ASCOLI, DAVID D':
Italian writer; lived about the middle of the sixteenth century. He wasthe author of "Apologia Hebræorum," published at Strasburg in 1559, in which he protested against the decree of Pius IV. commanding all Jews in Catholic countries to dress in orange or yellow to distinguish them from Christians. Both Ascoli and Cinelli, who praised the book in the "Bibliotheca Volante," suffered a long term of imprisonment for their free criticism of the ecclesiastical authorities.
Bibliography:
- Didot et Hoefer, Nouvelle, Biographie Universelle, iii. 422;
- Nouveau Larousse Illustré, i. 502;
- Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. iii. 181;
- Rossi, Dizionario Storico, translated by Hamberger, p. 49;
- Vogelstein and Rieger, Gesch. der Juden in Rom, ii. 153.