Foligno, Hananel

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FOLIGNO, HANANEL (Da ), apostate and anti-Jewish agitator in Rome in mid-16th century; his name after baptism was Alessandro Franceschi. Foligno was one of three apostates whose slandering of the Talmud to Pope *Julius iii resulted in its burning in 1553. When in 1555 the Jews of Rome were accused of a ritual murder (*Blood libel), Foligno insisted on their guilt. After a public confrontation between him and representatives of the Jewish community, Pope Marcellus ordered the reconsideration of the charge. In due course, the true culprit was discovered and punished.


Vogelstein-Rieger, 2 (1896), 146–51; Joseph ben Joshua ha-Kohen, Emek ha-Bakha (1895), 128, 133; rej, 4 (1882), 95–96; F. Secret, ibid., 122 (1963), 182–3; I. Sonne, Mi Paulo ha-Revi'i ad Pius ha-Ḥamishi (1954), 66, 103–5.

[Umberto (Moses David) Cassuto]