ABSTRACT
The succession of property from the dead to the living took one of three routes: the prenuptial agreement, inheritance, and bequests, wills, and testaments. Men or women who desired to have their assets, even if minimal, removed from the standard process of inheritance made a testament before a Jewish or Catholic notary. These documents reflect the words of Jews, especially women. Testaments constitute maps of personal ties, both friendly and hostile, that people developed during their lifetimes and wanted to continue after their deaths, and they can be mined for insight into personal relationships. At the time of death, each family sought to retrieve the assets it had invested in the marriage, to increase its share of what they agreed upon in the prenuptial agreements, and to prevent assets crossing to the other family. The death of one member of the couple involved revisiting these agreements, using a variety of tactics: finding conflicting laws, traditions, and customs; reconciling Jewish practices with those of the surrounding communities; and inventing principles of tradition to meet specific needs. Alternatively, the surviving spouse might circumvent all official channels by simply seizing the property.
