The Image of Solomon in Early Modern Europe

Bibliography:

Michael Hattaway, “Paradoxes of Solomon: Learning in the English Renaissance,” Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 29(4), 1968. Samantha Kelly, The New Solomon: Robert of Naples and Fourteenth Century Kingship (Brill, 2003). William Tate, Solomonic Iconography in Early Stuart England: Solomon’s Wisdom, Solomon’s Folly (Lewiston, NY: Edward Mellen P. 2001).

I) Solomon as Paradox

II) Solomon War King or Law King

A) Prima Facie Law King

1) Peace, Justice, the baby and the sword, economic growth

B) But Beginning of his reign was quite bloody

Is this Wisdom?

Machiavelli “Hence it is to be remarked that, in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits. He who does otherwise, either from timidity or evil advice, is always compelled to keep the knife in his hand; neither can he rely on his subjects, nor can they attach themselves to him, owing to their continued and repeated wrongs. For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer.

C) Solomon's Folly:

Idolatry and 1000 wives

D) Is Solomon a law king or a war king

II Rabbinic Interpretations of Solomon (Sanhedrin 21:B)

אמר רבי יצחק בשעה שנשא שלמה את בת פרעה ירד גבריאל ונעץ קנה בים והעלה שירטון ועליו נבנה כרך גדול שברומי

Gittin 68a-b

R. Johanan said: There were three hundred kinds of demons in Shihin, but what a shidah is I do not know.¹⁰

The Master said: Here they translate 'male and female demons'. For what did Solomon want them? — As indicated in the verse, And the house when it was in building was made of stone made ready at the quarry, [there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building];¹¹ He said to the Rabbis, How shall I manage [without iron tools]? — They replied, There is the shamir¹² which Moses brought for the stones of the ephod. He asked them, Where is it to be found? — They replied, Bring a male and a female demon and tie them together; perhaps they know and will tell you. So he brought a male and a female demon and tied them together. They said to him, We do not know, but perhaps Ashmedai the prince of the demons knows. He said to them, Where is he? — They answered, He is in such-and-such a mountain. He has dug a pit there, which he fills with water and covers with a stone, which he then seals with his seal. Every day he goes up to heaven and studies in the Academy of the sky and then he comes down to earth and studies in the Academy of the earth, and then he goes and examines his seal and opens [the pit] and drinks and then closes it and seals it again and goes away. Solomon thereupon sent thither Benaiahu son of Jehoiada, giving him a chain on which was graven the [Divine] Name and a ring on which was graven the Name and fleeces of wool and bottles of wine. Benaiahu went and dug a pit lower down the hill and let the water flow into it¹³ and stopped [the hollow] With the fleeces of wool, and he then dug a pit higher up and poured the wine into it¹⁴ and then filled up the pits. He then went and sat on a tree. When Ashmedai came he examined the seal, then opened the pit and found it full of wine. He said, it is written, Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whosoever erreth thereby is not wise,¹⁵ and it is also written, Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.¹⁶ I will not drink it. Growing thirsty, however, he could not resist, and he drank till he became drunk, and fell asleep. Benaiahu then came down and threw the chain over him and fastened it. When he awoke he began to struggle, whereupon he [Benaiahu] said, The Name of thy Master is upon thee, the Name of thy Master is upon thee. As he was bringing him along, he came to a palm tree and rubbed against it and down it came. He came to a house and knocked it down. He came to the hut of a certain widow. She came out (68:B)

