Abstract
Marriage and inheritance practices that ensured continuity of lineage, the allocation of resources and the establishment or modification of roles and hierarchies within the institution of the family have, in many societies and historical contexts, played a crucial role in how social groups have defended their identity.1 For the Jewish minority, the material and symbolic value of marriage strategies, linked to a particular pattern of inheritance strategies, was very important. Marriage, and the transmission of ownership, reproduced the social order and the natural sequence of generations, defending the biological, social and religious continuity of the group.
This study forms part of a wider research project that was the subject of a recently completed doctoral thesis in the Department of History and Civilisation at the European University Institute, Fiesole.
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Notes
For this concept, see Jack Goody (ed.), Family and Inheritance: Rural Society in Western Europe, 1200–1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).
From 1778 to 1861 Jews in Florence were free to live outside the ghetto, to attend public education up to university level, to own land and property and to form business relationships with gentiles. They could not, however, work in public administration or the legal profession. After unification, in 1861, they obtained full equality of civil and political rights. See Attilio Milano, Storia degli ebrei in Italia (Turin: Einaudi, 1992); Vittore Colorni, Gli ebrei nel sistema di diritto comune (Milan: Giuffre, 1956).
Raffaele Romanelli, ‘Urban patricians and “bourgeois” society: a study of wealthy elites in Florence, 1862–1904’, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 1 (1995), p. 17.
The ‘legitimate’ portion denotes that part of the inherited property due, according to the rules of the civil code, to legitimate heirs (in first approximation irrespective of sex); the ‘disposable’ is the part of the estate that the testator canassign on the basis of his or her own will. See Baldassarre Paoli, Le successioni testamentarie secondo il codice civile italiano (Florence: Barbera, 1873).
See Vittore Colorni, Legge ebraica e leggi locali. Ricerche sull’ambito di applicazione del diritto ebraico dall’epoca romana al secolo XIX (Milan: Giuffre, 1945); Lazzaro Bufalini, Trattato della dote secondo le piu certe regole della scienza (Bologna: Borghi, 1862).
The principle of sexual equality was limited only to the sphere of inheritance law. In other matters of family law women remained in a subordinate position. The patria potestas (i.e., the right to exercise parental authority over minors, for example) was given to both parents but only the father was entitled to exercise it legally. In case of death that right was transferred to the wife. Married women were not allowed to operate freely on the market without the husband’s authorisation. In other words, they were forbidden to carry out any economic activity without their husband’s permission: they were not allowed to donate or acquire real estate, shares or bonds, or perform the assignment or collection of money or manage bank accounts. See Paolo Ungari, Storia del diritto di famiglia in Italia (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1974).
The donazione tra i vivi consisted in the transfer (donation or gift) of a share of the estate before the death of the owner. The procura (proxy) was the legal instrument that entrusted the management of the patrimony to a third person. This could occur before or after the death of the testator, preventing the legitimate heirs from controlling the legacy.
See Luciano Allegra, ‘Alle origini del mito della jewish rnomie. Ruoli economici e ideali domestici delle ebree italiane nell’età moderna’, in Claire E. Honess and Verina R. Jones (eds), Donne delle Minoranze. Le ebree e le protestanti d’Italia (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1999); Allegra, Identita in bilico. Il ghetto di Torino nel Settecento (Turin: Zamorani, 1996).
See Barbara Armani, ‘L’innovazione prudente. Mobilita sociale e identita di ceto nella borghesia mercantile lucchese del secondo ottocento’, Quaderni storici, 90 (1995), pp. 729–63.
See Elia Benamozegh, Delle fonti del diritto ebraico e del testamento del fu Conte Caid Nissim (Leghorn: Costa, 1882); David Castelli, Del testamento ebraico (Florence: Tip. Arte della Stampa, 1878).
Isacco Rignano, Sulla attuale posizione giuridica degli Israeliti in Toscana (Leghorn: Tip. Vigo, 1847), p. 18.
ASFI, Post-unitary notarial, Notary Bandini, prot. 4003–08, 1872. The tosefet is a sum of money gifted by the husband — as a supplement to her dowry — to his bride. The size of this money gift is not fixed but follows local customs. In Florence it was fixed at up to 10 per cent of the total value of the dowry but in Leghorn it was much greater, reaching 30 per cent of the dowry. The praetium pudicitiae refers to the symbolic acquisition of the spouse. The price of her virginity was fixed by Jewish law at 200 symbolic coins, named zuzim. These coins were converted into local currency.
See Monica Miniati, Les ‘emanicipées’. Les femmes juives italiennes aux XIX et XX siecle, 1848–1925 (Paris: Champion, 2000).
Simonetta Soldani, ‘Nascita della maestra elementare’, in Simonetta Soldani and Gabriele Turi (eds), Fare gli italiani. Scuola e cultura nell’Italia contemporanea (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1993).
See Raffaele Romanelli, ‘Individuo, famiglia e collettività nel codice civile della borghesia italiana’, in Raffaella Gherardi and Gustavo Gozzi (eds), Saperi della borghesia e storia di concetti fra Otto e Novecento (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995), pp. 351–99.
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Armani, B. (2004). Family, Marriage and Inheritance Practices of a Jewish Elite in the Age of Emancipation. In: Willson, P. (eds) Gender, Family and Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294158_5
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