Jewish Women’s Inheritance in 13^th Century Spain

According to data collected from registers, “Jewish women dominated the … credit market available to women” and often using their inheritances to do so (Decker 50). In 13^th century Spain, Jewish women were able to access property in several ways. While partible inheritance was not acknowledged under Jewish law, Jewish women were still able to receive an inheritance, especially if they were the only living child. Because the different religions were able to act under their own laws and the separate cultures intermingled and as a result Jews could act under their own laws as well as Christian laws. They could use this fluidity to their advantage. Some women played economic roles as money lenders both in conjunction with their husbands/sons and on their own. This essay discusses how Jewish women could access and protect their property, what they did with their property, what they may have received or been entitled to both as wives and as daughters, and how they could used legal structures to their advantage.

What Jewish wives and daughters received after their fathers or husbands passed away was dependent on things such as their siblings and their circumstances. In Jewish law there is an established specific order of heirs: “if there were sons, the estate was divided between them; … in this case daughters did not inherit, although provisions were made to provide them with dowries. If there were no sons, the daughters inherited equal portions. If there were no children at all, the inheritance passed in order to the testator’s father, brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces” (Klein, “The Widows Portion,” 149). Both Christians and Jews used inheritance and dowries to move property from generation to generation, but unlike their Christian counterparts,

“Jews resisted favoring a single heir with the bulk of the estate” (Klein, “Splitting heirs,” 49). Partible inheritance was a Christian law so Jewish citizens did not follow this practice, but both Christians and Jews had a “preference for joint inheritance” which meant that brothers would inherit property in common (Klein, “The Widows Portion,” 159). Although this practice dwindled among the Christians, “the evidence suggests that … Jews clung to the older practice for a full generation or longer” (Klein, “Splitting heirs,” 49). In addition to brothers co-owning land together there were also “cases of a brother and sister holding land together” (Klein, “The Widows Portion,” 161). This occurred when the father had previously written a will in which he had specifically requested for his son and daughter to share the property. Without this will “daughters inherit only if there are no sons” (Klein, “The Widows Portion,” 161). This shows how important wills were, especially for daughters. This shows how the inheritance of Jewish women is determined by their siblings and their situations.

In the ordered list of heirships there is no mention of a wife or widow being in line for inheritance. In fact, according to Jewish law and “the letter of halachah”, widows could not receive any inheritance from their late husbands (Klein, “Splitting heirs,” 57). Instead of an inheritance, Jewish widows were entitled to “[their] marriage portion (ketubah), supplementary gift (tosefet ketubah), and dowery (nedunya)” (Decker 48). With these assets, Jewish widows were able to support themselves and engage in economic activities such as moneylending. Unfortunately, these opportunities also brought pressures from many sides. For example, a widow’s claims to their marriage portion and their doweries gave them control and autonomy but “trend in Christian society towards giving control to the male heir provided a conflicting model” (Klein, “Splitting heirs,” 64). A late husband’s will was also important for Jewish widows as they demonstrate the independence, they both obtained and maintained through the assets they received. While widows were not able to inherit from their husbands, they still received something which helped them support themselves.

Both Jewish wives and Jewish widows had the opportunity to play roles in economic activities to support themselves and others. Most women became financially independent and active after their husbands passed away. The majority of these women were Jewish widows. This was mostly because “during marriage… a husband normally controlled his wife’s property” making it difficult to act independently (Decker 48). Christian women also had opportunities but were more limited by their system unlike the Jewish “system in which the widow … [exercised] greater control of financial resources” (Klein, “Splitting heirs,” 62). For these reasons Jewish widows were prominent in a male dominated area of practice. With their inheritance, dowries, marriage portion, and/or supplementary gifts, Jewish women were able to invest and support whoever was dependent on them. Although Jewish women were prominent in the moneylending sector available to women, most of these women “normally acted only out of necessity, … as widows without adult sons, who needed to support themselves and …other family members” (Decker 51). Although “Jewish women rarely participated in public, notarized economic transactions,” their financial activities contributed to both the family and the community (Decker 50). Even though their contributions were beneficial to many, women also had restrictions placed upon them that restricted their movements and were not applicable to the men within the community. Scholars believe that it is “plausible that women … did not often know how to write,” even if they could read (Klein, “Public Activities,” 51). This is believed because there is no evidence of a women’s written word during this time period. Along with the hypothesised inability to write, Jewish women faced the problem that “travel would have been more difficult” and they were expected to refrain from participating in the synagogue and court even though they had a place there (Klein, “Public Activities,” 60). Because of the restrictions women faced, they often depended on their husbands, sons, brothers, etc. to “support, supervise, of mediate their transactions” (Decker 52). Women could also “appoint men as procuratores to act on their behalf,” which made it easier for women to go about their business (Klein, “Public Activities,” 56). Even with their reliance on men and the constraints against them it is important to note that “none of these constraints … stopped women from playing an active role in society, from engaging in business, or from protecting their interests” (Klein, “Public Activities,” 60). This indicates how Jewish women had the freedom to explore their role in economic affairs concerning the support of themselves as well as others.

Women were able to use the law system to access and protect their property or inheritance. Sometimes women found themselves in positions where they had no choice but to go to court to protect their property. Reasons for this could be guardians shirking their duties, a confusion with a will, etc. In the spring of 1261, a Jewish widow named Cruxia appealed to the Jewish court for her young daughter where she “claimed that her daughter’s inheritance was being dissipated due to neglect by her guardians” (“A Jewish Widow” 339). Cruxia had concerns for her daughter’s wellbeing, but she also had plans to claim her ketubah. Since she knew this, Cruxia “needed to make sure that someone besides herself would be looking out for Reina’s interests” (Klein, “Public Activities,” 58). Cruxia went to court without a representative and demonstrated “a degree of sophisticated understanding about business and a confidence in her own understanding” (Klein, “Public Activities,” 59). Considering the restrictions placed on Jewish women regarding Jewish courts, synagogue, and travel, this recorded action demonstrates the lengths women went to in order to protect both their assets and their children’s assets. In another court document from 1293, a woman by the name of Lady Bonadona who wishes to sell her inherited property in order to support herself. She found it necessary to go to court because there were issues with the will that prohibited her from selling this property. In the document she states her fear that “[she would] not find a buyer since everyone knows that [her] property is mortgaged to a charitable trust because of [her] father’s will” (“A Daughter’s Inheritance” 343). In this will Bonadona’s father had stipulated that “if [Bonadona] should die without children then the …property should revert to a charitable trust” (“A Daughter’s Inheritance” 343). In the letter by Solomon ibn Abraham Adret, he writes his opinion as a respected scholar about the case. Both the court and Solomon found that the inheritance belongs to the Bonadona and “‘if he makes any conditions about it afterwards, he is making conditions about the property of the heir [over which he has no control]’” (“A Daughter’s Inheritance” 345). Both of these cases show how Jewish women were willing to go to lengths to protect and obtain their assets. It also demonstrates that not only could women overcome these constraints, but they could also succeed in their pursuit. This goes to show how the Jewish law system could be used by women in order to access and defend their property or inheritance.

Jewish women’s inheritance in 13^th century Spain is complex because it demonstrates how these women could access and protect their property, what they received as daughters and wives, and how they used the legal systems to help them succeed in these pursuits. These women often used the inheritance they had gained to participate in various economic activities, specifically money lending. Jewish women were restricted by the constraints placed on them by society but even with the reliance on men to assist with their public activities, women found ways to conduct their business and protect their assets and benefits. As historians look back into the past, they can find examples of these strong women who went to great lengths to protect both themselves and those dependent on them.

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