and besought him, and he bent down so as not to touch it, thereby breaking a bone. He said, That bears out the verse, A soft tongue breaketh the bone¹ He saw a blind man straying from his way and he put him on the right path. He saw a drunken man losing his way and he put him on his path. He saw a wedding procession making its way merrily and he wept. He heard a man say to a shoemaker, Make me a pair of shoes that will last seven years, and he laughed. He saw a diviner practising divinations and he laughed. When they reached Jerusalem he was not taken to see Solomon for three days. On the first day he asked, Why does the king not want to see me? They replied, Because he has overdrunk himself. So he took a brick and placed it on top of another. When they reported this to Solomon he said to them, What he meant to tell you was, Give him more to drink. On the next day he said to them, Why does the king not want to see me? They replied, Because he has over-eaten himself. He thereupon took one brick from off the other and placed it on the ground. When they reported this to Solomon, he said, He meant to tell you to keep food away from me. After three days he went in to see him. He took a reed and measured four cubits and threw it in front of him, saying, See now, when you die you will have no more than four cubits in this world. Now, however, you have subdued the whole world, yet you are not satisfied till you subdue me too. He replied: I want nothing of you. What I want is to build the Temple and I require the shamir. He said: It is not in my hands, it is in the hands of the Prince of the Sea who gives it only to the woodpecker,² to whom he trusts it on oath. What does the bird do with it? — He takes it to a mountain where there is no cultivation and puts it on the edge of the rock which thereupon splits, and he then takes seeds from trees and brings them and throws them into the opening and things grow there. (This is what the Targummeans by nagar tura).³ So they found out a woodpecker's nest with young in it, and covered it over with white glass. When the bird came it wanted to get in but could not, so it went and brought the shamir and placed it on the glass. Benaiahu thereupon gave a shout, and it dropped [the shamir] and he took it, and the bird went and committed suicide on account of its oath.

Benaiahu said to Ashmedai, Why when you saw that blind man going out of his way did you put him right? He replied: It has been proclaimed of him in heaven that he is a wholly righteous man, and that whoever does him a kindness will be worthy of the future world. And why when you saw the drunken man going out of his way did you put him right? He replied, They have proclaimed concerning him in heaven that he is wholly wicked, and I conferred a boon on him in order that he may consume [here] his share [in the future].⁴ Why when you saw the wedding procession did you weep? He said: The husband will die within thirty days, and she will have to wait for the brother-in-law who is still a child of thirteen years.⁵ Why, when you heard a man say to the shoemaker, Make me shoes to last seven years, did you laugh? He replied: That man has not seven days to live, and he wants shoes for seven years! Why when you saw that diviner divining did you laugh? He said: He was sitting on a royal treasure: he should have divined what was beneath him.

Solomon kept him with him until he had built the Temple. One day when he was alone with him, he said, it is written, He hath as it were to'afoth and re'em,⁶ and we explain that to'afoth means the ministering angels and re'em means the demons.⁷ What is your superiority over us?⁸ He said to him, Take the chain off me and give me your ring, and I will show you. So he took the chain off him and gave him the ring. He then swallowed him,⁹ and placing one wing on the earth and one on the sky he hurled him four hundred parasangs. In reference to that incident Solomon said, What profit is there to a man in all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun.¹⁰

And this was my portion from all my labour.¹¹ What is referred to by 'this'? — Rab and Samuel gave different answers, one saying that it meant his staff and the other that it meant his apron.¹² He used to go round begging, saying wherever he went, I Koheleth was king over Israel in Jerusalem.¹³ When he came to the Sanhedrin, the Rabbis said: Let us see, a madman does not stick to one thing only.¹⁴ What is the meaning of this? They asked Benaiahu, Does the king send for you? He replied, No. They sent to the queens saying, Does the king visit you? They sent back word, Yes, he does. They then sent to them to say, Examine his leg.¹⁵ They sent back to say, He comes in stockings, and he visits them in the time of their separation and he also calls for Bathsheba his mother. They then sent for Solomon and gave him the chain and the ring on which the Name was engraved. When he went in, Ashmedai on catching sight of him flew away, but he remained in fear of him, therefore is it written, Behold it is the litter of Solomon, threescore mighty met, are about it of the mighty men of Israel. They all handle the sword and are expert in war, every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.¹⁶

Rab and Samuel differed [about Solomon]. One said that Solomon was first a king and then a commoner,¹⁷ and the other that he was first a king and then a commoner and then a king again.

