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Isaac Abarbanel
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Isaac Abarbanel
Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (Hebrew: יצחק בן יהודה אברבנאל; 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (Hebrew: אַבַּרבְּנְאֵל; also spelled Abravanel, Avravanel or Abrabanel), was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.
Some debate exists over whether his last name should be pronounced Abarbanel or Abravanel. The traditional pronunciation is Abarbanel. Modern scholarly literature, since Graetz and Baer, has most commonly used Abravanel, but his own son Judah insisted on Abarbanel, and Sefer HaTishbi by Elijah Levita, who was a nearby contemporary, twice vowels the name as Abarbinel (אַבַּרְבִּינֵאל).
The name's etymology is uncertain. Some say it comes from Ab Rabban El, meaning "father of the rabbis of God", which seems to favor the pronunciation "Abrabanel".[citation needed]
Abarbanel was born in Lisbon, Portugal, into one of the oldest and most distinguished Iberian Jewish families, his antecedents having escaped the massacre in Castile in 1391. A student of the rabbi of Lisbon, Joseph Chaim, he became well versed in rabbinic literature and in the learning of his time, devoting his early years to the study of Jewish philosophy. Abarbanel is quoted as saying that he counted Joseph ibn Shem-Tov as his mentor. At 20 years old, he wrote on the original form of the natural elements, on religious questions and prophecy. Together with his intellectual abilities, he exhibited a mastery of financial matters. This attracted the attention of King Afonso V of Portugal, who employed him as treasurer.
He used his high position and the great wealth he had inherited from his father to aid his co-religionists. When his patron Afonso captured the city of Arzila, in Morocco, the Jewish captives faced being sold as slaves. Abarbanel both contributed large sums to the ransom and personally arranged for collections throughout Portugal. He also wrote to his learned and wealthy friend, Vitale (Yehiel) Nissim da Pisa, on behalf of the captives.
After the death of Afonso, he was obliged to relinquish his office, having been accused by King John II of connivance with the Duke of Braganza, who had been executed on the charge of conspiracy. Abarbanel, warned in time, saved himself by a hasty flight to Castile in 1483. His large fortune was confiscated by royal decree.
At Toledo, his new home, he occupied himself at first with Biblical studies, and in the course of six months produced an extensive commentary on the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. Shortly afterward, though, he entered the service of the house of Castile. Together with his friend, the influential converso Don Abraham Senior, of Segovia, he undertook to farm the revenues and to supply provisions for the royal army, contracts that he carried out to the entire satisfaction of Queen Isabella I of Castile.
During the Reconquista, Abarbanel advanced considerable sums of money to the king. When the Jews were ordered banished by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain with the Alhambra Decree, he did all in his power to induce the king to revoke the edict. He unsuccessfully offered the king 30,000 ducats (approximately £60,000 at the time). He left Spain with his fellow Jews and went to Naples, where, soon after, he entered the service of the king. For a short time, he lived in peace undisturbed, but when the city was taken by the French, bereft of all his possessions, he followed the young king, Alfonso, to Messina in 1495, before going to Corfu. In 1496, he settled in Monopoli, before finally landing in Venice in 1503, where his services were employed in negotiating a commercial treaty between Portugal and the Venetian republic.
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Isaac Abarbanel
Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (Hebrew: יצחק בן יהודה אברבנאל; 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (Hebrew: אַבַּרבְּנְאֵל; also spelled Abravanel, Avravanel or Abrabanel), was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.
Some debate exists over whether his last name should be pronounced Abarbanel or Abravanel. The traditional pronunciation is Abarbanel. Modern scholarly literature, since Graetz and Baer, has most commonly used Abravanel, but his own son Judah insisted on Abarbanel, and Sefer HaTishbi by Elijah Levita, who was a nearby contemporary, twice vowels the name as Abarbinel (אַבַּרְבִּינֵאל).
The name's etymology is uncertain. Some say it comes from Ab Rabban El, meaning "father of the rabbis of God", which seems to favor the pronunciation "Abrabanel".[citation needed]
Abarbanel was born in Lisbon, Portugal, into one of the oldest and most distinguished Iberian Jewish families, his antecedents having escaped the massacre in Castile in 1391. A student of the rabbi of Lisbon, Joseph Chaim, he became well versed in rabbinic literature and in the learning of his time, devoting his early years to the study of Jewish philosophy. Abarbanel is quoted as saying that he counted Joseph ibn Shem-Tov as his mentor. At 20 years old, he wrote on the original form of the natural elements, on religious questions and prophecy. Together with his intellectual abilities, he exhibited a mastery of financial matters. This attracted the attention of King Afonso V of Portugal, who employed him as treasurer.
He used his high position and the great wealth he had inherited from his father to aid his co-religionists. When his patron Afonso captured the city of Arzila, in Morocco, the Jewish captives faced being sold as slaves. Abarbanel both contributed large sums to the ransom and personally arranged for collections throughout Portugal. He also wrote to his learned and wealthy friend, Vitale (Yehiel) Nissim da Pisa, on behalf of the captives.
After the death of Afonso, he was obliged to relinquish his office, having been accused by King John II of connivance with the Duke of Braganza, who had been executed on the charge of conspiracy. Abarbanel, warned in time, saved himself by a hasty flight to Castile in 1483. His large fortune was confiscated by royal decree.
At Toledo, his new home, he occupied himself at first with Biblical studies, and in the course of six months produced an extensive commentary on the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. Shortly afterward, though, he entered the service of the house of Castile. Together with his friend, the influential converso Don Abraham Senior, of Segovia, he undertook to farm the revenues and to supply provisions for the royal army, contracts that he carried out to the entire satisfaction of Queen Isabella I of Castile.
During the Reconquista, Abarbanel advanced considerable sums of money to the king. When the Jews were ordered banished by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain with the Alhambra Decree, he did all in his power to induce the king to revoke the edict. He unsuccessfully offered the king 30,000 ducats (approximately £60,000 at the time). He left Spain with his fellow Jews and went to Naples, where, soon after, he entered the service of the king. For a short time, he lived in peace undisturbed, but when the city was taken by the French, bereft of all his possessions, he followed the young king, Alfonso, to Messina in 1495, before going to Corfu. In 1496, he settled in Monopoli, before finally landing in Venice in 1503, where his services were employed in negotiating a commercial treaty between Portugal and the Venetian republic.
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