Great rabbis of XVI century

The end of Middle Ages and introduction of Renaissance is usually connected to few happenings - taking of Constantinople by Turks in 1453, discovering of America by Columbus in 1492 or publishing his thesis by Martin Luther in 1517.

In Jewish world lots was going on at the time with consequences for all others - specially Spain but definitely not limited to Spain. Let's try to have a look...

In 1490 the so called catholic kings - Ferdinand of Argon and Isabelle of Castillo - demanded that all Jews (long prosecuted already) will either convert to Christianity or leave Spain without any possessions. Many left in consequence: doctors, bankers, rabbis among them. Some went to Italy and Sicily which (though partly under Spanish rule) tolerated some of the refugees, some joined their Ashkenazim bothers in Eastern Europe, many left for Northern Africa and Ottoman Empire (specifically heading for Israel). Jews were welcomed into Ottoman lands by Sultan Bayezid II, who declared: "They tell me that Ferdinand of Spain is a wise man but he is a fool. For he takes his treasure and sends it all to me."

Jerusalem and Tsfat were among most desired places to live for rabbis. Here are some of their stories:

First, we must mention Rabbi Jacob Berav (1475 to 1546). He's very significant because he tried to do something which had not been done in the Jewish world for well over 1,000 years. He tried to re-institute semichah, "rabbinic ordination." Semichah is a "proper" rabbinic ordination which would come in a direct line from teacher to student traceable all the way back to Moses. It had been interrupted during Roman persecutions. Yet his attempt at re-instituting semichah was not successful. The rabbis in Jerusalem didn't recognize it, and, to this day, rabbinical ordination is symbolic only.
One of the few ordained by Jacob Berav was  Rabbi Joseph Karo. Rabbi Karo (1488 to 1575) who was among the Jews expelled from Spain, and had made his way through Europe and Turkey and finally ended in Tzfat. There he wrote one of the most important books in Judaism - the Shulchan Aruch "The Prepared Table" - and it is a code of Jewish law which is followed to this day.
The slightly later commentary to Shulchan Aruch was written by Ashkenazim rabbi  Moses Isserles based in Krakow, Poland. To this day there is working orthodox synagogue in Krakow built by Moses Isserles's father-in-law and named after this famous rabbi. Vandalized by Nazis it was long abandoned but for the last 20 years it serves again small Jewish orthodox congregation.

When one looks at this speedy spreading of ideas - great books written by refugees, soon commented by Jewish chachans from different tradition and far lands - it is very impressive. XVI century was the time (soon after Gutenberg made his great discovery) when printing was ruling. In this century alone (think about how few people were there and how many were illiterate) one million copies of the Bible translated by Martin Luther was put to print. Yet even at this amazing time it is a wonder when one looks at works of great rabbis and kabbalists.