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

Anastassia, wife of Judah Balbo: Crete, 1334

Anastassia is the wife of Judah (Iecudha) Balbo, a spicer (speciarius) in Candia. She names as her executors her husband as well as her brother Sambatheus Balbo. It seems that she married a relative. She testates while sick, and names her husband…

Tags: charity, conditions, dowry, poverty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Astruga, wife of Jucef Abraham: Puigcerdà, 1306

Among the fascinating clauses in this will is an attempt by Astruga to prevent her husband, Jucef, from remarrying -- or at least to disincentivize a second marriage. She first leaves to her mother, Fava, 600 Barcelonan sous. But then, she…

Tags: charity, conditions, synagogue, transcription, witness

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

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

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

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

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

Annella, widow of the late Yahudah, called Picciotto: Rome, 1557

The widow Annella leaves money for her three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter is already married, but the moneys are meant to fund her dowry, and are to be given to the daughter's husband. Her younger son is still a minor. Other money…

Tags: charity, confraternity, dowry, widow

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

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

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

Browse Items (23 total)