קונגרס העולמי ה-18 למדעי היהדות

The Practice of Justice in the Jewish Aljamas of Castile (Fifteenth Century)

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On the occasion of a stay in 1432 of the itinerant royal court to Valladolid, Jewish representatives of Castile met in the city in order to configure communitarian institutions after the dramatic events that had affected the Jewish aljamas in the preceding decades. One of the issues debated was related to justice, in which it was decided to grant autonomy to Jewish courts of justice to judge civil and criminal causes. Despite the fact that some of the postulates contained in the Valladolid general takkanot were only an attempt to increase the power of Castilian Jewish institutions (though never carried out), documentary evidence reveal the preference forJewish courts of justice in familial and inheritance matters.

Civil lawsuits litigated between Jews and concluded at the Royal Court of Justice contain information on previous judicial instances judged by the Jewish local judges and the Jewish royal court judge. In addition, extrajudicial actions, such as arbitrations, were also part of the proceedings, something that provided procedures with a great complexity. Some of these documentary records were originally written in Hebrew and in vernacular (in Hebrew writing), and therefore, they are an important historical source due to the scarcity of Jewish judicial documents in the Castilian context.

The aim of this paper is to examine and analyse evidences taken from judicial records concerning Jewish local authorities (judges, rabbis, scribes), and other figures involved in litigations. The analysis will contribute to a better understanding of the internal judicial proceedings carried out by the Jewish courts of justice throughout the second half of the fifteenth century, the relationships established between the different Jewish community instances, and the socio-economic status of the individuals that led these procedures, in general belonging to the local elite.