Taking advantage of the turmoil of the beginning of the Reformation, two agile Jews deceived all of Europe. On behalf of non-existent kingdoms, they made alliances with the pope and the leaders of the greatest powers. For a salary fee, they prepared the ground for the coming of the new Messiah. And at least one of them really believed that he was going to make Europe a Jewish continent.
The year 1523 ended when David Reubeni came to Europe. He had a precise plan:to get a ship loaded with cannons from the King of Portugal and some specialists to handle them. We will never know if he wanted to start a Jewish uprising, bring the Messiah to the earth, or become the most powerful pirate in the Red Sea.
Minister of War of the Treffy Empire
He proclaimed to be the brother of King Joseph, ruling the lost Jewish state in Arabia (only ten days away from Dżedda, an important Arabian port on the Red Sea). He was also to be its ambassador and minister of war, with hundreds of thousands of people. He chose his fairy tale well, because there were legends about Jewish warriors from Arabia in Europe.
A modern replica of the "Flower of the Sea", a Portuguese karaka from 1502. Dawid Reubeni dreamed of such a ship, loaded with cannons and hooklifts (photo:Majush at English Wikipedia, license CC BY-SA 3.0).
He didn't look impressive: Dark eyes, short, thin, his language Arabic and a bit Jewish . With a few servants, but penniless - having paid for the cruise from Egypt, he didn't even have seven ducats to treat one of them.
Ducats were quickly found, however. Wealthy Jews from all over northern Italy were just waiting to fulfill their historic role. They knew that "something was going to happen" next year. This was calculated by the Jerusalem Kabbalist Abraham Ha-Levi.
Forced conversions to Catholicism and the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal, the closure of tight ghettos across Europe, and increasing persecution - all these prompted the Chosen People's representatives that their time was coming. Luther's speech, natural disasters, and even the Franco-Habsburg war were interpreted as a prelude to the coming of the Messiah.
Ha-Lewi made precise that the end times would begin in 1524. He suggested that the beginning would be in Jeddah, thanks to these butchers kneeling before the idols - Portuguese. The strange newcomer's program matched perfectly with Ha-Levi's analysis.
The Portuguese fleet tries to seize Jeddah, 1517 (source:public domain).
Merchants, bankers, and medics, famous for their piety and philanthropy, gave David thousands of ducats, florins, and "broad thalers." And very comfortable residences. David prayed and fasted - he was said to have been so strong in spirit that his mere presence in Jerusalem caused the crescent moon in the Mosque on the Rock to change direction . At least such stories were repeated by his followers…
Now David Reubeni was getting ready for an audience with the Pope. Clement VII had his worries:he wanted to be the main quarterback in Italy, and troops of foreign powers marched - and fought almost under the windows of his residence. At the audience, the idea of a Christian-Jewish alliance came up. Reubeni also promised the pope that he would be supported by Christian Ethiopia and another, mythical Jewish kingdom, located somewhere in Africa.
Pope Clement VII in 1526. Portrait of Sebastian del Piombo (public domain).
For now, however, both gentlemen have stated that ending the Italian wars and creating a pan-European league is beyond their means. The Pope wrote several letters to the King of Portugal, Jan III, asking him to support the Jewish ambassador with a fleet. Especially since does not ask for nothing big, just a few guns and some people .
Please circumcise me
With numerous adventures (including conspiracy, espionage, defenestration) David Reubeni reached Portugal and appeared before the king. Jan III was delighted. Instead of one ship, he promised David four. There is a reason - it has been a Portuguese dream for decades to master Dżedda. And stories about a nation of two and a half of the ten lost tribes of Israel captured the imagination of the young ruler. I guess it's hardly surprising - he was only twenty-two.
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Reubeni spent several months in Portugal. He aroused great enthusiasm of the Marranos - forcibly baptized Jews and their descendants. Among them was Diogo Pires, a prominent secretary to the royal court, already baptized as an infant. He secretly approached Reubeni with a request for… circumcision. This is how David Reubeni met the future Messiah.
John III of Portugal in 1522. Portrait attributed to Cristov Lopez (public domain).
The ambassador flatly declined. The procedure could have brought a deadly threat to the entire Jewish community. Eventually, Diogo was circumcised by someone else. Quite likely he did it himself! A promising official has disappeared from the court and the country. He took the name of Solomon Molcho and traveled through Italy to the lands of the Sultan, saying goodbye with the thought of returning to Christian countries.
Meanwhile, the more enthusiastic David aroused among the Portuguese ex-Jews, the less they became of their ruler. The promised fleet of four ships dwindled to one. And then to zero. The king made it clear to the ambassador that it was time to finish the mission.
Reubeni, equipped with the iron letters of the pope and the king, went to Spain. Despite diplomatic security, he was arrested. Jews were not allowed to enter Spain without the permission of the ruler. The royal official sent for the opinion of the inquisitor - whether to let the man go free or to put Charles Habsburg in front of the harsh face. Do not be afraid and do not be scared Reubeni reassured his companions. After all, it was about meeting the most powerful European he wanted.
