Browse Items · Jewish Women's Wills : A Collaborative Premodern Collection

Wuhsha the Broker: Fustat, c. 1100

Wuhsha's Will from Goitein, A Jewish Business Woman 229-232.pdf

This is the will of the famed Jewish businesswoman known as "Wuhsha the Broker" (Wuhsha al-Dallala), whose given name was Karima. Although it is not dated, the informal document was written in the hand of the cantor and court clerk Hillel ben Eli,…

Tags: burial, business, charity, funeral, image, material culture, orphans, synagogue, transcription, translation

Vidale, wife of Moses son of Galipapa: Huesca, c. 1300 CE

The will of Vidale is known from a responsa of the famed Sevillian rabbi Yom Tom Asevili, the Ritva. She names two executors, her husband Moses son of Galipapa, and her brother, Solomon ibn Albnad. Among the charges given to her executors is to…

Tags: charity, dowry, marriage, married, orphans, Ritva, transcription, translation

Unknown: Egypt, c. 1100

This Geniza document is missing both the beginning and end of the will, and thus the testator's name is unknown, as is the exact date. It is written in Judeo-Arabic by the well-known court clerk and scribe Halfon ben Menashe, who was active between…

Tags: charity, image, real estate, transcription

Suna, widow of Charon Cuyno: Trapani, 1434

Among her bequests, Suna left money to community leaders, and loaves of baked bread to the confraternity of the Jews for the sake of her soul.

Tags: charity, confraternity, food, synagogue, transcription

Sitt al-Ahl, daughter of Tzadoq b. Mevorakh Rosh ha-Qehillot: Cairo, 1137

Sitt al-Ahl, a married woman, testates while pregnant. The will is recorded by Halfon b. Menashe, a well-known court clerk/scribe, in Judeo-Arabic.DETAILED DESCRIPTION FROM PRINCETON GENIZA PROJECT:Will of a pregnant woman. In the hand of Ḥalfon b.…

Tags: charity, pregnancy

Senna, daughter of the late Abramo, widow of Elia: Florence, 1440

Senna's will exists in two copies from the same notary, and is the oldest known surviving Jewish woman's will from fifteenth-century Florence.

Senna, a widow, belonged to a family identified as "da Perugia." At the time of her testating, she…

Tags: charity, church, walls, widow

Sarella, widow of Giuseppe Tedeschi: Rome, 1551

The widow Sarella, who Kenneth Stow considers to be reasonably well off, testates while in the house of her daughter Consola's father-in-law. The will is taken by the Jewish notary Yahudah (Leone) Piattelli in Hebrew. This is pre-Ghetto text.…

Tags: charity, confraternity, synagogue

Sara, widow of Davi of Cabestany: Perpignan, 1286

Sara married Davi of Cabestany, a major moneylender of Perpignan, and together seem to have had three sons: Mosee, Bonsenyor, and Profet. Davi predeceased her.

In her will, she leaves nothing to her sons, since ostensibly they had already been…

Tags: charity, conditions, dowry, transcription, widow

Reina, widow of Bonjua Cap: Valls, 1338

The widow Reina distributed 2,720 sous in her will. She gave 500 sous to marry off poor Jewish girls, and orders money to be invested to finance a Torah for the synagogue. She leaves money to family and friends, most notably 1000 sous to a female…

Tags: charity, synagogue, Torah, widow, witness

Regina, widow of Bondia Coras (or Cresques?): Puigcerdá, 1306

TRANSCRIPTION:Regina uxor Bondia Coras Iudei condam, licet sim infirma etc., meum facio et condo testamentum de bonis meis, ordinando etc. [deleted: in quo constituo]. In primis iubeo corpus meum sepeliri.Et iubeo dari Iuceff Choen C solidos, quos ei…

Tags: bed, charity, synagogue, transcription, translation, witness

Perna, widow of the late Beniamino Cohen: Rome, 1577

Perna, identified as elderly ("zeqena"), bequeaths her dowry funds mostly to relatives. She leaves 3 scudi to one David di Hannania di Sabatello, for him to say the mourner's prayer (kaddish) for her, noting quite cheekily that he should only receive…

Tags: charity, confraternity, dowry, kaddish, widow, witness

Mahara, daughter of Avraham ha-Kohen: Alexandria, 1143

The original will of Mahara was made in January 1143. A decade later, in November 1153, Mahara's nephew requested a copy, and that is the version that exists here. The document is written in Judeo-Arabic. DESCRIPTION FROM THE PRINCETON GENIZA…

Tags: burial, charity, copy, court, image, transcription

Khulla, daughter of Shabbat: Egypt, c. 1135

This will is a copy of the original, and is recorded as part of a court register. The scribe is the well-known court clerk Halfon ben Menashe. (Note: The document at times refers to the testator as Khulla, and at times Kullat.)DETAILED DESCRIPTION…

Tags: charity, copy, house, image, slave

Gentile, daughter of the late Abramo da Cortona: Ferrara, 1551

Among Gentile's bequests was 70 scudi for the dowries of local poor Jewish girls, and 50 scudi for the Jewish burial society.

Tags: charity, dowry

Gentil, wife of Jacob ben Abraham Cohen: Puigcerdà, 1306

TRANSCRIPTION: XI kalendas DecembrisGentill uxor Iacob Abrahe Choen Iudei, licet etc., meum facio et condo testamentum de bonis meis, ordinando etc. In quo testamento constituo manumissorem meum et executorem huius mee ultime voluntatis dictum…

Tags: charity, transcription, witness

Fermosa, the widow of Juce Axevili: Zaragoza, 1418

Living life in Zaragoza, Fermosa and her husband had two children, a daughter named Astruga who predeceased her, and a son named Acach who converted to Christianity and became known as Juan de Embun. Astruga left a daughter, Merian. Merian would be…

Tags: charity, conditions, convert children, transcription, widow

Dolce, wife of Jacob di Consiglio da Toscanella: Siena, 1462

Dolce made her will in her home in Siena, which also functioned as the bank run by her current (second) husband, Jacob di Consiglio da Toscanella. Her husband was present at the testation, and gave his permission for her to make the will.

Dolce…

Tags: burial, charity, conditions, husband's consent

Cheranna, widow of Curtesus: Crete, 1348

Cheranna testates during an illness. She names her sister Chrusafa and Chrusafa's husband Samargia as her executors.

Cheranna attests that her late mother, Helea, had placed in Cheranna's hands 50 hyperpera that was intended for Chrusafa, but…

Tags: charity

Cherana, wife of David da La Chania: Crete, 1373

Cherana testates while she is pregnant -- and actually, seems to be in the midst of an increasingly dangerous labor. She names her brother Joseph Missini as her executor. Missini is a Jewish community leader known from both Crete's Hebrew sources and…

Tags: charity, orphans, pregnancy, Torah, translation

Baladre, widow of Yaakov ben Haninai: Girona, 1325

This will is part of the so-called "Girona Geniza," which is a collection of Hebrew documents which were preserved because they were reused as book bindings. Baladre's will was part of the binding of a notarial register belonging to the notary…

Tags: bed, burial, charity, clothing, debt, Girona Genizah, image, material culture, orphans, servants, transcription, translation, tutor

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