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Applied Machine
Learning for
Health and Fitness
A Practical Guide to Machine Learning
with Deep Vision, Sensors and IoT
―
Kevin Ashley
Foreword by Phil Cheetham
 APPLIED MACHINE
LEARNING FOR HEALTH
AND FITNESS
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO
MACHINE LEARNING WITH DEEP VISION,
SENSORS AND IOT

Kevin Ashley

Foreword by Phil Cheetham

Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness: A Practical Guide to
Machine Learning with Deep Vision, Sensors and IoT
Kevin Ashley
Belmont, CA, USA

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-5771-5 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-5772-2

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5772-2
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Ashley
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way,
and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer
software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark
symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos,
and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no
intention of infringement of the trademark.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if
they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not
they are subject to proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal
responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty,
express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
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Coordinating Editor: Jessica Vakili
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Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax (201) 348-4505,
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source-code.
Printed on acid-free paper
Contents
About the Author �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v
About the Technical Reviewers ������������������������������������������������������������������� vii
Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness������������������������������������������������������ ix
Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xv

Part I: Getting Started ������������������������������������������������������������ 1

Chapter 1: Machine Learning in Sports 101 ������������������������������������������������� 3
Chapter 2: Physics of Sports��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23
Chapter 3: Data Scientist’s Toolbox��������������������������������������������������������������� 47
Chapter 4: Neural Networks��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 73
Chapter 5: Sensors��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 93

Part II: Applying Machine Learning ���������������������������������� 115

Chapter 6: Deep Computer Vision�������������������������������������������������������������� 117
Chapter 7: 2D Body Pose Estimation��������������������������������������������������������� 137
Chapter 8: 3D Pose Estimation��������������������������������������������������������������������� 161
Chapter 9: Video Action Recognition��������������������������������������������������������� 179
Chapter 10: Reinforcement Learning in Sports����������������������������������������� 199
Chapter 11: Machine Learning in the Cloud����������������������������������������������� 221
Chapter 12: Automating and Consuming Machine Learning����������������� 239

I ndex ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 253

About the Author
Kevin Ashley is Microsoft developer Hall of
Fame engineer and author of popular sports, fit-
ness, and gaming apps, Skype-featured bots, and
cloud platforms such as Active Fitness and
Winter Sports with several million users.
Kevin is a professional ski instructor, with a lifelong
history of connecting technology and sports,
including working with the US Olympic Team and
sport organizations, partners, and startups in
Silicon Valley and worldwide. He is a passionate
technical speaker and founder of several startups and ventures, including
mobile, sports, fitness, and cloud.
About the Technical
Reviewers
Phil Cheetham is currently the senior sport technologist and biomechanist
for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) at the Olympic Training
Center in Chula Vista, California. His mission is to acquire, develop, and
implement technology to help improve athletes’ performance, with the goal
of winning medals at the Olympic Games. Phil is an Olympian in gymnastics
for Australia and was also an elite diver. He also holds a PhD in sport
biomechanics.
Tom Honeybone is a software engineer at Microsoft with a passionate
interest in machine learning especially as the technology is applied to the
media, entertainment, and communications industries.
Olga Vigdorovich is a data scientist, database engineer, a Microsoft Certified
Professional, and an avid skier. She works with IoT sensor data analysis and
builds data models for scalable cloud platforms based on Microsoft Azure.
Olga contributed to several Microsoft Developer Magazine articles about AI
and sensors and participated in Active Fitness development.
Mike Downey is Principal Architect working with sports technology and
partnerships at Microsoft.
Jacob Spoelstra is Director of Data Science at Microsoft, specializing in
neural networks, machine learning, and analytics.
Max Zilberman is Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft with
a history of leading multidiscipline teams.
Hang Zhang is Principal Data and Applied Scientist at Microsoft, focusing on
big data, IoT, and predictive modeling.
Foreword to AI for
Health and Fitness
By Phil Cheetham
Kevin has asked me to write the foreword to this groundbreaking book on AI
in health and fitness, and I am honored to do so. I met Kevin a few years ago.
He was helping our Team USA coaches and athletes by developing technology
to measure their performance characteristics. As a sport technologist for the
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, that was my job too. Since
then we have collaborated on several sport technology projects and happily,
we continue to do so.
As part of this foreword, I would like to indulge in some reminiscing and
describe to you my journey through technology and sports and to their com-
bination into sports technology. I have worked with many sports while at the
USOPC, but two of the sports that I am most knowledgeable and passionate
about are gymnastics and diving. I competed in both in high school in Sydney,
Australia where I am from. As a youth I reached national level in both sports;
in diving, a silver medal in 1-meter and 10-meter events at the junior national
championships, and in gymnastics I was the all-around champion, also at the
junior national championships. This was way back in the early 1970s. After I
graduated high school and at the beginning of university, I realized I couldn’t
keep doing both diving and gymnastics at that level, plus pursue my degree in
electrical engineering. I made a choice. I chose gymnastics. While pursuing my
bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering I simultaneously continued rigorous
training in gymnastics. By my third year of university (junior year) I won the
Australian senior all-around championship, and in the following year, 1976, I
achieved one of my life’s goals, I became an Olympian. I competed in the
Olympic Games Montreal 1976. That was the experience of my life and will
never be forgotten. Thinking about marching in the Opening Ceremony with
the Australian team, and all the other Olympians, still sends chills up my spine!
On the technical side, I was always interested in electronics as a kid and was
a member of my high school radio club. I built crystal sets, transistor radios
and even a vacuum tube amplifier that powered a speaker, with input from the
crystal set. I tinkered a lot. That interest led to me choosing electrical engi-
neering at university and continued into my thesis project which was an
x Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness

electronic simulation of the cardiovascular system. Using an oscilloscope as a

display, my circuit would simulate the systolic and diastolic pressure pulses
that the heart produces. It was very crude, but it worked and helped me get
an honors degree in electrical engineering from the University of New South
Wales, in Sydney, in 1977.
At the end of the 1970s I came to the United States to attempt to qualify for
my second Olympics, to be held in Moscow. I trained at Arizona State
University (ASU) with coach Don Robinson and his incredible team. They
were at the top echelon of NCAA gymnastics for many years. To train with
them Coach Robinson appointed me an assistant coach and I enrolled in a
master’s degree in biomechanics. Now I could combine science with my sport!
For my master’s thesis I wrote my first motion analysis software program in
Basic on a Tektronics 4052 computer. It had 64K of memory and two 5 1/4
floppy drives. It also had a beautiful vector graphics screen for nice anima-
tions. The software I wrote allowed me to manually digitize the motions of
sports skills from film. I used this software to do a biomechanical analysis of
vaulting for my thesis. Several of my teammates volunteered and we all per-
formed several handspring front somersault vaults with black tape marking
our joints, while being filmed at 300 frames per second. Using my software, I
hand digitized (annotated) each body joint on each frame of film for each
gymnast. This was a very tedious process, placing the cursor on each joint one
by one, then clicking to the next frame and repeating for over 600 frames for
each vault. When done, the data I collected allowed me to create a stick fig-
ure and animate each performance. From the data the program calculated the
body center of gravity, and its velocity. With this information I was able to
statistically determine which were the key performance indicators in the
handspring front somersault vault. I was able to tell my teammates how to
improve their performances, and, importantly to me, I earned my master’s
degree in biomechanics. It also put me on the path to developing several
motion analysis systems during my career.
One of my professors at ASU, Dr. Dan Landers, was on the scientific advisory
board of the USOPC and one spring break in the early 1980s, he took us to
Colorado Springs on a field trip. There I met Dr. Charles Dillman, the director
of the sports science lab. A few months later a job as the research engineer
for the lab became available and I got it. Now retired from gymnastics com-
petition I was lucky enough to be working at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic
Training Center. I worked on practical science projects to help Team USA
athletes achieve success. For one of my projects I developed a motion capture
system using VHS video instead of film. We used an IBM XT, with an image
capture card, a VCR controller card and code that I wrote in 8088 assembly
language and Basic. This was a breakthrough at the time since now we could
produce the stick figures and data much more quickly and cheaply than from
film. We didn’t have to send the film away to get developed and at $100 a reel
compared to the price of a VHS tape, we definitely saved both time and
 Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness xi

