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Jewish treasures, monuments and books in Italy.
March 20, 2017
” template=”/home/jitaly/public_html/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ngglegacy/view/gallery.php” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] There were Jews living in San Severino since the end of the thirteenth century. Surviving thirteenth century documents refer to an ancient and now lost municipal status regulating relations with the Jews. These were granted the freedom of religious practices and protection from assaults and thefts. Jews were […]
March 20, 2017
The first mention of Jewish presence in Recanati dates back to 1337 and refers to the absolution of 20 citizens of Recanati, among them Gullielmutius Consilii Judeus, from any accusation of arson, theft, injuries, insults and murder, and all penalties incurred both financial and personal. In 14th century Civil Acts, we find a mention of […]
March 20, 2017
A Jewish presence in Belforte can be traced back to the end of the 1300’s, as indicated by legal documents from that time. By 1458, documents regarding loans by or to Jews were drafted differently than Christian ones. The recurrence of Jewish names such as Aronne, Emmanuel, Simone, Salomone, in legal documents is further proof of their […]
March 20, 2017
Jewish presence in San Ginesio can be dated back to 1295, when Jews provided financing to a company involved in the wool industry. The Jews resided mainly in the Alvaneto district, which extended from Piazza dei Gentili to what is currently piazza Thomas Eskine Holland. The Jewish cemetery, called “Garden of the Jews”, was located […]
March 20, 2017
Throughout history this town has been known by a series of different names – including Pausula, Castello di Monte dell’Olmo, Montolmo and Castelvecchio – before finally taking up the name Corridonia, a tribute to Filippo Corridoni, a union leader active in the region before World War I. Jews have resided in the town since 1436. Documents attest to […]
March 20, 2017
Macerata’s public library contains a number of documents attesting to Jewish money lending activities in the city as early as 1287. Though today there is no longer a Jewish community, its history is well documented. Inside the Municipality building there is a Hebrew tombstone inscription dating 1553, possibly transferred there from the former Jewish cemetery […]
March 20, 2017
Jewish presence in Matelica has been recorded since the 13th century, documented by a great number of parchments, contracts and letters of loan that are preserved by the City Archives. In 1287, the first money lending license was granted to Dattolo, son of Maestro Gaudio Ebreo. No trace remains of the Jewish community in the […]
March 20, 2017
A document preserved in the monastery of Santa Caterina attests to loans made by Jews in Cingoli as early as 1296. The Jewish community prospered between the 13th and the 14th century, as Jews mastered the wool trade. Though Jews could not be part of the “Arte della Lana” guild, they excelled in weaving and dying wool. The last name Tintori (dyers) […]
March 20, 2017
Jews were living near Ancona since the first century. By 1300, they had organized a Jewish community within the city. A letter from that time, sent by the poet Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome, pleaded for exemption of the Ancona community from heavy taxation, due to economic hardship and persecutions. Jews engaged in money lending […]
March 20, 2017
Jews settled in Pergola in the early 13th century. The city was part of the Duchy of Montefeltro and offered Jews a tolerant environment. The two rivers favored trade, as well as the activities of the dyers and tanners. The synagogue was originally located in a building that still stands in Via Don Minzoni, 9. The […]
March 20, 2017
Placed strategically between Umbria and Marche, Cagli saw the establishment of a Jewish community with thriving businesses and money lending activities. Cagli was originally built by the Pope in 1289, over an ancient town that had once been destroyed by fire. Shortly after, it became part of the domain Montefeltro and the Duchy of Urbino and would remain […]
March 20, 2017
Senigallia came under Papal rule in 1631. At that time, the Jewish community consisted of about 40 families, comprising a few hundred people. During the course of the following century and a half, this number increased to approximately 120 families. Jewish loan bankers made their appearance there in the 14th century. As a result of […]
March 20, 2017
The synagogue in Apecchio, which has not been in function since 1633, is still clearly recognizable today. The site of this ancient synagogue was identified by the narrow pathway, only a little more than a foot wide. It went around the synagogue, separating the Jewish houses from the Christian ones. The path is still visible […]
March 20, 2017
Federico da Montefeltro (1444-1482), Duke of Urbino, was known for his liberal policy towards the Jews. He invited them to settle in his Duchy, which included Gubbio, Cagli, Fano and Sant’Angelo in Vado. Jews were given license to practice trades and professions and some representatives of the community sat in court as the Duke’s advisors […]
March 20, 2017
Jews had settled in Pesaro by the early 15th century. Money lending to the poor was the most conspicuous, but by no means the most important, of the many activities of Jewish bankers. Jews supplied floating capital to local artisans and merchants, as well as providing financial support to farmers in anticipation of the crops. […]
March 20, 2017
Jews who lived in Trentino-Alto Adige absorbed different political and cultural influences according to their location. In Trento and Riva del Garda, they were exposed to Italian influences, while, in Bolzano and Merano, mostly Austro-Hungarian ones.
