sion, he lost all his books; and also the beginning of his"Commentary upon the book of Deuteronomy," which he much regretted. Some writers[1] affirm, that the cause of his disgrace at this time was wholly owing to his bad behaviour; and they are of the same opinion in regard to the other persecutions, which he afterwards suffered[2]. But however this may be, upon his settling in Castile, he began to teach and write. In 1484, he wrote his Commentary upon the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. Being afterwards sent for to the court of Ferdinand and Isabel, he was advanced to preferment; which he enjoyed till the year 1492, when the Jews were driven out of the Spanish dominions. He used his utmost endeavours[3] to turn off this dreadful storm; but all proved ineffectual, so that he and all his family were obliged to quit the kingdom, with the rest of the Jews. He retired to Naples; and, in 1493, wrote his "Commentary on the books of the Kings." Having been bred a courtier, he did not neglect to avail himself of the knowledge he had acquired at the Courts of Portugal and Arragon, so that he soon ingratiated himself into the favour of Ferdinand king of Naples, and afterwards into that of Alphonso. He followed the fortune of the latter, accompanying him into Sicily, when Charles VIII. the French king, drove him from Naples. Upon the death of Alphonso, he retired to the island of Corfu, where he began his "Commentary on Isaiah" in 1495; and, about this time, he had the good fortune to find, what he had written on the book of "Deuteronomy." The following year, he returned to Italy, and went to Monopoli in Apulia, where he wrote several books. In 1496, he finished his " Commentary on "Deuteronomy;" and also compofed his "Sevach Pesach," and his "Nachalath Avoth." In the succeeding year, he
- ↑ They affirm, that Abrabanel justly deserved the usage he met with; and that he would have been treated with greater sevtrity, had not king John, out of his wonted clemency, contented himself with banishing him. They add farther, that he left Portugal from a concioufness of guilt. Act. Lipf. Nov. 1686. p. 529.
- ↑ They also say, that by negotiating bills of exchange (which was the business he followed in Castile) he got introduced at the court of Ferdinand and Isabel; that he amassed prodigious wealth, by practicing the several arts and frauds of the Jewish people; that he oppressed the poor, and by his usury made a prey of every thing; that he had the vanity to aspire at the most illustrious titles, such as the noblest houses in Spain could hardly attain' and that, being a sworn enemy to the Christ; an religion, he was the principal cause of that storm, which fell upon him and the rest of his nation. Ibid. p. 530.
- ↑ He himself mentions, in one of his performances, what he did on this occasion. Solomon Ben Virga relates it also in his history of the Jews; where he gives a description of the dreadful calamities which befell the 300,000 Jews, who were all obliged in one day to leave the dominions of his Catholic majesty. Comment, in libros repum apud Nicol. Antoa. Bibl. Hist, Una. I. p. 627.
