ABRABANEL (Abravanel). - One of the most powerful Jewish families in Spain, where it was already present in 1310. In 1492, when the Jews were expelled by Ferdinand II (q.v.), the A. settled in Italy; they wielded considerable influence, even at court, in the Kingdom of Naples (especially Isaac and, more so, his brother Jacob, d. 1528). In the Duchy of Tuscany, first Samuel, son of Isaac, and then Jacob, son of Samuel, obtained much in favor of Jewish commerce from Cosimo I, whose wife Eleonora of Toledo had been educated by Benvenida, cousin and wife of Samuel. The family died out in Italy with Abraco (d. 1618). Special mention must be made, in the realm of ideas:
1. ISAAC (Isaac ben Yehudah)
Philosopher and exegete, b. at Lisbon in 1437, d. at Venice in 1508.A shrewd statesman, he was first treasurer to Alfonso V of Portugal; suspected of conspiracy, in 1483 he moved to Toledo. After 1492, he lived at the court of Ferdinand I and Alfonso II of Naples. Fleeing the French invasion, after a stay in Corfu and Apulia he settled in Venice. A man of vast learning, he composed many works on Sacred Scripture, commenting on all the books of the Torah and the Prophets. He earned the high esteem in which the Jews held him, earning the sobriquets Hakham (the wise) and Nasi (the prince). His exegesis is literal, rich in grammatical and historical references, and strives successfully to show the connection between ideas. He is prolix due to frequent and minute theological digressions. Though not very original or profound, A. fittingly closes the series of great Jewish exegetes. He is of great use to scholars of Jewish exegesis because he cites and examines all the opinions of his predecessors in detail.
His enthusiasm for messianic faith not only led him, in the trilogy he called Migdol yešuot (« Magnificent Salvations », II Sam. 22:51) — *The Wellsprings of Salvation; The Herald of Salvation; The Salvation of His Messiah* — to compare and comment on all messianic texts of Scripture, the Talmud, and the Midrashim, but also to advance fantastic optimistic theories about the imminent (for the year 1503) establishment of the messianic kingdom. Isaac often manifests his anti-Christian acrimony. He upholds the transcendence of Revelation and the objectivity of prophetic visions; yet in various points he follows Maimonides’ semi-rationalism.
His three sons, Judah, Joseph, and Samuel, were also renowned.
2. JUDAH (Jehudah), called LEONE EBREO (THE JEWISH LION)
Eldest son of Isaac A., physician, philosopher, and poet, b. at Lisbon about 1465, d. between 1530 and 1532. After the expulsion of 1492, he emigrated to Naples, then dwelt in Genoa, then in Barletta, Naples, Rome, and Venice. In *Elegia sopra il destino* he laments the forced baptism of his one-year-old son. His principal work, *Dialoghi d’amore*, was composed in Genoa (1502) in Hebrew (now lost) and in Italian; but the first known edition is that of Rome (1535), then Venice 1541, etc., edited by Mariano Lenzi.It is a treatise (dialogues between Philo and Sophia) that disseminates Platonic doctrines on the nature (I), universality (II), and origin (III) of love. The system, termed “philographia,” extends from man to the world and to God; love is here a gnoseological, logical, ontological, cosmogonic, and ethical principle. The work, perhaps suggested by Marsilio Ficino’s *Dialogo sopra l’amore* and by the Platonizing Jew Johann Alemanno, is original and profound. Its success and influence were great; it was soon translated into Latin, French, and Spanish. Bembo imitated it in *Gli Asolani*. Various Spanish mystical writers, such as Luis de León, Malón de Chaide, and Nieremberg, drew inspiration from II. Spinoza drew metaphysical and ethical motifs from II.