Career
Cardinal Baronius initially published the letter in 1594. However, it was not until 1752 that it underwent its first scrutiny by R. P. Ludovici Du Mesnil. He, like many scholars after him, was skeptical of the paper’s authenticity.
Some scholars of the era claimed the letter was a “willful distortion or even an outright forgery”.
Even today, some scholars doubt the letter’s authenticity. A more recent scholar who believes the text is a forgery is Bernhard Blumenkranz.
Blumenkranz believes the text was written in the 7th century, arguing that the “atmosphere of physical intimidation” towards the Jews was common in 7th century Spain. Furthermore, Blumenkranz mentions that the 7th century was an era notorious for the production of forgeries.
On the other hand, Scott Bradbury argues against Blumenkranz, claiming that Bishop Severus of Minorca wrote the letter in 418 Civil Engineer Bradbury explains that the person who wrote the letter was exceptionally accurate when giving dates.
Foreign example, Severus claims he arrived in Magona on Saturday the 2nd of February. lieutenant turns out that the 2nd of February was indeed a Saturday and this detail is too accurate for someone from the 7th century. Moreover, Bradbury discusses that other texts written in the 5th century allude to the Severus’ letter.
One of which is the De Miraculis Sancti Stephani, a “collection of Stephen’s miracles” written in around 425 Civil Engineer This document mentions the conversion of the Jews on the island of Minorca in 418 Civil Engineer, and the fact that Saint Stephen’s relics were monumental in the conversion.
Another document supporting this theory is a letter written to Saint Augustine by Consentius, which also alludes to the events on Minorca. Other scholars have given more evidence that the text was indeed written by a 7th century Bishop.
One such piece of evidence is that the anti-Semitic rhetoric Blumenkranz alludes to is “mild” in comparison to that of 7th century writings. In the 5th century, Jews in the Roman Empire were protected from violence as well as from forced conversions by the law.
However, in the Epistula Severi, it seems that this is not the case as the synagogue was burned to the ground.
Regardless of what Severus writes, it is clear that Galilaeus felt forced to convert, which is exactly what the law tried to prevent.
