A Stake in the Ground: Jews and Property Investment in the Medieval Crown of Aragon

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-39237-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 69, 284 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

Reihe: Medieval and Early Modern Iber

In A Stake in the Ground, Michael Schraer explores the economic functions of real estate amongst the Jews of the medieval crown of Aragon. He challenges the view of medieval Jews as primarily money-lenders and merchants, finding compelling evidence for extensive property trading and investment. Jews are found as landlords to Christian tenants, transferring land in dowries, wills and gifts. Property holdings were often extremely valuable. For some, property was a major part of their asset portfolios. Whilst many property transactions were linked to the credit boom, land also acted as a liquid and tradeable investment asset in its own right. This is a key contribution to the economic history of medieval Iberia and of medieval Jews.

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Autoren/Hrsg.

Schraer, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien: Leben & Praxis, Soziale Aspekte
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Mittelalter
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Orthography

Currencies, Land Areas and Weights and Measures

Glossary

1 Introduction

Part 1: Jews as Property Investors: The Evidence

2 Property Rights

3 Jews in the Market for Land

4 Lords of the Land?

Jews as Rentiers and Cultivators

5 Dowries, Wills and Gifts

Property and the Transfer of Wealth

6 The Link between Credit and Land

Part 2: Property and the Jewish Economy

7 The Economic Case for Property

Asset Choices, Risk and Return

8 Credit and Property in the Wealth of the Jews

9 Postscript

Appendix 1: Currencies and Equivalences

Appendix 2: Land Areas, Weights and Measures in the Archival Sources

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Michael Schraer, Ph.D. (2016), Cambridge, is an economist and economic historian researching Iberian Jews. He has published on the merchant, financier and rentier, Salamon Abnarrabi, and a chapter on Jewish mortgage lending in Briggs and Zuijderduijn (eds.), Land and Credit (2018).