Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522)

A Unique Philosemitic Public Intellectual

Bibliographic Data

ID3970388
AuthorsNathan Ron (0000-0002-8715-5915, University of Haifa, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume28
Issue7
Pages725-741
Publication date2023-10-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe European Legacy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10848770.2023.2220239
OpenAlexW4380052198
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited26

Intellectuals have been engaged in public life since antiquity: from Biblical prophets down to figures such as Machiavelli, Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and other Enlightenment and later thinkers. This article focuses on the life and work of Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522). Its primary source is Reuchlin’s Expert Opinion Whether to Confiscate, Destroy and Burn All Jewish Books (Ratschlag Ob Man Den Juden Alle Ire Bücher Nemmen, Abthun Und Verbrennen Soll) published in 1510. Based on this and the scholarly literature, it is argued that as an outstanding philosemitic humanist who saved the Talmud and other Jewish books from destruction, Reuchlin should be recognized as a public intellectual, the greatest of his time. Arguably, by standing up against the destruction of Jewish religious and cultural life, Reuchlin stirred the German consciousness and public opinion that was crucial for the making of the Reformation. So far as the Jews were concerned, Jewish textual survival enabled national survival. Reuchlin contributed immensely to that survival

Consciousness · Enlightenment · Epistemology · Humanism · Judaism · Political science · Sociology · Talmud · Theology · Classics · European Law and Migration · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Theology and Canon Law Studies

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