Collected Studies

In Collected Studies (Volume 1): The Jews of Provence, Joseph Shatzmiller, the foremost expert on Provenal Judaism, offers a comprehensive overview of the medieval history of the Jews in Provence. Through an analysis of community regulations, tax distribution, rabbinic leadership, and everyday life, Shatzmiller provides a rich and powerful mosaic of Jewish society in Provence. This masterful work sheds light on the diverse experiences of Jews in the region, from their interactions with Christian neighbors to their internal conflicts and struggles. With its insightful analysis and meticulous research, The Jews of Provence is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Jewish communities in medieval Europe. The collection of studies that these four volumes offer is the result of more than sixty years of commitment to scholarship. Like many colleagues, I relied in the beginning on printed material in books that dealt with law, religion, and secular literature. Then, as a disciple of George Duby, I discovered the world of archives and hand-written Latin manuscripts. The present collection relies, to a great extent, on previously unknown information discovered during years of search in the archives of Southern France, mostly on those of the county of Provence. They are situated in the cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence as well as the town of Digne. The legal registers of the High Middle Ages (1250-1350) as well as those produced by the counties administration introduce us to the ordinary people of the region, to their daily life and to their preoccupations; their names are spelled out, the dates are recorded and the localities in which they were active are designated. At times these documents encourage us to endorse information found in contemporary literary sources and to overcome our hesitation and excessive caution concerning their value as historical evidence. Joseph Shatzmiller