THE MIQVE IN THE MEDIEVAL CROWN OF ARAGON

THE miqve or ritual bath was an essential institution of medieval Jewish life. Though the archeological remains are minimal and the documentary evidence is limited, it seems from a consideration of the halakhic discussions by local rabbis that ritual baths must have existed in many Jewish communities in the Crown of Aragon. For some communities, the information on their miqve is no earlier than the year of their liquidation following the expulsion of 1492.

If a community as small as Besalu had its miqve, it can be safely assumed that it was found in most communities. In December 1964 the first miqve in the Iberian peninsula was discovered in Besalú. In 1977 it was finally opened to the public after being restored. This miqve, which is near the Fluvia river, is a thirteenthcentury romanesque building. In the absence of a nearby river or underground water, in some places the miqve was built on the roof of a building so that rainwater could be used more efficiently.

It is difficult to ascertain whether Jewish baths referred to in some sources were ritual or ordinary baths, or both. Such were the Jewish baths of Saragossa, which provided a substantial revenue to the city. In 1266 Jaime I assigned the revenues of the following two years for the construction of a great bridge over the Ebro. It is possible that these Jewish baths were a miqve, since from other sources we understand that various communities had their miqve in the compound of the public bath. The Jews of Saragossa used the city's baths for their regular needs. In the late 1280s there was an attempt to prevent the Jews from using the Christian baths.

JEWS AND PUBLIC BATHS

In several cities the Jews operated or owned public baths. In 1160 Ramón Berenguer IV, the Count of Barcelona, authorized the alfachin Abram to establish a public bath in a garden in Barcelona. The count was to receive two-thirds of the income, while Abram was to keep the other third. In 1199 Pedro II gave his two-thirds share to Guillem Durfort, who had bought the third part from the children of Bonastruch Alfaquim, apparently Abram's son. The bath, which was near the Castell Nou, was not far from the call and had many Jews among its customers.