In Italy, where secular education was not held in such abhorrence as was the case in Northern Europe, in the seventeenth century two women wrote Italian poetry and made translations from Hebrew. These are Deborah Ascarelli and Sarah Copia Sullam. An attempt to rationalize Talmudic passages was made as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. Jacob ibn Habib, who was among the exiles from Spain, settled in Constantinople, and collected the Haggadic passages of the Talmud, with the intention of publishing them with an apologetic commentary. He died in 1516 after having finished only part of his work; it was edited after his death by his son. It is even now, as “En Jacob,” a very popular book for the study of Talmudic ethics. While on one side there was a liberal tendency noticeable in Rabbinic Judaism, on the other a consolidation of the Rabbinic legalism and a progress of mysticism were noticeable. Joseph Caro (1488-1575), a native of Spain who toward the end of his life lived in Safed, Palestine, compiled a brief compendium of the Rabbinic law, “Shulhan Aruk.” It was printed during the author’s lifetime in Venice in 1564, and often reprinted afterwards. The author followed the arrangement of Jacob ben Asher, but otherwise is quite independent. It was his object to give the whole Rabbinic law in one volume, without showing its development and without regard to different opinions. He prepared himself for his work by writing exhaustive commentaries on the codes of Maimonides and Jacob ben Asher. During his lifetime the book was annotated by Moses Isserls of Cracow (1520-1572), who called his notes “Mappah” (tablecloth). It was his object to lay down the practice of the German Jews, neglected by Joseph Caro as a rule. This codification was strongly attacked by some of the more liberal rabbis of the time. Solomon Luria (1500-1573), rabbi of Lublin, but of German descent, took a more critical view of the old sources, although apart from legal decisions he proclaimed his absolute faith in traditions and condemned the liberal tendencies of Abraham ibn Esra and Maimonides. A strong opponent of Azariah Dei Rossi was Loewe Ben Bezalel (1530-1609), rabbi of Posen and Prague and the hero of many legends. He maintained the absolute belief in Rabbinic authority in every respect. In spite of occasional opposition the “Shulhan Aruk” soon attained general popularity and was considered an authoritative book, to which many prominent rabbis, as Abraham Gombiner, Sabbatai Cohen and David Halevi added their glosses. These were in the later editions added to the “Shulhan Aruk,” the authority of which is indicated by the fact that the glossaries are called “Aharonim” (epigones).