192 SOLOMON'S RE-APPEARANCE. צו him to Spain; and he abode there many days, and died in the prison-house. 839. And many in Italy believed, at that time, that Rabbi Solomon Molcho had been delivered by his wisdom from the hand of those who sought after his soul to destroy it*, and that the fire had no power over him. And there were some witnessed, and sware before the assembly and congregation, that he stood in his house eight days after the burning, and that he went his way thence, and they saw him no more; the Almighty God alone knoweth†. And would to God I could write in a book with certainty and sincerity, whether his words were true or not. 840. And my wife conceived, when we were at Botago; and when her time was fully come that she could bring forth, she had hard labor. And I cried unto the Lord concerning her, and He * Ps. xl. 14. † In A.D. 1666, when the notorious Pseudo-messiah Shabthai Ts'vi was frightened into Mahommedanism, there were also people who would not be undeceived. "Non obstant cela, il ne laissa pas de s'en trouver quelques-uns qui affirmoient que Sabatai ne s'estoit point fait Turk, et que c'estoit seulement son ombre qu'on voyoit sur la terre avec un turban blanc, et un habit de Mohamettan; mais que son veritable corps et son ame avoient esté enlevez au ciel pour y demeurer jusqu'au temps prescrit, a l'accomplissement des merveilles qu'il avoit preschées." Histoire de Deux Turcs, et d'un Juif, de l'Anglois de Mons. T. E. Paris, 1673, p. 138, 139. .בוטאגו + צו ESTHER - DORIA IN JANUARY, A.D. 1533. heard me from his holy habitation. 193 And He opened her womb, and she bare a son on the eleventh day of the month Shebat, two hundred and ninety-three after the smaller date; and she ceased from bearing. And I said, "Now will I praise the Lord," and I called his name Jehudah*; and the child grew, and obtained favor in the sight of all that looked upon himt. 841. And Andrea Doria, the oppressor of the Jews, returned with all his ships unto Italy in those days. 842. And it happened, when they came, behold there was with them among the captives, a virtuous woman of the Hebrews, whose name was Esther, the wife of Rabbi Jacob, the priest. And the prison-keeper said unto her, "Go to now, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee§." And she went after him and covered herself, and plunged from the ship into the depths of the seal, and died before it was known whither the woman went; and they marvelled much concerning her. I pray thee, O God of the spirits¶, bring her back from the depths of the sea. 843. And Andrea Doria rode on a horse and went to Bologna, and bowed with his face to the 194 DORIA IN GENOA, 1533. צו ground before the emperor. And he abode there some days and returned unto his ships, and came with gladness to Genoa in the month of January in the year two hundred and ninety-three, in the year one thousand five hundred and thirtythree*. And he brought with him the spoil of the cities, which the Lord had overturned in his wrath. And in Coron he left about one thousand five hundred Spaniards, warlike men; and corn, and bread, and wine, and oil, and gunpowder, and cannon-balls, in abundance; and they abode there many days. Now the city of Coron was a fortified city, so that those who were in it could withstand one against a hundred, and a hundred against a thousand. And they took it, because of the cowardice of the Turks, who abode in the midst thereof in those days. 844. And Solyman sent about ten thousand men, and they besieged Coron many days. Also his galleys besieged it, and gave no peace either to those who went out or to those who came in; and the city was besiegedt. 845. And the emperor Charles and the pope abode in Bologna several days, and rejoiced in love in those days. And they said one to another, "How long shall Italy be a desolation, as overthrown by strangers? Come, let us deal wisely, let us make her a name, lest she * A. D. + 2 Kings xxiv. 10; xxv. 2. Is. i. 7. צו COVENANT AT BOLOGNA, FEB. 28, 1533. 195 should again become a spoil*; and one shall help the othert when there falleth out any wart, and they shall not sorrow any more at all§." And the thing was good in their sight, and in the sight of the nobles of Italy; and they made a covenant among themselves; and there entered the covenant, the pope, the emperor, the men of Venice, and the Duke Francesco of Milan, and the rest of the nobles of Italy, both those who were nigh, and also of them who were afar off; to unite their shoulders, to root out, and to destroy every power of people or of country that should come to war in Italy, and that every one should give, according to those that were numbered of them** ,some more and some less. And this decree was giventt at Bologna on the twenty-eighth day of the month of February; and Antonio Leyva was over the host in those days. 846. And Francis, the king of France, sent messengers unto the emperor, and with them nobles and very honorable men; and demanded of him Milan, and Genoa, and Savona: but he hearkened not unto them. And Charles gave them also time to come into the covenant; and they went from him in peace. One of them went unto Ferrara, and the other returned to France; and every thing they had done was told the king. * 2 Kings xxi. 14. + Is. xli. 6. Exod. i. 10. § Jer. xxxi. 12. || Esther ix. 20. ¶ Consent. Zeph. iii. 9. ** Numb. xxvi. 54; Exod. xvi. 17. Esther iii. 15, 196 צו CHARLES V. AT BARCELONA, A.M. 5293. 847. And the emperor removed from Bologna in the month Abib, and came unto Cremona, passed through Pavia, and laid up his carriages at Milan*. And he saw the cities which were appointed to be overturned; namely, most of the cities of Italy, those which were nigh, and also those which were afar off; and he went on his journey unto Genoa in the second month, two hundred and ninety-three. And he went down to the sea in ships, and turned his face unto Barcelona. And also his spouse, the queen, came thither before they arrived; and the greater part of the nobles of Spain she brought with her at that time. And the men of Barcelona made a great and exceedingly fine pier† in the sea. And it came to pass, one day, when the ships arrived there, that they went out to meet him; but he was not there to be found, for he had come into the city three days before they arrived, and they knew nothing of it. And he lay down on the bosom of the queen in her chamber, and they rejoiced in love; for bread eaten in secret is sweets. 848. In that month, Giovanni Giorgio, the marquess of Montferrat, took to wife the daughter of the king of Naples, whom Ferdinand, the king of Spain, had put away by command of the emperor. And the woman came unto Casale, the * Isa. x. 28. t, a bridge, here, according to the context, a pier. |