The Jews in Genoa, Volume 1: 507-1681: Documentary History of the Jews in Italy

Illustrating the history of the Jews in Genoa and its surroundings, this volume looks at antiquity up to 1681. The earliest documentary evidence takes the form of letters from King Theodoric. For the Middle Ages the documentation is relatively fragmentary and sporadic. Later there is a greater abundance of historical evidence, which portrays chiefly the destinies of the Jews in the Republic from the 16th century on, when the presence of the Jews became permanent and a regular community was established also in the capital. The historical records presented illustrate mainly the relationship between the government of the Genoese Republic and the Jews, the latter’s economic activities and their communal and social life. Some of the descriptions of the Jewish population in Genoa, their living conditions and occupations, allow for a close examination of the social conditions of this Northern Italian community. For a while Genoa became a haven of refuge for some of the exiles from Spain, including the historian Joseph Hacohen and members of the Abarbanel family.