Shmuel HaNagid

Shmuel HaNagid rises from refugee to vizier of Muslim Granada, commanding its armies in the field for nearly two decades. At the same time he serves as Nagid of Spanish Jewry, writes halakhic works, and composes Hebrew poetry unlike anything before it — verses written on campaign, about battle, wine, ambition, and fear. He funds scholars and copies of the Talmud across the Mediterranean from his own position of power. He represents the highest point Jewish political attainment reaches in medieval Europe, and the fragility of it: his son inherits the office and is murdered in the Granada massacre of 1066.