Jacob Rosales

The physician, astronomer, mathematician, and poet Jacob Rosales (Manoel Bocarro Frances) was born in Lisbon to a New Christian family. He studied medicine, mathematics, and classical languages at Alcalá, Montpellier, and Coimbra. Following his studies, Rosales returned to Lisbon and became a well-known physician, attending, among others, the Archbishop of Braga. Rosales wrote a number of works on astronomy. His Status astrologicus sive anacephaleoses da Monarchia Lusitania (Astrological Constitution or Recapitulations of the Portuguese Empire, 1624) was written in verse and became highly influential. In 1625, he settled in Rome and met Galileo, who influenced his later writings. In the 1630s, Rosales settled in Hamburg, where members of his family lived openly as Jews, and in July 1647 Emperor Ferdinand II awarded him the title count palatine in recognition of his scientific achievements. He later openly identified as Jewish, taking the name Jacob Hebraeus. He was denounced to the Inquisition in 1658.