money. During the day we would video tape the athletes’ skills, then at night
we would manually digitize the body points and then the next day, show the
coaches and athletes the data and stick figure animations. It was an exciting
time, and this was pioneering technology.
My career continued along this path, and after several years at the USOPC, I
left to form a company called Peak Performance Technologies. We developed
various new motion analysis systems, manual and automatic tracking, with 2D
and 3D analysis, all based on video. The systems were designed for biome-
chanics research and many biomechanics, and kinesiology programs, at univer-
sities purchased them. Our flagship product was a 3D analysis system that
used multiple video cameras to capture data from reflective markers placed
on the joints of the subject. This made tracking much faster than doing it
manually by hand, however, it was still not totally automatic since if a camera
lost track of a marker we would have to go back and manually correct it.
Frustrated by these limitations, my brother Steve and I left Peak and formed
a new company called Skill Technologies. This was in the early 1990s. We had
found a new exciting electromagnetic motion tracking technology. We wrote
new software and again developed research systems for universities. The
exciting thing about this new system was that you could put on the sensors
and see the skeleton figure on the screen moving as you moved in real-time. I
will always remember demonstrating it at an expo when a gentleman walked
by, saw my brother and the skeleton moving synchronously, did a double take,
came back and asked, “Can you do that for golf?” We said yes and developed
a golf swing analysis system to his specifications. That connection led to us
developing the original motion capture software for GolfTec which is now
one of the largest golf swing training companies in the world. Over the next
several years we refined our system, and in the early 2000s met the Titleist
Performance Institute (TPI) founders, Greg Rose and Dave Phillips and cus-
tomized our motion analysis system to produce a full-body, real-time motion
analysis system specifically for golf called AMM 3D. We also branded it as TPI
3D. TPI is still using it today to analyze the swings of many PGA tour pros.
In the early 2010s I had the opportunity to again take a position working for
the USOPC, at what was then the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista,
California. I took the position as senior sport technologist and worked spe-
cifically with track and field throws events. My job was to discover and imple-
ment technology that would help improve performance and avoid injury.
While based in Chula Vista, I continued studying for my PhD in the same field
as my master’s degree, exercise science with a focus on sport biomechanics.
My goal was to finish the PhD before my sixtieth birthday, and I did, barely. My
dissertation was on the golf swing. It is titled “The Relationship of Club
Handle Twist Velocity to Selected Biomechanical Characteristics of the Golf
Drive”. Basically, I looked at how the twist velocity of the golf club handle
(akin to club face closure rate) affected distance, accuracy, wrist angles and
xii Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness

body posture during the swing. It was published in August 2014 and my sixti-
eth birthday was in October 2014. I just made it!
One of our success stories while working at the training center in Chula Vista
was in the shot put event. We helped two different companies modify their
radar technology and adapt it for measuring the release characteristics of the
shot put. This proved to be a very valuable feedback tool giving us the release
angle, velocity, height, and direction of the shot put immediately after the
throw. All these values also determined exactly what the throw distance
would be. It saved us measuring the distance with a tape measure, but also
told us exactly how steep or flat the throw was, how high they released the
shot put, and how fast it came out of their hand. They now had benchmarks
to achieve on each throw and in each session. Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs,
both used the system regularly at training, and at the Rio Olympics in 2016
they won the gold and the silver medals, respectively.
That brings me pretty much up to date and to the time when I met Kevin.
Kevin was visiting the training center with co-workers and we talked about
how we could use sensor technology, specifically inertial measurement units
(IMUs) to measure the important variables that determine the success of a
performance. I introduced Kevin to Cyrus Hostetler a javelin thrower and an
Olympian. Cyrus is very technically inclined and asked if Kevin could develop
a sensor to measure the release characteristics of the javelin throw, the same
as we were doing with the shot put. The radar was unable to do that accu-
rately for the javelin. The javelin is too thin for the radar to track accurately,
at least at that time. Kevin developed a sensor that fit onto the javelin. The
sensor was imbedded in a 3D printed plastic ring that Kevin manufactured. A
very creative solution.
My relationship with Kevin continued and next we collaborated on a project
for diving; a project funded by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation’s
Technology and Innovation Fund. This fund is sponsored by donors and
includes several high-level technology executives from Silicon Valley. Its goal is
to maximize the impact and utilization of research and science to put Team
USA athletes on the podium at international competitions and especially the
Olympic Games. The group sponsors high value technology projects in many
different Olympic sports with the goal to improving performance and pre-
venting injury.
The diving project was one of these funded projects. The project was to
develop a sensor that would mount under the end of the springboard. It was
to measure the angle of the board at takeoff, thus giving feedback to the diver
as to how well the springboard was flexed, and hence how well the diver was
performing the takeoff. A prototype was built and tested, and an article was
written for the Microsoft MSDN magazine. An interesting turnabout occurred
in that in order to validate the angles that the sensor was measuring, we used
video. That led us to the realization that in this case we wouldn’t need the
 Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness xiii

sensor. We could make the needed measurements from video alone. Excitingly
we had another project underway that was using AI and a single video camera
to generate a stick figure of a diver’s takeoff. It needed now sensors or mark-
ers on the athlete. It uses pose estimation alone to track the diver’s motion.
The ability to measure diving board flexion will be an addition to this
system.
My position as sport technologist evolved into director of sport technology
and innovation, and now I am responsible to help develop technology for all
Olympic sports, and automatic motion capture is a big part of that effort.
Pose estimation and machine learning are now becoming the next frontier for
skill analysis in many sports. As I already discussed, there have been many
technologies to measure motion in the past, but they have all been compli-
cated, and expensive, plus they have required items to be attached to the
athlete; markers, sensors, wires etc. Now with video-based AI, ML and pose
estimation we will be able to analyze an athlete’s motion without putting sen-
sors on them or even touching them. This has been my dream for many years.
This feature is very desirable because it fits into an athlete’s training patterns
without disturbing their flow. That is not to say that we won’t use sensors
anymore, we certainly will, but we will use them judiciously and keep their
number to a minimum.
In recent times the standard paradigm of capturing, storing, calculating and
displaying data all on one laptop has changed. Now it is more typical that the
data is captured and uploaded to the cloud. This is appropriate for two rea-
sons, one, it is more convenient to store and distribute the data to all who
wish to review it, and two, more computing power can be called up as needed.
This is especially relevant when using pose estimation and neural networks
and when converting the data from 2D to 3D.
This book shows how to implement many of the technologies that I have
discussed an in fact developed during my career. It is a tinkerers book. It is for
anyone interested in applications of AI and data science for sports, health and
fitness, and analysis of human motion. If you are an experienced data or sport
scientist or a hobbyist, looking to understand AI better, this book should give
you plenty of inspiration and practical examples that take you on the journey
from the foundation of sports mechanics to machine learning models and
experiments. For a sport practitioner, familiar with biomechanics and kinesi-
ology, this book explains how to use new machine learning tools that can take
your research to the next level. For a data scientist, this book shows applica-
tions and real-life models in computer vision, sensors, and human motion
analysis. Each chapter comes with a notebook with code samples in Python.
The first chapters give a Machine Learning 101 for anyone interested in apply-
ing AI in sports. Chapter 2, Physics of Sports, takes you through the founda-
tions of biomechanics that you can find helpful to create and train machine
learning models: starting with mechanics, kinetics, laws of motion and inertia,
xiv Foreword to AI for Health and Fitness

kinematics, and machine learning applications. Examples include using neural

networks to predict a projectile range and calculate figure-skater’s rate of
spin. In Chapter 3 we will go over a sports data scientist toolbox: data science
tools you’ll need to work with AI and machine learning models, including
Python, computer vision, machine learning frameworks and libraries. In
Chapter 4, the book covers principles of neural networks, neurons, activation
functions, and the basic single and multi-layer networks of neurons, as well as
how to train a neural network. In Chapter 5 the book discusses sport sensors
and devices you can use as a sport data scientist: Sensors (Deep Vision – Edge
devices – Inertial movement sensors IMUs – Attitude and heading reference
systems AHRS – Inertial and navigation systems GNSS – Range Imaging
Sensors LIDAR – Pressure sensors – EMG sensors – Heart rate sensors). In
Chapters 6-8 the book covers computer vision and AI methods for sports, as
well as training machine learning models that can recreate human body motion
in 2D and 3D. In Chapter 9 the book covers video action recognition: one of
the most sought-after tasks for coaches and training, classifying movements
and movement analysis. In Chapters 10-12 the book discusses advanced tasks
in AI, such as reinforcement learning and ways to extend your research to
modern cloud-based technologies.
In conclusion I am very pleased that you have chosen Kevin’s book to improve
your understanding of how AI can be applied to health, fitness and sports in a
very practical manner. Enjoy the book and have fun experimenting as I did
when I was a member of my high school radio club! Technology may have
changed but curiosity certainly has not.
USOPC Disclaimer
The views and information in this material are my own, not that of the USOPC
or any of its members or affiliates. The material may not reflect their views or
positions.
Introduction
To my wife Katya and my ’Ohana

I was closing my winter season as a ski instructor in Breckenridge, Colorado,

when I applied for a job at Microsoft. It was the time that they call the “mud
season” in the mountains, when the snow starts melting everywhere, and
there’s not really much for a ski instructor to do until the next winter. I was
very happy, when the offer came through during the summer, but I felt a little
sad parting with my beloved Rocky Mountains and a ski town, as my job
required me to move to sunny California, to the heart of Silicon Valley. So
began my journey with one of the most amazing companies in the world, with
the brightest people and great projects. I soon fell in love with California, its
majestic sequoias, ocean waves, mountains, and golden hills, and true to my
passion for sports and skiing, I kept contributing to the world of sports,
health, fitness, and athletics. This book and my sport apps, Active Fitness and
Winter Sports, research and ideas that came with them, are all part of this
contribution. I feel lucky working with Olympic athletes, US Olympic Team,
Special Olympics, US Ski Team, Professional Ski and Snowboard Instructors of
America (PSIA-AASI), WTA, WNBA, my fellow professional ski and snow-
board instructors, skiers, snowboarders, surfers, track and field athletes, ten-
nis players, gymnasts, companies involved in manufacturing of sport equipment,
and anybody making first steps in sports.
xvi Introduction

As an engineer working with the bleeding-edge tools and technologies, I was

often asked for guidance from coaches, athletes, and sport equipment manu-
facturers: “How can AI help?” And I hope that this book can provide some
ideas and practical methods. It is also meant to inspire those who learn about
AI: data science is fun with sensors and sports! Today, data science is no lon-
ger a job confined to the office: a sport scientist is out there, with athletes
and coaches, on the ski slopes, surfing the waves, discovering new ways to
apply technology in real-life scenarios of sports, health, and fitness.
In addition to materials supplied with this book, you can also find a wealth of
information about my research, at my website: http://activefitness.ai.
Kevin Ashley
California, May 2020
 PA R T

Getting Started
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
—Leonardo da Vinci
 CHAPTER

Machine
Learning
in Sports 101
I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence
to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain.

