Lot 234
Juan II, King of Aragon (1398-1479). Two documents signed "Yo El Rey" [I The King], concerning taxes on the Jews: 1. Zaragosa, April 20, 1469, 11¾ x 11 in., to his "beloved counselor" Mossen Joan Gonçalez. The king having previously given him a grant (gracia) of 2000 sueldos from the revenues of the Jewry of Almuñia de Dona Godiña, Gonçalez, apparently in some financial trouble, is given permission to trade or even sell the grant, if he wishes. 2. Barcelona, August 29, 1477, 8¾ x 11¾ in. Juan to his councils and officials, including the bailiff (bayle) of the Jewry of Almuñia de Dona Godiña. By this time Joan Gonçalez's grant had been reduced from 2000 to 1500 sueldos, at the request of Prince Alfonso, Juan II's son. The Jews were to pay the money in two equal installments, on June 24 and December 25. The bailiff and officials were ordered to proceed against the Jews if they refused to pay.
The true reason for the issue of the 1477 document may be a decline in the economic state of the small Jewish community in the last years of Juan II. Restrictions were being imposed on the Jews in neighboring Castile by Juan's son Ferdinand and his wife Isabella I of Castile. Their marriage in 1469 united Spain under one royal house, but as "Los Reyes Católicos" ("The Catholic Monarchs,"), the title given them by the pope for their religious fervor), they oversaw the expulsion of the Jews and the Moors from Spain in 1492, the same year they sponsored Columbus' first trip to the New World.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
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| Realized $1,650 |
