Isaac Abrabanel
Don Isaac ben Judah Abrabanel, also Abravanel and Abarbanel (* 1437 in Lisbon, † 1508 in Venice) was a Jewish politician and financier in the service of the kings of Portugal and Spain, the viceroys of Naples and the Doge of Venice. He died in 1508 in Venice and was buried in Padua. His spiritual importance lies in his work as a Bible commentator and philosopher.
Life
Abrabanel came from an aristocratic family in Seville, which traced its origins to the reign of David. His grandfather, Samuel Abrabanel was under King John I of Castile treasurer. At the anti-Jewish pogroms of 1391 he had to convert to and took the name Juan Sanchez from Sevilla. He and his family fled soon afterwards to Portugal and returned to Judaism. His son Judah, the father of Isaac Abravanel and grandfather of Judah Abravanel ( Leone Ebreo ), Samuel Abravanel and his wife Benvenida Abravanel, was chairman of the Jewish community of Portugal and a financier in the service of Ferdinand I and later the Duke of Bragança.
Like his father, Isaac, operated successfully in trade and the public finances. After the death of his father he took over his position as treasurer at the court of Alfonso V. Already in Lisbon, he also started his literary career. Isaac had enjoyed a wide-ranging training and studied alongside the Jewish traditions when rabbis Lisbon also Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Latin, as well as the works of Plato and Aristotle, which opened his understanding of the culture of the Renaissance. In Lisbon, his son Judah ben Isaac Abravanel was born. His career in Portugal as treasurer of King Alfonso V ended abruptly after his death in the year 1481st
Alfonso's successor, John II, took action against the Dukes of Bragança, Viseu and Beja, cousins of the king, as the leader of a powerful aristocratic opposition. Both were executed in 1483 by the king's command. In this context, has been indicted on treason against Isaac Abrabanel and other persons of the house of Bragança connected.
Therefore Abrabanel fled to Spain in 1483 and was sentenced in May 1485 to death in absentia. He settled in Alcalá de Henares, where he was a tax collector when Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza. Seven years after his arrival in Spain, he soon had held a similar position as before in Portugal, as a tax collector of the powerful Mendoza family and as a financial consultant to the Catholic monarchs Isabella I and Ferdinand II, whose campaign against the last Moorish city of Granada he with loans massively supported.
The expulsion of all Jews by the Alhambra Decree, which was signed by the Catholic Kings on March 31, 1492 came as a surprise for him. In vain he had with Abraham Senior tries to keep his royal patron of this decision. Unlike a senior, he resisted the attempts at conversion of the Kings and decided to re- emigration. From Valencia, he fled with his family to Naples.
Again, in the service of Ferdinand I and his son Alfonso II to Abrabanel again proved as a successful businessman and was able to acquire a considerable fortune in the course of two years. In addition, it also remained time for philosophical and theological pursuits: He wrote numerous commentaries on the Pentateuch, to the biblical prophets and Maimonides. Before the advancing troops of the French king Charles VIII followed Abrabanel Alfonso II to Sicily. After Ferdinand I of Naples had initially recaptured, Abrabanel gave his plan to flee to Constantinople Opel, and returned from Corfu to Monopoli back, a small port city on the Adriatic coast. After the Kingdom of Naples finally fell into the hands of the Spaniards, drew Abrabanel 1503 to Venice, where his son Joseph worked as a physician. Due to the latest Portuguese discoveries, the leading role of Venice has been questioned in the spice trade and Abrabanel offered the Council of Ten his services to enter into negotiations with the Portuguese.
Works
In the sixties of the 15th century Abrabanel began his career as a writer of philosophical works and biblical exegete: He then wrote Zurot ha - Jesodot ( of the elements) and Ateret Sekenim ( Crown of the Elder ), which and his thorough understanding of Arabic philosophy show of Jewish theology. In Naples, he wrote a commentary on the two books of Kings and Zedek Olamim ( Eternal Justice), on the theme of divine providence. In Corfu he finished a commentary on Isaiah, and a treatise on creeds. In Monopoli he wrote a historical work Jemej Olam ( The Days of the world) as well as a commentary on the Haggadah of Passover, three books of Bible commentaries under the title Migdol Jeschuot ( Stronghold of Security ) and Mif'alot Elohim ( acts of God ) that deal with the creation deal. His Bible commentaries treat all the books of the Tanakh, with the exception of the sacred writers. After 1505 three of his works were printed in Constantinople Opel, he finished his commentaries on the books of the Bible and Maimonides; the latter has remained only incomplete.
Text editions and translations
- Isaac Abravanel: Letters ( Studia Judaica Vol = 40. ). Edition, Translation and Introduction by Cedric Cohen Skalli. de Gruyter, Berlin and others 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019492-0.
- Isaac Abravanel Yishak: Rosh Amanah. Sifriyati, Tel Aviv 1957/1958.
- Isaac Abravanel: Principles of Faith ( Rosh Amanah ). Translated with an introduction and notes by Menachem Marc Kellner. Associated University Presses, London ua 1982, ISBN 0-8386-3080-4.