March 20, 2017
Medieval Jewish chronicles attribute the beginnings of Jewish settlement in Calabria to captives exiled by Titus after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. However, there is no concrete evidence proving that Jews were present in Calabria until the first half of the fourth century. We do know that the Calabrian community became prosperous around this time, and […]
March 20, 2017
There is evidence that Jews have lived in Tuscany since the Early Middle Ages, although it was in the period of Medici rule that Jewish-owned banks and moneylenders really began to grow. Florence and Pisa had the largest Jewish populations, although many of the smaller towns also had significant Jewish communities. On one hand, the […]
March 20, 2017
There were Jewish communities in Umbria from the second half of the thirteenth century, when Jewish settlement in the region became permanent and continuous, until the expulsion of the Jews decreed by Pope Pius V in 1569. Umbria was an important geographical and political entity in central Italy during the late Middle Ages and was […]
March 20, 2017
The history of the Jews in Basilicata is at least 2000 years old. This area, which is a mix of mountains and rich fertile plains, is south of Rome but north of Calabria and Apulia. Most of the Jewish communities in this area were settled in the Roman Era by Jewish merchants or by Jewish […]
March 20, 2017
There were probably Jews living in Sicily during the period of the Second Temple. The great Jewish rhetorician Caecilius of Calacte moved from Sicily to Rome around 50 C.E. and the epigraphic records start in the third century. After this period, records are scarce. In 590, Pope Gregory the Great ordered the ecclesiastical authorities to reimburse […]
March 20, 2017
During the 15th and 16th centuries, Jewish families from Rome, Pisa and Ancona conducted business in Molise where they also had temporary residence. During World War II, because of the isolation of the region, the fascist regime established Jewish internment camps and internment locations in Agnon, Maranello, Boiano, Camponasso, Campomarino, Cantalupo del Sannio, Cascalenda, […]
March 20, 2017
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, several important trades began to flourish in the small towns of Abruzzo, including paper making, printing and jewelry. Small settlements of Jews lived in the region from the 13th century until 1511. Today, there are no longer organized Jewish communities in the region. Aquila: The first record of Jews living in Aquila dates […]
March 20, 2017
Austria annexed Trieste in 1382 and did not relinquish the city to Italy until after World War I. However, the city has been able to remain culturally Italian since this time. Jews may have lived in Trieste as early as the 11th century and certainly from the 14th, although the kehillah was not formally organized until 1746. […]
March 20, 2017
While Jews did not settle in Venice until the 13th century, many Jewish merchants and moneylenders visited and worked in the city beginning in the 10th century. Jews were mentioned in documents from 945 and 992 that forbade Venetian captains from accepting Jews onboard their ships. In 1252, Jews were not allowed to settle in the […]
March 20, 2017
March 20, 2017
References to Jews in Lombardy date to the fourth century; subsequently there is only slight evidence down to the very end of the 12th century, when Jews are found engaged in moneylending. In 1225, the Jews were expelled from Pavia and Cremona. In 1278, they began to be harassed by the conversionist sermons of the […]
March 20, 2017
The settlement of Jews, in various parts of the island, goes as far back as the year 19 CE. During the reign of the emperor Tiberius, 4,000 Jewish youths were banished from Rome to Sardinia as a penalty for the misdeeds of four Jewish swindlers. Pretending to be collectors for the treasury of the Temple […]
March 20, 2017
Jews settled in Liguria later than in many other regions. In Genova, the local merchants, fearing Jewish competition, did not allow the Jews to settle there until 1648. Smaller Jewish communities, now mostly extinct, were in La Spezia, San Remo, Lerici and Monterosso.
March 20, 2017
The Jewish settlement in what now is Emilia Romagna had begun to gradually spread by the 13th century, with evidence today of a Jewish presence in at least 37 localities. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Jewish communities in many centers, big and small, in Emilia and Romagna enjoyed long periods of coexistence and […]
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