Don Isaac Abravanel 5th Edition By B Netanyahu

About the Book

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a major historical figure during the waning of the Middle Ages. Statesman， diplomat， courtier， and financier， he was， at the same time， a scholar of encyclopedic learning， a philosopher， an exegete， a prolific...

Book Synopsis

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) was a major historical figure during the waning of the Middle Ages. Statesman， diplomat， courtier， and financier， he was， at the same time， a scholar of encyclopedic learning， a philosopher， an exegete， a prolific author， a mystic， and an apocalyptist. In Abravanel， B. Netanyahu suggests， two long lines of tradition met and concluded: that of medieval Jewish statesmen and that of medieval Jewish philosophers. In what is both a biography and an exploration of Abravanels thought and influence， Netanyahu describes how Abravanel illuminated the grave crisis and profound transformation experienced by the Jewish people after the Spanish expulsion. First published in 1953， Don Isaac Abravanel has been out of print for several years. This new edition includes revisions in the text， notes， and bibliography.

Review Quotes

A basic reference and one which cannot be ignored by any responsible scholar in the fields of Spanish and Jewish studies. . . . It is one of those rare books which make interesting reading both for scholars and for the general reader interested in Judaism and its rich cultural and religious history.--Francisco Márquez， Harvard University

This is the study of the life and ideas of Don Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508)， a major figure at the end of the Middle Ages and during the transformation of Judaism after the Spanish expulsion. The author traces Abravanels tumultuous career as a financier and statesman in Portugal， Spain， Naples， and Venice and analyses his world outlook， view of history， poltical ideas， and mystical messianism.--W. Charles Heiser， S. J.， Theology Digest， Fall 1999

About the Author

B. Netanyahu is Emeritus Professor of Judaic Studies at Cornell University. He is the author of many books， including Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain and， most recently， Toward the Inquisition: Essays on Jewish and Converso History in Late Medieval Spain， published by Cornell.