THE structure of the medieval Crown of Aragon profoundly affected the intercommunal institutions of the Jews. The various components of the realm remained independent units, although governed by one ruler, and that ruler's status and title were different in each of the component regions. In practically every field-language, culture, society, economy, coinage, judiciary, administration, and demography-Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, and Roussillon remained distinct throughout the period. Although the boundaries between these territories did not constitute an obstacle to the development of various general trends in Jewish life across the territories of the Crown, local characteristics impressed their mark on the structure of Jewish autonomy, and necessarily on inter-communal organizations. Instead of a permanent structure for the Jews of the entire Crown, there emerged a different organizational framework for the communities in each state of the Crown; the three major states, Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia, will be examined here in turn.

THE CATALAN ALJAMAS

The communities of Catalonia constituted the most important unit of Jewry within the Crown of Aragon. Despite the scarcity of the sources, there is evidence that already during the reign of Jaime I the Catalan communities formed a unit distinct from the rest. Under Pedro III the Jews of Catalonia were treated as one body in various fields. The constitution issued at the end of July 1280 offered a uniform system of communal government to all the Jews of Catalonia. With certain limitations, this constitution was confirmed by Jaime II in 1297. In a series of charters issued by Pedro III on the very same day as the constitution, Catalan Jews obtained privileges and guarantees in judicial and financial matters. Both Pedro III and Alfonso III granted all the Catalan communities charters that regulated their financial and commercial life. During the reign of Pedro III Catalan Jews appear as a distinct group enjoying their own privileges and represented by their own delegates at meetings of all the Jews of the Crown. Jaime II confirmed the judicial rights of Catalan Jews that had been granted by Jaime I and Pedro IIl.

All the aljamas and Jewish settlements in the collectas of Barcelona, Gerona, Lerida, and Tortosa formed part of Catalan Jewry, although the exact list of constituent communities was not definitive throughout the period.