Sheshet ben Isaac ben Joseph Benveniste

Sheshet ben Isaac ben Joseph Benveniste was a Spanish financier, physician, and poet. In his youth, Benveniste entered the service of the count of Barcelona and later served the kings of Aragon Alfonso II (1164 – 1196) and from 1196 Pedro II (1196 – 1213) as physician, translator into Arabic, political adviser, and diplomatic envoy. He also made loans to the royal treasury for which he received certain state revenues in return, and had an active part in the fiscal administration. Benveniste had status similar to the nobility of the kingdom and was exempted from taxes and enjoyed legal immunity from the jurisdiction of both the crown authorities and the local Jewish community. He regulated the affairs of the Barcelona synagogue, wrote Hebrew poetry, was in touch with Muslim scholars, knew general history, and wrote medical works still preserved in manuscript.