—Geoffrey Hinton, “Godfather” of Deep Learning

© Kevin Ashley 2020

K. Ashley, Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5772-2_1
4 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

Figure 1-1. Machine learning in sports

Getting Started
I don’t know anything about luck, but that the harder I train, the luckier
I get.
—Ingemar Stenmark, World Cup Alpine Ski Racer

In sports and athletics, results are achieved through training and repetition:
machine learning is very similar. To train a skill, a human athlete needs
thousands of repetitions. Training a movement skill for a humanoid robot,
using machine learning methods like reinforcement learning (RL), requires
tens of thousands or millions of iterations.
Machine learning is a relatively new method in sport science, but it’s making
huge advancements and already impacts many areas of sports, from personal
training to professional competitions. For example, the International
Federation of Gymnastics (Figure 1-2) announced that an AI judging system is
about to be introduced to the world of professional competitions about the
same year this book gets published! The system built for judging gymnastics is
based on computer vision, sensors, and many of the same machine learning
principles and research you’ll discover from reading this book.
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 5

Figure 1-2. Gymnastics AI helps judging world-level competitions

For a coach, movement analysis is key to improving athletic performance and

preventing injuries. In plain words, a coach can tell you how to become better
at sports and not hurt yourself. Sport scientists are familiar with kinesiology
and biomechanics and applying principles found in dynamics and classical
mechanics for movement analysis. So, why machine learning?
I hope that this book helps answering this question, with practical examples a
sport scientist or a coach can use. In addition to materials supplied with the
book, check out ActiveFitness.AI (http://activefitness.ai) for additional
materials, including videos, links to supplemental code, research, blogs, and
apps.

Areas of Machine Learning

There’re several areas or paradigms in machine learning that define most of
the methods we’ll be dealing with in this book: supervised, unsupervised, and
reinforcement learning. This classification is open; in fact if you dig deeply into
machine learning research and theory, you’ll also discover weakly supervised,
self-learning and a wealth of other methods. In this book, you will find practical
projects and applications of these main areas of machine learning in health,
fitness, and sports.
6 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

Supervised learning deals with datasets that include labeled data. Typical
tasks for supervised learning include classification, for example, classifying
activities or objects on the image. For supervised learning to work, large
labeled datasets are required with input labels to train models (see Figure 1-3).
Fortunately, you don’t need to do most of image classification from scratch,
datasets such as ImageNet contain tens of millions labeled images, and with
techniques like transfer learning, you could reuse them in your model.

Figure 1-3. Supervised learning

Unsupervised learning doesn’t assume that data is labeled; instead, its goal
is finding similarities in the data, like grouping similar activities (Figure 1-4). It’s
often used for self-organizing dimensionality reduction and clustering, such as
K-means. For example, if you train an unsupervised model with sufficient data
containing images of athletes performing actions in different sports, such a
model should be able to predict what group or sport a given image belongs
to. This method is great if you don’t have a labeled dataset, but sometimes
you have some labels in an unlabeled set: this scenario is often called a
semisupervised problem.
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 7

Figure 1-4. Unsupervised learning

Reinforcement learning (RL) applies a concept of an “agent” trying to

achieve a goal and receiving rewards for positive and penalties for negative
actions (see Figure 1-5). It originated from game theory, theory of control,
and Markov decision process: it is widely used for robot training, including
autonomous vehicles. This book goes over several applications of reinforcement
learning in sports: for movement analysis, simulation, and coaching, check
Chapter 10, “Reinforcement Learning in Sports,” for more.

Figure 1-5. Reinforcement learning

8 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

Logic and Machine Learning

We just think you can have these great big neural nets that learn, and so,
instead of programming, you are just going to get them to learn everything.
—Geoffrey Hinton

So, what in machine learning is different from a coder programming an

algorithm? It’s easier to illustrate if you consider what makes an algorithm
work: usually it’s logical rules that define how the algorithm handles the input
data. With classic methods, we start with known rules and apply them to
collected data to get the answers (Figure 1-6).

Figure 1-6. In classical algorithmic programming, we begin with rules and data to get answers

In machine learning we begin by giving our AI answers and data; the result is
an AI “model” that contains rules that AI learned by observing inputs
(Figure 1-7).
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 9

Figure 1-7. Machine learning works by training a model with answers and data; the result is
a trained model that contains inferred rules

This looks simple enough, but it represents an entire paradigm shift in our
approach to learning and computer programming. If you think about it,
machine learning sounds almost too easy! In fact, most machine learning
frameworks include only two essential methods: train and predict. The
model needs to be trained, and then it predicts the outcomes.
Without getting deep into computer science, machine learning is certainly a
powerful way to solve complex problems, but it is not a panacea for every
task: understanding where it can help in health and fitness is part of the
reasons for writing this book. Oftentimes, basic statistical methods, such as
finding correlations between data points, regression, and classification, as well
as algorithmic methods can be used, before bringing AI: machine learning
deals specifically with training predictive models. Most machine learning
models today are also not great at generalizing. It means that while they are
trained on a specific set of data, prediction accuracy may drop significantly as
you expand the inputs. With these words of caution, you’ll see that these
models just work in many applications, including sports!
10 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

Figure 1-8. For chapters with practical code samples, check source code in the note-
books supplied with this book and the video course with detailed walkthroughs at my Web site
http://activefitness.ai

Projects and Code

Most chapters in this book include practical projects (Figure 1-8), code
examples, and tips that you can use as a sport scientist. All sample code is in
notebooks accompanying practical examples in the chapters, so locating
source code is very easy: simply open a notebook corresponding to the
number of the chapter you are reading, and you can follow through with the
code. Notebooks are very popular with data scientists, and Python is one of
the most widely used languages in data science, so it was natural to use it for
most examples in this book.

■■ Code tips Check notebooks, corresponding to the chapters you are reading for code samples
and practical projects.
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 11

Introducing Tools
I already mentioned notebooks and Python being the language of choice for
many data scientists. In this book you’ll go over many practical projects that
use various classic machine learning frameworks, such as scikit-learn, PyTorch,
Keras, and TensorFlow, as well as some specialized frameworks and libraries
such as OpenAI Gym. The idea is to show a sport data scientist a broad range
of tools. Note that for data science, you often need a hardware-accelerated
system, as most of the tools can take advantage and work much faster with
graphics-accelerated processors (Figure 1-9).

Figure 1-9. Learning new methods often requires learning new tools; for machine learning, it
also means appropriate hardware!
12 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

If you are just beginning with computer science, or if you are an expert, you’ll
find plenty of useful practical projects in this book using a variety of modern
tools. In addition to libraries and tools, a data scientist often needs large
datasets to train models. After playing with your data science project, you
may need to scale your models and deliver them to users. Making your AI
available for apps, bots, and other services shouldn’t be an afterthought. This
book also provides chapters that cover working with the cloud and consuming
your models. Machine learning may be computation intensive, so getting a
graphics processing unit (GPU)-enabled device is a plus: you can also use
cloud-based services from Microsoft Azure, Google, Amazon, and
others (Figure 1-10).

■■ Tools tips For in-depth dive into modern data science tools I used in this book, as well as how
to get started on most code samples, I recommend reading Chapter 3, “Data Scientist’s Toolbox.”

Figure 1-10. Data science can be computation intensive: you’ll need a capable machine with
a GPU to train the model or cloud resources to scale
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 13

Neural Networks
All you need is lots and lots of data and lots of information about what
the right answer is, and you’ll be able to train a big neural net to do what
you want.
—Geoffrey Hinton

Neural networks appear magical to many people, including data scientists

themselves! Neural networks are mathematical abstractions of what we think
is the learning process in our brain, although that is not an accurate
approximation, for several reasons. For one, we still don’t know exactly how
human brain works and learns. And although neural networks as mathematical
models are similar in some way to the way neurons work, some learning
mechanisms, like backpropagation, although present in convolutional neural
nets (CNNs), have not been discovered in biological neurons.
The first attempts to create a computational model of a neuron began in the
1940s, with the first perceptron machine built almost 70 years ago, but it’s not
until data science introduced multilayer convolutional neural nets with learning
mechanisms such as backpropagation that they became truly successful.
In this book we’ll use many practical applications and projects using neural
networks: for classification, semantic segmentation, video action recognition,
and deep vision. Check Chapter 4, “Neural Networks,” which covers neural
nets in depth with several practical examples.

