Solomon Molcho
16th century Jewish Portuguese mystic
Solomon Molcho (Hebrew: שלמה מולכו, romanized: Shlomo Molkho; born Diogo Pires; c. 1500 – 13 December 1532) was a Portuguese Jewish mystic and messiah claimant. When he met with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, to urge the creation of a Jewish army, the emperor turned him over to the Inquisition and he was burned at the stake.
Early life
Nothing is known of Molcho's family or even the exact date of his birth. He was born in Portugal sometime between September 1500 and August 1502, probably to Marrano parents. His original name was Diego Pires. He held the post of secretary to the High Court of Appeals of his native country. When the Jewish adventurer David Reubeni arrived in 1525 to negotiate with the king, ostensibly on a political mission from some of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, Molcho wished to join him, but was rejected. He then circumcised himself, though without thereby gaining Reubeni's favor, and was forced to emigrate.
Mystic studies
Molcho became a master Talmudist and Hebrew Bible exegete and then studied the Kabbalah with Joseph Taitazak. Although it is not certain that Joseph Karo and Solomon Alkabetz met Molcho, he inspired them, mainly because of his martyrdom.
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This entry incorporates text from “Solomon Molcho” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.