Andrea de Monti, whose Jewish name was Joseph Zarafti, was born at Fez, hence he is sometimes called "Joseph Moro," died before 1597. After his conversion to Christianity, he laboured as a missionary to the Jews at Rome. He published the sermons which he preached to them under the Hebrew title "מבוכת היהודים" ("Confusion of the Jews.") The Roman Jews then protested to the Curia, when he issued a mild letter to them in 1581, under the title "אגרת שלום" ("Lettera de Pace.")
Aquin de Philippe, born at Carpentras about 1578, died in 1650 at Paris. He was converted to Christianity in Aquino. His Jewish name was Mordecai. He was a voluminous writer; the following is a list of his works. 1. "Primigenæ Voces, sui Radices Breves Linguæ Sanctæ" (Paris, 1620). 2. "Pirke Aboth Sententiæ Rabbinarum Hebraices cum Latina versione" (ib. 1620). 3. "Dessertation du Tabernacle et du camp des Israelites" (ib. 1623). 4. "Interpretatio Arboris Cabbalisticae" (ib. 1625). 5. "Behinat Olam" (L'Examen du Monde) of Yedaiah Bedersi, Hebrew and French (ib. 1629). 6. "Ma'arik ha—Maareket, Dictionarum Hebraicum Chaldaicum, Talmudico-Rabbinicum" (ib. 1629). 7. "Kina Licrimae in Obitum Cardinalis de Berulli," Hebrew and Latin (ib. 1629). 8. "יג מדות" "Veterum Rabbinorum in Exponendo Pentateucho Modi tredecim" (ib. 1620).
Aquinas, Louis Henri de, son of the above, wrote a translation of the commentary on the book of Esther, by R. Solomon ben Isaac, with extracts relating thereto from the Talmud and Yalkut (Paris, 1627), and a Latin translation of the first four chapters of Levi Ben Gerson's commentary on the book of Job. (ib. 1623.)
Aronda, Pedro de, Bishop of Calahisra and President of the Council of Castile in the latter part of the fifteenth century, was the son of Gongolo Alonzo, a Hebrew Christian. Aronda's brother, too, was Bishop of Montreal in Sicily.
Baena, Francisco, and his brother, Juan Alfonso Di, flourished at the end of the fifteenth century and in the sixteenth century. They were both Spanish poets.
Baptista, Gioranni Giona Galileo, was born in Safed in 1588, and died in 1668. His Jewish name was Judah Jonah ben Isaac. After travelling on the Continent, and being assistant rabbi in Hamburg, he embraced Christianity in Poland in 1625. Then he went to Italy and was appointed Professor at the University of Pisa, and later as one of the librarians at the Vatican. He wrote (1.) "A Sermon in Hebrew and Latin on the Messiah and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles." (2.) "Limud hameshehim" (Doctrines of Christianity), a Hebrew translation of the Italian Catechism of Robert Bellarmin. (3.) "Berith Hahadasha,"[3] a Hebrew translation of the N. T., with a preface by Clement IX. (4.) A Hebrew Chaldaic Lexicon. (5.) A Treatise on the name of Jesus, "Hillufin sheben sheloshah Targumim," a collection of the differences in the Targums. Some of the works are in MS. in the Vatican library.
Baptista, Garvanni Salomo Romano Eliano. He was born at Alexandria and died in Rome in 1589. He was the grandson of Elijah Levita, the famous Hebrew grammarian. Hearing that his brother was baptized at Venice, he hastened there to win him back to Judaism, but became a Christian himself in 1551. He wrote a catechism in Hebrew and Arabic, and similar religious books, but gained especial notoriety as an anti-Talmudist, and used his influence at the Papal Court to have the Talmud and other rabbinic literature, destroyed altogether. This actually happened in some places. But Baptista had to suffer for it, and his name, together with Joseph Moro and Ananel di Folgio, also converts and companions, are still branded by Jewish writers. When, in 1561, he was sent by Pope Pius IV. on a mission to Egypt, the Jews of Alexandria bitterly persecuted him at the instigation of his own mother.
Bernard, Sarah, born in Paris in 1844, of Dutch Jewish parentage. At the request of her father she was received into the Roman Catholic Church. Her early years were spent in a convent. Later she studied dramatic art in the conservatoire, and became famous.
Bauer, Marie-Bernard (Herman Cohen), was born at Budapest in 1829, died 1898. After his conversion to Catholicism he joined the Carmelite order. He distinguished himself as a preacher, first at Vienna, where he delivered a series of addresses, which were published (1866) under the title, "Le Judaisme Comme Preuve du Christianisme." Eventually he attained to the rank of a bishop. In 1869 he became father confessor to the Empress Eugenie. On November 17th, 1869, he delivered the dedicatory address at the opening of the Suez Canal. He also published a book of sermons, "Le But de la Vie" (1869), and a pamphlet, "Napoléon III, et l'Europien" (1867).
Caballeria Bonafos, son of Solomon ibn Labe de la Caballeria, was baptized in the fifteenth century, and eight brothers followed his example. Notwithstanding this, some members of this large family suffered much from the Inquisition.