The Beginnings of Ladino Literature: Moses Almosnino and His Readers

334 Pages·2017·7.784 MB·English

by  Olga Borovaya

The Beginnings of Ladino Literature
Indiana Series in Sephardi and Mizrahi Studies
Harvey E. Goldberg and Matthias Lehmann, editors
The Beginnings of
Ladino
Literature
Moses Almosnino and his Readers
Olga Borovaya
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of Manufactured in the
United States of America
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing Library of Congress
Herman B Wells Library 350 Cataloging-in-Publication Data
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Names: Borovaya, O. V. (Olʹga Volʹfovna),
author.
iupress.indiana.edu Title: The beginnings of Ladino lit-
erature : Moses Almosnino and his
© 2017 by Olga Borovaya readers / Olga Borovaya.
Description: Bloomington and India-
All rights reserved napolis : Indiana University Press,
[2016] | Series: Indiana series in Sep-
No part of this book may be repro- hardi and Mizrahi studies | Includes
duced or utilized in any form or by bibliographical references and index.
any means, electronic or mechani- Identifiers: LCCN 2016024515 (print)
cal, including photo copying and | LCCN 2016026872 (ebook) | ISBN
recording, or by any information 9780253025524 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN
storage and retrieval system, with- 9780253025845 (eb)
out permission in writing from Subjects: LCSH: Ladino literature—His-
the publisher. The Association of tory and criticism. | Almosnino,
American University Presses’ Resolu- Moses ben Baruch, approximately
tion on Permissions constitutes the 1515-approximately 1580. | Sephardim
only exception to this prohibition. —Turkey—Intellectual life.
Classification: LCC PC4813.5 .B67 2017
The paper used in this publication (print) | LCC PC4813.5 (ebook) | DDC
meets the minimum requirements of 860.9—dc23
the American National Standard for LC record available at https://lccn.loc
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of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48–1992. 1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18 17
To the memory of my mother,
Irina Borovaya

Contents
Acknowledgments / ix
Note on Translations, Transcriptions,
Titles, and Proper NameS / xi
Introduction / 1
Prologue: Jewish Vernacular Culture
in Fifteenth-Century Iberia / 17
1 Ladino in the Sixteenth Century: The Emergence
of a New Vernacular Literature / 35
2 Almosnino’s Epistles: A New Genre for a New Audience / 66
3 Almosnino’s Chronicles: The Ottoman Empire
through the Eyes of Court Jews / 102
4 The First Ladino Travelogue: Almosnino’s Treatise
on the Extremes of Constantinople / 158
5 Rabbis and Merchants: New Readers,
New Educational Projects / 198
Epilogue: Moses Almosnino, a Renaissance Man? / 256
appendix: [The Extremes of Constantinople] / 269
Bibliography / 291
Index / 309
vii

Acknowledgments
Thirteen years ago, Julia Phillips Cohen gave me an exciting birthday
present, Moses Almosnino’s Crónica de los reyes otomanos. I decided
that one day I would write about it and perhaps translate it into English.
The present book does both. During my work on it, Julia was always
very enthusiastic about the project and, until the final version was sent
to the press, faithfully looked out for anything I might find useful (in-
cluding something as unlikely as an ad on a French radio show about
Almosnino!). In addition, I am extremely grateful to Julia for her astute
comments on the final version of my manuscript.
Still, I might not have finished this project without Aron Rodrigue’s
unwavering friendship and unconditional support, which kept me going.
Furthermore, while constantly reminding me that the sixteenth century
is “not his period,” as he read each chapter he always offered helpful com-
ments and pointed to mistakes. I also thank Aron for making me stop at
some point, or this book would have been a lot longer.
I am also indebted to Vincent Barletta, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, David
Wasserstein, and John Zemke, who read different chapters of this book
and provided insightful suggestions, which often prompted me to go in
new directions. I am grateful to Peter Mann for editing my translation
of Extremes and Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky for being a most reliable
and efficient research assistant. I thank Paula Daccarett for her help
with chapter 5.
ix