page_title: Jews of Catalonia
section_title: 12th and 13th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Jews of Catalonia / 12th and 13th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: חותמת מיוחסת לרמב"ן
context_page_description: Jews of Catalonia is the Jewish community that lived in the Iberian Peninsula, in the Lands of Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca until the expulsion of 1492. Its splendor was between the 12th to 14th centuries, in which two important Torah centers flourished in Barcelona and Girona. The Catalan Jewish community developed unique characteristics, which included customs, a prayer rite, and a tradition of its own in issuing legal decisions. Although the Jews of Catalonia had a ritual of prayer and different traditions from those of Sepharad, today they are usually included in the Sephardic Jewish community.
  Following the riots of 1391 and the expulsion of 1492, Jews who did not convert to Christianity were forced to emigrate to Italy, the Ottoman Empire, North Africa and the Land of Israel.
context_section_description: In the 12th and 13th centuries the Catalonian Talmudic academies thrived. The great Rabbis and kabbalists Ezra and Azriel bene Shelomoh (late 12th century, beginning of the 13th century) disciples of the famous Rabbi Yitzchaq el Cec (the Blind) (1160-1235), son of Rabbi Avraham ben David (Raabad) of Posquières (1120-1198), stood out in the city of Girona. We can also include Rabbi Yaaqov ben Sheshet (12th century) among the Girona kabbalists of this period. Also, from Girona was Rabbi Avraham ben Yitzchaq he-Hazan (12th-13th centuries) author of the piyyut Achot qetanah (little sister). From the city of Girona was the greatest of Catalonian sages, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban, or Nachmanides) (1194-1270), whose Catalonian name was Bonastruc ça Porta.
  Although the city of Girona was an important center of Torah that had a Bet Midrash (House of Study) dedicated to the study of the Kabbalah, the main city was Barcelona, where the Ramban served as the head of the community. During this period, Rabbi Yona Girondi (1210-1263) and his famous disciples Rabbi Aharon ben Yosef ha-Levi of Barcelona (Reah) (1235-1303) and Rabbi Shelomoh ben Adret (Rashba) (1235-1310). Also, Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (Rosh) (1250-1327), his son Rabbi Yaaqov ben Asher (Baal ha-Turim) (1269-1343), and Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham ha-Sevilli (Ritba) 1250-1330), disciples of Rashba and Reah. We can say that at that time Barcelona became the most important Talmudic study center in all of the European Jewry. It was also during this time that certain Catalan Jewish families occupied key positions in the Catalonian economy, such as the Taroç family of Girona. 
  In Catalonia in the 13th century Jews were victims of blood libels and were forced to wear a distinctive sign called Rodella. The authorities prohibited Jews from performing public office and were forced to participate in public disputes with representatives of Christianity, such as the Barcelona Disputation of 1263 in which the Ramban participate as a representative of Judaism. The Jews were private property of the monarchy who charged them taxes in exchange for protection.                 
  The kings of the Crown of Aragon expanded the Catalan domains and conquered Mallorca, Valencia, Ibiza and Menorca. In 1258 they signed the Corbeil treaty with the French king for which they renounced to their rights over the Occitan lands. In return, the Franks resigned their demands on the Catalan lands.
caption: Seal attributed to Nachmanides [Copy from the Museum of History of the Jews in Girona]
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