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…
The widow Pasqua was a member of the Ashkenazic community of northern Italy. She was also a moneylender in the town of Trieste. Her will leaves a major part of her considerable wealth to her daughter Richa, though also gives bequests to her two sons,…
The widow Richa was a member of the Ashkenazic community of northern Italy. Her Latin will names her second son, Mose, as her universal heir, even though her other son, David, had been named universal heir in an earlier, Hebrew, document. David…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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.…
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…
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…