Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Jewish Languedoc

Still thinking about the Montpellier controversy, I became curious about what that Jewish community was like. The first thing I was curious about was the size of these kehillot. Here is what Benjamin of Tudela reports from his visits to the area about 150 years prior.

Narbonne - 300 Jews (I assume he means households)
Lunel - 300 Jews
Posquières - 40 Jews
Bourg de St. Gilles - 100 Jews
Marseilles - 300 Jews

The total population of Montpellier was around 30 to 40 thousand people, so the Jews seem to be a fairly small part of the community.

Here is a map of the area:

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