Inheritance and wealth among jewish women in the ghettos of north-central Italy (17th-18th centuries)
Résumé
This article examines the main issues surrounding wealth and inheritance among Jewish women in the early modern ghettos of north-central Italy. Constrained to live in ghettos since the mid-16th century, subjected to fiscal pressure coupled with increased pauperization and concerned with ensuring the good Government of ghettos, the Jewish communities elaborated internal regulations (capitoli) that reserved a central role to fiscal and patrimonial questions. While the importance of dotal assets has already been widely stressed by historiography, my aim here is to pursue the question of inheritance and the contribution of female wealth in a decidedly comparative approach and within the broader perspective of the economic, social and institutional history of the Jewish societies in Italy.