History of Italian Jewish Communities During the 15th and 16th Centuries

Medieval Italian Jewish communities navigated shifting political landscapes, facing both persecution and periods of relative autonomy.

### Jewish Survival in Medieval Italy: 14th-16th Centuries
* 🗺️ The video uses Dr. Heimart's "Atlas of Medieval Jewish History" to explore the fragmented political landscape of 15th-16th century Italy, impacting Jewish communities.
* 🇮🇹  Italy wasn't a unified nation; it comprised various kingdoms (Naples, Venice), republics (Genoa), and the Papal States, each with differing policies towards Jews.
* 📜  Jewish communities negotiated with rulers, paying for rights and protection, as exemplified by Rome's annual payment of 1,130 gold ounces for guaranteed rights.
* 💰  Jewish communities thrived in some areas, engaging in banking and building synagogues, while others faced expulsions, like those in towns such as Montenegro and Sonino due to Friar Bernardino's influence.
* 🇪🇸  The 1492 expulsion from Spain impacted Sicily (then under Spanish rule), leading to a mass exodus of approximately 40,000 Jews;  "Jews were constantly at the mercy of the governments".
* 🕍  Despite the expulsion edict, some communities, like Messina, protested, highlighting the Jews' economic contributions (e.g., craftsmanship) and successfully delaying the expulsion until 1493.
* ✝️  Papal attitudes varied, with some popes offering protection while others, like Sixtus IV, supported anti-Jewish actions, including the Spanish Inquisition.
* ➡️  The expulsion from Spain and Sicily forced many Jews to flee to Naples and the Ottoman Balkans, while others remained in the Papal States, facing continued challenges and the persistent issue of conversos (forced converts).

So what we have before us here is a continuing saga, the Jewish people working through what we call

the Middle Ages. And this is the Atlas of Medieval Jewish History by Dr. Heimart. His interest is really tremendous,

and his history is beyond anything that I've seen. Here, before we get into

actually the narrative of Dr. B., we're going to talk about the Jewish communities of Italy, and I'm going to

try to make it so that this can be seen. This is the map of Italy at the time

of, I would guess you would say, between the 15th and 16th centuries, perhaps a little bit before that. Italy

was not one country like it is today. It was divided up into—let's go down to the very bottom of this, get this

up where you could see it—and perhaps you can magnify it on your own computers. I have to be careful with this camera so

it doesn't cut out. So let's say it's still going. Okay, down here we have Sicily. We're going to

we're going to zoom in and we're going to see some of the more detailed aspects of what was going on then.

We're going to read the narrative if we can have time in this short session today. So here you have Sicily. At this time, Sicily

belonged to Spain. So Spain—what we're calling at this time, like this is the year, for example,

1489. 1489 is three years before the expulsion, and you're dealing with a time of tremendous Church agitation,

anti-Semitism directed at Jews. And remember that the Jews are not armed; we can't protect ourselves, and so therefore

we're constantly at the mercy of the governments. In this case, the southern part of Italy is Sicily, and

some islands around Sicily, uh, then you come, you go past Sicily and you get into the kingdom of

Naples. This is Naples, right? And here's Naples down here, the port of Naples,

but this is a whole kingdom that revolved around it. All these places have different, what would you say, uh, uh,

different rules, different countries, different dialects. I'm not sure about that, but they had different attitudes towards us. So in the middle, uh,

let me see, where is Rome? Here is Rome. So after the kingdom of Naples, you have Rome, and then the

Papal States here. Can you see this right here, which says the Papal States? These are different states that refer to the

basically center of Rome, which is the Church. Okay, then after that we come up here on the top and, uh, we see that there

is a kingdom here, goes all the way through this area, called the Kingdom of Venice, the Republic of

Venice.  That's how they, it was, all of these different places in Venice. Now today,

this is part of, I don't know, Serbia, Yugoslavia, or that area, uh, the Slavic

area. Uh, but at that time, Venice was a very prosperous, a very powerful kingdom that was in the northern part of Italy.

Here you have a little, little Republic of Genoa. Genoa is another port area, uh, and a lot of Jews resided in

those areas. Let's go down a little bit more and we see Corsica, which belonged to the Kingdom of Genoa, and

Sardinia, which referred to Sicily or belonged to Spain. And this is the, this is the status

of what the world looked like in Italy at, uh, between, like I said, between the 15th and the perhaps possibly the

17th centuries, let's zoom down. This is not exactly a zoom, so let's get closer where we

could look at some of this and let me see... how I... there's a little bit of a glare

here, but what can I do? Okay. Number one: In the year 1416, like I say, this is the beginning of the

