History of the Jews in Ancona
The history of Jews in Ancona, Italy, dates back to the 10th century, when records show the first instance of land rented to a Jew. At some point, a synagogue was build, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1279. By the 1300s, the Jewish community was more established, and there was an influx of immigrants from Germany. Jews faced special taxes and restrictions on where they could live.
However, Pope Martin V was forced to embrace the Jewish community in his pursuit to build up Ancona as a center of commerce, due to religious prohibitions on Christians lending money that did not apply to Jews. This created a period of relative acceptance for Anconian Jews that lasted for about 100 years, before Pope Paul IV began to require Jews to convert to Christianity under penalty of death.
The Jewish community of Ancona is one of the oldest and most significant Jewish communities in Italy. In the following centuries the community grew because of the importance of the port and commercial links with the Levant. It continues to exist today, though its population is dwindling.
First settlement of Jews
Jews started living in
One famous Jewish resident of Ancona was
By 1300, an organized
While the majority of Ancona Jews came from the
After the city had fallen into the Papal state in 1429, Pope
Due to this pro-Jewish approach, Jewish fugitives from the
Persecution under Pope Paul IV
In objection to the popes which preceded him, Pope
The papal opposition to
Martyrs of 1555
These are the names of the martyrs who died due to their refusal to convert to Christianity upon Pope
- Simeon Ben Menachem (Abenmenachem)
- Yoseph Oeff (Guascon in another source)
- Samuel Guascon
- Abraham Falcon
- Isac Nahmias
- Salomon Alguadish
- Moses Paggi (de Paz)
- Salomon Pinto
- Yoseph Molco (Molcho)
- Abraham Cerilia
- David Nahas
- Abraham di Spagna
- Moses Barzilon
- David Reuben (Ruben)
- Salomon Iahia
- David Sadicairo
- Yoseph Verdai
- Yoseph Pappo
- Yacob Cohen
- Yacob Montalban (Montalvano)
- Abraham Lobo
- Yacob Mozzo
- Abraham Cohen
- anonymous woman
Ancona boycott
The hanging of the 23
1569 – 20th century
On 1569, when Pope
During the 18th century, an
20th century and later
In 1938, 1177 Jews lived in Ancona.[2] During World War II, persecutions were more individual than collective.[1] The Germans, and later on the Italian fascists, demanded tributes to allow the Jews to live. Eventually, 53 Jews from the town of Ancona were sent to Germany, 15 of whom survived and came back. In 1944, soldiers from the Jewish Brigade arrived in Ancona and helped in the recovery of the Jewish community, which consisted of about 400 by 1967 and 200 in 2004. The future of the Jewish community is unclear, as it declines with time.[7] The community obtained two Synagogues on Via Astagno.[8][2]
Notable Jewish residents
- Jewishdoctor
- Yeshivah
- Judah Messer Leon, 15th century rabbi, doctor and philosopher
- Vito Volterra, 20th century mathematician and physicist
- Jacob of Ancona, 13th century traveller to China
- Samson Morpurgo (1681-1740), 18th century rabbi, physician and liturgist
Cemeteries
Ancona has two
The Monte-Cardeto cemetery is 15000 m2 and located in Parco del Cardeto, which is a recreational area in Ancona. It is one of the biggest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. The first documentation concerning it dates from 1428.[10] The cemetery was enlarged in 1462 and in 1711. Some 1058 stones exist in the cemetery; about 700 of them are still in their original location. Around 300 of them have been cataloged. The oldest stone dates to 1552 and belongs to a Jew named Ishai Pinto.[10]References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Jewish Community of Ancona". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Ancona". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^ a b c d e f "ANCONA". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^ Leoni, Aron di Leone. 2011. La nazione ebraica spagnola e portoghese di Ferrara (1492-1559), pp. 493-494; also Kaufmann, David. 1885. Les martyrs d’Ancône. Revue des études juives, vol. 11, pp. 149-156.
- ^ "Morpurgo Family Genealogy".
- ^ "Edict of the Inquisition of Ancona Against the Jews - J-Italy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
- ^ "Once-thriving Jewish population keeps weak hold on Italian port | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". Jweekly.com. 1997-08-15. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^ "מפות Google".
- ^ "Panoramio - Photo of Campo degli Ebrei - Ancona". Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
- ^ a b "Ancona Jewish Genealogy: census of 18th and 19th centuries - Births, Matrimonies, Deaths of the Jews in Ancona". Italian-family-history.com. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
External links
- 1997 report of the Jewish community in Ancona.
- Ancona in Jewish Encyclopedia
- The Jewish Community of Ancona - The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot
- Edict of the Inquisition against the Jews of Ancona by Fra Vicenzo Salina from 1843.
- description of the Jewish Ghetto area in Ancona.
- Jewish merchants and their cross-cultural networks in the Eighteenth-century Italian ghettos - description of Ancona Jewish community.
- photographs of old Monte-Cardeto Jewish cemetery