Legal Commons^™

Jews At The Court Of The Kadi, Yaron Ben-Naeh

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

One of the most astonishing phenomena of Jewish life in the Ottoman state is the widespread appeal to the kadi's court - a muslim court. I intend to describe the frequency of this norm, against explicit regulations, and explain the motivation to use the kadi's services, as well as the reasons for the ban against it. I shall conclude with the social and cultural significance of this practice.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Mordechai Halevi, Darkei Noam (Pleasant Ways) (Venice, 1697)
• The court records of istanbul/ Istanbul sher'iyye sijilleri (1662)

Under Imperial Protection? Jewish Presence On The Imperial Aulic Court In The 16th And 17th Centuries, Barbara Staudinger

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

From the middle ages on Jewish life in the holy roman empire was characterized by their egal status as servants of the imperial chamber (servi camerae, Kammerknechte). Paying taxes to the imperial chamber, the Jews stood under special protection of the Emperor. The so-called Speyrer Jew Privilege (1544) stated the legal framework of the Jewish community of the Empire, prohibiting expulsion, and „unjustified“ acusations of ritual murder and securing undisturbed religious practice, and imperial conduct and protection. But what was this privilege along with other privileges from indiviuals worth in reality? Based on two cases from the Imperial Aulic Court …

Evasion As A Legal Tactic: The 1616 Amsterdam Regulations Concerning The Jews, Miriam Bodian

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Early modern rulers (or ruling bodies) who chose to readmit Jews in places where they had long been banned were faced with theological dilemmas and practical problems. Although it is true that the principle of freedom of conscience was gaining increasing acceptance, its adherents were rarely clear about whether it could be applied to non-Christians. And while the economic interests of rulers favored the settlement of Jews in their lands, the opposition of guilds and clergy could not be ignored. In these circumstances, a rather striking policy of evasion was adopted - in France, in the Netherlands, and in England. …

The Herem As The Source Of Authority Of The Lay Governing Council, Anne Oravetz Albert

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

A treatise on the herem composed by Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, the head rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam. Specifically, this pamphlet defends the authority of the lay leadership council to do so, arguing against unnamed members of the community who are causing scandal by denying that authority.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Exhortation to those who fear the Lord, not to fall into sin due to lack of understanding of the precepts of his Holy Law by Isaac Aboab de Fonseca (1679/80)

Challenging Herem In Hamburg, 1732, David Horowitz

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

These documents represent one of the earliest calls for state intervention by the Hamburg authorities into the internal decisions of the bet din. The bed din of the Triple Community of Hamburg-Altona-Wandsbek compelled Joseph Jonas, a resident of Hamburg, to divorce his wife after she was suspected of adultery. When he refused, the chief rabbi and kahal put him and his wife in the ban (herem). Jonas turned to the Hamburg Senate for assistance in reversing the decision and removing himself from the ban. The documents comprise letters from Jonas and the Hamburg kahal in defense of their respective positions …

Takkanot Kahal And The Origin Of Communal Structures In A Franconian Village Community In The 17th Century, Stefan Litt

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Takkanot Kahal are clearly a phenomenon of early modern Jewry in Europe. Throughout the Ashkenazi world there were four common ways to enact them. By elaborating takkanot, Jewish leaders copied the Gentile custom of creating legal digests in that time, thus adapting the communities to the administrative structures of the early modern state. The short statutes of the community in Ühlfeld, dating fromm 1688, are a rare example for takkanot enacted in an early stage of the local Jewish history. The text clearly shows the efforts of the author, R. Asher Enslen of Schnaittach, to strenghten the ties in the …

Expanding Legal Horizons?, Edward Fram

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Legal change was not only a result needs to adapt the law to new situations but could be stimulated by new information. New sources were not always accepted and this presentation will attempt to locate the point in time in which acceptance of a large number of new sources took place in the eastern European community of the early modern age.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Shulhan `arukh, Yoreh De'ah 19.1 (1567)
• Siftei Kohen-The Priest's Lips on Yoreh De'ah 19.1 (1647)
• Turei Zahab-The Golden Columns on Yoreh De'ah 19.1 (1646)

A Challenge To Sexual And Marital Propriety And Communal Reaction, Kenneth Stow

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The selection of sources from the early 1550's Rome deal with the question of honor of young women and their fathers.

