Vincenzo Per La Gratia Di Dio Duca di Mantova & di Monferrato [proclamation regarding the Mantua Ghetto]

(ITALY)

December 24th

(Mantua)

1611

Woodcut crest of the Duchy of Mantua on recto of first leaf

The ghetto at Mantua was first conceived by Duke Vincenzo I in 1603. He began to put the plan into effect in 1610 and the community’s entry into the ghetto was to be completed by June 1611. In this proclamation, the Duke defines the daily regime in the ghetto. In particular, it contains details of the times of closing and opening of the ghetto gates; the penalties to be imposed upon Jews found violating these hours of confinement and instructions in regard to maintaining cleanliness within the Ghetto. The Duke also approved various dispensations permitting favored Jews to live outside the ghetto. The Mantuan community was the last of the large Italian communities to be confined to a ghetto. See S. Simonsohn, History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua (1977), pp. 39-44, 118-125