A Jewish Model of Devolution? Family and Inheritance in Late Medieval Western Mediterranean Jewish Societies (J-MedDev)

Over the last three decades, following the pioneering work of Jacob Katz, scholars such as Israel Yuval, Elliott Horowitz and Luciano Allegra have renewed the historiography of the Jewish family in medieval and early modern Europe. Within this framework, our research focuses on a largely unexplored issue: patrimonial transmission in Jewish societies of the western Mediterranean, particularly in Iberia. Heritage, due to its legal, socio-economic, cultural and anthropological dimensions, is crucial to understanding social reproduction and the functioning of Jewish communities, shaped by diverse migratory waves and local contexts. We aim to examine whether a specifically “Jewish model” of patrimonial devolution existed, how Jewish law interacted with Christian legal systems, and what goods were transmitted, to whom, how and why.

Our approach is both inter-regional and diachronic, structured around four axes: (a) dowry transmission and inheritance; (b) women, families and community strategies; (c) the legal status of inheritance; (d) conversion and the devolution of dowries. Particular attention is given to dowries as domestic investments and their impact on the survival of communities, as well as to the effects of segregation and conversion on inheritance practices.

This project, a continuation of HAR2012-34338, will progress during 2025 through archival research in Spain, participation in international conferences (including the World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem 2025) and the publication of a collective monograph (A Jewish Model of Devolution?). Results will also be disseminated through teaching at the UCM, fostering a new generation of specialists in Jewish history.