Metadata: Notarial District of Figueres. Peralada
Collection
- Country:
- Spain
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archive of Girona
- Holding institution (official language):
- Arxiu Històric de Girona
- Postal address:
- Plaça de Sant Josep 1. 17004 - Girona
- Phone number:
- +34 972 225 500
- Web address:
- http://cultura.gencat.cat/arxius/ahg
- Email:
- ahg.cultura@gencat.cat
- Reference number:
- AHG170-395
- Title:
- Notarial District of Figueres. Peralada
- Title (official language):
- Districte notarial de Figueres. Peralada
- Creator/accumulator:
- Peralada Notary
- Date(s):
- 1282/1799
- Language:
- Latin
- Extent:
- 66.6 linear metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The Peralada notarial collection is a prominent fonds of the Notarial District of Figueres, due to its documentary volume and the antiquity of its documentation: the first preserved notarial book dates from 1282.
General logbooks provide sparse and diverse information about the presence of Jews in Peralada. One example would be the case of the notary Jaume Barraca, who has his general logbooks, that is, logbooks with diverse types of acts (sales, assignments, etc.), with information about Jews from the early fourteenth century. These records are especially interesting since they provide information on both a dispute between Jews (AHG, Pe 1584) and the privileges that Viscount Dalmau granted Vidal de Mercadell, Proençal de Mercadell and their families (AHG, Pe 7).
Among the logs and books of the 13th and 14th centuries, there are 29 libri iudeorum (Jews’ books) between 1326 and 1404, a series that highlights and provdes knowledge of the existence and activities of the Jews living in Peralada even though they were not a legally organized community.
The libri iudeorum are distributed as follows: Bernat Sunyer (1 volume, 1326-1327), Arnau Joan (4, 1339-1344), Ramon Ferrer (3, 1360-1388), Bartomeu de Bonpàs (2, 1369-1374), Pere Ricard (4, 1370-1387), Jaume d’Hospital (1, 1391), Pere Pellicer (1, 1409-1411), Guillem Campany (2, 1377-1384), Guillem Azemar (1, 1404) and unidentified (10, 1340-1401).
These books and logs include the Private Book of Momet Maimó, one of the main lenders of the Jewish community of Peralada (AHG Pe 1240), and the presence of many Jews of Castelló d’Empúries in various logbooks, such as the business book of Jews of the notary Guillem Campany (AHG Pe 122).
- Archival history:
- The Notarial Law promoted the concentration of fonds in the capitals of the Notarial Districts, and from 1862 the collection was preserved in Figueres. After Franco’s air strikes in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the fonds were transferred to Viladrau (Osona). After the War they were transferred to the Archive of the Crown of Aragon, where they remained until August 1952 when they entered the Provincial Historical Archive of Girona.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Peralada, administrative centre of the Viscounty of Rocabertí, had two notaries: that of the town of Peralada and its municipal district, and the notary of the Viscounty of Rocabertí. The documentation was concentrated in the same place, and the notaries were in the hands of the Viscount of Rocabertí, who had direct domain and ownership of the notary. The first references of notaries in Peralada are from the 13th century and are mentioned simply as public notaries of Peralada.
- System of arrangement:
- Classified by each notary’s term in office, within each period, the books are presented in order according to type. The units of each series are chronologically ordered.
- Access, restrictions:
- Unrestricted access regulated by the current legal environment on access to historical archives (law 16/1985 of Spanish Historical Patrimony and Catalan law 10/2001 of archives and documents). The state of conservation of the volume may advise the exclusion of consultation in certain cases.
- Finding aids:
- The archive has catalogues of notes, notaries and general notarial indices. Data are available on the website of the regional archives of Catalonia.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://arxiusenlinia.cultura.gencat.cat/ArxiusEnLinia/
- Yerusha Network member:
- Spanish National Research Council
- Author of the description:
- Irene Llop Jordana; UVic-UCC; May 2021