I capitoli del banco di prestito ebraico di Nonantola (1550)

Until recent time, it was known the existence of a Jewish money lender bank in Nonantola, a city near Modena, but we did not have any document attesting it, as normally happens. In fact, every Municipality wrote some statutes containing the agreement about the conditions requested to the Jew banker in order to give him the permission to lend money. Several years ago an antique dealer proposed to Nonantola Municipality to purchase a document that contains a version of these chapters of a Jewish bank in Nonantola. The sale of the document was not successful , but somehow it was possible to get its reproduction, which is now published here. The authors provide preliminary information about the lending Jewish banks active in the towns under the rule of the Este family, and give some mention about the Jewish presence there, including the discoveries of medieval Hebrew manuscripts reused as ligatures in Nonantola and in the Modena area. The manuscript, which follows the well-known typology of these documents, is dated from the late 16th century, only five years before the devolution of Ferrara to the Pope in 1598, that will change dramatically the framework of Jewish presence in Emilia Romagna. This document should be considered only a preliminary draft in view of his final fulfillment.