Ariel Toaff - Blood Passover

The text of the imperial diploma granted to Jehudah messer Leon, dated 21 February 1469, and published in full by Carpi, Notes on the Life of R . Judah Messer Leon , cit., pp. 59-60.

The imperial privileges granted to the two Jewish Sicilian physicians, dated 4 August 1489, the their text, has been published by Wenninger ( Zur Promotion jüdischer Ärtzte , cit., pp. 413-424). Salomone Azeni was almost certainly identical with Salomone Siciliano, active at Padua in the last decade of the Fifteenth Century (cfr. Carpi, L'Individuo e la collettività , cit., pp. 222, 224).

E. Capsali, Seder Eliyahu Zuta , by A. Schmuelevitz, Sh. Simonsohn and M. Benayahu, Jerusalem, 1977, vol. II, p. 260. On this matter, cfr Nissim, Un "minian" di ebrei ashkenaziti a Venezia , cit., pp. 42-43. On Capsali's work, see, recently, G. Corazzol, Sulla Cronaca dei Sovrani di Venezia ("Divre' hayamim le-malke' Wenesty'ah") di Rabbi Elia Capsali da Candia , in "Studi Veneziani", XLVII (2004), pp. 313- 330.

On David Magrogonato, "judeus de Creta et mercator in Venetiis" [“Jew from Crete and merchant at Venice”], see, in particular, D. Jacoby, David Mavrogonato of Candia. Fifteenth Century Jewish Merchant, Intercessor and Spy , in "Tarbiz", XXXII (1964), pp. 388-402 (in Hebrew); Id., Un Agent juif au service de Venise . David Mavrogonato de Candie, in "Thesaurismata. Bollettino dell'Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Post-Bizantini", IX (1972), pp. 68-77, (republished in Id., Recherches sur la Méditerannée orientale du XIIe au XVe siècle , London, 1979, pp. 68-96); M. Manoussacas, Le receuil de privilèges de la famille juive Mavroganto de Crète (1464-1642), in "Byzantinische Forschungen", XII (1987), pp. 345-366; Carpi, L'Individuo e la colletività , cit., pp. 41-43.

"Et erat etatis annorum XL quatuor vel quinquaginta, cum capillis et barba nigra prolixa, more Greco, et indutus clamide nigro usque ad pedes, cum caputio nigro in capite, dicens quod aliquando induebat se veste sicut portant Greci" [“He was about 40 or 50 years old, with black hair and a long black beard, in the Greek style, and wore a black cap on his head, saying that he preferred to dress like a Greek”] , (cfr. Esposito e Quaglioni, Processi, cit., vol. I, p. 329). On the indubitable identification of the personage in question with David Mavrogonato, see D. Nissim, Il legame tra I processi di Trento contro gli ebrei e la tipografia ebraica di Piova di Sacco del 1475 , in "Annali dell'Istituto Storico Italo-Germanico in Trento", XXV (1999), pp. 669-678.

Cfr Jacoby, Un agent juif , cit., pp. 69-70; Manoussacas, Le recueil de privilèges , cit., p. 345.

"Praedictus David [...] passus fuit et publicum odium, quod ipse in tota insual tam per Christianos quam per Judeos acquisisset, cum jam digito mostraretur ab omnibus." [The aforementioned David […] became an object of public hatred, known to both Jews and Christians all over the island, who pointed him out with their fingers”]. This document, dated 29 December 1463, together with other privileges granted Mavrogonato by Venice, is located in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia (henceforth: ASV), Inquisitorato agli Ebrei , envelope 19, doc no. 3.

Late printed copies of these privileges, entitled Per David Mavrogonato contro Senseri Ordinari di Rialto e Stampa dell'Università tutta degli Ebrei di Venezia are located in the ASV, Inquisitorato agli Ebrei (envelopes 39 and 5 respectively). See also, in this regard, Manoussacas, Le recueil de privilèges , cit., p. 346.

Cfr. Jacoby, Un agent juif , cit., pp. 81-82.

