Benedictus Arias Montanus
Back to people overviewAn Orientalist who wrote a Hebrew guide complete with Biblical maps, and supervised and edited the great Polyglot Bible commissioned by King Philip II of Spain. Montanus included in this work parallel Hebrew text with a translation by Leon de Castro, a fellow at Salamanca. de Castro denounced Montanus to the Spanish Inquisition for having heretically altered the text of the Bible. He was eventually freed of the charges in 1580, and thereafter mostly retired to his hermitage. However, he accepted the post of royal chaplain, looking after the Escorial library and teaching Eastern languages.
