One of the greatest rabbis of his generation, R. Yoseph Trani (1568-1639 - the Mahari”t), was the son of R. Moshe Trani (the Mabi”t). A resident of Safed for a large part of his life, he was placed as the Head of the Yeshivah of the city in 1594, an honor which indicated his ordination by R. Ya’akov Beirav (who attempted to renew the Semichah process). In 1604 the Mahari”t was appointed to the senior Rabbinic post in Constantinople, in essence the singular Halachic authority of the entire Ottoman Empire.