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Rabbinical ruling on a dispute over real estate belonging to the Jewry of Lleida between Jewish owners in Barcelona.

Date
1307
Archive
ACUB Cultural Area of ​​Benedictines
Document type
Textual
Reference code
CAT-AMSBM-MSCB-Col·lecció de pergamins-1108
Link to the archive
Description

In 1307, a rabbinical ruling written entirely in Hebrew resolved a dispute between Jewish owners in Barcelona over real estate located in the Jewry of Lleida. This document is an exceptional testimony to the cultural and legal richness of medieval Catalonia, where the Jewish communities enjoyed autonomy to manage their internal affairs according to their own legal tradition. The presence of this text in Hebrew in the Catalan archives shows the coexistence of legal systems and the plurality of languages ​​and cultures that defined the territory. In addition, it reflects the integration of the Jewish community in the urban and economic life of the country, and its connection with other Jewish centers of the Principality. It is a window into a diverse Europe, where religious minorities also contributed to the construction of society and the transmission of knowledge.