History of the Jews of Provence
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through the Cavaillon synagogue
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 At the end of the 14th century, in 1394, the Jewish communities, expelled frm the French kingdom, took refuge in the Comtat Venaissin, an independent state belonging to the papacy from the 13th to the 18th century.
They were called "the Pope's Jews" by the local population, because they were dependent upon the Pope as their host, but the Pope's tolerance was relative :
In the 15th century, the Jews of Cavaillon were forced to live in a ghetto of a few streets ("carriero" in Provençal), closed each evening for the night.
In the 17th century, with the Counter-Reformation, this measure intensified. Exclusion, insecurity, promiscuity and hygiene problems were part of every day life for the inhabitants. |
The humiliations were many for this small community, neighbour of a few kilometers to those of Carpentras, Avignon, and Isle sur la Sorgue, other ghettos. If the right to their religion and to self-government was recognized, Jewish men were obligated to wear a yellow hat when they went out. They had to pay particualr taxes. They also had to listen to Christian sermons calling on them to convert, etc. Only professions authorized by the Pope were open to them. The inhabitants of the carrières thus specialized in the rag trade and moneylending.
Excluded from the rest of society, the carrière organized itself. It had its rules and its leader. Life revolved around the synagogue, the place where prayers, education and meetings took place.
The carrières were only abolished after the French Revolution, in 1790-1791. The synagogue in Cavaillon is the only truly preserved testimony to the life shared in these carrières.
Discover a part of the history of the Jews of Provence through the Cavaillon Synagogue. |
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© Photo : José Nicolas
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History of the Jews of Provence |
Synagogue de Cavaillon
Rue Hébraïque - 52 place Castil Blaze
- 84300 Cavaillon
Phone : +33 (0)4 90 76 00
34 / Fax : +33 (0)4 90 71 47 06
Official website of the town of Cavaillon
: www.cavaillon.com
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