Judah Leon Abravanel

Judah Leon Abravanel or Abrabanel (c. 1460 Lisbon – c. 1530? Naples?), otherwise known by the pen name of Leo the Hebrew (in Latin: Leo Hebraeus; in Portuguese: Leão Hebreu; in Italian: Leone Ebreo; in Spanish: León Hebreo; in French: León l'Hebreu), was a Portuguese–Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet. His work Dialogues of Love was one of the most important philosophical works of his time. Biography The Abravanel (or Abrabanel) family was extraordinarily prominent among Jewish families in the Middle Ages, active in public service in the court of Castile. Judah (or Leon, as he is known in Spanish) was the son of Isaac ben Judah Abravanel (meaning Isaac “son of Judah” Abravanel) who, according to Soria was “the last great commentator of the Bible of Medieval Jewry” (12). Don Isaac was a statesman, financier, and a defender of the Jewish faith, who was also born in Lisbon in 1437 and spent most of his life in Portugal, eventually becoming a financial advisor to King Afonso V. However, in 1481 King Afonso V died and Don Isaac was suspected of conspiring to enthrone the Duke of Braganza, whom he had befriended earlier, over the son of Afonso, João II. Consequently, he had to flee without his family from Portugal to Seville, then Castile, finally settling in Toledo. Don Isaac eventually took refuge from his financial and political dealings in his other love—literature—while living with his family, with whom he was later reunited in Toledo. Spain had recently seen the marriage of Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón, the Catholic Monarchs. Under their rule began the centralization of power in Spain, then fragmented by individual governance of its many regions. The monarchs desired to conquer the kingdom of Granada, which at that time was Muslim. Don Isaac Abravanel saw this as an opportunity and became a financier at the court. His son, Judah, joined him in service to the Catholic Monarchs in 1484 as personal doctor to the royal family. The year 1492 brought a turbulent change to the Abravanel family and to all Jews in Spain, as Isabella and Ferdinand ordered the forced conversion or expulsion of all Jews in Spain. Don Isaac, in a desperate plea, threw himself at the feet of the Catholic Monarchs and begged them to revoke their decree, but to no avail. He made plans to move his family to Naples, Italy. To no avail he bribed King Ferdinand and even threatened Queen Isabella that the Jews were the eternal people and therefore could not be destroyed.