Title Jews and magic in Medici Florence : the secret world of Benedetto Blanis / Edward Goldberg

Published Toronto [Ont.] : University of Toronto Press, ©2011 (Saint-Lazare, Quebec : Canadian Electronic Library, 2011)

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 331 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, facsimiles, genealogical table, portraits, digital file Series Toronto Italian studies series Toronto Italian studies. Contents The piazza -- The palace. The Medici family ; Palazzo Pitti ; Don Giovanni dei Medici ; Benedetto Blanis at court -- The ghetto. Benedetto at home ; The Blanis family ; The creation of the ghetto ; Segregation, conversation, and confusion ; Ghetto government ; Benedetto's neighbours -- The synagogue. The synagogue as it was ; On the bench ; Men of authority ; Quarrels and dissension ; Italians and Levantines -- Memory and survival. The Jewish year ; Home and family ; Observance ; Justice and commandments -- The market. Shopping ; Market and ghetto ; Blanis and sons ; Stolen goods ; Scrocchi Barocchi ; Rich Jews -- Knowledge and power. Books ; Tree of Kabbalah ; Medicean planets ; Silver, gold, and grappa ; The fish pond -- Games of chance. Porta al prato ; Risky business ; Jew mad Christian -- The mirror of truth. On the road ; Venice ; The mirror of truth ; At home with Livia and Don Giovanni ; Fire at the fair ; Florence -- The magic circle. Fellow travellers ; The late Cosimo Ridolfi ; The workshop ; The apprentice -- Curious and forbidden books. Passover and Easter ; Days of scruples ; Holy cross ; Bad Jew ; Business as usual (I) ; Divine favours ; Jews and converts ; Business as usual (II) -- Prison. Misery and woe ; Beginning of the end ; Cosmic battle ; Out of sight and out of mind -- Habeas Corpus? Summary Edward Goldberg reveals the dramas of daily life behind the scenes in the Pitti Palace and in the narrow byways of the Florentine Ghetto, using thousands of new documents from the Medici Granducal Archive. He shows that truth - especially historical truth - can be stranger than fiction, when viewed through the eyes of the people most immediately involved."--Pub. desc "In the seventeenth century, Florence was the splendid capital of the Medici Grand Dukedom of Tuscany. Meanwhile, the Jews in its tiny Ghetto struggled to earn a living by any possible means, especially loan-sharking, rag-picking and second-hand dealing. They were viewed as an uncanny people with rare supernatural powers, and Benedetto Blanis - a businessman and aspiring scholar from a distinguished Ghetto dynasty - sought to parlay his alleged mastery of astrology, alchemy and Kabbalah into a grand position at the Medici Court. He won the patronage of Don Giovanni dei Medici, a scion of the ruling family, and for six tumultuous years their lives were inextricably linked Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-312) and index Notes English Subject Blanis, Benedetto, approximately 1580-1647 -- Correspondence Blanis, Benedetto, approximately 1580-1647. Medici, Giovanni de', 1567-1621. SUBJECT Blanis, Benedetto, approximately 1580-1647 fast Medici, Giovanni de', 1567-1621 fast Subject Jews -- Italy -- Florence -- Social life and customs -- 17th century Jews -- Italy -- Florence -- Biography HISTORY -- Europe -- Italy. HISTORY -- Renaissance. Jews Jews -- Social life and customs Manners and customs SUBJECT Florence (Italy) -- Social life and customs -- 17th century Subject Italy -- Florence Genre/Form Biographies Personal correspondence Form Electronic book ISBN 9781442693494 1442693495 1442613335 9781442613331 1442642254 9781442642256 9781442660137 1442660139

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