Details
LATIN MANUSCRIPT - ERCOLE I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (1431-1505, duke from 1471). Document protecting the Jews of Ferrara, dated 20 May 1473. MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Ferrara, 1473]
238 x 160 mm. 24 leaves, COMPLETE, 1-210 34, 3/3-4 blank, vertical catchwords on last verso of each quire, 26 lines written in brown ink in humanistic script, blind-ruled, justification: 143 x 50 mm, slit through lower inner corner of textblock for attachment of seal (seal not present). (Dampstain to upper portion of textblock, some mostly marginal worming.) Modern calf, preserving sides of early thin pasteboard wrapper.
The important Jewish community of Ferrara prospered in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries under the protection of the house of Este. A key factor in this development was the present decree, issued by Ercole d'Este in 1473. In opposition to papal policy, the duke authorized the establishment of three Jewish banks in Ferrara and protected, while regulating, the right of these bankers and their associates to do business in Ferrara and its territory. In addition, he granted Jews the right to have their own cemeteries, conduct their religious rites, and maintain and teach from their religious books. Jews were permitted to travel freely, were exempted from prosecution for usury, and were granted a number of other legal protections, including the right to be treated as citizens of Ferrara.
[Ferrara, 1473]
238 x 160 mm. 24 leaves, COMPLETE, 1-210 34, 3/3-4 blank, vertical catchwords on last verso of each quire, 26 lines written in brown ink in humanistic script, blind-ruled, justification: 143 x 50 mm, slit through lower inner corner of textblock for attachment of seal (seal not present). (Dampstain to upper portion of textblock, some mostly marginal worming.) Modern calf, preserving sides of early thin pasteboard wrapper.
The important Jewish community of Ferrara prospered in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries under the protection of the house of Este. A key factor in this development was the present decree, issued by Ercole d'Este in 1473. In opposition to papal policy, the duke authorized the establishment of three Jewish banks in Ferrara and protected, while regulating, the right of these bankers and their associates to do business in Ferrara and its territory. In addition, he granted Jews the right to have their own cemeteries, conduct their religious rites, and maintain and teach from their religious books. Jews were permitted to travel freely, were exempted from prosecution for usury, and were granted a number of other legal protections, including the right to be treated as citizens of Ferrara.