É. Apor (ed.): David Kaufmann Memorial Volume: Papers Presented at the David Kaufmann Memorial Conference, November 29, 1999, Budapest.
DAVID, Abraham: Historical Sources in the Kaufmann Collection: The Case of the Expulsion from the Papal States (1569)
HISTORICAL SOURCES IN THE KAUFMANN COLLECTION Reference is made to this episode in an arbitration document dating from 1572 which is presently housed in the archives of the Mantua Jewish community. This long document, published by Isaiah Sonne," notes that some of the expellees who had been captured eventually made their way to Mantua. It cites: "...the ever-increasing expenses because of the poor Jews expelled from Pesaro who boarded ships to go across the sea and due to our iniquities some were taken captive and several returned to this region. Some came here to Mantua on 2 September 1572." The members of the Mantuan Jewish community debated the question of finding support for these redeemed exiles. Another letter (MS Kaufmann A 494) also deals with the fate of the redeemed exiles." This letter was sent via emissary from the heads of an unknown Jewish community (probably in the Duchy of Urbino; perhaps Pesaro) to another community. The emissary's task was to raise funds so that "those expelled by the Pope" who had found refuge in their city could be sent to safety. The writers went on to describe the heartbreaking situation of these refugees in greater detail. Although they had already managed to send "almost four hundred people by ship to the Levant," others still remained in their city. The rulers of the city, most likely the Duke of Urbino or his representatives, were exerting pressure on them to send the refugees on their way as soon as possible: ,[a]'"»®in [apsisi n 1?© 1? trty mi vnsn ^mnn 1? u^ ism n"T innx nbvn mi NRA ian 17® ,i ins 'wa W unix M ,pxn IN DN 1?© 1? mra K 1? ATW ©TDI mi .nbs i!f?©3 His eminence our master has had a change of heart to plot against his servants, and he decreed that we must send away the broken-down ones quickly, adding that if we did not send them away quickly he would send us out of his presence, that is, he would drive us away. In addition we must note the resulting social tensions in the communities where the refugees found temporary or permanent refuge. The attitude of the local Jews to the refugees was ambivalent. In some places, the arrival and projected absorption of Jews expelled from the Papal States posed a threat to the social and economic standing of the local Jews. We know of requests by individuals and by communities to find alternate solutions for the expellees so that they would not become a burden on that community. Similar social tensions between exiles and local Jews existed in the period after the expulsion from Spain. 2 2 SONNE, Mi-Paulo. 211-214. 2 5 DAVID, New Documents - Italia. 32-33. 35
