Ramón Martí
Encyclopedia
Ramón Martí was a 13th century Catalan
Dominican
friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic
work Pugio Fidei (c. 1280). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental languages with the purpose of carrying on a mission to Jews
and Moors
. He worked in Spain as a missionary, and also for a short time in Tunis
. A document bearing his signature and dated July 1284 shows that he was at that time still living.
; and died after 1284. In 1250 he was selected by the provincial chapter, sitting in Toledo
, to study Oriental languages at a Dominican school which had been founded for the express purpose of preparing its pupils to engage in polemics against Jews and Moors. Subsequently he lived for a long time in a monastery at Barcelona
.
of the Talmud
in Spain.
Their report was not severe, however, since Martí declared that many passages were confirmatory of the truth of Christianity, and that the Talmud should not be burned entirely (Pugio Fidei, ii.14, §8).
There is at Bologna
a manuscript of his Capistrum Judaeorum (The Harness of the Jews), aimed at the errors of the Jews; and at Tortosa
a manuscript containing Explanatio simboli apostolorum ad institutionem fidelium which has a marginal note that it was edited by "a fratre Ro Martini de ordine predicatorum".
Martí's work was for a long time the chief source for Dominican polemics.
(d. 1685), with many notes, under the title Pugio Fidei Raymundi Martini Ordinis Prædicatorum Adversus Mauros et Judæos (Paris, 1651).
The work treats of God's omniscience, the Creation, immortality, and the resurrection of the dead, and attempts to show the falsity of the Jewish religion; the latter part of the work is valuable on account of its extracts from the Talmud, the Midrash
, and other sources.
This work was used by Porchetus de Salvaticis at the beginning of the 14th century in his Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebreos (printed 1520), by Hieronymus de Sancta Fide in his Hebraeomastix and elsewhere, and was plagiarized by Petrus Galatinus.
About 1620 François Bosquet discovered in the Collegium Fuxense (the Collège de Foix in Toulouse
) a manuscript of the Pugio, and it was from this and three other manuscripts that de Voisin edited the work. Better known than this edition is its reprint by J. B. Carpzov (Leipzig, 1667), with the anti-Jewish preface Introductio in Theologiam Judaicam.
defends him against this charge (Gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden p. 300).
Martí was widely read in Hebrew literature
, quoting not only from Talmudic and Midrashic works, but from Rashi
, Ibn Ezra
, Maimonides
, and Ḳimḥi
. His fundamental views, which he attempts to substantiate by his citations, are that Jesus
is announced in rabbinical literature as the Messiah
and son of God
; that the Jewish laws, although revealed by God, are abrogated by the advent of the Messiah; and that the Talmudists corrupted the text of the Bible, as is indicated by the tikkune soferim.
Another prominent aspect of his contribution was the enumeration and rejection of the "Tikkun Sopherim", corrections made by Jewish scribes on the Biblical
text. Martí directly and publicly charged these emendations upon the Hebrew scribes as "willful corruptions and perversions introduced by them into the sacred text."
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
work Pugio Fidei (c. 1280). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental languages with the purpose of carrying on a mission to Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
. He worked in Spain as a missionary, and also for a short time in Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
. A document bearing his signature and dated July 1284 shows that he was at that time still living.
Biography
He was born in the first half of the 13th century at Subirats in CataloniaCatalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
; and died after 1284. In 1250 he was selected by the provincial chapter, sitting in Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, to study Oriental languages at a Dominican school which had been founded for the express purpose of preparing its pupils to engage in polemics against Jews and Moors. Subsequently he lived for a long time in a monastery at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
Censorship of the Talmud
In March 1264, he was commissioned, with the Bishop of Barcelona, Raymund de Peñaforte, and two other Dominicans, Arnold of Sagarra and Petrus Janua, to examine the Hebrew manuscripts and books which the Jews, by order of the king, were to submit to them, and to cancel passages deemed offensive to the Christian religion. This is the first instance of Dominican censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
in Spain.
Their report was not severe, however, since Martí declared that many passages were confirmatory of the truth of Christianity, and that the Talmud should not be burned entirely (Pugio Fidei, ii.14, §8).
Polemic literature
Martí was the author of two anti-Jewish books, one of which, the Capistrum Judaeorum, has never been printed. His refutation of the Koran is lost.There is at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
a manuscript of his Capistrum Judaeorum (The Harness of the Jews), aimed at the errors of the Jews; and at Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
a manuscript containing Explanatio simboli apostolorum ad institutionem fidelium which has a marginal note that it was edited by "a fratre Ro Martini de ordine predicatorum".
Martí's work was for a long time the chief source for Dominican polemics.
The Pugio Fidei
His chief work, the Pugio Fidei, was lost for a long time, but was finally brought to light by Justus Scaliger, and edited by Joseph de Voisin of the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
(d. 1685), with many notes, under the title Pugio Fidei Raymundi Martini Ordinis Prædicatorum Adversus Mauros et Judæos (Paris, 1651).
