Sephardic Jews of Venice

Venice and the Jews

Trade with the East turned the city of Venice into a European maritime power. Venice had an important but complicated relationship with the Jews. My impression is that Venetian policy towards the Jews – and Sephardic Jews in particular – was driven by pragmatic self-interest but unlike the Medici in Florence they were unable to abandon their Catholic anti-Semitic prejudice.

My understanding is that after the Expulsion the Sephardic diaspora originally looked to the bet din of Venice for religious guidance, but in time the rabbinate of Venice was superseded by Salonika, Livorno and Amsterdam.

Venice had competed with Genoa (a close Spanish ally) for trade with the East. They had won out over Genoa but then came into conflict with the Turks, who were much stronger. Some of Venice’s trade seems to have gone to Ragusa (Dubrovnik). The development of global trade decreased Venice’s importance. Anti-Semitic ordinances caused a number of Sephardim to move to Venice.

Venice is a significant city in world and Jewish history. Jews were allowed to live and trade in Venice, but faced discrimination, including being confined to the Ghetto area of the city at night. Venice was home to different Jewish communities including Italian, Ashkenazi, ‘Spanish’ (meaning Western Sephardic) and ‘Levantine’ (meaning Eastern Sephardic). I speculate that Venice was the route by which many Eastern Sephardic families found their way to Western Sephardic communities in the 18th and early 19th Centuries.

Venice was a major Mediterranean trading hub, especially with the Islamic world, and for a time the republic was the dominant naval power in the region. The shift in trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, and within the Mediterranean from east to west, along with Livorno welcoming Jewish merchants from 1593 probably contributed to Venice’s decline as a trading centre for Jews. There is evidence of some families moving from Venice to Livorno.

Timeline of Sephardic Jews of Venice

1492: Sephardic Jews, including Isaac Abravanel, pass through Venice following the Expulsion from Spain
1516: Venetian government forces Jews to live in the geto (ghetto)
1525: Portuguese ambassador reports large numbers of Portuguese Jews passing through Venice
1541: Sephardic Jews begin settling in noteworthy numbers
1544: Dona Gracia de Nasi arrives in Venice
1629-1631: Italian Plague kills a third of Venice’s population
1797: Napoleon conquers Venice and tears down the ghetto gates
1814-1866: Venice under Austrian rule
1866: Venice absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy

Jewish Communities in Venice

Spanish (Western Sephardic)
Levantine (Eastern Sephardic)
Ashkenazi
Italian

The Venetian town of Rovigo is reported to have had a Jewish community circa 1671.

Venice’s Role in Jewish Migration

Venice served as a route for many Eastern Sephardic families to reach Western Sephardic communities in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Venice’s Decline as a Jewish Trading Center

Factors contributing to Venice’s decline:

Shift in trade from Mediterranean to Atlantic
Competition from Livorno (welcomed Jewish merchants from 1593)
Italian Plague of 1629-1631

Genealogical Resources for Sephardic Jews in Venice

Principal Archives

Archives of the Jewish Community
Archives of the City of Venice
State Archives of the Serene Republic of Venice

Jewish Archives of Venice

I have not seen an authoritative English-language resource on the Jewish-related archives of Venice. In Italian, the Materia giudaica: Rivista dell’associazione italiana per lo studio del giudaismo is the place to start.

Records available (as listed on Italian Family History website)

Jewish Birth Records (1706-2000)
Jewish Marriage Records (1815-2000)
Jewish Burial Records (1601-2000, with gaps)
Property Registers (1713, 1739, 1771, 1810)
Maps of 19th Century property

Note: Carla Boccato writes that the Jewish community’s burial registers contains gaps but cover the period 1601 to 1839. The records of the Provveditori alla Sanità (whose responsibilities included issuing burial licences) in the State Archives also contain gaps but cover the period from 1631 to 1765. When put together, these two sources still leave gaps from March 1656 to April 1671 and from March 1794 to July 1795.

Archives of the Jewish Community of Venice

There were originally several Jewish communities in Venice. At some point the Jewish communities in Venice joined together into a single body. This was known sequentially as:

Fraterna generale di culto e beneficenza degli israeliti di Venezia
Comunità israelitica
Comunità ebraica di Venezia

19th and early 20th century records held by Renato Maestro Library

Index of the Archives of the Jewish Community of Venice

Archives of the City of Venice

The Population Registers include:

Austrian Register of 1805 (Prima Dominazione austriaca)
Napoleonic Register of 1811 (Epoca napoleonica)
Austrian Registers of 1850-1857 (IIIª Dominazione austriaca)

State Archives of the Serene Republic of Venice

General Index
Notarial Archives
Index to Notarial Archives
Wills
Provveditori alla Sanità (burial licenses):

Additional Resources

Books on the Jewish cemetery:

Riccardo Pacifici. Le iscrizioni dell antico cimitero ebraico a Venezia. 1938.
Aldo Luzzatto. La comunità ebraica di Venezia e il suo antico cimitero.
Carla Boccato. The ancient Jewish cemetery of San Nicolo on the Lido in Venice.

Academic Journal

Materia giudaica: Rivista dell’associazione italiana per lo studio del giudaismo: http://aisg.cise.unipi.it/AISG_05Materia/AISG_Materia.html

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