The Jewish Community of Rome was unimpressed. It wanted it made clear that one did not make accusations that could harm the well-being, in fact, mostly financial, but also the honor, of young women. Indeed, the bride Ricca was herself awarded what amounted to a hefty fine; we know that among Christians, it was the father’s honor that was considered impugned, and any monetary sanctions would go to him. Not here.

Finally, we learn something about sacred and profane. …

Two Cases Of Apostasy In Dubno In 1716 Jews, Christians, And Family Life, Magda Teter

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

This text relates a trial of two Christian women who accepted to Judaism that took place in the city of Dubno in eastern Poland in 1716. The text presented here comes from a collection of primary sources published in Kiev [now Kyiv] in 1869, as part of effort by scholars at the time to collect and publish primary source materials about Ukraine. The collection is called Arkhiv Iugo-zapadnoi Rossii, or The Archive of South-Western Russia, and contains documents from the South-Western part of Ukraine.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Two Cases of Apostasy in Dubno in 1716

“The First Duty Of Nature Is To Preserve Life” A Jewish Woman’S Plea For Divorce In Late 18th-Century Trieste, Lois Dubin

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The presentation discusses a letter from Relle [Rachele] Morschene (1770-1844) of Trieste to Chief Rabbi Raffael Natan Tedesco, written in the throes of her three-year long effort to extricate herself from her marriage to husband Lucio Luzzatto (1755-1801). From 1793 to 1796, Morschene pursued separation and civil divorce through the Habsburg courts at the same time as a Jewish religious divorce. Indeed, she was one of the first European Jewish women to seek and obtain a civil divorce. Her legal situation was novel because Jews in the Habsburg Monarchy were among the first to be subjected to civil marriage regulation …

Jewish Women And Economic Encounters With Christians, Debra Kaplan

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

R. Yair Hayyim ben Moses Samson Bacharach (1638-1702) is well-known for his knowledge of halakha and Kabbalah. Over the course of his lifetime, he served as the rabbi in several locations in the Holy Roman Empire. In these two responsa, Bacharach deals with one of the halakhic problems surrounding women’s trade with non-Jews. Such trade inevitably caused women to enter into seclusion (yihud) with non-Jews, especially since according to Jewish law, the presence of the non-Jew’s wife did not alleviate the prohibition of seclusion with a non-Jew.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Havvot Yair, Responsum 66
• Havvot Yair, …

Unequal Opportunities The Economic Possibilities Open To Jewish Women In 18th Century Poland-Lithuania, Adam Teller

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The following texts present an image of economic opportunities, and gender roles in Jewish society in eastern Europe. The first text is an 18th-century supplication by a Jew, Bunim Szlomowicz, against his wife; the second is a 1751 decree by the Council of Lithuania regulating women's roles in trade.

An Early 17th Century Ketubah From Sefer Tikun Sofrim By Rabbi Itzhak Zabakh, Ruth Lamdan

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

In Jewish Law, the halakha, there is an extensive importance to the accurate scribing of legal documents (shtarot). Any slight deviation from the standard formula of one word, or even of one character, might invalidate a formal bill or cancel a personal or commercial obligation. The importance bestowed on each word encouraged many famous rabbis to write and edit books of standard legal bills, and Hebrew scribes used to copy samples of bills for their personal use in the future. Qualified scribes made exemplary collections of documents for their students, and young trainees would copy such samples – as well …

How Family Wealth And Power Are Organized, Moshe Rosman

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The following is a translation of Todros Kozuchowski's will. Originally written in Polish, then translated into Hebrew, the will was translated into English by Moshe Rosman.

Pennsylvania Legislation Relating To Slavery

Adams County History

The following acts have been taken, complete or in part, from the published volumes of The Statutes At Large of Pennsylvania and Laws of Pennsylvania. These extracts are not all-inclusive, but do cover the years 1725/6-1847, from the province's first general statement of the legal standing of blacks, full-blooded and mixed, and the treatment to be afforded them, up to the state's rewritten and strengthened prohibition of the kidnapping of free blacks and the seizing of fugitive slaves. Included are not only acts showing the status and the protection of slaves, whether residents or sojourners, but also those requiring resident …

Understanding Emancipation: Lincoln's Proclamation And The Overthrow Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

The most common trope that governs understanding of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation is that of progress. The variations on that trope are legion, and they include notions of Lincoln's journey toward emancipation, his growth in understanding the justice of emancipation, and his path to the Emancipation Proclamation. "Lincoln was," as Horace Greeley put it, "a growing man"; growing from a stance of moral indifference and ignorance at the time of his election in 1860 toward deep conviction about African American freedom by the time of the Emancipation Proclamation less than two years later. That was a generous sentiment, since it …

As Old As Dallas Itself - A History Of The Lawyers Of Dallas, The Dallas Bar Associations, And The City They Helped Build (Excerpts), Darwin Payne

Publications Describing the Law School's History

No abstract provided.

