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

Widow of Yefet b. Sabagh: Fustat, c. 1126

This widow, whose name remains unknown, appears in at least two dispositive documents, constituting three shelf-marks. That is to say, she testated an original will, which is in one piece. A revision exists as two fragments that have been re-joined…

Tags: image, real estate, servants, transcription, widow

Usellina, daughter of Benedesti di Verona: Cividale, 1567

The widow Usellina was a member of the Ashkenazic community of northern Italy. Her will contains significant concern for her burial, including specifics on where she should be buried and instructions that a plaque that should be placed on her…

Tags: poverty, 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

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

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

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

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

Richa, widow of Maier di Salamone di Leon d'Oro: Trieste, 1478

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…

Tags: dispute, widow

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

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

Perna, widow of the late Rabbi Giuseppe ha-Rofeh di Cave: Rome, 1538

Perna testates before a Hebrew notary in Rome. Her will focuses on her lack of assets -- she claims to be destitute. She lives in the house of her nephew Gabriele, who took care of all her needs. She explains that she is testating to protect Gabriele…

Tags: family feud, poverty, 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

Pasqua, widow of Isacco: Trieste, 1474

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,…

Tags: moneylender, widow

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

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

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