Deep Vision
ImageNet is a dataset of over 15 million labeled high-resolution images
belonging to roughly 22,000 categories.
—Alex Krizhevsky

Deep vision is an area of computer vision that uses deep learning methods.
The earliest information we recorded from the ancient times was visual, from
petroglyphs depicting action scenes dated back almost 30,000 years to ancient
Greek art of the first Olympic Games, first recorded motion pictures, and
finally YouTube with billions of videos. As data scientists, taking advantage of
14 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

the abundance of picture and video data is a natural step toward understanding
movement and motion in sports. Typically tasks we want to do with deep
vision are:

• Classification of objects is essential for a machine

learning model to understand various classes of objects
present in the video or image: for example, classifying a
human or a tennis ball is the first practical step toward
analyzing the image. Most image classification models are
trained on ImageNet and use CNNs.
• Detection of objects from images or videos
(Figure 1-11) is a fundamental task in deep vision:
typically, it involves finding a bounding box for an object.
Detection is usually done with R-CNN (Region-based
CNN).
• Semantic segmentation is the next step from
classification and detection, dividing the image to
segments on the pixel level. Because objects are often
occluded in images, with parts of one blocking another,
instance segmentation helps identifying entire objects
regardless of occlusion. Some examples of networks that
semantic segmentation models use are Mask R-CNN.
•• Object tracking is another task in deep vision that
deals with video and objects displacement over time.
 Applied Machine Learning for Health and Fitness 15

Figure 1-11. Applying deep vision methods, such as image detection and classification, allows
us to find a surfer and a surfboard on this image (see Part II for practical code examples)

These deep vision tasks provide a foundation for analyzing complex objects,
such as human body in motion. From biomechanics, we know that a physical
model for a human body can be represented as a set of connected joints. Can
deep vision be used to infer human body key points from a picture or video?
To answer this question and demonstrate practical applications, in the chapters
dedicated to computer vision, we’ll cover these methods of applying deep
vision to human body analysis:

•• 2D pose estimation is the task of estimating human

body pose, typically based on the model that consists of
human body parts and joints (Figure 1-12).
•• 3D pose estimation is the next step from 2D pose
estimation that attempts to reconstruct a 3D
environment and the human pose in that environment.
•• Action recognition is another area that’s typical for
sports and movement analysis. Recognizing actions from
basic walking, sitting, to deep action recognition such as
“a skier performing a carving medium radius turn” is
covered in Part II.
16 Chapter 1 | Machine Learning in Sports 101

Figure 1-12. A more advanced model, detecting joints of the human body (for examples on
body pose estimation, see Part II)

