Hebrew in the Counter-Reformation: The Case of Caesar Baronius and Gilbert Génébrard

The lives and works of Caesar Baronius and Gilbert Génébrard are important because they help us rethink the place of knowledge of the Hebrew language within the post-Reformation Catholic world. Examination of Baronius’s Annales reveals that the accusations brought against the work by Protestant scholars were not always well founded. The Roman cardinal, in fact, without knowing Hebrew, was able to make use of a substantial number of important Jewish sources (not all of which were secondary texts). To be sure, Rome in the second half of the sixteenth century was not a leading center for Hebrew studies. Nevertheless, Bar- onius managed to compose a set of texts to counter Protestant claims, aware that in order to fight effectively against his opponents he needed to resort to that kind of polemical activity.