Aleida Paudice graduated from the State University of Milan with a degree in Classical Philology. Furthermore she studied Hebrew and Arabic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received her PhD at the University of Cambridge (UK).

Exklusives Verkaufsrecht für: Gesamte Welt.

List of Abbreviations xi

Introduction
An Account of Previous Scholarship and Approach Adopted 1

1. The World of Elia Capsali 15
Crete under Venetian Rule (1211-1645) 15
The Jews in Crete during the 16th century 20

2. The Capsalis 39
The Capsali family 39
Elia Capsali's biography 53
Capsali's education and his trip to Italy 53
Rabbi Elia Capsali 57
Elia Capsali as an author 61

3. Capsali's Historical Works 65
The Dibrey ha-yamim le-malkhut Venezia: A chronicle of Venice 65
The Seder Eliyahu Zuta 79
Time and place of composition 79
Content and aim of the book 79
Sources 81
Genre, style and language 86

4. Capsali as a Historian 87
Capsali's historical method in the Chronicle of Venice and in the Seder Eliyahu Zuta 87

5. Capsali and the Ottomans 99
Capsali's view of the Ottomans 99
Impressions of the Ottomans in the 16th century in Venice 102
Mehmed II (1451-81) and the Fall of Constantinople 112
Selim I (1512-20) 119
Süleyman I (1520-66) 121

6. Messianism and Rhetoric in Capsali's Historical Works 129
Jewish Messianism and Jewish Historiography in the 16th century 129
Three Jewish historians in relation to Capsali: Solomon Ibn Verga, Joseph Ha-Kohen and Samuel Usque 132
Capsali's work as a messianic work 154
Rhetoric and history in Capsali's works 162

7. Conclusions 171

8. Bibliography 177

9. Appendix to Chapters 1. and 2.
Documents on the Jews of Crete and the Capsalis 199