A Stake in the Ground: Jews and Property Investment in the Medieval Crown of Aragon

302 Pages·2019·1.623 MB·English

by  Michael Schraer

A Stake in the Ground
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The Medieval and
Early Modern Iberian World
Edited by
Larry J. Simon (Western Michigan University)
Gerard Wiegers (University of Amsterdam)
Arie Schippers (University of Amsterdam)
Isidro J. Rivera (University of Kansas)
Mercedes García-Arenal (cchs/csic)
Montserrat Piera (Temple University)
volume 69
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/memi
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A Stake in the Ground
Jews and Property Investment in the Medieval
Crown of Aragon
By
Michael Schraer
leiden | boston
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Cover illustration: The Plague of Hailstones, Golden Haggadah, Catalonia, 14th century. © The British
Library Board, Add. 27210 f. 13.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schraer, Michael, author.
Title: A stake in the ground : Jews and property investment in the medieval
crown of Aragon / by Michael Schraer.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2019] | Series: The medieval and early
modern Iberian world, ISSN 1569-1934 ; volume 69 | Substantial revision
and expanded version of author’s thesis (doctoral)--University of
Cambridge, 2016, titled Real estate and the Jews of the crown of Aragon,
1150-1400. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019001445 (print) | LCCN 2019005118 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004392380 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004392373 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN
9789004392380 (ebk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Jews--Spain--Aragon--History. | Jewish
property--Spain--Aragon--History. | Real estate
business--Spain--Aragon--History.
Classification: LCC DS135.S75 (ebook) | LCC DS135.S75 A777 2019 (print) | DDC
333.3089/92404655--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019001445
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: ‘Brill.’ See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN: 1569-1934
ISBN: 978-90-04-39237-3 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-90-04-39238-0 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
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that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite
910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
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Contents
Acknowledgements  vii
List of Figures and Tables  viii
Abbreviations  x
Orthography  xi
Currencies, Land Areas and Weights and Measures  xii
Glossary  xiv
1 Introduction  1
Part 1
Jews as Property Investors: The Evidence
2 Property Rights  29
3 Jews in the Market for Land  58
4 Lords of the Land?
Jews as Rentiers and Cultivators  98
5 Dowries, Wills and Gifts
Property and the Transfer of Wealth  120
6 The Link between Credit and Land  149
Part 2
Property and the Jewish Economy
7 The Economic Case for Property
Asset Choices, Risk and Return  169
8 Credit and Property in the Wealth of the Jews  198
9 Postscript  236
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vi contents
Appendix 1: Currencies and Equivalences  243
Appendix 2: Land Areas, Weights and Measures in the Archival
Sources  246
Bibliography  251
Index  270
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Acknowledgements
The author owes an immense debt of gratitude to the many who have assist-
ed and advised in the research and writing of this book. First and foremost,
Professor David Abulafia, my PhD supervisor, guided me with a wonderful
combination of scholarly advice, critical analysis, kindness and friendship. Dr.
John Edwards and Dr. Alexandra Sapoznik, my PhD examiners, offered many
critical comments, invaluable guidance and numerous textual improvements.
I am also greatly indebted to Professor Thomas Barton for his time, care and
enormous expertise and knowledge in providing numerous comments which
have immeasurably improved the final product. Dr. Christopher Briggs has
also provided many comments and much support for this book and related
publications. Rabbi Chaim Weiner gave me invaluable assistance in interpret-
ing rabbinic responsa. I am also grateful for their advice to Professor Asunción
Blasco Martínez and Dr. Anna Rich Abad and to the many staff members at the
archives in Barcelona, Girona and Zaragoza, who have been unfailingly courte-
ous and helpful. Above all, I am eternally indebted to my wonderful wife, Sue,
and daughters, Hannah, Rachel and Naomi who have both inspired me and
tolerated the many hours of research into a subject distant in both geography
and chronology. It goes without saying that all errors and omissions remain
entirely my own.
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Figures and Tables
Figures
1 Expansion in the territories of the crown of Aragon within the Iberian
Peninsula  13
2 Balance of acquisitions and disposals  81
3 Rents in Aragon, 1328–1400  84
4 Patterns in the trading of rents  104
5 Prices of all transactions (excluding those over 5,000s.)  185
6 Price per vineyard  186
7 Price per vineyard – Barcelona  186
8 Price per vineyard – Zaragoza  187
9 Prices of agricultural land  187
10 Prices of houses, building land and other buildings  188
11 Family tree of the De la Cavallerias and Bienvenists  220
Tables
1 Currencies of account by approximate value in number of Barcelonese sous per
currency unit  xii
2 Measures of land area  xiii
3 Real estate transactions by location and type  71
4 Real estate transactions by principal property type over time  72
5 Real estate transactions by principal property type by location  73
6 Distribution of plot sizes in hectares  77
7 Purchases by location and land type  89
8 Sales to Christians by location and land type  91
9 Prices of all property by location, transaction and property type  93
10 Prices of houses and other buildings transacted  94
11 Rents and yields by land type  107
12 Yields on trading of rents  108
13 Rent types over time  116
14 Terms of kĕtûbôt  125
15 Breakdown of sales deeds  151
16 Loan security: Zaragoza 1383–1400  158
17 Lending patterns  172
18 Yields derived from sale of censals and rents extant in the asmm  178
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