of the Divine Name and collected around him many pupils, who,
on the death of their master, "formed a band of charlatans and
shamelessly exploited the credulity of their contemporaries."[472]

But the most important of these Cabalistic groups was that of the
Frankists, who were sometimes known as the Zoharists or the
Illuminated,[473] from their adherence to the Zohar or book of Light, or
in their birthplace Podolia as the Shabbethan Zebists, from their
allegiance to the false Messiah of the preceding century--a heresy that
had been "kept alive in secret circles which had something akin to a
masonic organization."[474] The founder of this sect was Jacob Frank, a
brandy distiller profoundly versed in the doctrines of the Cabala, who
in 1755 collected around him a large following in Podolia and lived in a
style of oriental magnificence, maintained by vast wealth of which no
one ever discovered the source. The persecution to which he was
subjected by the Rabbis led the Catholic clergy to champion his cause,
whereupon Frank threw himself on the mercy of the Bishop of Kaminick,
and publicly burnt the Talmud, declaring that he recognized only the
Zohar, which, he alleged, admitted the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus the
Zoharists "claimed that they regarded the Messiah-Deliverer as one of
the three divinities, but failed to state that by the Messiah they meant
Shabbethai Zebi."[475] The Bishop was apparently deceived by this
manoeuvre, and in 1759 the Zoharites declared themselves converted to
Christianity, and were baptized, including Frank himself, who took the
name of Joseph. "The insincerity of the Frankists soon became apparent,
however, for they continued to inter-marry only among themselves and
held Frank in reverence, calling him 'The Holy Master.'"[476] It soon
became evident that, whilst openly embracing the Catholic faith, they
had in reality retained their secret Judaism.[477] Moreover, it was
discovered that Frank endeavoured to pass as a Mohammedan in Turkey; "he
was therefore arrested in Warsaw and delivered to the Church tribunal on
the charge of feigned conversion to Christianity and the spreading of a
pernicious heresy."[478] Unlike his predecessor in apostasy, Shabbethai
Zebi, Frank, however, came to no untimely end, but after his release
from prison continued to prey on the credulity of Christians and
frequently travelled to Vienna with his daughter, Eve, who succeeded in
duping the pious Maria Theresa. But