Los judíos en Tierra de Campos durante el siglo XV

Resumen

The present research is a documentary study of the Castilian Jews established in the communities (“aljamas”) of Mayorga and Villalón in the western part of the Tierra de Campos region, in addition to those who lived in the town of Benavente throughout the fifteenth century. All these three towns, and the Jews established in, were under the same seigniorial jurisdiction, that of the Pimentel family, the counts of Benavente, for most of the fifteenth century. The basis of this study is the documentary evidence preserved in the municipal archives of the towns of Benavente, Mayorga, and Villalón, characterized by a specific diplomatic typology. In addition, the author of this dissertation has resorted to documents from other Castilian archives, namely, the Archivo General de Simancas, the Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid, and the Archivo Histórico Nacional (both in Madrid and in Toledo). Wherever possible, the author has accomplished a parallel reading of some of the (variegated) Hebrew sources available that document the same historical realities. The study analyzes different aspects of the social and economic life of these Jews, wherever documentary sources have provided information, namely: settlement nuclei and urban evolution of the Jewish quarters; Jewish demographic assessment; economic activities; society, familial networks, and onomastics of the Jews; relations of the Jews with the different instances of political power (at a local level), including local councils, nobility, and royal power. Last, but not least, the study has dealt with the intellectual activities of the Jews living in the territory as illuminated through Hebrew manuscript sources, including their relevant medical activity. As an epilogue, the dissertation has raised, at least in a preliminary way, the different options confronted by the Jews after the expulsion order from the Crown of Castile in 1492 was issued, including exodus and conversion, either immediate or after returning from temporary exile, either in the kingdom of Portugal or in Morocco. Castilian documentary sources allow us to know in some detail the productive and distribution structures in relation to Jewish handicraft. Jewish artisans contributed to the economic development experienced by these towns in the second half of the fifteenth century. Moreover, they participated in taxfarming of royal fees (more specifically in the farming of “alcabala” (sales tax), and this is well documented in the towns of Benavente and Mayorga during the first half of the century. It is precisely in this farming that don Yuçaf Aben Yanto, a Jewish financier plays a key role as one of the tax-manager of the Benavente county. Also important is the role of the Jews in credit supply for late-medieval rural economies. It has been studied here through the analysis of original credit charters that have been exceptionally preserved after having being recycled for a different purpose, and including a diverse typology of credits such as: credit sales, pledges, production loans, among other...