Medieval Sourcebook:
Barcelona Jewish Court Documents:
A Jewish Widow and her Daughter, 1261-1262
In March of 1261, a Jewish woman named Cruxia (pronounced Crusha), widow of
an important scholar, Shmuel (Samuel) haSardi, appealed to the Jewish court in
Barcelona on behalf of her daughter. She claimed that her daughter's inheritance was being
dissipated due to neglect by her guardians. Cruxia was concerned that since her brother,
one of the guardians, had married and moved to Tortosa three years previously, the other
two guardians were not fulfilling their duties. In response to her appeal, the court wrote
up the following document:
"We, the undersigned court [testify] that it so happened that
the Lady Cruxia, widow of R. Shmuel b. R. Yitzhak HaSardi, appeared before us and said,
"It has been some time since the death of my lord and husband, R. Shmuel . . . who
left a minor daughter, named Reina; after her father, my husband, died, the court
appointed three guardians to supervise the legacy which my husband left my orphaned
daughter, and they are my brother Don Bonsenyor of Gerona, R. Yehuda b. R. Shmuel, and Don
Zark Malet. As of now, it has been nearly three years since my brother Don Bonsenyor went
to Tortosa, having married a woman there, and the two other guardians, R. Yehuda and Don
Zark Malet, who remain in the city do not wish to exert themselves and to make an effort
in the affairs of my orphaned daughter, because the third guardian is not with them. I
fear that the property may go to the royal treasury for several reasons: first that the
interest is consuming it on account of the debts which she [Reina] owes; also that the
officials appointed for tax-collection are pressuring and pressing me and requesting the
taxes owed on the estate of her father; also my orphaned daughter needs food and there is
no one who is making an effort to provide for her from her property and to pay her taxes
and her debts. Now, please summon the two guardians, R. Yehuda and Don Zark Malet and
persuade them to fulfill their role as guardians, and to make an effort in the affairs of
my orphaned daughter."
And we the court saw that her words had merit, and deserved
attention and we investigated the matter of whether Don Bonsenyor and R. Yehuda and Don
Zark Malet had been appointed [to deal with] the property of the orphan, and the matter
remained unclear. Since the property of the orphan was being wasted because there was no
one to take care of it, and we saw that R. Yehuda b. R. Shmuel and Don Zark Malet were
trustworthy, affluent and fit to appoint as guardians for the orphan, we made them agents
of the court and appointed them and Don Bonsenyor guardians for the property of the
orphan, with the stipulation that whenever all three of them should be in this city, they
shall do whatever needs to be done in the affairs of the orphan by agreement of the three
of them, and whenever Don Bonsenyor is not in this city, we have given full power and
authority to R. Yehuda and Don Zark Malet to do business, the two of them alone, with the
property of the orphan . . .
(The rest of the document specifies the powers of the guardians, and concludes with
standard formulas. It is dated Nisan, 5061)
Fifteen months later, in Elul 5062, Cruxia was back in court. This time, she wanted
to collect her ketubbah (marriage settlement), which was still owed her by her daughter.
The court wrote:
We the undersigned court were obliged [to act] in the matter of the
honored lady Cruxia, the widow of R. Shmuel b. R. Yitzhak HaSardi, who delayed the prayers
in the synagogue for many days to have her ketubbah and the gift which her husband . . .
made to her collected for her; the [Jewish] officials in charge of justice in this city
ordered us, the undersigned court, to take care of her needs . . . to collect her ketubbah
and her gift from the estate of her husband.
The court proceeded to verify all aspects of her claim. They first examined her
ketubbah and the deed of gift from her husband, recording the amounts of money involved,
the dates and the witnesses to the two documents and validating the signatures of the
witnesses. The sum owed her came to 400 gold coins. The court then summoned Reina's
guardians to ask if there was any evidence that she might have been paid already. When the
guardians confirmed that there was no such evidence, the court required Cruxia to swear
that she had not received any part of the money which she was claiming. Finally, they
examined Reina's property to determine what would be best to sell in order to pay Cruxia.
They recorded that only one pair of buyers was found; the rest of the document is a bill
of sale selling the designated land to the two buyers, Moshe de Tolosa and Avraham
Ascandrani, who were also buying some land from Cruxia herself.
Another document dated the same month describes the actual transfer of both plots of
land, the one sold by the guardians and the one sold by Cruxia herself.
We the undersigned witnesses [testify that] we were present together
when R. Moshe and R. Avraham took possession of that land . . . which was R. Shmuel
HaSardi's . . . and the guardians of the orphan Reina, daughter of R. Shmuel HaSardi and
Don Perfet Bonafos [acting] for Cruxia. . . were present, and in our presence the
guardians and Don Perfet for Cruxia said to them, "go and take possession and buy
that land" . . . . and R. Moshe and R. Avraham asked us to write this memorial of
testimony to be a proof for them that they took possession with the authorization of the
aforementioned guardians and with their [referent unclear] authorization and with the
authorization of the lady Cruxia by the agency of Don Perfet . . . .
Source.
These documents are found in the Arxiu Capitular de Barcelona, and were published in
facsimile by J.M. Millas i Vallicrosa, Documents hebraics dels jueus catalans (Barcelona,
1921), nos 16, 18, 21.
Translated by Elka Klein elka@yossi.com
© Elka Klein, 1998. The text may be used for non-commercial educational
purposes, including use course packets. Further publication in other forms
(including by university presses) requires permission. Do not reproduce this text on other
websites.
This text is part of the Internet
Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use.
Paul Halsall, November 1998
halsall@fordham.edu
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]
|
