A Grant of Permission by Federico Gonzaga II Allowing the Jewish Community of Mantua to Maintain a Slaughterhouse, Mantua: September 5, 1532

1 broadsheet (12 7/8 x 16 3/4 in.; 327 x 425 mm) on vellum; written in Latin in an italic hand in brown ink on thirteen long lines; papered wax seal and signatures below. Slight scattered staining and soiling around edges; early mend of tear in lower-right corner; several small holes mended, of which only one touches the date; seal deteriorated and mostly gone. Housed in a cream cloth drop box.

The Jewish community of Mantua was established ca. 1145. In the following centuries, Mantuan Jewry was protected by a series of privileges granted by popes, emperors, and the local rulers of the house of Gonzaga. To enable Jews to procure kosher meat, the authorities designated a special space within the municipal slaughterhouse where they could practice shehitah (ritual slaughter of animals). In 1519, however, permission was granted to Abraham Mandolino to set up an independent abattoir for the Jews of Mantua. Mandolino was given a five-year monopoly, and after he passed away, the patent was renewed in 1523 by his widow Anna. In 1527, a dispute broke out between Anna and the Jewish community and subsequently her monopoly was revoked and transferred to the community. The present document of 1532 confirms the privilege of the Jewish community to operate a kosher slaughterhouse and prohibits others from doing so without the permission of the massari (elected communal officials).

Literature

Shlomo Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua (Jerusalem: Kiryath Sepher Ltd., 1977), 258, 348.