Ordinances granted by King Peter II at the General Court of Barcelona in 1283 that make special reference to the treatment to be given to the Jewish community (1283, December 21)

Date: 1283

Archive: National Archive of Catalonia

Document type: Textual

Reference code: ANC1-75-T-310

Link to the online document

Description: On December 21, 1283, as part of the General Court of Barcelona, King Peter II promulgated ordinances that made explicit reference to the treatment of the Jewish community. This document is a direct testimony of the relationship between the royal power and an often stigmatized minority, but fundamental to the economic, cultural and scientific life of medieval Catalonia. The ordinations reflect both the desire for regulation and the need for protection of a community that lived between integration and marginalization. In a European context where Jewish communities were persecuted or expelled, this document shows how Catalonia articulated its own response, with tensions but also with institutional recognition. It is a window into the complexity of medieval coexistence and the way law and politics managed diversity in the construction of Europe.

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