La movilidad de los judíos a ambos lados de la frontera entre las coronas de Castilla y Aragón durante el siglo XIV

Abstract

Although in theory Jews were considered a simple element of the royal patrimony in the medieval Spanish kingdoms, and consequently they did not enjoy complete freedom of movement, in fact they changed their residence and left one kingdom in order to establish themselves in another one with ease. On the other hand, the kings themselves tried to favour these changes of residence through grants of privileges when they wanted to attract them to their kingdom. In order to advance in the study of this phenomenom, the author analyses in this article the changes of residence between the territories of Aragon and Castile undertaken by the Jews and their consequences. It is shown that the frontier between these kingdoms did not represent an obstacle for many Jews that practised trade and moneylending in the territories beyond it. Finally the author draws attention to some of the consequences that the wars between both monarchies during the fourteenth century had over the conditions of life of the Jews.