The Image of Solomon in Early Modern Europe

I Solomon as Magician

A) Josephus 8:42-9

God also enabled him to learn that skill which expels demons, (4) which is a science useful and sanative to men. He composed such incantations also by which distempers are alleviated. And he left behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they drive away demons, so that they never return; and this method of cure is of great force unto this day; for I have seen a certain man of my own country, whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacal in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons, and his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of the cure was this: He put a ring that had a Foot of one of those sorts mentioned by Solomon to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his nostrils; and when the man fell down immediately, he abjured him to return into him no more, making still mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations which he composed. And when Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate to the spectators that he had such a power, he set a little way off a cup or basin full of water, and commanded the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it, and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left the man; and when this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon was shown very manifestly: for which reason it is, that all men may know the vastness of Solomon's abilities, and how he was beloved of God, and that the extraordinary virtues of every kind with which this king was endowed may not be unknown to any people under the sun for this reason, I say, it is that we have proceeded to speak so largely of these matters.

B) The Key of Solomon

CHAPTER XI

TO HINDER A SPORTSMAN FROM KILLING ANY GAME 1

TAKE a stick of green elder, from the two ends of which thou shalt clean out the pith. In each end place a strip of parchment of hare-skin, having written thereon with the blood of a black hen the following character and word. (See Figure 7.) Having made two of these slips, place one in each end of the stick and close the apertures up with pith, afterwards on a Friday in the month of February thou shalt fumigate the aforesaid stick with suitable incense thrice in the air, and having taken it thence thou shalt bury it in the earth under an elder-tree. Afterwards thou shalt expose it in the pathway by which the sportsman will pass, and once he has passed by it, he need not hope to kill any game during that day. If thou shalt wish a second time to lay a spell upon him in like manner, thou needest but to expose the stick again in his path; but take care to bury it again in the earth under an elder-tree, so as to be able to take it from thence each time that thou shalt have need of it; and to take it up each time as soon as the sportsman shall have passed.

II Solomon as Wisdom

III Solomon's Folly

IV Solomon and Robert of Naples (1309-1343)

A) Robert the Preacher

B) Patronage of intellectuals

C) Robert and Petrarch

D)Prudence a double edged sword

1) fought wars, but always willing to negotiate

2) Argued against force as legitimatory in regards to the empire,

Inconsistent in his anti-imperial rhetoric

No desire to unite Italy, no desire for grand military gesture, outside reconquest of Sicily

Used Solomon as legitimation for his peaceful ways

In Sermon to Genoese to whom he was protector “Since he was the wisest of all kings , he calmed his whole realm with peace as it is written : God gave Solmon wisdom and there was peace between Solmon and Hiram and both undertook a treaty….

3) but went against the old idea of what a king should be like. Example of St Louis so eager to fight—Dante attacks Robert, sense of weakness

E) Why wisdom, Solomonic parallels and legitimacy

Indeed that Solomon who was so regularly invoked by Robert’s supporters was an apt model for the Angevin in more ways than one. Majestic, sage with the theological authority of an old testament figure and an intimate colloquy with God. Solomon illustrated how ideal Roman wisdom could be. And, like Robert, Solomon had been threatened with a rival to the throne, He had asked for wisdom and the lord pleased with is request, chose Solomon, over his brother, to be king for the chosen people

Enemies saw wisdom as apt shorthand for deviousness, baffling politics, and passivity

F) Changing nature of Wisdom Piety to erudtion to cunning

1) Charlemagne, barely litereate

2) St. Louis way to debate (piety)

3) Robert: erudition

4) Charles V of France erudition

5) Richard II cunning

6) All of these can be seen in Solomon

V Solomon and James VI and I

A) ) Characteristics of James I

1) Wisest Fool in Christendom

2) Rex Pacificus

3) Three books: Against smoking, against witchcraft, advice on kingship

4) laziness, favorites, drunkeness

B) James I and Solomonic Imagery

1) As imagery developed all aspects of Solomon was used both his wisdom and his folly

2) Extended parallel in funeral sermon

3) hutchinson sees laziness as reason for James reluctant to promote

Prot aims during 30 years war—flatterers told the king he was solomon and his laziness was peacefulness

C) Irony Charles I and Rehoboam

Eikon basilike The evidence of which different education the holy Writ affords us in the contemplation of David and Rehoboam: The one prepared, by many afflictions for a flourishing Kingdom, the other softned by the unparalel'd prosperity of Solomons Court; and so corrupted to the great diminution, both for Peace, Honour, and Kingdome, by those flatteries, which are as unseparable from prosperous Princes, as Flies are from fruit in summer; whom adversity, like cold weather, drives away.