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Braganca
Bragança is a medieval hilltop town in northern Portugal, 22 kilometres from Spain. Although there seems to be no record of a Jewish presence in Bragança in the 12th century, the royal privileges ...
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Haguenau
Haguenau is one of the oldest Jewish communities in Alsace. The Jews lived there almost without interruption since the Middle Ages, probably in the 12th century, and enjoyed the same freedoms as ...
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Manduria
Historians believe – although the exact dates are still lacking – that there was a Jewish quarter in the small town of Manduria between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is ...
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Lecce
Lecce had one of the most prominent Jewish settlements in the Neapolitan kingdom before the expulsion of the Jews. Though there is no evidence of a Jewish presence prior to the 15th century, ...
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Syracuse
There is proof of a Jewish community in the Middle Ages in Sicily, particularly in the towns of Palermo, Messina, Taormina and Syracuse. This prosperous community was mainly in activities of ...
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Southern Italy
The communities of the southern peninsula were the wealthiest and best integrated in all of Italy during the Middle Ages. This was particularly true of Sicily, where more than 37,000 Jews lived, ...
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Pesaro
Documents attest to a Jewish presence in Pesaro dating back to 1214. The expulsion of the Jews from the papal states in 1569 led numerous Jewish families to Pesaro, which became the most ...
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The Marches
The presence of Jews in the Marches dates from as early as the twelfth century. The community developed especially after the expulsion of Jews from Spain, Sicily, and the Kingdom of Naples. There ...
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Pisa
The Jewish presence in Pisa probably dates back to the 12th century, but could be older. Benjamin of Tudela described the city as follows: “All the inhabitants are courageous; no king or ...
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Castelo de Vide
The Jews who lived within the walls of the little hilltop town of Castelo de Vide were engaged in the traditional activities of commerce, crafts, and sometimes medicine. The population grew after ...
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Trujillo
The community of Trujillo is first mentioned in 1290. Just before the expulsion, it had 150 members. All of them went to Portugal. Not long ago, construction in the back of a pharmacy brought to ...
Location
Bayonne
On the day of tishah b’ab commemoration of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the old synagogue resounds to these words in Spanish: “Hemos perdido Sion pero tambien hemos ...
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Rouen
In medieval times, there was an intense intellectual life around the synagogue’s Talmudic school in what was called “Le Clos aux Juifs” (the Jews’ Enclosure). Contrary to ...
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Paris
In 1182, King Philippe Auguste decided to expel the Jews from the capital. Synagogues were converted into churches and buildings owned by Jews were sold, with the proceeds going to the Crown. The ...