" Se degni concierderli ch'el porta segno del .O. per sua salude d ch'el possa portare Arme [...]. Item li sia concesso poder cavar de Bando per puro omicidio do Persone solamente.” [“If he be deemed worthy to be granted the right to bear the insignia of the O. [O. = possibly “Uomo di bene”, gentleman or Christian] for his health and to bear arms […]; that he be granted the right to cause certain persons wanted for homicide to be stricken from the list of banned persons”]. This last clause appears in the printed document in the ASV, Inquisitorato agli Ebrei , envelope 39, while it is missing from the manuscript text of the privileges (ibidem, envelope 19, doc no. 4).

Cfr. Jacoby, Un agent juif, cit., pp. 75-77.

Cfr. Manoussacas , Le recueuil de privilèges , cit., p. 345. See also Sanudo's comments on the year 1466: "In questo mezo Vettor Capello, Capetanio Zeneral nostro, haveno hautto pr via di quel David (Mavrogonato) hebreo il salvoconducto dal Signor turcho di poter la Signoria mandarli uno ambassado [... per] veder i tratar qualche acordo" [“In this way, Vettor Capello, our Captain General, having obtained through David (Mavrogonato) a safeconduct from the Great Turk to send an ambassador […to] attempt to reach some agreement[“], (Sanudo, Le vite dei dogi , cit., vol. II, pp. 88-89.

In a letter dated 18 December 1470 and addressed to the Duke of Crete, the Doge referred to Mavrogonato’s death ("qui denique eundo in servitiis nostri admisit vitam") [“who was furthermore acting in our service at the risk of his life”], praising his loyalty to the Republic (cfr. Jacoby, Un agent juif , cit., pp. 76-77). $1.

Among the privileges granted on 2 July 1466 by the Consiglio dei Dieci to David Mavrogonato, his children and descendents, in addition to his bodyguards, Andrea Cornaro also reported that of "di non portar beretta giallo or altro segno, che portano li Hebrei nel capello, ma portion il capello negro come li Christiani, per la qual cosa d'alhora in qua detti Hebrei Mavrgonato si dicono Mauroberti (recte: Maurobereti) per sopranome, che vuol dire baretta negra" [“of not wearing a yellow cap or other sign usually worn by Jews on their hats, but to wear a black cap like the Christians, for which reason Mavrogonato was thereafter called by the last name of Mauroberti, which means black cap”] (cfr. Jacoby, Un agent juif , cit., p. 79).

"David praedictus dixit et declaravit quod socius suus, signi non portandi et arma [ferendi], est Salamon qn. Marcu, cuius auxilio et consilio usus fuit in praedictus et omnia (recte: circa) praedicta" [“the aforementioned David said and declared that Salomone, son of the late Marcuccio, was his assistant and advisor in all the aforementioned activities, being entitled to carry a weapon to go about without any insignia”] (ASV, Inquisitorato algi Ebrei, envelope 39, Per David Maurogonato contro Senseri Ordinarj di Rialto, dated 1 February 1464 [1463 more veneto ].

On 17 June 1465, David Mavrogonato announced to two representatives of the Consiglio dei Dieci "quod relinquit pro eo et agendis suis in Venetiis Salomonem de Plebisacci hebreum, quia de eo se confidet" [“that the Jew Salomone da Piove was acting on his behalf and as his agent, since he had complete confidence in him]; (the document, published in the original by Manoussacas, is cited by Jacoby, Un agent juif , cit., p. 74 and by Carpi, L’individuo e la collettività , cit., p. 42). The privileges granted by the authorities at Venice to Salomone da Piove are indirectly confirmed by in a parte , approved by the Consiglio del Comune di Padova on 22 January 1467. In this, the Paduan rulers claimed that they were applying the standards of the Statutes against Salomone ("casum querelle seu accuse contra Iudeum de Plebe") [“because of the quarrels caused by his accusations against Salomone da Piove”], notwithstanding the protection which he enjoyed in Venice (Archivio di Stato di Padova [henceforth: ASP], Consiglio del Commune, Atti, 7, c. 202v).