In this book I’ll show you practical projects for detection, classification,
semantic segmentation, object tracking, and body pose estimation, from still
images to video. All these methods can help any sport or data science
practitioner, because image and video data is so abundant. We’ll be using the
same generalized machine learning frameworks like scikit-learn, PyTorch, and
Keras and computer vision libraries such as OpenCV. In chapters of this book
dedicated to deep vision, you’ll learn about tools; datasets, such as Common
Objects in Context (COCO), Sports-1M, and Kinetics; models; and
frameworks, as well as many practical projects for pose estimation, video
action recognition, and applications in sports.
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
poetry were also taught there, which was not usual in other Jewish
schools. In the highest departments, the first rabbis, or Chachamim, at
that time Saul Morteira and Isaac Aboab, gave instruction. These two
men, with Manasseh ben Israel and David Pardo, formed the first
rabbinical college. This richly endowed institute became a nursery for
the training of rabbis for the Amsterdam community and its daughters
in Europe and America. From it pupils went forth who labored in wider
spheres; among whom may be mentioned, for the sake of contrast,
the confused Kabbalist Moses Zacuto and the clear-headed Baruch
Spinoza.
It was a misfortune for the Amsterdam community that its first
spiritual guides, who exercised remarkable influence, were possessed
of only mediocre talents, in some degree lacked mental poise. With the
vast resources which this first Dutch community had at command, with
the fund of culture characterizing its members, and their devotion to
Judaism, its leaders might have brought about remarkable results, if
they had possessed more independence, profounder intellect, and
greater genius. The first Amsterdam rabbinical college had nothing of
all this. David Pardo appears to have been of very little importance.
Saul Levi Morteira (born about 1596, died 1660) was not even a
distinguished preacher; his colleagues, Aboab and Manasseh ben
Israel, far outshone him. His sermons, the only printed productions of
his literary activity, have a philosophical complexion, but no depth of
thought. Morteira followed the broad, beaten paths, repeating what
had been thought and pointed out before him. Even in rabbinical
learning he had no mastery, and was not considered an authority by
contemporary Talmudists. His colleague, Isaac Aboab de Fonseca (born
1606, died 1693), was even less distinguished. He, also, was a
Portuguese by descent, and, it seems, came to Amsterdam as a child
with his mother, who was fifty years old at his birth. He was trained
under Isaac Uziel, and acquired from him pulpit eloquence, if that can
be learnt. Aboab became an excellent and beloved preacher. His style
of speaking has been very well described by Antonio Vieira of Lisbon, a
wise Jesuit, possessed of goodwill towards Jews. When once in
Amsterdam, he heard Aboab and Manasseh ben Israel preach, and
when asked how he liked them, he replied: "The one (Manasseh) says
what he knows, and the other knows what he says." But a well-
arranged, impressive, attractive sermon is not always the fruit of solid
knowledge and clear conviction. At any rate, it was not with Aboab. In
character he was vacillating, submissive to the influence of others,
open to flattery, hence not independent. To this man was given the
control of the Amsterdam community for nearly seventy years. Aboab
was superstitious like the multitude, and, instead of leading, was led.
Far more distinguished was Manasseh ben Israel (born 1604, died
1657), a child of the Amsterdam community, to which his father had
come broken down by the torture of the Inquisition, and robbed of all
his property. Young Manasseh, eager for learning, was trained under
Isaac Uziel, and while his knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud did
not attain to perfect mastery, it was extensive and ready. Directed by
his personal circumstances to the study of ten languages—including
Portuguese as his mother tongue, and Latin as the literary language—
Manasseh learnt to express himself in speech and writing with more or
less perfection in all these languages and in an elevated style. A ready
speaker by nature, he educated himself as a preacher, displaying all
the lights and shadows of his profession. He became a prolific writer,
and, though he died young, performed incomparably more than his
colleagues. In the case of this amiable man, who rendered essential
service to Judaism, we should not take the part of severe critics, nor
inquire how large a share enthusiasm and a certain vanity had in his
work. But history is a stern judge. What his contemporaries admired in
Manasseh was not his profound intellect, nor his overpowering, far-
reaching greatness, but his quiet, yielding, modest behavior, and his
simple nature. He correctly and briefly described himself without
under- or over-estimation: "I rejoice in the modest though happy
talent of being able to describe, with a certain degree of order, the
objects that the will presents to the mind." He brought no great and
fruitful thoughts into the world, but fostered the intellectual offspring
of others, treating them as his own. He knew rather than thought
much. Although familiar with profane literature and Christian theology,
he clung firmly not only to traditional Judaism, as represented by the
rabbinical system, but also to the Kabbala, and, like his less educated
colleagues, regarded every word in the Talmud and the Zohar as a
profound truth. Like others, Manasseh ben Israel was subject to
superstitions, which had a strong influence over him, and spurred on
his will.
Such was the character of the men called to guide and instruct the
young, ignorant, catholicizing, and tractable Amsterdam community.
Great power was in their hand. Important affairs were discussed and
decided at the public sittings of the rabbis (Maamad) with the trustees
elected by the members. In religious matters the Chachamim alone
decided, because the laity did not trust their own judgment. The
decisions of the rabbis were binding on the members. Nobody might
oppose them, because the government had a despotic character. The
authorities allowed the board of trustees and the college of rabbis full
liberty to inflict spiritual penalties on disobedient members. Of this
liberty and this power the leaders made only too extensive a use. They
had brought from Spain mischievous zeal in maintaining the faith pure
and uprooting heresy. The Amsterdam rabbis introduced the innovation
of bringing religious opinions and convictions before their judgment-
seat, of constituting themselves a sort of inquisitional tribunal, and
instituting autos-da-fé, which, even if bloodless, were not less painful
to the sufferers. The character and organization of the largest
Portuguese community in Europe had a powerful influence on the
course of Jewish history. Branch communities were formed, which took
for their model not only the organization, dignity, devoted piety, and
benevolence, but also the follies and perversities, of their mother. The
second community on Dutch soil was gradually formed at Rotterdam.
Two brothers, as pious as wealthy, Abraham and David Pinto, laid the
foundation of this community, and elected as Chacham and principal of
the institute which they founded (Jesiba de los Pintos), a young man,
Josiah Pardo, son of David Pardo, and son-in-law of Morteira, who,
however, did not distinguish himself.
In Haarlem, also, the Jews were on the point of obtaining
permission to settle. The Humanists and favorers of toleration, like
Joseph Scaliger, the prince of philologists, were already rejoicing; but,
in the end, intolerance prevailed, and nothing came of the movement.
Instead, Portuguese communities arose in North Germany beyond the
sea, and gradually in other cities of the Netherlands.
 In Hamburg an important colony of the Amsterdam community
was next formed. But there were difficulties in overcoming German
prejudices and German pedantry. Against the advantages arising from
the settlement of wealthy and intelligent Jews, which the Amsterdam
people had quickly comprehended, the Hamburg citizens struggled
hand and foot. For the fierce Lutherans it was an abomination to have
Jews in their midst. A Jewish jeweler named Isaac, from Salzuflen, in
Lippe, with twelve of his co-religionists, who were compelled to go in
search of a new home, made an attempt to settle in Hamburg. He
presented a petition to the senate to receive them for twelve years,
offering the sum of 9,000 marks and a yearly tax of 400 marks. The
negotiator, Isaac, exhaustively set forth all possible reasons for the
reception of Jews, and declared that they were willing to submit to any
conditions. He adduced that Jews were tolerated not only in Catholic,
but also in evangelical countries, both in the West, at Frankfort and
Worms, and in northern Germany, in Hanover, Minden, Hildesheim,
Göttingen, Norden, Dortmund, Hamm, Lippe, and Emden. All was in
vain. Hamburg, then delighting in popish quarreling about orthodoxy
and heresy, refused a home to Jews.
It is curious that Hamburg, at the very time when it so strongly
opposed the temporary admission of Jews, harbored some in its midst
without being aware of it. With these, under the mask of Portuguese
papists, orthodox Christians had daily intercourse. Marrano fugitives
had escaped from the Inquisition, settled in the North German free
Hanse town, and passed as Portuguese "traders." Hearing that their
brethren in Amsterdam, with whom they were in communication,
openly professed Judaism, and were tolerated, they also lifted their
mask, and wished to be recognized as Jews, but continued to have
their children baptized. The strict Lutheran citizens raised a loud
outcry, and demanded of the senate that the wealthy Jews who had
been driven from Portugal and other places should be got rid of, and
not be tolerated. But to this the senate did not like to accede; they felt
shame at treating these Portuguese of noble demeanor and intelligent
character as vagrants or Jews. To the secret Jews of Hamburg there
belonged at that time the beloved and much-sought physician, Rodrigo
de Castro (born about 1560 at Lisbon, died 1627 or 1628), who, in the
violence of the pestilence, hastened with self-sacrifice to the bedsides
of those stricken by the plague, and saved the lives of many. De Castro
was also a skillful physician for women, and won the favor of the
weaker sex, strong in sympathy and antipathy. Able physicians were
not numerous, especially not in North Germany. Other "Portuguese,"
as the disguised Marranos in Hamburg called themselves, and were
called, possessed capital, or, as agents, conducted important business
for Spanish or Portuguese houses. In short, it did not seem practicable
to send these Portuguese away. The senate, therefore, at first put off
the citizens with an official denial that there were Jews among them;
and afterwards admitted the presence of a smaller number than was
correct—about seven Portuguese Jews "who have fire and smoke
here," i.e., households. But the Lutheran clergy in Hamburg behaved
most intolerantly, excited people against the Portuguese Jews, and
charged the senate with neglect of duty. That body, which guarded
only the commercial interests, did not care to dispense with the Jews,
but being unwilling to burden its conscience, or rather to incur the
reproach of unchristian feeling, turned from the Hamburg clergy—the
ministry—to a higher court, the theological faculties of Frankfort-on-
the-Oder and Jena. The theological grounds of which the senate
availed itself for the toleration of Jews are very ridiculous, and prove
the ossification of Lutheranism at that time. The judgment of the
Frankfort faculty proceeds upon these grounds, and indulges the hope
that the Portuguese Jews—who for the sake of their convictions had
given up honors, fortune, and a beloved home—would be converted to