The work treats of God's omniscience, the Creation, immortality, and the resurrection of the dead, and attempts to show the falsity of the Jewish religion; the latter part of the work is valuable on account of its extracts from the Talmud, the Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, and other sources.
This work was used by Porchetus de Salvaticis at the beginning of the 14th century in his Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebreos (printed 1520), by Hieronymus de Sancta Fide in his Hebraeomastix and elsewhere, and was plagiarized by Petrus Galatinus.
About 1620 François Bosquet discovered in the Collegium Fuxense (the Collège de Foix in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
) a manuscript of the Pugio, and it was from this and three other manuscripts that de Voisin edited the work. Better known than this edition is its reprint by J. B. Carpzov (Leipzig, 1667), with the anti-Jewish preface Introductio in Theologiam Judaicam.
Knowledge of Hebrew literature
Martí has been accused of forgery because of his quotations from Genesis Rabbah, which was not otherwise known; but Leopold ZunzLeopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz was a German Reform rabbi and writer, the founder of what has been termed "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies" , the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual...
defends him against this charge (Gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden p. 300).
Martí was widely read in Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews...
, quoting not only from Talmudic and Midrashic works, but from Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
, Ibn Ezra
Ibn Ezra
Ibn Ezra was a prominent Jewish family from Spain spanning many centuries.The name ibn Ezra may refer to:* Abraham ibn Ezra , a Rabbi who lived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries...
, Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, and Ḳimḥi
Kimhi
Kimhi may refer to:* Alona Kimhi , an Israeli authoress and actress* David Kimhi* Joseph Kimhi* Moses Kimhi* Solomon Kimhi, a Turkish rabbi-See also:* Kimchi...
. His fundamental views, which he attempts to substantiate by his citations, are that Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
is announced in rabbinical literature as the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
and son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
; that the Jewish laws, although revealed by God, are abrogated by the advent of the Messiah; and that the Talmudists corrupted the text of the Bible, as is indicated by the tikkune soferim.
Another prominent aspect of his contribution was the enumeration and rejection of the "Tikkun Sopherim", corrections made by Jewish scribes on the Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
text. Martí directly and publicly charged these emendations upon the Hebrew scribes as "willful corruptions and perversions introduced by them into the sacred text."
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Antoine TouronAntoine TouronAntoine Touron was a French Dominican biographer and historian.He was born at Graulhet, Tarn, France, the son of a merchant, and seems to have joined the Dominicans at an early age...
, Histoire des Hommes Illustres de l'Ordre de St. Dominique, i.489-504, (Paris, 1743) - Jacob Quétif and J. Echard, Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum, i.396-398, ib. (1719)
- Johann Christoph WolfJohann Christoph WolfJohann Christoph Wolf was a German Christian Hebraist, polyhistor, and collector of books....
, Bibliotheca Hebræa, i.1016-1018, iii.989-991; - Johann Jakob HerzogJohann Jakob HerzogJohann Jakob Herzog , German Protestant theologian, was born at Basel.He studied at Basel and Berlin, and eventually settled at Erlangen as professor of church history....
, G.L. Plitt, Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche; - Heinrich GraetzHeinrich GraetzHeinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
, Geschichte, vii.124, 150.
Further bibliography
- Richard HarveyRichard HarveyRichard Harvey is a BAFTA Award–winning British musician and composer. He is best known for his film and television soundtracks...
, Raymundus Martini and the Pugio Fidei: The Life and Work of a Medieval Controversialist (London, 1991, available at lulu.com/content/1385305); - Ambrose of Altramum, Bibliotheca Dominicana, ed. Rocaberti, pp. 58, 449-456, Rome, 1677
- J. G. Walch, Bibliotheca theologica selecta, i.609, (Jena, 1757)
- Solomon Marcus Schiller-SzinessySolomon Marcus Schiller-SzinessySolomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy, sometimes Solomon Mayer Schiller-Szinessy was a Hungarian rabbi and academic...
, Journal of Philology, xvi (1887), 131-152 - L. Zunz, Die Gottesdienstlichen Vortäge der Juden, pp. 287–293, Berlin, 1832
- E. B. Pusey, Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah, vol. ii, Oxford, 1877
- Adolf NeubauerAdolf NeubauerAdolf Neubauer was sublibrarian at the Bodleian Library and reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University....
, Book of Tobit, pp. vii-ix, xx-xxv, ib. 1878 - A. Epstein, Magazin für Wissenschaft des Judenthums, 1888, pp. 65–99,
- I. Levi, Revue des Études JuivesRevue des Études JuivesRevue des Études Juives is a French quarterly of Jewish studies, founded in July 1880 at the École pratique des hautes études, Paris by the Société des Études Juives...
, xvii (1888), 313-317.