Death in the Aljama of Huesca: the Jews and Royal Taxation in Fourteenth-Century Aragon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/sefarad.015.002Keywords:
History of the Jews, Taxes, Conflict in the Jewish community, 14th century, ViolenceAbstract
In 1385, Baruch Alentienz was beaten to death by fellow Jews while exercising his duties as treasurer of the Jewish community of Huesca. This article analyzes Baruch’s murder in the context of the growing fiscal pressures imposed on communities – whether Christian, Jewish, or Muslim – throughout the Mediterranean in the fourteenth century. With the third largest Jewish community of the kingdom of Aragon and being responsible for 18% of the total contributions expected by the Crown from the Jews of Aragon, Huesca provides us with an ideal case study of these larger patterns. The case of Baruch Alentienz gives us a unique opportunity to shed light on the fiscal and economic history of the kingdom of Aragon but perhaps more importantly, shows how this growing taxation led to growing conflict inside local communities.
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