|
The history of the Jews in Ancona in Italy, began when Jews settled into the city in the first half of the 14th century, contributing to money-lending and other economic roles. The Jewish community of Ancona is one of the oldest and most significant Jewish communities in Italy. The presence of Jews is first recorded in the 10th century. In the following centuries the community grew because of the importance of the port and commercial links with the Levant. ==First settlement of Jews== Jews started living in Ancona, Italy around 967 A.C. In that year, the Archbishop of Ravenna rented a piece of land to a Jew named Eliyahu. It is possible that a synagogue existed already in the 12th century, due to a (Slicha ) written by a Jewish Paytan, referring the 1279 destruction of the town synagogue by an earthquake.〔 One famous Jewish resident of Ancona was Jacob of Ancona, a traveler who got to China in 1270, four years before Marco Polo, and reported about it in a book he supposedly wrote, called ''the city of lights''. By 1300, an organized Jewish community apparently existed in Ancona. In 1300, Jewish poet Immanuel the Roman sent a letter to Rome on behalf of the Jewish community in Ancona, asking authorities not to lighten heave taxation due to financial hardships and persecutions of the Jewish community.〔 It seems that Jews mainly worked in money lending.〔 While the majority of Ancona Jews came from the Muslim east,〔 later they were joined by some German Jews in 1348. In 1427, a religious cleric named James of the marcher unsuccessfully tried to force town Jews to wear a Jewish badge and restrict them into one street,〔 though opinions are not unanimous regarding this unsuccessful attempt, claiming Jews were forced to carry a Jewish badge and live in restricted areas.〔 In 1520, the Jews of Ancona were forced once again to wear the Jewish badge, though this rule had been cancelled four years later.〔 In around 1450, the Jewish population of Ancona numbered an estimated 500 persons, consisting of 5% of the town's total population.〔 After the city had fallen into the Papal state in 1429, pope Martin V tried to develop Ancona as an Italian center of commerce. In order to achieve that goal, the town Jews got permission to open banks and loan money by interest.〔 Due to this pro-Jewish approach, Jewish fugitives from the Spanish inquisition (started in 1492) began to settle in Ancona and changed the demographics and the ratios between the sub-groups of the town Jewish community. Most of these fugitives came from Sicily and later from Naples and Portugal.〔 In 1529, the Jewish false messiah Shlomo Molkho visited Ancona and provoked and stimulated a messianic enthusiasm among the town Jews.〔 As Ancona was declared a free port in around 1532 by Pope Paul III, the city was joined by even more Spanish and Portuguese Jews who found it to be an ideal base for commerce with the Levant.〔 In 1550, the Jewish population of Ancona numbered about 2700 individuals.〔 The pro-Jewish attitude of the Roman Popes protected and stimulated the growth of the Ancona Jewish population, until 1555 when the Vatican approach towards the Ancona Jews had changed due to the persecutions of Pope Paul IV in 1555.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Jews in Ancona」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|