Joseph Hakohen
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Rabbi Joseph Ben Joshua Meir Hakohen (1496–1577), historian and physician of the sixteenth century.
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[edit] Life
Born at Avignon, France, December 20, 1496, his family originally lived at Cuenca, then at Chuete, Spain; when the Jews were expelled from Spain it settled at Avignon. At the age of five Joseph left Avignon with his father and went to Genoa, where the family remained until 1516; driven from that city, they went to Novi, but returned to Genoa in 1538, where Joseph practised medicine for twelve years. On June 3, 1550, he and all his coreligionists there were driven from Genoa as a consequence of the rivalry of the non-Jewish physicians. Joseph then settled at Voltaggio, at the request of the citizens of that small town, practising there down to 1567. When the Jews were driven-out of the territory of Genoa, he went to Casale Monferrato; in 1571 he was again established at Genoa, where he died.
Joseph had three sons and two daughters. He was respected not only as an historian and physician, but also for the interest he took in all Jewish matters. One of his chief concerns was the release of the many Jewish captives taken by the vessels of the Italian republics and by the Corsairs; as in 1532, when Andrea Doria captured many Jews on taking Coron, Patras, and Zante; in 1535, when the emperor Charles V took Tunis; and in 1542, when the galleys of Cegala Visconti had imprisoned a number of Jews.
[edit] Historical works
In Hebrew literature Joseph achieved prominence by two historical works. The first of these, Divrei Hayamim Lemalkei Zarefath Veottoman (Chronicles of the Kings of France and Turkey) is a history of the world, in the form of annals, in which he represents the sequence of events as a conflict between Asia and Europe, between Islam and Christianity, the protagonist for Islam being the Turkish empire, and for Christianity, France. With these two great groups he connects European history, beginning with the downfall of the Roman empire. The work was completed in November 1533.
Joseph was a careful historian. He gathered his facts from all possible sources, made notes, kept registers, and conducted a wide correspondence. He added continually to the first redaction of his works, carefully dating each one. Of his Emek Habachah he made, or caused to be made, at least nine copies; of the Book of India, at least five. His work is valuable also on account of its brilliant narrative, excellent characterization, and fine biblical style. Having lived in Italy from his childhood and become acquainted with persons prominent politically, he is a valuable source for the history of his time; concerning many events, he had closely examined competent witnesses. He also mentions a number of important facts ignored by other historians. He is accurate in the treatment of ancient history, for which he often was obliged to consult untrustworthy sources.
In writing his annals Joseph at first intended to devote a special work to the great Jewish persecutions, with which he had become acquainted through then unused sources, and accounts of which he inserted in the annals. This idea he carried out, drawing upon Samuel Usque's Consolaçam as Tribulaçoens de Ysrael (1557), in his Emek Habachah, (the Vale of Weeping) in which he dwells upon persecutions of Jews in various countries in the course of centuries. The book, which is a martyrology from beginning to end, closes with 1575. The author's moderation and self-control are admirable. He does not make use either of the chronicle of Abraham ibn Daud or of those written by any of the other Judeo-Spanish chroniclers.[1]
Joseph began this work in 1558, at Voltaggio, and concluded it, in its initial form, toward the end of 1563, the book circulating in Italy in manuscript. It was finally carried by the author down to 1575.
Joseph ben Joshua wrote also a Hebrew version, with the title Meir Nirdamim, of Meïr Alguadez's Spanish medical work giving prescriptions for the healing of various diseases; to these prescriptions he added some of his own [2].
[edit] Other works
Less known is his work upon the New World, Dibre ha-Yamim. It contains a reference to Columbus (whom, however, he confounds with Amerigo Vespucci); the work is meager in its information [3]. After writing it he became acquainted with Francisco Lopez de Gomara's Historia General de las Indias and Joan Boemus' Omnium Gentium Mores Leges et Ritus. From these, in 1557, he compiled his Matziv Gevuloth Amim, (Who Setteth the Boundaries of Nations)[4] a history of the conquest of Mexico, to which he added a full account of the discoveries of Columbus.
A small work of a different kind was his Peles ha-Shemot, written in 1561, containing an alphabetical list of Hebrew nouns, with scripture illustrations of their occurrence given for the purpose of fixing their gender—a matter in which (as he says) "many writers in Hebrew erred." He also compiled, in 1567, a book of polite formulas to be used in addressing letters, and a large number of verses, which are found, written in his own hand, at the end of his works. A large number of letters, evidently meant to serve as models, are found in the MSS. Rabbinowicz, No. 129 (now in the library of the Alliance Israélite Universelle at Paris as of 1906); two-thirds of these are by Joseph Hakohen; they give a good insight into his private life.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Variants to the printed text will be found in R.E.J. x.248, xvi.5.
- ^ Comp. Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. iv.853 et seq.; Steinschneider, in Berliner's Magazin, x.166; idem, Hebr. Uebers. p. 775; idem, in J.Q.R. xv.137)
- ^ Harrisse, in Centralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, 1888, p. 136
- ^ See Deut. xxxii.6),
[edit] Bibliography
- M. Letteris, introduction to the Hebrew edition of Emek Habachah;
- Wiener, introduction to the German edition of the same work;
- Grätz, Gesch. 3d ed., ix. 324 et seq.;
- Isidore Loeb, Josef Haccohev et les Chroniqueurs Juifs, in R. E. J. xvi. 28 et seq. (also published separately).
- See also R. Gottheil, Columbus in Jewish Literature, in Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc. ii. 129 et seq.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
