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

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

Stella, widow of Farachio De Bulfarachio: Caltabellotta, 1491

STELLA widow of Farachio de Bulfarachio.pdf

Stella is the widow of Farachio De Bulfarachio, also known as Nissim ben Shabbetai Abu-l Faraj, a Arab-Spanish rabbi.

In her will, the widow Stella names her son Jeremiah as her universal heir. She leaves to her daughter Channa, wife David de…

Tags: clothing, Flavius Mithridates, material culture, mourning cloth, transcription, widow

Lachayna, widow of Sabet Cuyno: Trapani, 1464

Lachayna came from a wealthy family with business interests across the Mediterranean.

As was common in Sicilian wills in this period, Lachayna first declares that she wants to be buried in the Jewish cemetery of her city. She also left a measure…

Tags: burial, clothing, manumission, material culture, oil, redemption, slave, synagogue, widow

Estelina, widow of Isaac de Piera: Girona, 1470

TRANSLATION INTO SPANISH of Estelina GIRONA.pdf

Estelina, a Jewish widow, testates in 1470, before a Catalan notary, who records the will in Latin. She identifies herself as twice a widow, first the widow of Salomon Salon from Perpignan, and then Isaac de Piera of Girona. She has two children: a…

Tags: burial, conversa, Spanish translation, translation, war, widow

Blanca, widow of Bernat Falcó: Girona, 1437

TRANSCRIPTION from PLANAS MARCE blanca widow of bernat ferrer girona.pdf

Blanca was a conversa who had perhaps been baptized in the aftermath of the Disputation of Tortosa (1413-1414). She and her husband had been married as Jews, and then converted, as evinced in the husband's will. (See Planas Marcé, 656 for more on…

Tags: burial, conversa, transcription, widow

Allegrezze, widow of David di Marini: Rome, 1612

Allegrezze dictated her will to Simone de Castelnuovo, a Jewish rabbi/notary, who recorded the will in Italian.

PARTIAL TRANSCRIPTION:

... per provedere ale cose e ocasione come conviene fare ali personi da bene e tementi de Dio et spressio…

Tags: widow

Palomba, widow of Servedio da Viterbo: Rome, 1607

This is not the original will of Palomba. Instead, Palomba here has the Jewish rabbi/notary Pompeo del Borgo annul a specific request in her previously written will. The original will left 25 scudi, the value of the cazacà of her room, to charity ("a…

Tags: codicil, 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

Palomba, widow of the late Samuele di Monte Pascolo(?): Rome, 1560

Palomba, testating while in the house of another widow, leaves her meager possessions to the confraternity known as the Compagnia di Ghemilut Hasadim, which, among other activities, cared for the ill, as it seems to have cared for Palomba. (See also…

Tags: bed, clothing, confraternity, material culture, widow, witness

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

Simcha, widow of the late Giacobbe Siciliano: Rome, 1557

This will of a lonely Jewish widow was recorded by a Jewish notary in Hebrew, either by Leone (father) or Isach (son) Piattelli.TRANSCRIPTION:In the Scola Siciliana, in the women’s gallery, Simcha, widow q.m Giacobbe Siciliano, on her deathbed, gives…

Tags: material culture, shroud, synagogue, 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

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

Tolosana, widow of Benvenist de la Caballeria: Zaragoza, 1418

Tolosana was a member of the de la Caballeria family, a wealthy and prestigious Zaragozan family, and married a relative named Benvenist, who was a financier to two Aragonese kings. Together they had seven children (two boys, five girls). Five of…

Tags: clothing, conditions, convert children, love, material culture, servants, transcription, widow

Jamila, widow of Jento Arrueti: Zaragoza, 1415

Jamila had married the cobbler Jento Arrueti, and together they had two daughters. One, Orosol, remained Jewish. One, Violante, abandoned her husband and was baptized Christian. Her three children (Jamila's grandchildren) did not become Christian.…

Tags: conditions, confraternity, convert children, material culture, transcription, widow, Yom Kippur

Jamila, widow of Mosse Salerno: Zaragoza, 1401

Jamila and her late husband had four sons. Three of them remained Jewish (Juce, Acach, and Azmel), while one (Solomon-cum-Salvador) chose baptism and became Christian. In her will, Jamila left all four sons the amount stipulated for all legitimate…

Tags: convert children, transcription, widow, witness

Reyna, widow of Juce Abenardut: Zaragoza, 1470

Reyna was married to the physician Juce Abenardut, and had three daughters with him. The Abenardut family was a famous medical family in Aragon. Juce had predeceased Reyna, and had named her his universal heir in his (undated) will. In her own will,…

Tags: material culture, widow

Duenya, daughter of Jeuda Falaquera, widow of Abraham Alfaç: Zaragoza, 1467

Duenya came from a well-known Navarrese Jewish family. She and her husband had three sons, and lived in Pamplona. She lived there until, widowed, she moved to Zaragoza to live with one of her sons. Two of the three sons converted to Christianity, but…

Tags: convert children, material culture, widow

Isabel Lopez, widow of Enrique Mendez: Pontevedra, 1608

Isabel López was a native of Padrendo on the border between Galicia and Portugal. Around 1585, she married Enrique Méndez, a university graduate and lawyer who was a native of Monção, Kingdom of Portugal. Both were New Christians and both were…

Tags: conversa, image, New Christian, widow

Martha Dinis, widow of Enrique Pereira: Pontevedra, 1603.

In 1582, in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, Martha Dinis married the licenciado and merchant Enrique Pereira. She was the daughter of the licenciado Paulo Núñez de Vitoria and his wife Isabel Thomas. All of these people were new Christians, natives of…

Tags: conversa, image, New Christian, transcription, widow

Browse Items (30 total)