Christianity in Hamburg. The decision of the Jena faculty looks as if a
professor of Dominican theology of a century before, in the time of
Hoogstraten, had written it, and as if the index on the dial of history
had stood still. Like the intolerant papists, the Lutheran theological
faculty wished to compel Jews to listen to Christian preaching.
The senate, sufficiently protected on the ecclesiastical side by
these two judgments, in February, 1612, with restrictions growing out
of the German spirit or the German narrow-mindedness of that time,
granted the Portuguese Jews free residence in Hamburg, avoiding a
consideration of the consequences on both sides with pedantic
scrupulousness. They really became protected Jews (Schutz-juden),
who had to pay an annual charge or protection fee of 1,000 marks.
They were not allowed to have synagogues, or private religious service
according to Jewish customs, or to practice circumcision, but they
might bury their dead in a cemetery of their own at Altona. There were
then in Hamburg 125 adults of Marrano descent, among whom were
ten capitalists, two physicians, and three artisans. It was an important
article in the agreement that new-comers might obtain admission, "if
the high and wise council found their qualifications of such a nature
that it had no objection to take them under its protection." Thus the
young, semi-tolerated Hamburg community grew from year to year,
and within a decade several capitalists were added. The increase of
the community through the accession of such settlers, admitted openly
as Jews, no longer disguised as Portuguese, in 1617 rendered
necessary a fresh agreement with the senate, enlarging their privileges
in commercial respects, but diminishing them in point of citizenship.
They could not possess houses or land, and had to dispose of any they
might own. Exception was made in favor of the physician, Rodrigo de
Castro, in consideration of his faithful services of many years, but even
he could not bequeath his house to an heir.
The more the Portuguese Jews, by their capital and business
connections, gained weight with commercial men in the senate, the
more they broke through the boundaries drawn by narrow-minded
legislation. When the bank at Hamburg, to which this city owed its
commercial prosperity, was founded (1619–1623), no less than twelve
Jewish capitalists supported it with their funds and efforts, as the
Amsterdam Portuguese had done at the formation of the Dutch
companies trading beyond the sea. The Portuguese Jewish settlers
alone founded the important trade of Hamburg with Spain and
Portugal. Hence they might assume that the senate, which held the
reins of government, would connive at violations of the articles. They
were especially anxious to be permitted to assemble for public
worship, and this was directly forbidden. Relying on their
indispensability, they quietly erected a synagogue in about 1626. It
was Elihu Aboab Cardozo who risked this venture. They named it
Talmud Torah, and appointed as Chacham, Isaac Athias, of
Amsterdam, a disciple of Isaac Uziel.
 This probably simple synagogue, consisting of two large rooms,
caused wide dissension, and produced much bitterness. Emperor
Ferdinand II, the terror of the Protestants, indignant that the arch-
Lutheran city on the Elbe would not allow Catholics to build a church,
sent a threatening letter to the senate, July 28th, 1627, because for
the sake of trade a synagogue was openly permitted to Jews, while
Roman Catholics were forbidden the exercise of their religion. Nothing
more was needed to excite the Lutheran fanatics. If free exercise of
their religion was granted to Jews, it must also be granted to Catholics,
and even to Calvinists, they said. A frightful consequence indeed!
When the ministry, or spiritual assembly, which had great power in
Hamburg, reproached the senate on account of the violation of articles
in the agreement with the Jews, and that body in turn arraigned the
Jews, the latter declared that they had no synagogue, merely a place
of meeting to read the Law of Moses, the Psalms, the Prophets, and
other books of the Old Testament; if they prayed there, it was only for
the welfare of the city and the government. The senate proceeded no
further, because the Jews threatened that, in case they were denied
the worship of God, they would leave Hamburg in a body, and transfer
their capital and business connections to a neighboring place. That
argument prevailed. But the clergy demanded nothing less than that a
Christian rabbi be appointed to preach Christianity to Jews in the
synagogue, or elsewhere. The physicians also viewed with indignation
the popularity of their Jewish colleagues, and sought to bring not only
them, but Jews generally, under suspicion, and stirred up the people
against them.
But the community grew in prosperity from year to year, and the
senate gladly received those who came with capital and business
connections. Even if the descriptions by John Miller, the arch-foe of the
Jews, appear exaggerated, yet an idea may be gathered from them of
the wealth of the Portuguese Jews of Hamburg. "They strut along
adorned with gold and silver, costly pearls, and precious stones. At
their weddings they eat and drink from silver ware, and drive in such
carriages as become only persons of exalted rank, and, moreover, have
outriders and a large following." The extremely rich Texeira family,
settled in Hamburg, lived in princely luxury. The founder of this
banking house, Diego Texeira de Mattos, was called in Hamburg, like
Joseph of Naxos in Constantinople, "the rich Jew." He was of
Portuguese descent, bore a title of high nobility, and had previously
been Spanish resident in Flanders. Over seventy years of age, he
underwent the operation of circumcision in order to become a Jew in
reality. By means of his wealth, and his connections with both the
nobility and capitalists, Diego Texeira could play the aristocrat. He
drove in a carriage lined with satin, and had liveried servants.
The Portuguese Jews already had three synagogues, the second
built by Abraham Aboab Falero, the third by David de Lima. A German
community, also, had gradually assembled at Hamburg, and built a
house of prayer. And were the faithful followers of Luther to behold it
calmly, although almost on his death-bed he had ordered the Jews to
be treated as gypsies, and the tongues of the rabbis to be cut out?
The Hamburg pastors could not endure it, they pressed the senate,
and stirred up the citizens to withdraw even this small amount of
religious toleration. Among them stood forth an arch-bigot, John Miller,
senior at St. Peter's church, a Protestant inquisitor and chief
persecutor, an abusive man given to scandal, who cast aspersions
upon his reverend brethren from the pulpit and in libelous writings.
With this virulent pastor, who considered himself a pillar of Lutheran
orthodoxy, it was a matter of conscience thoroughly to hate and
humiliate the Jews. In writing and in talking, in the pulpit and in the
circle of his disciples, in private conversation and in official addresses,
his favorite theme was the Jews and their humiliation. Everything in
the Jews vexed him: their joy and feasting on Purim, their mourning
on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, their dress, their
friendship with Christians, and their funerals. The bigot was not wrong
on some points, as, for instance, his censure of the hereditary failing
of the Portuguese Marranos, as illustrated in their misconduct with
Christian women, and of the way in which some of them challenged
Christianity. A Jewish author (Jacob Jehuda Leon?) had composed a
work entitled "Colloquium Middelburgense," a Latin dialogue between
a rabbi and a Christian on the value or worthlessness of Christian
doctrines, the gospels, and the ecclesiastical writings, in which the
weak points of Christianity were laid bare. Miller composed a defense,
or rather a libel, entitled, Judaism, or the Jewish Doctrine, a full
account of the Jewish people's unbelief, blindness, and obduracy
(1644). This was dictated neither by the Holy Ghost nor by Christian
love. Luther's virulent language against Jews seemed an undeniable
revelation to the pastor. Out of it spoke Lutheranism, pure and
unadulterated, which had as little heart as the popery attacked by it,
and the essence of which consisted of dry formulas of belief. Miller's
absurdity and uncharitableness are not his own; they are part and
parcel of the corrupt Lutheran church of the time. Three theological
faculties, the arch-Lutheran faculty of Wittenberg, and those of
Strasburg and Rostock, in reply to Miller's inquiry, decided that Jewish
physicians should never be admitted to Christian patients. Thus, in the
face of the seventeenth century, when the Thirty Years' War was
teaching toleration with an iron rod, the leaders of Lutheranism were
issuing a new edition of the decrees of the Visigothic councils against
Jews. But, after all, times had changed. Christian IV, king of Denmark,
Schleswig and Holstein, next to Gustavus Adolphus the champion of
the Protestants, to whom Miller dedicated his book, had appointed
Benjamin Musaphia, a Jewish physician, his medical attendant.
Even in Hamburg Miller's fanatical zeal did not meet with great
success. The citizens gradually got accustomed to Jews, and learnt to
respect them. Some of them were appointed business agents or
residents even by high Catholic potentates. The king of Portugal first
appointed Duarte Nuñes da Costa, and then Jacob Curiel, as his
agents, and his Catholic majesty, Philip IV, elevated Immanuel Rosales,
a Jewish author of Portuguese descent, to the dignity of count
palatine. The Portuguese Jews, in general more favorably situated than
their German brethren, felt so happy at Hamburg, that they called it
their "little Jerusalem."
A colony of the Amsterdam mother-community was formed in
Brazil, South America, discovered and peopled by Portuguese, and a
number settled in the town of Pernambuco. Thither the Portuguese
government had often transported Jewish offenders, i.e., Marranos,
whom it did not wish to deliver to the burning-pile, together with
prostitutes, and other rabble. These disgraced Marranos assisted the
Dutch in conquering Brazil, which became a Dutch colony, with a
Stadtholder of its own, the intelligent John Maurice, of Nassau (1624–
1636). Connections were immediately established between the
Amsterdam and the Brazilian community, which threw off the mask of
Christianity, and was almost spoilt by the favor of the Dutch. The Jews
at Recife, near Pernambuco, called themselves "the holy community"
(Kahal Kados), and had a governing body consisting of David Senior
Coronel, Abraham de Moncado, Jacob Mucate, and Isaac Cathunho.
Several hundred Amsterdam Portuguese, either by invitation, or of
their own accord, sailed to Brazil to form business connections with the
colony, and took with them the Chacham Isaac Aboab. He was the first
Brazilian rabbi, settling probably at Recife. At Tamarica a community
was formed, which had its own Chacham, Jacob Lagarto, the first
Talmudical author in South America. Of course, the Brazilian Jews
enjoyed perfect equality of rights with other citizens, for they rendered
the Dutch essential services as advisers and warriors. When the native
Portuguese, who bore the yoke of the Dutch impatiently, formed a
conspiracy to get rid of the Dutch authorities at a banquet in the
capital, and attack the colony bereft of government, a Jew gave
warning, and saved the colony from certain destruction. Later, in 1646,
when open war broke out between the Portuguese and the Dutch, and
the garrison of Recife, exhausted by famine, was on the point of
surrendering unconditionally, the Jews encouraged the governor to
brave resistance.
A fanatical war of race and religion between the Portuguese and
the Dutch devastated fair Brazil, and a famine ensued. The Jews vied
with the Dutch in suffering and bravery. Isaac Aboab, the Chacham of
the Brazil community, paints the sufferings of the war, which he
himself endured, in lurid colors:

Volumes would not suffice to relate our miseries.

The enemy spread over field and wood, seeking here for
booty and there for life. Many of us died, sword in hand,
others from want; they now rest in cold earth. We
survivors were exposed to death in every form; those
accustomed to luxuries were glad to seize mouldy bread
to stay their hunger.
 At last, the States-General were compelled by European wars to
surrender the colony to the Portuguese. The devoted zeal of the Jews
for the political welfare of the Dutch was a firm bond, never afterwards
dissolved, between them and the republic. The toleration and equal
position of Jews in the Netherlands were ensured for ever.
Whilst the first ray of a better time glimmered in Holland, the rest
of Europe was still full of darkness for Jews. In Germany especially, the
Jew even in the seventeenth century continued to be an outcast for
whom there was no sympathy. He was pelted with mud, his beard was
singed, and he was treated almost worse than a dog. There were only
three or four important communities in Germany: Frankfort-on-the-
Main, with over 4,000 souls; Worms, with 1,400; Prague, with 10,000
at most; and Vienna, with 3,000: the rest did not number many.
Hamburg was still a young community. In the West German free cities
of Frankfort and Worms, almost stronger antipathy to Jews prevailed
than in Hamburg, having its root in the narrow-mindedness of the
Philistine citizens and the guilds rather than in religious antipathy. Both
cities treated the Jews within their walls as their "servi cameræ," and
appealed in all seriousness to a deed of Emperor Charles IV, declaring
that they had been sold to them in person and property. When
Portuguese Marranos, wishing to remove from the Netherlands to
Frankfort, and raise it to a commercial center of the first rank, like
Amsterdam and Hamburg, asked permission to build a house of prayer
there, the council roundly refused. The Jewish capitalists then
addressed themselves to the lord of Hanau, and obtained very
favorable terms.
The bitterness of the people of Frankfort against their Jewish
neighbors was crystallized in a most revolting and absurd legislative
enactment, entitled "the permissive residence of Jews"
(Judenstättigkeit), and defining under what conditions or restrictions
Jews might breathe the Frankfort air, or rather the pestilential
atmosphere of the Jewish quarter. The city, chiefly Protestant, retained
all the canonical restrictions introduced by the papacy for the purpose
of branding Jews, such as, prohibiting them from having Christian
servants or nurses, and requiring them to wear an opprobrious badge.
They were treated exactly like criminals. Jews might not go outside
their quarter except for necessary business, and two might not walk
together, certainly not in the neighborhood of the town-hall, and
especially not during Christian festivals or weddings, or if princes were
staying in the city. They were also required to observe silence in their
Ghetto, avoid offending Christian ears with any shrill sound, and see
that strange Jews visiting them went to bed in good time. In fact, they
might not harbor any strangers without the knowledge of the
magistracy, nor even admit a patient into their hospital. They might
not purchase food in the market at the same time as Christians.
Though their business was jealously restricted, they were forced to pay
more taxes than the Christian inhabitants. As they were obliged to
wear special badges on their clothes, so they were required to have on
their houses shields, with strange figures and names, such as "the
garlic," "the ass," "the green or white shield," "red shield," "black
shield." After these shield figures the inhabitants were named, "The
Jew N of the ass," "the Jew N of the dragon." On the admission of a
Jew, he was obliged to promise on oath to obey these stupid and
heartless directions. Even this wretched existence depended on the
favor of the magistrate, for in one paragraph the council reserved the
power of depriving a Jew at any time of the right of residence. In such
case the individual or family had to leave the city within a fixed space
of time.
As the magistrate was empowered to deprive a single Jew of the
right of residence, he could banish all from the city. This was inferred
and demanded by the citizens or the guilds at variance with the
council. They aimed at enlarging their liberties by limiting the
aristocratic power of patricians in the magistracy, and they began with
the Jews. The reason was that the councilors, in return for the
substantial gratitude of the Jews, were indulgent in the administration
of the laws issued against them; else they would not have been able
to exist under the pressure of opprobrium and the "permissive
residence." But this indulgence of the magistracy towards Jews was
doubly hateful to the guilds. Hence they strove by all possible means
to bring about the expulsion of the Jews from Frankfort. The Jews had
obtained assurance of their safety as a community by charter from the
emperor, but the decrees and threats of the emperor were little
heeded at that time. At the head of the discontented guild-members
stood the pastry-cook, Vincent Fettmilch, who, with his workpeople,
belonged to the Reformers, a sect excluded from civic honors, and
who sought to sate his fury against the Lutheran authorities by taking
vengeance on the Jews. He was a daring man, who kept the councilors
in awe, and openly called himself "the new Haman of the Jews." He
was chosen by the citizens as their spokesman and ringleader, and
deserved this leadership, for he executed his plans with much
circumspection.
On an appointed day (27 Ellul == September, 1614, new style),
while the community was assembled in the house of prayer, blow
followed upon blow and thrust upon thrust, mingled with furious
shouting, on the door of the Jewish quarter. Thereupon followed cries
of anguish on the part of the Jews, who rushed hither and thither in
despair and distracted flight. Bold youths and men seized weapons to
ward off assaults or die manfully. On both sides fell the wounded and
dead, until the superiority of numbers and the daring of the Fettmilch
party decided the victory. Then all through the night until the next day
followed plundering, desecration, and destruction of sacred places with
brutal fury. The imperial commissioners could do nothing to check the
riot; they were even compelled to put up a notice that the murderous
band was not liable to punishment. Most of the Jews not sheltered by
philanthropic citizens awaited death in trembling at the burial-ground,
crouching together, many of them in shrouds. The rabble purposely left
them in uncertainty as to the fate to which they were destined—life,
death, or banishment—so that the Jews regarded it as a mercy from
God when the fisherman's gate was opened in the afternoon of August
24th (new style), and they were allowed to depart, 1,380 in number,
but without property of any kind. The advance of humanity, compared
with earlier ages, is seen in the circumstance that compassionate
Christians gave bread and other provisions to those who departed
utterly destitute, and the smaller towns and villages sheltered them,
though Fettmilch and the foes of the Jews had warned them against
receiving the exiles.
It was long before the Frankfort Jews obtained satisfaction for
these atrocious injuries. The magistracy and Emperor Matthias were
equally impotent. Fettmilch's rabble for a whole year so tyrannized
over the council that it could do nothing for the Jews. Some of the law
faculties defended the robbers, by issuing an opinion that their attacks
on the property of the Jews could not be regarded as theft, since they
had occurred in the daytime or by torchlight. It was only by similar
events at Worms that the end of the Frankfort troubles was hastened.
There the bitterness against one of the oldest German-Jewish
communities, arising out of hatred of Jews and trade jealousy, took a
different course. Not the guilds, but some members of the magistracy
urged the banishment of the Jews, and the chief enemy of the Jews,
instead of being a brutal but straightforward workman, was a crafty
advocate and perverter of the law. Here, as in Frankfort, the chief
motive was opposition to the magistracy, but the guild-members acted
with more resolution and unanimity. The leader, adviser, and director of
the committee of citizens was a learned lawyer, Dr. Chemnitz
(Chemnitius), who thought that by lawyers' tricks he would be able to
effect the banishment of the Jews with less danger than the Frankfort
people had incurred by brutal violence. At first chicanery and insults of
every sort were employed. The committee did not care to use violence,
but strove to wear them out. It closed the outlets of the city against
them, hindered them from purchasing food, drove their cattle from the
meadows, and would not permit milk for Jewish children to be brought
to the Jewish quarter.
After various movements, the Worms guilds, by Chemnitz's advice,
assembled unarmed in the market place to take counsel, and sent a
deputation to the Jews, ordering them "to retire from the city with bag
and baggage" within an hour. The deputation reproached them with
having caused the citizens to be suspected by the emperor, with
having excited his hatred against them, and deprived them of every
means of obtaining justice. The magistrates protested, but without
effect, and so nothing remained for the Jews but to depart on the last
day but one of the Passover (April 20th, 1615, new style). Fanaticism
could not refrain from venting its fury on the holy places of the Jews,
from devastating the synagogue which had stood for a thousand years,
desecrating the burial-ground, and breaking to pieces several hundred
tombstones, some of which gave evidence of the high antiquity of the
community. The archbishop of Mayence and Count Louis of Darmstadt
granted residence to the exiles in small towns and villages, and thus
some of the exiles met their suffering brethren of Frankfort.
But the rejoicing of the foes of the Jews in Worms did not last
long. The council, humiliated by the committee of citizens, secretly
negotiated with Frederick, elector palatine, and, about ten days after
the expulsion of the Jews, he moved infantry, cavalry, and cannon into
the town, under the unavailing protest of the committee, and this soon
brought the disorder to an end. Still it was nearly nine months before
the Worms Jews were re-admitted by order of the elector palatine and
the bishop of Speyer (January 19th, 1616, new style). Two months
afterwards, the Jews of Frankfort were led back, as in triumph, with
the sound of trumpets, and blowing of horns, by the commissioners of
the electorate of Mayence and Darmstadt (Adar 20th==March 10th).
Here the rioters were more severely punished than at Worms, because
they had caused destruction, plundering, and bloodshed. Vincent
Fettmilch, the pastry-cook, the Frankfort Haman, was hanged, and
quartered, his house razed to the ground, and his family banished. The
city was fined 175,919 florins by the emperor as compensation for the
depredations committed on Jewish property. In memory of this
extraordinary deliverance and honorable restoration, not an every-day
occurrence in the German Empire, the Frankfort community appointed
the day of their return (Adar 20th) to be observed as a feast-day,
named Purim-Vincent, the day before being kept as a fast in memory
of their sufferings.
The old "permissive residence" of the Jews in Worms and Frankfort
was abolished by Matthias, who introduced a new regulation,
recommended by the commissioners in 1617. This new arrangement
still bore the impress of the Middle Ages. The old restrictions of the
Jews, as to dress, occupation and movement, were retained, and, if
possible, made more severe in some respects. The Jews were still
considered outcasts, even by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
and his councilors. "As they are privileged by the emperor, the council
is to protect them, and no longer has the power to banish those who
have obtained 'permissive residence.'" The Frankfort Jews, re-admitted
at that time, did not need to renew their right of residence every three
years as before, and transmitted it to their descendants. On the other
hand, the number of Jews was fixed at 500. Not more than six new
families a year could be granted "permissive residence," and only
twelve couples a year could get married. A further restriction was that
the Jews should not be called citizens of Frankfort; they were only
hereditary protected dependents of the council. In addition to the old
protection fee, there was a marriage and an inheritance tax. The
restrictions in the new Jewish ordinance for Worms proved, if possible,
still more oppressive.
The banishment of the Jews from two cities of western Germany,
and their restoration had a favorable result for the German Jews. It
was an advantage to all German communities that the emperor had
emphatically insisted on, and by force of arms confirmed, the safety of
the Jews. Emperor Ferdinand II, though a pupil of the Jesuits and a
destroyer of Protestants, confirmed the inviolability of the Jews
throughout the whole empire, especially in Frankfort and Worms, when
the citizens of these places again thought of persecuting them. Hence
it came about, that the destructive, cruel Thirty Years' War did not
affect the Jews in Germany so severely as might have been expected.
Of course, they did not fail to share the sufferings of the German
nation, which, divided into two camps, drew the sword against its own
breast, and made havoc of its own land. The Jews, like the rest of the
population, had to submit to the plunderings and ravagings which
leaders of armies, such as Mansfeld, Tilly, and Wallenstein, one after
the other, brought upon flourishing cities.
Many a Jewish community was destroyed by the fury of war. But at
least the Jews had nothing to fear from the internal foe, and, in the
seclusion of their Ghettos, were perfectly secure from all attacks. The
Catholic generals had orders from the emperor to spare the life and
property of Jews, so that many a Protestant could lodge, and save his
property, in the Jewish quarter. Before Wallenstein made the discovery
that war is supported by war, and that a large army can obtain means
