- Joshua dei Cantori
Joshua dei Cantori was a converted Italian
Jew who attacked theTalmud atCremona in1559 . According toMoritz Steinschneider , he belonged to the family Cantarini. In consequence of a dispute withJoseph Ottolenghi , who was head of the Talmudical school of Cremona, Cantori, in order to avenge himself on his adversary, appeared with the converted JewBaptista Vittorio Eliano and denounced the Talmud as containing blasphemies against the Christian faith. The result of this accusation was the public burning of 10,000 to 15,000 Hebrew books in 1559 at Cremona.Joseph ha-Kohen records this incident, and adds that later Cantori was found assassinated in a street of Cremona, and was buried "behind the board" in the Jewish cemetery of that city as a mark of contumely. According to another source quoted by J. Wolf, Cantori was a convert to Christianity.References
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