Les marchands juifs de la Méditerranée: le commerce en Provence, Catalogne et Sardaigne entre XIVe et XVe siècles

TASCA, CECILIA

In press

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Abstract

My paper is about some news risen during Study Congress concerning the jewish life in Sardinia (Cagliari, November 2008) of wich proceedings were published in 2010. Especially about studies by David Abulafia, Shlomo Simonsohn, Viviana Mulè, Danièle Iancu, Amira Meir and Michele Luzzati, whose works throw light upon a more wide connection, about jewish elements, between Sardinia and Mediterranean Countries (not only Catalonia-Aragon Kingdom). So great relations were between Sardinian “aljamas” and, especially, Provencal Countries. Our knowledge about these subjects is enlarged owing to a new documentary “corpus” on the jewish life in Sardinian Kingdom, to an our recent research in marsellaise aechives, and, finally, to works by Juliette Sibon about marsellaise jews in XIV century. The lack of archaeological evidence and documents means that we can only postulate that the Jewish presence in Sardinia probably dates back to the transition between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Even in the following centuries, there is very little evidence of one or more Jewish settlements on the island, making it difficult to advance a solid hypothesis for this period. However, from the second half of the 14th century and throughout the whole 15th, we find a number of substantial Jewish settlements in the most important towns on the island. These not only showed a clear blend of Aragonese, Valencian, Balearic and Provençal influences but were also characterized by one particular feature that founded the “aljamas” in Cagliari, Sassari, Alghero, Oristano and Bosa. The rich merchants were the most important citizens of these “aljamas”, especially in Cagliari and Alghero that had the most numerous jewish communities. These merchants were skilled entrepreneurs that, in not long time, assumed the control of these “aljamas”. Consequently the trades from Sicily (to Cagliari) and Provence (especially to Alghero) increased a lot. We can cite Carcassona, Lunell, Bellcayre, Natan, Marna families that monopolized the most important trades between Alghero and Provence.