Raymundus Martini
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Raymond Martini, also called Ramon Martí in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic work ''Pugio Fidei'' (c. 1270). 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.


Biography

He was born in the first half of the 13th century at
Subirats Subirats is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Penedès, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of ...
in Catalonia; and died after 1284. It is speculated that he could have been of Jewish origin. According to Philippe Bobichon's analysis of the Ms 1405 (Sainte Geneviève Library, Paris), Raymond Martini converted during adulthood. In 1250 he was selected by the provincial chapter, sitting in
Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...
, 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.


Censorship of the Talmud

In March 1264, he was commissioned, with the Bishop of Barcelona, Raymond of Penyafort, and two other Dominicans,
Arnau de Segarra Arnau may refer to: Places *Arnau Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a medieval church in Arnau (modern Rodniki) east of Kaliningrad *German name for Hostinné, a town in the Czech Republic *University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, a public me ...
and
Pere Gener Pere may refer to: *Pere, Hungary, a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county * Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere (1937–2020), Māori New Zealand educationalist and spiritual leader *Wi Pere (1837–1915), a Māori Member of Parliament i ...
, 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 censorship 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).


Polemic literature

Martí was the author of two anti-Jewish books, one of which, the ''Capistrum Judaeorum'', first published in 1990. His refutation of the Koran is lost. There is at Bologna a manuscript of his ''Capistrum Judaeorum'', 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 "''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 Sorbonne (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 proves 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 Johann Benedict Carpzov II (24 April 1639 – 23 March 1699) was a German Christian theologian and Hebraist. He was a member of the scholarly Carpzov family. He studied Hebrew under Johannes Buxtorf II, in Basel. He was appointed professor of Ori ...
(Leipzig and Frankfurt, 1687), with the anti-Jewish preface ''Introduction in Theologiam Judaicam''.


Knowledge of Hebrew literature

Martí has been accused of forgery because of his quotations from '' Genesis Rabbah,'' which were not otherwise known; but
Leopold Zunz Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies (''Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation ...
defends him against this charge (''Gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden'' p. 300). Martí was widely read in
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. Hebrew literature was pro ...
, quoting not only from Talmudic and Midrashic works, but from Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, Maimonides, and
Ḳimḥi Kimhi or Kimchi ( he, קִמְחִי) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alona Kimhi (born 1963), Israeli author and actress *David Kimhi (1160–1235), rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher and grammarian *Joseph Kimhi (11 ...
. 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. Another prominent aspect of his contribution was the enumeration and rejection of the " tikkune soferim", alleged corrections made by Jewish scribes on the
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
text. Martí directly and publicly charged these emendations upon the Hebrew scribes as "willful corruptions and perversions introduced by them into the sacred text."Oliver Turnbull Crane, "Tikkun Sopherim", ''Hebraica'', The University of Chicago Press, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Jul., 1887), pp. 233, 234.


References

*


Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* Antoine Touron, ''Histoire des Hommes Illustres de l'Ordre de St. Dominique,'' i.489-504, (Paris, 1743) *
Jacob Quétif Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Jacob in Islam, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel (name), Israel, is regarded as a Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religi ...
and
J. Echard ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...
, ''Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum,'' i.396-398, ib. (1719) *
Johann Christoph Wolf Johann Christoph Wolf (born at Wernigerode, February 21 1683; died at Hamburg, July 25 1739) was a German Christian Hebraist, polyhistor, and collector of books. He studied at Wittenberg, and traveled in Holland and England in the intere ...
, ''Bibliotheca Hebræa,'' i.1016-1018, iii.989-991; *
Johann Jakob Herzog Johann Jakob Herzog (12 September 1805, Basel – 30 September 1882, Erlangen), was a Swiss-German Protestant theologian. Herzog studied theology at the University of Basel and Berlin, earning his doctorate at the University of Basel in 1830. In 18 ...
, G.L. Plitt, ''Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche''; * Heinrich Graetz, ''Geschichte,'' vii.124, 150.


Further bibliography

* Philippe Bobichon, amon Martí, Pugio fidei"Le manuscrit Latin 1405 de la Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève (Paris), autographe et œuvre d’un converti", In: G. K. Hasselhoff and A. Fidora (dir), ''Ramon Martís Pugio Fidei. Studies and Texts'', Santa Coloma de Queralt, Obrador Edendum, 2017, pp. 39–10
online
* Philippe Bobichon, « Ramón Martí (XIIIe siècle) : un ‘Maître orientaliste’ ?" in : ''Portraits de Maîtres offerts à Olga Weijers'', Porto, 2012, pp. 405-41
online
* Philippe Bobichon, "La ‘bibliothèque’ de Raymond Martin au couvent Sainte-Catherine de Barcelone : sources antiques et chrétiennes du ''Pugio fidei'' (ca 1278)" in ''Entre stabilité et itinérance. Livres et culture des ordres mendiants, XIIIe-XVe siècle'', Turnhout, 2014, pp. 329–36
online
* Richard Harvey, ''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 Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...
, ''Bibliotheca Dominicana,'' ed. Rocaberti, pp. 58, 449-456, Rome, 1677 *
J. G. Walch Johann Georg Walch (17 June 1693 – 13 January 1775) was a German Lutheran theologian. Life He was born in Meiningen, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at Leipzig and Jena, amongst his teachers being J. F ...
, ''Bibliotheca theologica selecta,'' i.609, (Jena, 1757) * Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy, ''Journal of Philology,'' xvi (1887), 131-152 *
L. Zunz Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies (''Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the Critical theory, critic ...
, ''Die Gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden,'' pp. 287–293, Berlin, 1832 *
E. B. Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years ...
, ''Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah,'' vol. ii, Oxford, 1877 * Adolf Neubauer, ''Book of Tobit,'' pp. vii-ix, xx-xxv, ib. 1878 *
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia. Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, ''Magazin für Wissenschaft des Judenthums,'' 1888, pp. 65–99, *
I. Levi I is the ninth letter of the Latin alphabet. I or i may also refer to: Language * I (pronoun), the first-person singular subject pronoun in English * I (Cyrillic), a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets * ı, dotless I ...
, '' Revue des Études Juives,'' xvii (1888), 313-317. * Eusebi Colomer i Pous, '' El pensament als Països Catalans durant l’Edat Mitjana i el Renaixement,'' (1997), p. 194.


Notes


External links


''Raymond Martini, Schaff Encyclopedia''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martini, Raymond 13th-century births 1280s deaths Spanish Dominicans People from Catalonia Christian Hebraists Christian anti-Judaism in the Middle Ages Spanish people of Jewish descent Talmud translators