Power and patrimony: The Jewish community of Barcelona, 1050-1250

The leadership of medieval Barcelona's Jewish community evolved from a personal and affective system of communal governance in the eleventh century into a regime characterized by clearly defined roles for leaders, elections of officials, and broader participation in the political life of the community by the mid-thirteenth century. This dissertation traces the transformation of power structures and government in the Jewish community of Barcelona from 1050 to 1250 through an examination of one elite group within the community, the nesi'im.Previous scholarship has focussed on the better documented period after 1250, at the expense of ignoring important changes before 1250. This dissertation integrates Latin and Hebrew archival sources and Hebrew narrative and legal sources, as well as considering parallels with Barcelona's Christian patriciate to demonstrate the interplay of internal and external factors which drove the changes in the community and among the nesi'im.The dissertation traces the emergence of a self-conscious group of families of nesi'im in the later twelfth century from an amorphous group of prominent individuals. These families used their position in an expanding royal administration and their influence at court to consolidate their position in the community. They ultimately came to see their preeminence as a patrimonial right. Changing ideas about power after 1200 spawned reservations about relying on courtiers to rule the community, and about the worthiness of the nesi'im. Royal recognition of elected communal officials as the representatives of the community in 1241 created an alternative to the courtier-nesi'im. A new elite emerged based on wealth and public service, not influence at court communal rule was divorced from royal service, and most nesi'im merged into the new elite.This work enhances our understanding of the basic unit of medieval Jewish society, the local community. It argues that changes in Jewish communities must in the long run be integrated into our picture of changes in European urban society over the course of the Middle Ages. Doing so will provide a clearer understanding of the nature of the Jewish experience in the Middle Ages, and of the place of the Jews within a broader European context.