15th century. Rabbis and community leaders authorized the Roman Jewish community, which is down below, which is uh, over here, right? He says,

going back to it, he says, um, the Roman Jewish community to represent and defend Jewish rights at papal court. In

other words, the Pope is in charge of that area around Rome, and so therefore he needs to be dealt with. Again, uh, Jews

are not an army. Uh, what we have is, possibly... may make a good living and maybe, if possible, we can buy off some of

this hatred. So now, he said, number two: In May 1418, the Council of Deputies decided to send a delegation to the new Pope, Martin

V. Okay, no problem. That's what's going on now in this area, which I'm not sure exactly what I

could say. It's not the Republic of Genoa, but it's another

area of many multiple small towns in Italy. In various towns, local rulers allowed Jews to settle, build synagogues,

and engage in banking. Jews used money to stay alive. Now here we go down a little bit further in the... in uh, Pope... I guess

it's Eugenius IV, signs a contract with Rome's Jewish community guaranteeing rights of Italian Jews in return for an annual

payment of 1,130 gold ounces. Okay, you could buy autonomy, buy some freedom. There. Let's find number five. I see number

six... number five... one, two, three, four... uh, five. Here it is up here. Now we're talking about these independent towns.

In the years 1463 to 1473, the Jews in these little towns—Monenegro, Martino, Sonino, Camarea, and Beamo—were expelled under the influence of the preaching of Friar Bernardino.

Okay, so this is what happens: they don't want Jews around, and they're going to make it tough. That's the northern part.

Let me see if I can get us over here. Number six... still not there. In the year 1488, four years before the expulsion from Spain...

This is an area controlled by Spain. Communities described by Obadia of Bertinoro: in Syracuse, there were 5,000 Jews; in Messina, there were 400 families; 850 families together—about 50 communities.

So he's talking about these places:  Bina, Syracuse, and all these different places. That's the year 1488. Let's move on.

Three years before the expulsion order, in 1489, community representatives brought donations to the governor for the Granada War. In other words, the Jews were contributing to the war of Ferdinand and Isabella against the Muslims (called 'moriscos' in Spanish).

Community representatives brought donations to the governor for Granada War expenses. King Ferdinand vowed to protect the Jews from the mob.

Number eight: On June 18, 1492—we know that the expulsion order for Jews to leave Spain (and Sicily, which was part of Spain at that time) was issued—the edict of expulsion of Sicilian Jews is...

Published after payment made. Jews granted postponement till January 12th, 1493, but it does come around, and here we see he has a map.

Here, uh, to give us an idea, let's take this section of it. It says, uh, "termin" or the area

around Palma. He says that area here. You see all the paths that Jews took to get out; they

went by sea over to the Kingdom of Naples. They went by sea to a different area of Naples, but Naples is a very

welcoming place. And then went to Naples. If I look, you can see all of this if I got it exactly where you

can see it. But here you see they came all the way over here and set up an... an outpost.

Also, I'm going to come over here and, uh, go through some of the drawings that he has on this

page. Uh, here we have—I don't have anything to back this up right now—but this, this is violent attacks against the

conversos of Cordoba. It's not pronounced Cordor; Cordoba. It's pronounced Cordoba, in

the year 1473. The great Cathedral, formerly a mosque. This is all part of the pattern in all of these different places where

you see these are attacks against the Jews, against people who are actually forcibly converted to Judaism to

Catholicism, and then they were considered to be lapsed, and they were causing trouble because they were Jews, and the hatred of

the Jews was enormous. The Israelites' battle with Amalek. This is an old drawing from a

manuscript of Moses Arragel's Spanish translation of the Bible from 1422 to 1433. Something that we could see that we

have existed. And here's another one right here. This is an illustration from a Hebrew illuminated manuscript.

arum by the arbitrium, which is actually a book of laws by Jacob ben Asher of Mantova, Italy

1435. Okay, just to give you some ideas about the time that we're talking about, let's come over here and let's look at

the Jewish communities in Italy from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The distribution of Jews

in Italy underwent a change after the Black Death, beginning with immigration from the south and the arrival in northern

Italy of Jews, some of whom had been expelled from Germany. So Jews are getting bounced around badly, and it's not

good. Communities were founded where previously there had been none. The changing political climate in the Italian Peninsula also

created favorable conditions for Jewish settlement. Jewish loan bankers gave great impetus to Jewish settlement in northern Italy and greatly assisted in

the development of town and rural centers. Settlement was facilitated by the founders of banks receiving a quota, a privilege for a period of time adequate

for the establishment of the Jewish community. So therefore, these people who used money also built their communities. Among the popes who reigned

at the end of the 14th century was Urban V (1362-1370), who issued a bull of

protection for the Jews, as did Boniface IX (1389-1404). Uh, after him, the anti-pope

Benedict XIII (1394-1417) was extremely hostile towards the Jews; his

animosity reaching its peak during the disputation of Tortosa, which took place in 1413-1414 in Spain. He was deposed in 1417.  To

succeed him,  Martin V (1417-1431) issued two bulls favorable to the Jews and also attempted

to restrain the anti-Jewish agitation of the Franciscan friars. Good old Franciscan friars.

