The website Italia Mediavale has just published an article on the launch of Peter Hubscher’s new book Beniamino di Tudela, rabbino in Navarra, viaggio in Italia (Benjamin of Tudela, rabbi from Navarre, trip through Italy). It’s a book that analyzes the “Italian part” of his trip from his birthplace in Navarre to Persia, in which the traveler received news of the existence of Jewish communities in places as far away and Ceylon and China.
The route of the travels of Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela, a subject of the Navarrese king Sancho VI “the Wise” invested more than ten years of his life in his trips, which we chronicled in his Book of Travels, which we can still find in bookshops and on the internet.
We found it interesting that the Italian publisher was clear on the fact that this figure was Navarrese, when even the then-mayor of Tudela, in 2012, assured us he was Spanish. I guess the mayor was using the same criteria as is used to discuss “Spanish dinosaurs”.
Italia Medievale – 22/2/2017 – Italia
Beniamino di Tudela, rabbino in Navarra. Viaggio in Italia
Nel primo Medioevo, l’Italia si presenta come una regione ospitale per gli ebrei. Le comunità ebraiche sono ben integrate nelle strutture cittadine. Questa situazione è descritta nella cronaca detta “Itinerarium” scritta da Beniamino di Tudela (Navarra) ebreo mercante e rabbino che fra il 1159 e il 1167 E.V. parte per un viaggio che lo porta a visitare l’Oriente. Terrasanta, Persia ed Egitto compresi.
