DAVID REUBENI. - That is, “D., descendant of Ruben.” A strange figure of an Eastern Jew, whose place of origin and many details of his eventful life are unknown. He appeared in Venice in February 1524, after having travelled through various regions of the East. He soon aroused immense interest, accompanied in many by messianic enthusiasms.
Presenting himself as the special envoy of a fantastic kingdom of Jewish tribes in Arabia, which he claimed were ruled by his brother Giuseppe, D. visited various European courts, especially that of Giovanni III of Portugal. He also obtained an audience with Pope Clemente VII and received promises of assistance, especially at the Portuguese court, for his projected undertaking to wrest Palestine from the Mohammedans. Soon, however, the Spanish Inquisition became actively concerned with him, viewing unfavourably the enthusiasm that had spread among the marranos for D. R., in whom they saw the herald of marvellous messianic times. Having lost the protection of the Portuguese court, especially through the actions of the inquisitor Selaya and Michele De Silva, D. R. wandered through France and Italy until he was arrested, together with his fanatical follower Salomone Molcho (Diego Perez), at Ratisbona (1532) by Carlo V. It seems that D. ended his days in a Spanish prison. There remains of him a detailed account of his travels, published in Hebrew by A. Neubauer (Medioevol Jewish Chronicles, II, in Analecta Oxoniensa, I, part 6ª, Oxford 1895, pp. 133-225).