Lives Of The Little-Known: Women Children And Servants In Augusta County, 1745-1779, Nancy B. Osborne

History Theses & Dissertations

The court and its justices exerted a great deal of control and power over all the people of eighteenth-century Augusta County, Virginia. The justices oversaw the economic life of the county. They also arbitrated in civil matters and punished those convicted of crimes. The court exerted its authority most heavily over the less powerful of Augusta County society, its women, children, and servants. The justices' control of these people was based upon considerations of economic values and the justices' own prestige and power in the community. The women, children, and servants, in turn, used the court system to regain some …

Cclhp: Data As Microsoft Access File, Newton Key, Chris Waldrep, Michael Kroll, Mark Voss-Hubbard

Coles County Legal History

Table Cases Fields:

Case_Number

Incident_Date

File_Date

Settlement_Date

Location

Case_Type

Dollar_Amount

Issue

Outcome

Ancillary_Catters

Memo

Transcribed

Additional_Info

Marked

Last_Modified

Table Parties

Record_Number

Case_Number

L_Name

F_Name

Sex

Occupation

Literate

Location

Additional_Info

Marked

Modified_Date

Queries

Labor, The Law, And Economics: The Organization Of The Chicago Flat Janitors' Union, 1902-1917, John Jentz

Library Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Love And Marriage In Late Medieval London, Shannon Mcsheffrey

TEAMS Documents of Practice

Depositions (or testimony) in marriage cases brought before fifteenth-century English church courts reveal the attitudes and feelings of medieval people towards the marital bond.

0528: Rick Whisman Collection, 1862-1935, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Huntington, West Virginia, resident. Collection includes a Civil War letter by Charles Sayre; legal papers from the law offices of Brown & Brown in Boyd County, KY, and oversized photographs depicting the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of 1812 Society grapples in Washington, D.C. as well as printed material.

Bloody Woolfolk, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

A century ago, Oct. 29, 1890, the man who committed the most horrible and notorious murders in the history of the state of Georgia was publicly executed on the gallows. He killed more persons on a single occasion than any other murderer in America who did not use a gun, explosives, fire, or an automobile. Although he performed his crimes near Macon and was hanged in Perry, the murderer had close ties to Athens, where he was raised. Because the story of these murders is rarely mentioned in books on the history of crime in America and because the story …

Historical Data For Central Avenue Project In Mckinleyville, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

Reports on the history of the Washington School-Blair House, Cotter-Eklund House, McKinleyville Store- A & L Feed, The Creamery, and the Fleckenstein-Pote House.

0156: Marcellus Peck Papers, 1883-1889, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Papers of a Philippi, West Virginia, resident. Papers include checks written to Elijah Allen, a tax receipt from Doddridge County, West Virginia, and a letter from brother, Henderson Peck, attorney at Ritchie County Courthouse, West Virginia.

The Evolution Of The Virginia Antimiscegenation Laws, Frank F. Arness

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Fragment Of Land Survey Including Sketch Of Nathan Parris' Land, Spartanburg, South Carolina, October 15, 1867., John Baukston Davis, Nathan Parris

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

This fragment contains a sketch of land apparently belonging to Nathan Parris and the beginning of an apparent account of the survey. The reverse side has some docket annotations.

Receipt To C. Sareon For Loss Of His Slave, Hooker, To Employment In The Confederate Army, South Carolina. Columbia, February, 1864., South Carolina

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Instrument indicating Sareon received $1250 from S.C. for having Hooker, his slave, build military fortifications in the state.

John Hutchinson Letter To Joseph Fulford; December 2, 1863, North Carolina, John Hutchinson

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Hutchinson encloses a check to Fulford and instructs "please fill up for amt of my note due the Merchants' Bank of Newbern_ Please cancel the Note + send it to me."

James Harper's Claim For Damages From New York City Draft Riots, October 22, 1863., County Of New York, James Harper

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

James Harper's claim for damages sustained in the New York City draft riots of July, 1863. Includes an itemized list of damaged goods and wares which totals $345. Subsequent documents and annotations indicate Harper was paid $150 for the damages by the County of New York. The address of his establishment is noted as 533 Third Avenue.