יעקוב פרנק

Jacob Frank (1726-1791), pseudo-messiah, born in Korolowka, Podolia, he was a trader who, while in Turkey, came into contact with the group that continued to believe in the messiahship of Shabbetai Tsevi. He began to study the Zohar and came to believe he was the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tsevi and developed a theology with a trinitarian basis (God, the Messiah, and the Shekhina - a female hypostasis of God). He acquired a following in eastern Europe and was excommunicated by the rabbis in 1756. The rabbis denounced the group to the Catholic authorities but Frank put himself under the protection of the bishop of Kaminiec-Podolski who ordered a public disputation. The Frankists accepted Christianity and Frank was baptized in Warsaw cathedral with the king as his godfather. However the Church grew suspicious and he was exiled for 13 years to the fortress of Czestochowa. On his release he moved to Bruenn and then to Offenbach where the sect was reestablished under the 'Holy Lord;' who now called himself Baron von Frank. After his death the sect continued to exist in Offenbach under Frank's daughter, Eve, as ' queen' and 'high priestess' practicing secret rites including ritual orgies. Eventually it disintegrated.