to the office. Traditions disagree as to the length of his reign. Some state that he ruled one night only; others make it a few days. Historicity Historian Gustav Karpeles writes that "an historical kernel lies hidden in the legend" that, he says, "rests upon an historical substratum". Nicholas Radziwill, he says, made a widely publicized pilgrimage to Jerusalem. While returning, wrote Radziwill, he was attacked in Italy by robbers and was left in Ancona without any money. His pleas for help were ignored by all except a Jewish merchant, who alone believed his claim that he was a Polish noble. The merchant provided him with funds to return to Poland. Karpeles concludes that Radziwill's narrative is consistent with the narrative of the Jewish tale and that the lone Jewish merchant who had helped Radziwill was Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen, Saul Wahl's father. References 1541 births 1617 deaths Legendary Polish monarchs 17th-century Polish businesspeople Jewish royalty 16th-century Polish Jews 17th-century Polish Jews