Immanuel the Roman

Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel of Rome (Immanuel of Rome, Immanuel Romano, Manoello Giudeo) (1261 in Rome – 1332 in Fermo, Italy) was a Jewish poet and writer who lived in the Papal States and composed works in Hebrew and Italian. Immanuel’s most well-known work is his Hebrew-language maqama collection, the Mahberot Immanuel.

Biography Immanuel was born in Rome in 1261 to the Zifroni family. His cousin, Judah ben Moses Romano, was an author and translator employed by the King of Naples, Robert of Anjou. Immanuel served as the head of correspondence for Rome’s Jewish community and likely occupied another prominent position during his lifetime. He left Rome in 1321, perhaps in response to a papal edict of that year which ordered the expulsion of Jews from Rome. After this, he travelled around Italy, possibly residing in Gubbio. Immanuel likely died around 1335.

Works Immanuel wrote in both in Hebrew and Italian. He is the only Jewish author from this time with surviving Italian-language works. Apart from the Mahberot Immanuel, his most-known composition, he authored biblical commentaries, a work of Hermeneutics, a treatise on the esoteric aspects of the Hebrew alphabet (not extant), and five poems in Italian. He is the first poet to author a sonnet in a language other than Italian. The beloved is referred to both as a “gazelle,” typical of Arabic and Hebrew literary heritage, and as a “lady,” Immanuel’s translation of the Italian donna. Daniel and Immanuel meet other biblical and contemporary people in hell and heaven. Scholars have pointed to similarities between Immanuel’s story and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Immanuel, unlike Dante, does not include Purgatory, as it is not part of Jewish theology. Interestingly, this section is the lone story cast exclusively in rhymed prose without any sections of metered verse. Bisbidis has received scholarly attention for its inventiveness and rich onomatopoeia.