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Barbary States

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

To another pupil he recommended

the study of mua remedy against moodiness. This appreciation of nature and music by a profound Talmudist of the eighteenth century is indeed rare, perhaps unique. Bibliography Auerbacb, Gcsch. ih-r IsmeUtischen Qemeinde HalherslwU, 1866, pp. 71-74; Zedner, Cat. Hebr. Bunks Bvitixli Museum, p. 7(5 I. Weiss, Scfer Abnei. Bet lia-Yuzrr, p. 40; Eleazar ha-Kohen, Kinat SofcrLm, p. 73b, note 1229. sic as





L. G.

BARCELONA Catalonia, Spain

and poets for



(nj^S13,

much

Kj6m)

praised

beauty and



by Jewish

travelers

its



Monjuich, or "Jew Mount."

Monzon (" Boletin," xxv. 489). The physician Sheshet Benveniste was employed in diplomatic affairs in 1170. The aljama (community) of Barcelona was ofconsiderable importance at this time. It paid in direct taxes 24,000 sueldos annually, Communal which was more than half that paid Customs, by the Jewish communities of Aragon and in " cenas roales " (allowancefor the king's table-expenses) it paid 500 sueldos in Besides this, the Jews were compelled, when1282. ever the king and queen came on a visit to the city, to have at the disposal of the attendants, the valets, cooks, etc. a certain number of beds. Such customs, were easily made sources of hardship and imposition, and the delegates of the communities of Aragon, assembled at Barcelona in 1354, presented a, petition for the adjustment of this tax ("Documentos Ineditos del Archivo de Aragon," vi. 292; "HeHaluz," i. 25). The Jews were also required to find

Capital of

picturesque situation was inhabited by Jews as early as the ninth century. According to tradition, the Jews dwelling there assisted the Arabs in the conquest of the city. The favorite of Charles the Bald (815-817), Judali ("Judas Hebrfeus, ridelis noster"), settled in Barcelona, his arrival being announced to the inhabitants by a letter from the king's own hand. At the time of the count Ramon Berenguer I. (1035-65), the Jews its

Barcelona

,

Supposed Site ok the Jewish Cemetery at Barcelona. (From a Photograph.)

of Barcelona were already landowners; among them are mentioned R. Makir and a certain Reuben, who had his estate at the foot of Monjuich. This mountain, which is near the sea, and which is also called " Mons Judaicus" (= Monjuich), was used as early as the middle of the tenth century (perhaps earlier) as a cemetery for the Jews ("Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia de Madrid," xii. 6 et seq.). Barcelona grew to be one of the most important

mercantile centers of Europe, and its commercial code became the foundation of modern maritime The part taken by the Jews in this expansion law. has not been fully worked out, but is shown by the succession of important Jewish financiers like Jahudano de Cavalleria and Benveniste de Porta. The Jewish community of Barcelona, "a community of princes and aristocrats, " as Al-Harizi calls it, prospered further under Don Ramon Berenguer IV. and those following him. When Don Ramon Berenguer undertook a military expedition against Provence, there were in his company his Jewish physician, Abraham, and a certain Shealtiel, perhaps a son of Samuel b. Shealtiel ha-Nasi, who died in August, 1097,

and whose gravestone was

lately

found

at

lodging for such of the king's retinue as needed it; but in 1260 they were freed from this duty (Jacobs, "Sources," No. 184). As in other cities, the Jews here dwelt in a " juderia " (ghetto). This was situated near the Cathedral and the Placa del Rey, in several long and narrow streets, now in ruins, surrounded by the Placas. Santa Anna and San Domingo. By permission of the king, certain Jewish families, expelled from Prance, settled here in 1311 while others settled in the suburbs. Those Jews who acquired wealth through enterprise and industry in trade, or who commanded respect by their learning, continued on good terms with the inhabitants of the city for a long In 1237 the Jew Benveniste time. Restrictive de Porta was bayle (mayor). This. friendly relationship ceased with the Leg;

islation.

growing influence of the priesthood.

In July, 1263, a religious disputation was held between Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides) and the convert Pablo Christiani in the king's, palace, and in the presence of the court and many The Jews were compelled to prominent priests. listen to the sermons of Dominican friars; immunity