614 Rashi
Further reading:Raoul Glaber, Rodulfi Glabri Histori-
arum libri quinque—The Five Books of the Histories/Rodul-
fus Glaber,ed. and trans. John France; Eiusdem auctoris
Vita Domni Willelmi Abbatis—The Life of St. William,ed.
Neithard Bulst and trans. John France and Paul Reynolds
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989).
Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, Rabbi Shelomo
Yitshaki) (ca. 1040–1105) Jewish biblical scholar,
commentator
Solomon ben Isaac, called Rashi, was born at Troyes in
BURGUNDYabout 1040. He received his education from
his learned father and maternal uncle. In about 1060, he
went to Mainz, where he was a student of the person he
would consider his master, Jacob ben Yaqar (d. 1064).
He continued his training at Mainz, with Isaac ben
Judah, then at Worms with Isaac ben Asher Halevi
(d. 1133). It was at Mainz and Worms that Rashi began
to consult manuscripts of the TALMUDand tried to estab-
lish a correct text. He also worked on a commentary,
deploying and amending a method used in the Rhine
cities by GERSHOM BENJUDAH.
His method of commentary was simple and precedent-
setting, a philological and grammatical explanation of
words linked with an exegesis of themes and contents.
The words and grammar were in Aramaic, Hebrew, and
French. He led readers through the arguments systemati-
cally, pointing out the sometimes obscure breaks in the
unpunctuated text and clarifying questions and answers
in dialectic or dialogue format. He located the proposi-
tions of the masters in their historical period. He offered
a plain meaning, then, if necessary, looked for a deeper
meaning. He also analyzed the various techniques used
by the previous masters of the Talmud. This form of exe-
gesis was influential to later Christian and Jewish com-
mentators and scholars. He identified his approach as
combining a literal and a figurative reading that drew on
midrashic and the philological methods. Rashi also wrote
important responses to legal and religious questions. He
lived to see the massacres of the Jews accompanying the
First CRUSADEand died at Troyes in 1105.
See alsoBIBLE.
Further reading:Scot A. Berman, Learning Talmud:
A Guide to Talmud Terminology and Rashi Commentary
(Northvale, N.J.: J. Aronson, 1997); Pinchas Doron,
Rashi’s Torah Commentary: Religious, Philosophical, Ethi-
cal, and Educational Insights (Northvale, N.J.: Jason
Aronson, 2000); Sampson A. Isseroff, An Introduction to
Rashi’s Grammatical Explanations in the Book of
Deuteronomy-Shaar le-Dikduke Rashi, Sefer Devarim
(New York: M. P. Press, 1993); Esra Shereshevsky, Rashi:
The Man and His World (New York: Sepher-Hermon
Press, 1982).
rauda SeeGARDENS.
Ravenna Medieval Ravenna was a city in northern
Italy near the convergence of the Po River and the Adri-
atic Sea. The town of Ravenna, and the military port of
Classis attached to it, had their origins as an important
center when the Western Roman emperor Honorius (r.
395–423) established his official residence there in 402.
Surrounded by mosquitoes and marshes, Ravenna offered
him security from the barbarian raids and greater ease of
contact by sea with the Eastern Empire.A SUCCESSION OF RULERS
Ravenna remained a political capital throughout the fifth
and sixth centuries under ODOACER,THEODORIC, and the
Byzantine reconquest by JUSTINIANin 540. It benefited
during this time from large building projects. Two palaces
were built, along with the churches of Saint John the Bap-
tist, Santa Croce, San Vitale, Sant’ Apollinare in Classe,
and Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, as well as the mausoleums of
GALLAPLACIDIAand Theodoric.GRADUAL DOWNTURN
The Lombard invasion did little damage to the town but
diminished its role as the political capital. However, it
became the Italian seat by Byzantine power and until 751
was also the home of an exarch whose office gave its
name to the region, the Exarchate. The Carolingian con-
quest in the mid- to late eighth century expelled the
Lombards, but pillaged the palaces and churches for
CHARLEMAGNE’Spalace at AACHEN. For years thereafter
Ravenna was a place of contention between the Frankish
monarchy and the PAPACY. The archbishops of Ravenna
established their authority based on their rich temporal
rural possessions, taxing commerce on the Po, and
income from saltpans. The emperor OTTOI promised to
restore the Exarchate to the papacy but never did. The
archbishops of Ravenna, fearing papal ambition, invari-
ably gave active support to the imperial party against the
Holy See.
Ravenna’s spiritual and temporal importance and
powers were further curtailed in the 12th century
despite the formation of a COMMUNEin 1218. The silting
of its port prevented the city from competing with
VENICE. FREDERICKII took control of the town in 1240.
In 1270 the emperor RUDOLF OFHABSBURG ceded the
town to the pope in exchange for recognition of his
imperial position. After a period of independent lordship
exercised by the Da Polenta family, there was an era of
direct political control by the Venetian republic between
1449 and 1509.
See alsoALARICI, KINGOFTHEVISIGOTHS; ARTAND
ARCHITECTURE,BYZANTINE;BELISARIUS;LOMBARDY AND
THE KINGDOM OF THELOMBRADS; MOSAICS;PÉPINIII THE
SHORT; STILICHO; TOTILA.
Further reading:Giuseppe Bovini, Ravenna, trans.
Robert Erich Wolf (1971); reprint, New York: Abrams,
1973); Edward Hutton, Ravenna(London: J. M. Dent and