Benjamin of Tudela visited Trani in around 1159, following this visit he found 200 Jewish families living there. By the 12th century, Trani already housed one of the largest Jewish communities of Southern Italy, and was the birthplace of one of the greatest medieval rabbis of Italy: Rabbi Isaiah ben Mali di Trani (c. 1180–1250), a prolific and prominent commentator and halakhic authority. The great talmudist Rabbi Moses ben Joseph di Trani (1505–1585) was born in Thessaloniki, three years after his family had fled there from Trani due to antisemitic persecution.