Presenza ebraica a Bitonto nel XV secolo: notizie dai protocolli del notaio Angelo Benedetto di Bitritto (1458-1486)

Abstract

The existence of a Jewish settlement in Bitonto dates to the last twenty years of the 13^th century. During the second half of the 15^th century, Jews there had their period of greatest splendour as in the whole Italian Mezzogiorno. Registers of notary deeds are an helpful source to retrace the history of the Jewish community. In past decades, some scholars (Carabellese at the beginning of the 20^th century, Colafemmina and Maiorano more recently) published deeds or their summaries concerning some notaries operating in Bitonto.
In this paper, more information is provided on Jews in the Aragonese age using the registers of the notary Angelo Benedetto di Bitritto, most of which are still unpublished (Colafemmina has only published about 10 deeds). There are 256 deeds affecting Jews living in Bitonto from 1458 to 1486, even if they do not cover continuously the whole span; the information from these deeds has been completed with other published sources. The deeds regard especially business, so the main subject  of this contribution is the analysis of the Jews’ local economic activities. They were often involved in trade (in clothes, olive oil, cattle, spice and soap), but also in moneylending. Some were craftsmen; others employed their financial resources in real estate, buying and selling houses. The study focuses on two influential Jewish dynasties, the Russellus and the Mayr, whose members had important roles in the political and administrative life of the local Giudecca. The paper also proposes a reconstruction of kinship connections in lineage and describes events regarding the members of their families.