Jews on trial

Front matter

lal

Modena, isition in -BELLER

The Papal Inqu KATHERINE ARON

Contents

Figures page ix Tables = Preface xi Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1

I The Inquisition and disciplining Jews

1 Jews, Papal Inquisitors, and the Estense dukes 17 2 Procedure and reaction 51

Preface

From 1988, the final year of my undergraduate studies, I had the privilege of being a student of Brian Pullan, the distinguished scholar of Venetian social history. Brian instilled in me a love of Italian history and a fascination with the complex pattern of religious change and non-conformity in early modern Europe. His generous support and critique have accompanied all my years of study, and words cannot express my debt to him.

But a love of learning does not usually start or end in the seminar rooms of a university campus, and I must thank a number of people who have helped me along the way. My dear mother has been my closest friend, unswervingly loyal in her support and encouragement, and my late father gave me a love of learning and, as a Holocaust survivor, showed me how one’ personal history can dominate one’s life and thoughts. At school it was Ann Woodings, my history teacher, who helped me articulate a love of history, and Dennis Samuel, my uncle, spent many a Sunday afternoon discussing my S Level history essays with me.

After coming to live in Israel with a young family in 1993, my research interests eventually came to focus on the Italian Inquisition and I was able to take my studies further under the tutelage of Kenneth Stow, thanks to a doctoral grant from the University of Haifa. During this period, I became intrigued by the significant number of unknown ‘voices’ of professing Jews I uncovered in the Inquisitorial archives of Modena, and my aim became not only to get to know them but to decode their testimonies. The staff of the Archivio de Stato in Modena were most accommodating and welcoming, as were those of the many libraries and institutes where I have worked over the years. I also wish to express my deep thanks to Kenneth for his continuing support, advice and precise attention to detail, as well as to Enrico Angolini, Reuven Bonfil, Bernard Cooperman, Anna Foa, Federica Francesconi and Benjamin Ravid for their helpful suggestions and assistance at various stages of my research.

My time in the Judaica Department of the Israel Museum brought me into contact with many wonderful people who helped broaden my interests and my understanding of Jewish culture and ethnography, including Nurit Bank, Lorna Carmel, Rosemary Eshel, xii PREFACE

Susan Hazan, Chen Mellul, Joseph Shadur z’l and Nurit Shilo-Cohen. In 2007-8 I had the pleasure of serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the History and Judaic Studies departments at the George Washington University, where I was blessed with supporting colleagues including Tyler Arbinger, Daniel Schwartz, Ronald Spector, Lauren Strauss and Max Ticktin. Special thanks go to Rob Eisen, whose advice and encouragement in writing this book have been a tremendous help and from whom I have learned much. He is also a dear friend. My students on my Inquisition and Jews seminar course asked crucial questions, which helped me articulate my opinions further. They include Aviva Berman, Jamie Chassen, Eric Goodstein, Arielle Gumer, Jacqueline Stricker and Ross Sarraf. My continual teaching online at Gratz College of Jewish Studies in Philadelphia has enabled me to sit quietly during this past year to finally write my manuscript.

I owe a very special debt of gratitude to those who have read the manuscript with such thoughtful care and who have provided a host of useful suggestions for improving it, Erica Brown, Rob Eisen, Gretchen Starr Le Beau, Brian Pullan and Dennis Samuel (who also helped with Latin texts), who have read it all (and some more than once). I also thank Claudia Rosenzweig, who gave me many hours of her time to check the Italian and make some important suggestions, as well as my dear friends Nicole Broder, Deborah Felstein and Nomi Zebar for their patience and support. Their loyalty has been unconditional. I also thank Miriam Saffer, who has been a wonderful running partner for many years and inspires me to work hard after a morning run.

Words cannot express my gratitude to Jonathan Beller for his love and companionship over the years, and it is to him and my dear parents that I dedicate this book. Finally, I cannot fail to mention our children Samuel, Joshua and Naama, who bring sunshine into our lives almost every day.

Abbreviations

ACEMo Archivio della Comunità ebraica di Modena.

ASCM Archivio Storico Comunale di Modena.

ASMo Archivio di Stato di Modena.

ASMoAME Archivio per Materie Ebrei. These papers are found in the ASMo. Numbers following represent the busta number.

ASMOFI Fondo dell’Inquisizione.

ASMOFICH Fondo dell’Inquisizione, Causae Hebreorum. The busta number is cited followed by the folio number. Finally the page numbers appears in parenthesis. For example ASMoFICH 27 f.2 (2r-v).

ASMOFIP Fondo dell’Inquisizione, Processi. The busta number is then cited followed by the folio number and finally the page number in parenthesis. For example ASMOP 45 f.6 (1r_v).

CAHJP Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (located at the Hebrew

University, Jerusalem).

Key to canon law references

Taken from Emil. A. Friedberg (ed.), Corpus Iuris Canonici, 2 vols (Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1959).

Decretals of Gregory IX (Liber Extra) will be cited as X. followed by the book, then the title and then the canon: for example, X.1,1,1.

Correggio

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Plate 2 Diagram showing the walls of the ghetto and San Domenico (the Holy Office building) superimposed on a modern map of Modena