The procession was set free. David wrote to the royal couple (Queen Isabella was Jan III's sister, they knew each other from the Portuguese court) proposing a meeting. Charles was not interested though.
16th-century Marrani celebrating Seder evening. Painting by Moshe Maimon from 1893 (public domain)
Reubeni got at least another iron-letter - this time Habsburg. He immediately left for France. Here, however, he was greatly disappointed. He spent a time in the Jewish communities of Avignon and Carpentras, but did not do anything. What's more, despite legal security, he lost huge sums of ransom for local feudal lords. The expedition ended with a "gentleman on Clermont" who sent a Jewish retinue to an island in the Adriatic and demanded exactly 2,004 tribute ducats. Well, France of that period was not a friendly country for Jewish adventurers…
I am the Messiah - realize that
But that's not the end of the story. As Reubeni was counting his losses after his first voyage, Solomon Molcho, his spiritual child, was discovering the Messiah within himself . While living in Thessaloniki, he learned Kabbalah from the great Joseph Taitazak. He also met Józef Karo, the greatest spiritual authority of the then Jewish diaspora.
Great Józef Karo (source:public domain).
Karo was a posek - could authoritatively settle disputes over religious rights. He was an unparalleled expert on the Talmud, the creator of the "Prepared Table" - the basic "textbook" of all pious Jews up to the twentieth century. And at the same time a seasoned kabbalist. But he considered the "discovery" of Solomon Molcho to be one of his most important merits. He considered him, if not the Messiah, then "a man of God".
After his stay in Greece and Palestine, Solomon became convinced that he was what the prophets were talking about . He arrived in Italy at the end of 1529. He stayed with his countrymen in Ancona and Pesaro, then spent over a year in Rome, with a short break to stay in Venice, where he arranged for the printing of his book on Kabbalah. While in the eternal city received an audience with the Pope, preached weekly and met David Reubeni again.
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Solomon was energetic and inspired. David had connections among cardinals and princes, a baggage of unpleasant experiences and a head on his neck. They knew they could do a lot together. Even if they do not personally bring the people of Israel together, at least they will help them considerably.
The Marranos massacre in Lisbon, 1506. After less than 30 years, it looked like a repeat (source:public domain).
And there was something. Anti-Semitism in Europe is on the rise again. In the Roman Curia, cardinals-humanists were losing importance, and the faction of anti-Jewish hawks was gaining ground. The Pope, at the request of King Jan III known to us, issued a bull enabling the creation of a Spanish-model inquisition in Portugal. The goal was clear:control of baptized Jews and repression of those who secretly practiced Judaism.
The Jewish Army is losing out to the Inquisition
In this situation, David and Solomon undertook an extraordinary project:to persuade Emperor Charles V to form a Jewish armed formation against the Turks. Jews enlisting in these forces could safely leave the countries where the inquisition operated (the analogy to the Polish II Corps in the USSR during World War II is surprising).
Charles V in 1532 in the portrait of Christoph Amberger (source:public domain).
The idea was not without a chance. The new crusade has long been talked about in Europe - it was supposed to be a remedy for the crisis and schism in the Church. The emperor also needed a project to integrate his rulership. David could also count on an old acquaintance with the empress. The fairy tale about the lost Jewish kingdom was treated with caution as facts. The two itinerant politicians also had support, including Diaspora funds.
The political plan looked reasonable. The problem is that at least one of the originators seriously believed in the messianic script .
They left for Regensburg, where the emperor was now residing. They obtained an audience. And here Solomon's inspiration got out of the control of the cynical David. What exactly Molcho said to Charles V - it is not known. Enough that he emerged from the audience in chains, and was soon burned at the stake.
This is how they were burned in 16th-century Italy (the drawing shows the execution of the heretic Menocchio in 1569). Solomon Molcho's career ended in the same way (source:public domain).
Scholars suppose that offered the arch-Catholic ruler ... a conversion to Judaism . David was sent under guard to Spain, where he died a few years later. According to some accounts - after the "investigation" of the inquisition.
Meanwhile, in Portugal, the king unleashed intense persecution against the Jews, earning himself the nickname "Pious". And a few years earlier he wanted to conquer Arabia together with them…
Bibliography:
- David Reubeni's diary in:(ed.) Elkan Nathan Adler, Jewish Travelers in the Middle Ages. 19 Firsthand Accounts , Dover Pubications Inc., 1987.
- Moti Benmelech, History, Politics, and Messianism:David Ha-Reuveni's Origin and Mission, in Association for Jewish Studies Review, 35:1 (2011), pp. 35-60.
- Heinrich Graetz (Hirsch Graetz), Geschichte der Juden von den Anfängen bis auf die Gegenwart , vol. 9, Verlag von Oskar Leiner, 1891.
- Israel Abrahams, Everyday Life of Jews in the Middle Ages , Cyclades, 1996.
- Witold Tyloch, Judaism , National Publishing Agency, 1987.