ABSTRACT
Jews first settled in Perpignan in the last years of the twelfth century, 1 probably from the ancient Jewish communities of Carcassonne and Narbonne. 2 A Jewish quarter, the “Call,” 3 was set aside in Perpignan in 1243; from 1251, Jews were compelled to live there. Until 1314, when the wearing of a badge was imposed, Jews wore a cape as a distinctive garment. There were perhaps a hundred Jewish families in Perpignan in 1290—probably less than a thousand people, or about 5 per cent of the estimated total of twenty thousand. 4 Jews in Perpignan worked as bookbinders, tailors, goldsmiths, and dyers of textiles. They also owned land and houses and collected rent. 5 But in the 1270s and 1280s, the Jewish community existed mainly by moneylending, and it seems that they prospered in this occupation. While the average laborer in the larger Christian community at the time may have earned 100s (solidi) per annum, 6 the average Jewish household with a single principal wage earner may have earned 1200s for the same period. 7 Capital was required to fuel the economic growth that Perpignan was then experiencing; Jews moved there from other Languedocian cities to enjoy the increased lending opportunities. 8 In 1275, James I of Aragon ordered his representatives in Perpignan to fine heavily any Christian layman who tried to avoid payment to a Jew on the basis of Canon law, which prohibited usury by both Christians and Jews. 9 Under James’s decree, a cleric who turned to an ecclesiastical court was not to receive the secular assistance necessary to enforce that court’s decision. Like many medieval rulers, James himself was dependent upon Jewish tax revenues, and he repeatedly enforced the repayment of debts held by Jews, including those of compounded interest. Jews also made many loans to villagers outside the city. 10
