History of the Jews in Ancona

Jews started living in Ancona, Italy around A.D. 967. In that year, the Archbishop of Ravenna rented a piece of land to a Jew named Eliyahu. It is possible that a synagogue existed already in the 12th century, due to a Slicha written by a Jewish Paytan, referring the 1279 destruction of the town synagogue by an earthquake. In 1427 Saint James of the Marches unsuccessfully tried to force town Jews to wear a Jewish badge and restrict them into one street, though opinions are not unanimous regarding this unsuccessful attempt, claiming Jews were forced to carry a Jewish badge and live in restricted areas. In 1520, the Jews of Ancona were forced once again to wear the Jewish badge, though this rule had been cancelled four years later. In around 1450, the Jewish population of Ancona numbered an estimated 500 persons, consisting of 5% of the town's total population. After the city had fallen into the Papal state in 1429, Pope Martin V tried to develop Ancona as an Italian center of commerce. In order to achieve that goal, the town Jews got permission to open banks and loan money by interest. Due to this pro-Jewish approach, Jewish fugitives from the Spanish Inquisition (started in 1492) began to settle in Ancona and changed the demographics and the ratios between the sub-groups of the town Jewish community. Most of these fugitives came from Sicily and later from Naples and Portugal. In 1529, the Jewish false messiah Shlomo Molkho visited Ancona and provoked and stimulated a messianic enthusiasm among the town Jews. As Ancona was declared a free port in around 1532 by Pope Paul III, the city was joined by even more Spanish and Portuguese Jews who found it to be an ideal base for commerce with the Levant. In 1550, the Jewish population of Ancona numbered about 2700 individuals. The pro-Jewish attitude of the Roman Popes protected and stimulated the growth of the Ancona Jewish population, until 1555 when the Vatican approach towards the Ancona Jews had changed due to the persecutions of Pope Paul IV in 1555. ==Persecution under Pope Paul IV==

In contrast to the popes who preceded him, Pope Paul IV turned against the Jewish population of Ancona. During his rule, between the years 1555 and 1559, the town Jews were deprived of valuable franchises, enclosed within a ghetto, limited in their commerce, and heavily taxed, as ordered in Cum nimis absurdum, a papal bull of 1555. • Simeon Ben Menachem (Abenmenachem) • Yoseph Oeff (Guascon in another source) • Samuel Guascon • Abraham Falcon • Isac Nahmias • Salomon Alguadish • Moses Paggi (de Paz) • Salomon Pinto • Yoseph Molco (Molcho) • Abraham Cerilia • David Nahas • Abraham di Spagna • Moses Barzilon • David Reuben (Ruben) • Salomon Iahia • David Sadicairo • Yoseph Verdai • Yoseph Pappo • Yacob Cohen • Yacob Montalban (Montalvano) • Abraham Lobo • Yacob Mozzo • Abraham Cohen • anonymous woman Ancona boycott The hanging of the 23 Jews that refused to convert in 1555 shocked the Jewish communities around Europe and inspired elegies which are still recited locally on Tisha B'Av. As a result of the persecution, Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi initiated a meeting of some Jewish religious leaders in Istanbul, and decided to boycott any merchant that sent his merchandise to the Ancona port. Jewish Merchants were ordered to send their merchandise to the nearby Pesaro port, a thing that was of the Pesaro leader interest - and after he accepted some of the Ancona Jewish fugitives in order to develop the town port and economics. The boycott divided the Jewish communities to those who supported the boycott – led by the Pesaro Jews and those who objected it, led by the Ancona Jewish community, driven by the fear of the enraging the Pope. Most historians believe the boycott had an effect on the Ancona trade of a short while, shutting down the port, though only for a short time. == 1569 – 20th century ==

(marriage contract) from Ancona, December 25, 1816. The groom was Moses Hayyim Zemah son of Raphael Samson Marpurgo and the bride Rachel daughter of Solomon Moses Sonino On 1569, when Pope Pius V ordered to expel all Jews from the Papal dominions, the Ancona Jews, (together with the Jews of Rome and Avignon) were able to stay in the city, due to their importance to the trade with the Levant. family, which originated from Maribor or Marburg, was the most influential of them, consisting some well known descendants. In 1763, some 1290 Jews lived in Ancona. was revived by Fra Vincenzo Soliva, Inquisitor of Ancona, forbidding Jews to reside or own a business outside the ghetto and imposing other restrictions, but public opinion had already turned in Europe by then and the edict was cancelled shortly after until the revolution of 1848 emancipated the Jews once again. == 20th century and later ==

In 1938, 1177 Jews lived in Ancona. The community obtained two Synagogues on Via Astagno. == Notable Jewish residents ==

• Amato Lusitano, 16th century Portuguese Jewish doctor • Moses ben Mordecai Bassola, 16th century rabbi and head of Yeshivah • Judah Messer Leon, 15th century rabbi, doctor and philosopher • Vito Volterra, 20th century mathematician and physicist • Jacob of Ancona, 13th century traveller to China • Samson Morpurgo (1681-1740), 18th century rabbi, physician and liturgist == Cemeteries ==

Ancona has two Jewish cemeteries: Monte-Cardeto, the old one and Tavernelle, the new cemetery. The cemetery was enlarged in 1462 and in 1711. Some 1058 stones exist in the cemetery; about 700 of them are still in their original location. Around 300 of them have been cataloged. The oldest stone dates to 1552 and belongs to a Jew named Ishai Pinto. == References ==