poets, Immanuel, the son of Solomon of Rome. Like the
other Jews of Rome, Immanuel stood in the most friendly relations with
Christians, for nowhere was medieval intolerance less felt than in the
very seat of the Pope, the head of the Church. Thus, on the one hand
Immanuel was a leading member of the synagogue, and, on the other, he
carried on a literary correspondence with learned Christians, with
poets, and men of science. He was himself a physician, and his poems
breathe a scientific spirit. As happened earlier in Spain, the circle of
Immanuel regarded verse-making as part of the culture of a scholar.
Witty verses, in the form of riddles and epigrams, were exchanged at the
meetings of the circle. With these poets, among whom Kalonymos was
included, the penning of verses was a fashion. On the other hand, music
was not so much cultivated by the Italian Hebrews as by the Spanish.
Hence, both Immanuel and Kalonymos lack the lightness and melody of the
best writers of Hebrew verse in Spain. The Italians atoned for this loss
by their subject-matter. They are joyous poets, full of the gladness of
life. They are secular, not religious poets; the best of the
Spanish-Hebrew poetry was devotional, and the best of the Italian so
secular that it was condemned by pietists as too frivolous and too much
"disfigured by ill-timed levity."

Immanuel was born in Rome in about 1270. He rarely mentions his father,
but often names his mother Justa as a woman of pious and noble
character. As a youth, he had a strong fancy for scientific study, and
was nourished on the "Guide" of Maimonides, on the works of the Greeks
and Arabs, and on the writings of the Christian school-men, which he
read in Hebrew translations. Besides philosophy, mathematics, astronomy,
and medicine, Immanuel studied the Bible and the Talmud, and became an
accomplished scholar. He was not born a poet, but he read deeply the
poetical literature of Jews and Christians, and took lessons in
rhyme-making. He was wealthy, and his house was a rendezvous of wits and
scientists. His own position in the Jewish community was remarkable. It
has already been said that he took an active part in the management of
communal affairs, but he did more than this. He preached in the
synagogue on the Day of Atonement, and delivered eulogistic orations
over the remains of departed worthies. Towards the end of his life he
suffered losses both in fortune and in friends, but he finally found a
ne