Friars and other popes were either indifferent to the Jews or assisted in their persecution.  Now here's

a name that's difficult to pronounce: Calixtus II, also known as Alonso de Borja, from 1455 to

1458. The Spanish Pope showed his support for Judaism when he intentionally dropped a Torah scroll given him by the

Jews of Rome at his election. Another Pope, Sixtus IV, from 1471 to 1484, was instrumental in

establishing the Spanish Inquisition, and in 1475, a papal court of inquiry

justified the Trent libel, which the Pope endorsed in a bull of 1478.

Now, all of these are tremendously anti-Jewish acts; they are very dangerous. Now let me see if I can adjust this a little

bit like this, and maybe that'll help me. So now we're going back to Rodrigo Borgia, later elected as Pope

Alexander VI, in 1492, which is the era of the expulsion from Spain. And we see also

Sicily. 1492 to 1503 had a considerable influence upon late 15th-century popes

while he held the post of Vice-Chancellor of the papal Curia. Now, all of these different kinds of names and so on,

and so forth... Well, for me, like me, I don't... does it really know? The expulsion from Spain also caused changes

in Italy, particularly in the territories under Aragonese rule: Sicily, Sardinia, and Southern Italy, since Jews

were also expelled from these territories. Until the end of April 1492, no expulsion order, other than that of

Spain, had been published. Furthermore, on May 23rd, the municipality of Pozzuoli, which we noted before, declared that it was

It was forbidden to harm the Jews; however, on June 9th, Ferdinand and Isabella forbade immigration from Sicily and the transfer of money to the Ottoman Empire.

Let's see this again. He said that you couldn't leave, you couldn't immigrate from Sicily, and, for one thing for sure,

JEWS SURVIVE THE MIDDLE AGES by DR  HAIM BEINART PICTURE ATLAS ITALY 14TH TO 16TH CENTURY

Tikkun Elevator Kollel

Overview of Medieval Jewish History in Italy and the Atlas used

Introduction to the topic of Jewish people navigating the Middle Ages.

Mention of Dr. Heimart's Atlas of Medieval Jewish History and its significance.

Focus on the Jewish communities in Italy during the 15th-16th centuries.

Presentation of a map of Italy during that period, highlighting its political divisions.

Description of Sicily's status under Spanish rule in 1489, a period of anti-Semitism.

Political Geography and Jewish Communities in 15th-16th Century Italy

Discussion of the diverse political entities within Italy (Naples, Rome, Papal States, Venice, Genoa).

Highlighting the prosperous and powerful Republic of Venice in the north.

Mention of Jewish communities in port cities like Genoa.

Discussion of Corsica and Sardinia's affiliation with Genoa and Spain, respectively.

Specific Events and Interactions with Papal Authorities and Local Rulers

Authorization of the Roman Jewish community to represent their rights at the papal court in 1416.

Sending a delegation to Pope Martin V in 1418.

Jewish settlement and engagement in banking in various towns.

Pope Eugenius IV's contract with Rome's Jewish community guaranteeing rights in exchange for payment.

Expulsion of Jews from several towns (Monenegro, Martino, Sonino, Camarea, and Beamo) in 1463-1473 due to Friar Bernardino's influence.

Expulsion from Spain and its ripple effect on Italian Jewish Communities

Jewish population figures in Syracuse and Messina in 1488.

Jewish donations to the Granada War in 1489 and King Ferdinand's vow to protect them.

Edict of expulsion of Sicilian Jews in June 1492, with a postponement until January 1493.

Map illustrating the escape routes of Jews from Sicily to Naples.

Illustrations of violent attacks against conversos and depictions from Hebrew manuscripts.

The Impact of the Black Death and Changing Political Climate on Jewish Settlement

Changes in the distribution of Jews in Italy after the Black Death, including immigration from the south and expulsion from Germany.

Favorable conditions for Jewish settlement due to the changing political climate.

Role of Jewish loan bankers in the development of towns and rural centers.

Discussion of various Popes' attitudes towards Jews, ranging from protection to hostility.

Continued Persecution and Expulsions in the Late 15th and Early 16th Centuries

Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI) and the expulsion from Spain.

Expulsion from territories under Aragonese rule (Sicily, Sardinia, Southern Italy).

Events leading up to and following the expulsion order in Sicily, including restrictions on emigration and money transfer.

The number of Jews expelled from Sicily and their destinations (Papal States, Balkans, Kingdom of Naples).

Expulsion order from Naples in 1510-1511, with exceptions for those paying tribute and the fate of conversos.