On the Rudiments of Hebrew

BOOK ONE

I wrote a work titled Micropedia original: "μικροπαιδεία", meaning "Little Instruction" or "Short Education". A year later, I lectured publicly for the people of Poitiers in Aquitaine, France. There, I earned a chair in Civil Law. Having returned from there to Swabia, I took a wife and received the insignia of a Doctor. I practiced law in public cases before tribunals and judges.

At that time, the illustrious Prince Eberhard the Bearded sent me to the most Serene Emperor Frederick III. This was the same Eberhard who was later appointed the first Duke of Württemberg by Maximilian I, King of the Romans, at the magnificent Diet of Worms with the unanimous consent of the Empire. I was also a member of his council among the nobles. During that embassy, I encountered a learned and literate Jew named Jacob ben Jehiel Loans. He was a Doctor of Medicine and a Golden Knight by imperial favor. He was the first to faithfully teach me the Hebrew letters, more than words can express.

Later, while serving as an ambassador in Rome to Pope Alexander VI, I sought out the remaining rules of that language. I learned them from a Jew of Cesena, namely Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno. Throughout the entire time of the embassy, he instructed me in Hebrew with great kindness every day, though not without the payment of a significant fee.

I am writing this to you, my dear brother, so that you may notice and frequently reflect in your mind upon the great labor, time, and expense I spent just to obtain the beginnings of the Hebrew language. I now hand these over to you in a much richer form than I received them. I have compiled a Hebrew dictionary alone with much sharp study, along with other exercises that you will be able to see with your own eyes and mind.

Truly, I remember the miserable fate of the Jews in our time. They have been driven not only from the borders of Spain but also from our own Germany. They are forced to seek other homes and turn toward the lands of the Hagarenes original: "Agarenos", a medieval term for Muslims, referring to the descendants of Hagar. Because of this, it is possible that the Hebrew language might eventually cease and vanish from among us, causing great damage to the study of Holy Scripture. Therefore, I decided to lay the first foundations for teaching Christians proficiency in the Hebrew language in this book. I do this in accordance with the sacred decree of Pope Clement V regarding the appointment of teachers The Council of Vienne in 1311-1312 mandated that universities establish chairs for Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldean to aid in mission work and scripture study..

Since it appears that no one among the Latins has done this before me, I hope to gain no small favor and lasting praise among posterity. I hope this praise remains free from envy. With God's help, I will complete the entire task in three volumes. The first will cover letters, syllables, and words up to those beginning with the letter K. The second will cover words starting from L to the end of the vocabulary. The third will cover the art of grammar and its practice. The title of this book is On the Rudiments of Hebrew, because I have composed these volumes not for those already learned, but for the unrefined who are still to be instructed.

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