apprehended danger for themselves and their religion. While at Venice Molcho was poisoned by Jewish hands, and fell into a dangerous illness.

Meanwhile the inundation of Rome predicted really took place, transforming the city into a stormy lake, and causing great havoc (October 8th, 1530). At the same time a brilliant comet appeared, shooting out rays of light till the heavens seemed about to open. In Portugal the earth shook thrice, and the earthquake destroyed a number of houses in Lisbon, many persons being buried beneath the ruins (January 26th, 1531).