for itself, the war carried on by Ferdinand II against the Protestant half
of Germany required much money, and the imperial treasury had
always been poor. But ready money was chiefly in the iron chests of
Jewish capitalists. Hence, the financial springs, the Jews, had to be
protected, if the war was to be carried on successfully. Consequently,
the emperor, acting with careful consideration, impressed upon his
generals to spare the Jews from all the hardships of war, including the
quartering of troops. How dearly this tender treatment cost the
communities is not known. The Bohemian Jews paid a considerable
sum, and bound themselves to contribute 40,000 florins a year
towards defraying the expenses of the war.
The court of Vienna invented another means of making Jews
contribute to the war. It appointed Jewish capitalists as court Jews,
granted them most extensive freedom of trade, freed them from the
restrictions to which other Jews were subjected, even from wearing
the yellow badge, in a word, afforded them and their families an
exceptionally favored position.
The Jewish community of Vienna enjoyed great consideration
during, or perhaps on account of, this war. Through the indifference of
Spain, the center of Catholicism was transferred at that time from the
Manzanares to the Danube, from Madrid to Vienna. The Jews, who by
degrees re-assembled in Vienna, in spite of repeated banishment by
the emperors, came into close relations with important European
affairs. Court Jews and Jewish physicians repaired to Vienna with their
retinue, i.e., persons depending, or pretending to be dependent, upon
them. The Viennese Jews at that time were considered to be
exceedingly rich. As they lived scattered in various quarters of the city,
they felt the necessity of assembling and having a common place for
prayer. They applied to the emperor, and he granted them a site in
what is now Leopoldstadt, released them from the jurisdiction of the
municipal authorities, and even excused them from wearing the badge.
At the very time when Protestant Hamburg citizens were jealously on
the watch that no synagogue be granted to the Portuguese Jews, the
arch-Catholic emperor allowed them to build in his capital a new
synagogue with all its appurtenances (December, 1624). His
"liberated," i.e., privileged Jews were not required to quarter troops, or
to contribute to the expenses of the war. The magistrates, of course,
raised objections to the favor shown to Jews, and wished to turn the
whole "swarm of Jews" out of the city. The court councilors, who
desired to extort money, gave the citizens to understand that, for
20,000 florins, they might enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the Jews
banished; but at the same time, they whispered to the Jews, that if
they anticipated the payment of this sum, they might remain in
Vienna. Probably the Jews prevailed.
The united and prosperous community looked about for a
rabbinical leader, and, in February, 1625, made happy choice of
Lipmann Heller, an amiable and learned man, at that time rabbi of
Nikolsburg. He was no brilliant personage, but his talents stand out
conspicuously from the dark background of the time. He forms an
exception to the rabbis of that age, at least to those in Germany and
Poland. He not only occupied himself with Talmudic learning, but was
acquainted with branches of knowledge outside the rabbinical field. For
instance, Heller had studied other than Jewish literature, and
understood mathematics well. In the Talmudical department he could
not compare with contemporary Poles of distinction, with Samuel Edles
at Ostrog, Joshua Falk at Lemberg, Joel Serkes at Cracow, and many
others. But if he was inferior to them in acuteness, more properly,
subtlety, he surpassed them in profundity and lucidity.
Heller (born 1579, died 1654) possessed a mild nature, an
attractive presence, and skill in speech, and could, therefore, frequent
Christian circles. Far from the conceit which brooks no contradiction—a
failing of most representatives of rabbinical learning in Poland—he
prepossessed every one in his favor, and won all hearts by his
modesty. He is one of those whom we involuntarily pity for having
lived in such barbarous times. In a better age they might have labored
with more success for Judaism. In his thirtieth year, at the same age
as Maimuni, he completed a gigantic work, a comprehensive
commentary on the Mishna (Tossafoth Yom-Tob, 1614–1617). This
involved a much greater amount of work than his great predecessor, or
Obadiah di Bertinoro, had been forced to devote to it, if we take into
account how much the materials to be considered, examined, and
tested, had increased in the interval.
Having been summoned to Vienna to the post of rabbi, he labored
usefully for this young community. He drew up its constitution, and for
the short time of his official career there was esteemed and beloved.
With his peaceful disposition he should have remained at Vienna
instead of allowing himself to be attracted by the seemingly superior
qualities of the Prague community, where vulgarity and baseness, envy
and malice, still prevailed. For this circle Heller was most unfit, but he
was attracted to the Bohemian capital, where there was incomparably
more study of the Talmud, and where he could hope to enjoy
interchange of thought. Only too soon he had occasion to regret his
acceptance of this office. As acting rabbi, Heller was president of the
commission which had the thankless task of distributing the large
yearly war tax of 40,000 thalers among the members of the Prague
community and those of the country communities. With Heller's
upright and pure character it may be assumed that he acted with the
utmost conscientiousness, and that he did not knowingly overburden
anyone. Nevertheless, some members complained of improper
allotment, raised a quarrel in the community, and collected a large
following, who threatened the commission with accusations. In vain
did Heller raise his warning voice against the prevailing dissension,
speaking from the pulpit, now in mild, now in severe terms.
Contumacy combined with envy, and the discontented party accused
him and the elders of the commission before the civil authorities of
having with partiality spared the rich, and laid the burden of the tax on
the shoulders of those with less means, compelling payment of the
share imposed by threats of excommunication, imprisonment, and
other punishments. The accusations against Heller must have been of
a still more hateful nature. The drift was that in one of his works he
had used offensive expressions against Christianity. To give emphasis
to their calumny, they reported to a person close to the emperor, who
prided himself much on his theological knowledge, that Heller had
boasted in the hearing of the Stadtholder of Prague that he had
beaten him in a disputation. At the same time the slanderers hinted
that the accused rabbi was in possession of much property, which
would fall to the imperial treasury in case he was found guilty. To
gratify their revenge or their malicious spirit, the informers quite
overlooked the fact that by this means they might bring on a
persecution, not only of Prague Jews, but of all German Jews.
 Their slander met with only too ready a hearing. A formal
command from the emperor reached the Stadtholder of Prague to
have Rabbi Lipmann Heller sent in chains to Vienna. In view of the
military severity customary during the Thirty Years' War even the
innocent had the worst to fear. However, Heller was so highly
esteemed even by Christian officials, that the head of police, who was
charged with his custody, behaved with extraordinary indulgence
towards him, and he was allowed to travel to Vienna merely on bail.
On arriving he waited on the chancellor, in order to learn particulars
with regard to the accusation brought against him. The chancellor
sternly alleged what led Heller to fear the worst—that he had written
against the Christian religion. Thereupon Heller was put into prison,
confined with criminal offenders, and a commission of clergy appointed
to establish his guilt as a blasphemer. The sentence was that Heller
properly deserved death, but that the emperor was willing to exercise
mercy and allow the punishment of death to be commuted to a fine of
12,000 thalers, to be paid immediately, and that the incriminated
writings were to be destroyed. The Prague slanderers who were not
pleased with the sentence, did not rest till the emperor deprived Heller
of the office of rabbi at Prague, and declared him unworthy to fill the
rabbinical office wherever the emperor's scepter held sway. At last,
after a confinement of forty days, he was liberated, with the loss of his
office and his property, and without any prospect of an appointment
elsewhere. The maligning of Lipmann Heller was not altogether
without consequences to the Jews. The bigoted emperor and many of
the clergy who had been led to notice the bearing of Jews towards
Christianity conceived the idea of introducing in Vienna Pope Gregory
XIII's plan of preaching sermons for the conversion of Jews. The
emperor issued a decree in February, 1630, that Jews be compelled to
listen to conversion sermons every Saturday morning between eight
and nine, at least 200 members of both sexes in equal numbers to be
present, among them forty young Jews, of from fifteen to twenty years
of age. Every one summoned to hear the preachers was to be fined a
thaler in case of absence, and a higher sum if the offense was
repeated. Sleeping and talking during the sermon were punished. The
fines were to be used in support of converted Jews. The conversion of
Jews was a matter that the emperor had at heart, and he hoped much
from these compulsory measures. However, this plan was not easily
carried out. The court councilors, to whom the emperor committed the
matter, were not proof against bribery, and followed the Jesuits, who
laid less stress on catching Jewish souls than on the oppression of
Protestants and the increasing of their own power.
The annals of the Thirty Years' War contain no record of special
sufferings of the Jewish race. It seems almost as if Jews were better
treated than Christians. At least, in Mayence, the Swedes, who resided
there more than four years, from the end of 1631 to 1636, behaved
more kindly to them than to others. They were not greatly
impoverished, for they were able, three years after the departure of
the Swedes, to build a synagogue at Mayence, and thus extend their
community, a favor which it had not been in their power to enjoy for
more than 150 years. The Thirty Years' War ended, as is well known,
at Prague, on the very stage where it had begun. The Swedish general
besieged the city on the Moldau, and had already captured one
quarter. But the inhabitants resisted bravely, and the Jews were not
behind the others, if not with arms, yet with labor, in the trenches, and
with extinguishing apparatus. It was a Jew who brought intelligence to
the emperor from the besieged city in order to obtain relieving forces.
On account of their attachment to the imperial family, the Bohemian
Jews obtained from Ferdinand III an extension of their rights, which
consisted in the privilege of residing in all royal cities and domains, and
in not being expelled without the knowledge of the emperor. It may be
assumed that the Jews did not lose very much by the devastating war.
While the Christian population was thoroughly impoverished, and had
to contend with want—the chief circumstance which induced the rulers
to conclude the Peace of Westphalia—the Jews had saved something.
The booty of many cities went through their hands, and, even if they
were exorbitantly taxed, and forced to pay heavy sums, they still
derived some gain. Hence it came about that directly after the close of
the Thirty Years' War, when great numbers of their fugitive brethren
came from Poland through Germany, they could be supported in a
brotherly way by the German communities; for the Jews of Poland, for
the first time, were visited with a long-continued, bloody persecution.
The cup of suffering was not to pass them by.
END OF VOL. IV.
INDEX.
Aaron (I) ben Joseph, the Elder, fixes the Karaite prayer-book, 71.
Aaron (II) ben Elia Nicomedi, Karaite philosopher, 95.
Abadia, de, Juan, plots against Arbues, 329–331.
Abba-Mari ben Moses (Astruc En-Duran), leader of obscurantists,
27–32, 36–42, 50.
and the Tibbonides, 39–42.
Abenacar, Isaac (Manuel Pimentel), Marrano in Holland, 672.
Abenhuacar. See Ibn-Wakar, Samuel.
Abi-Ayub, Jacob, physician, 553.
Abner of Burgos. See Alfonso Burgensis.
Aboab, Isaac, rabbi at Toledo, 341.
death, 366.
intercedes for Spanish exiles, 352, 365.
Aboab, Isaac, de Fonseca, rabbi at Amsterdam, 681, 682–683.
in Brazil, 693.
quoted, 694.
Aboget, supposed manufacturer of Black Death poison, 102.
Abrabanel, Isaac ben Judah, 409.
and the edict of banishment, 348.
and Yechiel of Pisa, 287.
as commentator, 341–343.
countenances Messianic speculations, 482.
in Castile, 336–337, 341, 343–344.
in Corfu and Sicily, 384.
in Naples, 359–360.
in Portugal, 337–339, 341.
in Venice, 385, 386.
opposes free thought, 479.
 protects the Jews, 339–340.
quoted, 338, 388–389.
Abrabanel, Isaac, son of the preceding, physician, 340, 385.
Abrabanel, Judah Leon (Medigo), son of Isaac Abrabanel I, 340, 341,
409.
and Gonsalvo de Cordova, 384–385.
as author, 480–481.
flees to Naples, 360–361.
Abrabanel, Samuel (Juan de Seville), 337.
accepts baptism, 169.
ambassador to Martin V, 219.
appointed to a state office, 138.
efforts for the culture of Castilian Jews, 139–140.
intercedes for the Spanish Marranos, 322–323.
Abrabanel, Samuel, son of Isaac Abrabanel I, 340, 385, 543.
at Ferrara, 544.
at Naples, 409.
promotes Jewish learning, 410.
Abrabanela, Benvenida, wife of the preceding, 409–410.
honors David Reubeni, 493.
saves the Neapolitan Jews from the Inquisition, 543–544.
Abraham, copyist, 74.
Abraham, son of Manessier de Vesoul, 150.
Abraham ben Chiya, astronomer, 120.
Abraham of Granada, Kabbalist, 196–197.
Abudiel, Moses, officer at the Castilian court, 84, 85, 86.
Abulafia, agent of Ferdinand and Isabella, 313, 317.
Abulafia, Abraham ben Samuel, Kabbalist, 4–8, 10, 11, 14, 19, 622,
625.
his school accepts the Zohar, 20.
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