Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis investigates the life of a ghettoized Jew, Benedetto Blanis, in Medici Florence during the early seventeenth century. This research relies on Edward Goldberg’s two companion works, published in 2011, transcribing and interpreting 196 letters sent by Benedetto to Don Giovanni De’ Medici. Goldberg provides the letters as they were written in seventeenth-century Italian, and with each he includes a small summary in English. Goldberg explains ghettoization, Jewish mysticism, the synagogue in Florence, along with many other topics related to Benedetto and Don Giovanni’s life as a means to contextualize the two. In 1615, Benedetto was hired by Don Giovanni to be his palace librarian. While Goldberg emphasizes loyalty drawing Don Giovanni to Benedetto, I argue Jewish mysticism truly brought them together. This thesis focuses on the historical trends, such as Renaissance Humanism, the Catholic Reformation and Christian Hebraism, that are responsible for altering the dynamics between the Catholics and the Jews in the sixteenth century. By analyzing these trends we are able to better contextualize the past, in addition we have the opportunity to understand the relationship of Don Giovanni who hired Benedetto as his librarian. This thesis also expands on the ways in which Jewish mysticism affected Don Giovanni and Benedetto’s relationship, as well as explores the illegality of their research in the eyes of the Holy Office.

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