DAVIDE REBENI. — That is, “D. a descendant of Reuben.” A strange figure of an Eastern Jew, whose place of origin and many details of whose eventful life are unknown. He appeared in Venice in February 1524, after having traveled through various regions of the East. He soon aroused immense interest, accompanied in many by messianic enthusiasm.
Claiming to be the special envoy of a fanciful kingdom of Jewish tribes in Arabia, which he said was governed by his brother Joseph, D. visited various European courts, particularly that of John III of Portugal. He also obtained an audience with Pope Clement VII and secured promises of assistance, especially from the Portuguese court, for his planned enterprise of wresting Palestine from the Muslims. Soon, however, the Spanish Inquisition took a keen interest in him, as it viewed with disfavor the enthusiasm spreading among the Marranos for D. R., whom they saw as the harbinger of wondrous messianic times. Having lost the protection of the Portuguese court, especially through the efforts of the inquisitor Selaya and M. chele De Silva, D. R. wandered through France and Italy until he was arrested, along with his fanatical follower Solomon Molcho (Diego Perez), in Regensburg (1532) by Charles V. It seems that D. ended his days in a Spanish prison. A detailed account of his travels survives, edited in Hebrew by A. Neubauer (Medieval Jewish Chronicles, II, in Analecta Ozoniana, I, part 6, Oxford 1895, pp. 133-235).