THE MEDICI GRANDUCAL ARCHIVE:
DOCUMENTS FOR JEWISH HISTORY, RELIGION AND CULTURE

The core of the MEDICI GRANDUCAL ARCHIVE is the "Archivio Mediceo del Principato". It includes some three million letters to and from the Medici family and the Medici administration between 1537 and 1743, filling 6,429 bound volumes and occupying a full kilometer of shelf space in the Florentine National Archive. Among these millions of letters are many thousands directly relevant to Jewish affairs throughout Europe and the Mediterranean World. They offer unique insights into the Jewish experience, describing historical situations at first hand, in the words of people who were personally involved.

Upon discovery, every Jewish document in the Medici Granducal Archive is now being registered in a customized database that tracks them for future use. When time and resources permit, the MEDICI ARCHIVE PROJECT will prepare full transcriptions in the original languages accompanied by summaries in English. This material will be published electronically, offering a constantly growing body of essential new historical information to scholars around the world.

Click on the manuscript icon to view highlights from "Documents for Jewish History, Religion and Culture in the Medici Granducal Archive 1537 - 1743."

Duke Cosimo protects Iacob and Gioia Abravanel from a false accusation of judaizing (1563)

Duke Cosimo expresses support for Ventura di Moise, a Jew from Perugia studying at Pisa University (1565)

Cosimo II de'Medici permits Simone Basilea, a Jewish actor from Mantua, to travel around Tuscany performing without an identifying badge (1611)

Prince Francesco (I) de'Medici is warned of the arrival of Portuguese apostates from Catholicism who claim to be Jewish (1569)

Duke Cosimo I acquires antique medals from the Jew Jacobiglio in Venice (1561)

Francesco I seeks permission from Philip II of Spain to allow Levantine Jews to transship goods through Livorno, while furnishing secret intelligence on Turkish activity (1576)

Giorgio Dati in Antwerp makes elaborate plans for inducing rich Portuguese Jews to settle in Tuscany, after the Mendes family encounters legal difficulties in the Netherlands (1545)