Hasdai Crescas

Hasdai ben Avraham Crescas (grandson of the talmudist Hasdai ben Judah Crescas) was a Catalonian rabbi, halakhic deciser (posek), poet, philosopher, and statesman. He was a member of the royal household of King John I and Queen Violante of Aragon before being appointed crown rabbi of Saragossa in 1389. With royal support, he was able to save the Jewish communities of Aragon and Roussillon during the anti-Jewish riots of 1391, as well as send thousands of conversos to Northern Africa and to the land of Israel. He may also have been the first European philosopher to argue against Aristotelian philosophy. Though only recently translated into English, his arguments had a great impact on the development of Western philosophy due to their influence on Baruch Spinoza.