Giovanni Cattini

International trade drove Jewish mobility during the age of mercantilism, as Jewish merchants formed wide commercial networks and partnerships and developed cosmopolitan attitudes that facilitated civic inclusion.

Baruch Spinoza is notable for rejecting Judaism without converting to Christianity. After his excommunication from Amsterdam's Sephardic community, he developed the basis of modern biblical criticism.

Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Marranos encountered each other in Italian cities, developing community structures that later influenced Jewish communal organization throughout the western world.

The early modern period featured educational reforms, anti-Christian polemics, and growing Jewish university participation.