Wet Nursing among Jews in Perpignan 1413: A Lens on Community and Gender Relations

In 1413 two Jewish women appeared in a Christian notary’s office to give their domestic arrangements the force of law. Petita, daughter of Samiel of Besalu, hired Adamina, widow of Samiel Alamat, as wet nurse for her grandchildren. Adamina would move into Petita’s home for four months and breastfeed Petita’s granddaughter Bonafilla. Petita’s daughter Regina also lived within her walls and was pregnant. After Regina gave birth, Adamina agreed that she would also breastfeed the new infant for fifteen days –that is, until Regina was able to nurse the baby herself. Adamina was to be paid a gold florin for each month she worked for Petita and her family and would bring her own young daughter into the household with her to be fed out of the family’s larder for the duration.

The absence of Jewish men from this transaction is striking. Petita was typical of the large number of female householders that appear in the Pinkas tax record of the same year, without explanation of the whereabouts of their husbands. Perpignan was an aljama with a strong female presence because so many men had disappeared, converting to Christianity. Given the revisionist histories of the Jews in fifteenth century Spain, such as that by Mark Meyerson for Valencia, understanding the meaning of the female character of the households Perpignan aljama and its ramifications in terms of buying power and life on the ground is crucial in reassessing a Jewish community’s strength at this difficult time.