Hebrew Students and Teachers Across Borders in the Renaissance

After a few pioneering experiences, learning Hebrew in the Renaissance became somehow fashionable among the Christians through the combination of two powerful factors, bot at the core of the humanist program: the renewed thrust toward the 'original' or 'classical' Greek and Latin legacy of antiquity and the various attempts at setting the Word of God at the centre of a renewal of Christianity. Adding Hebrew to the classical languages of the humanist canon, in the persuasion that it was the original language of God, the mother tongue of Jesus, and the key to the prophecies of the Bible, seemed unescapable. Yet, major difficulties arose quickly: in order to learn Hebrew, one had to rely on Jewish instructors, be thet converted or convertible, forcing both sides to overcome centuries of mutual fear, contempt, and diffidence. The perception of the border separating Jews and Christians became more evident precisely at a time when it was most frequently crossed, triggering a strong reaction centered on the aspect that was felt as mostly endangered: religious identity. On the basis of evidence gathered from several case studies concerning various European regions the present survey analyzes the connection between teaching and learning Hebrew, on the one hand, and the early modern crisis, or reshaping, of religious identity across Europe at the dawn of the Renaissance. When observed from this vantage point, a personal dilemma such as conversion becomes a problem of historical dimensions and can contribute to enlighten a still neglected aspect of the age immediately preceding, and leading up to, the Reformation.