15. Ship and caravan cargo from Syria to Genoa

16. Cargo from Alexandria (Egypt)

17. Register of foreign exchange operations and transfers of Francesco di Marco Datini and his partners in Barcelona

18. Chief accountant Matthäus Schwarz writes to Veit Hörl in Spain. Handwritten entry in the ‘common trade’ copy book (1524–34)

19. Tariffe Mercantili del Levante

20. ‘Re della China’. Compendio di geografia e statistica.

21. Book of accounts and exchange charges marked ‘A’, Del Vernaccia & Arrighi trading firm (1637–39)

22. Merchant’s declaration of the current exchange rates between Dutch and Smirnese coins

23. Journal of the deputation of the ship La Santissima Concezione captained by Sebastien Gay of Marseille

24. Attestatie (general witness testimony) notarial deed, drafted by notary Daniel Bredan

25. Contract between merchant Antonio de Lespaul and Jan Brouwer

26. Transaction for the purchase of silk for export abroad

27. Letter from Hernando de Morales in Lisbon, to Simón Ruiz in Medina del Campo

28. Royal Warrant from the infanta and regent, Juana de Austria

29. Inventarium mercium raubarum recuperatarum a navi naufragato in hoc portu, patronigiata per Joannem Fure

30. An inventory of the brigantino of Antonio Gusman with one bill of lading

31. Register of expenses and profits involved in the maintenance and furnishing of a ship for use in a court appeal

32. Trade fair notebook. Medina del Campo, 17 June 1584 to 7 August 1586

33. Novi Fair scrapbook or blotter (1641–42)

03. Letter in Hebrew

Archivio di Stato di Prato: Datini
cod. 1501, busta 1174.
SENDER: Abram Desforn, Raymond Ballester Desforn after his conversion
ADDRESSEE: Francesco di Marco Datini
PLACE OF DEPARTURE: Barcelona
PLACE OF ARRIVAL: Florence

This Hebrew document is signed by another Hispanic Jewish convert, whose original name appears to have been Abram Desforn, Raymond Ballester Desforn after his conversion. In this highly emotional letter, Abram describes himself as ‘dispoiled and nude’ and addresses a powerful personage whose assistance he earnestly begs for the restitution of his property. These possessions (which include a coffer and a caratello, i.e., a wooden cask or container) had been deposited by Abram’s nephew, Johan Roure (olim Samuel Desforn), with a certain ‘honourable’ Niccolò del Monaca in Pisa, some four years earlier. He requests the restitution of this property through another person, whose name is Johan Shefardi. The second part of the letter suggests that some other property had been deposited with the addressee a few years before, and Abram expresses his gratitude to him for not having sold it without his prior consent. He provides a short inventory of the goods which he is trying to recover through the administrators of his addressee with a view to having them delivered to another contact who goes by the name of Francesco di Padova. These goods include, inter alia, coral, saffron, a copy of the Sefer Ha’ibbur (a treatise on the calendar by Abraham Ibn Ezra), a Hebrew book of law (Sefer Dinin) bound in wooden boards covered in red leather, a megillah (i.e., a scroll) with a wooden yad (a pointer, used by the reader to follow the text during the reading of the Torah), as well as other books and writing instruments. The back of the document bears the names of two Italian merchants, partners of Datini in his company in Pisa (Matteo di Miniato and Guccio di Guccio) who frequently acted as Datini’s contacts with his business branch in Barcelona. This Guccio di Guccio must have been either the same individual, or a member of the same family involved in the shipping of Arnau’s books.
Like the two previous documents, this letter tells a story of deprivation and exile, confirmed by the fact that Abram and his nephew Johan are mentioned in a document dating from 1392 as part of a list of Jewish converts who demanded the restitution of the goods that had been taken from them during the assault on the Jewish district in Barcelona in the summer of 1391. It would appear, therefore, that Abram and Johan recovered some of their property in Barcelona sometime around 1392 or maybe later, and that they succeeded in having it sent to Italy, which is why the former was now pleading with the merchant of Prato to get it back. This unfortunately undated letter proves that Abram’s situation was rather more desperate than that of Arnau, who was at least able to manage to recover his many books and find refuge in Italy, as proven by document no. 2. Maybe Abram did eventually succeed in recovering his property through the mediation of the Datini company and its logistics networks. The letter suggests that at any rate his nephew Johan was already in Italy, and able to receive part of the property. We do not know the end of their story – at least not yet, for the research on these individuals and these documents is ongoing – but whatever happened, before Abram could feel safe again, in exile and in possession of his recovered property, he had to suffer an emotionally charged period of great distress and loss.

(José María Pérez Fernández and José Ramón Ayaso Martínez)

15. Ship and caravan cargo from Syria to Genoa

16. Cargo from Alexandria (Egypt)

17. Register of foreign exchange operations and transfers of Francesco di Marco Datini and his partners in Barcelona

18. Chief accountant Matthäus Schwarz writes to Veit Hörl in Spain. Handwritten entry in the ‘common trade’ copy book (1524–34)

19. Tariffe Mercantili del Levante

20. ‘Re della China’. Compendio di geografia e statistica.

21. Book of accounts and exchange charges marked ‘A’, Del Vernaccia & Arrighi trading firm (1637–39)

22. Merchant’s declaration of the current exchange rates between Dutch and Smirnese coins

23. Journal of the deputation of the ship La Santissima Concezione captained by Sebastien Gay of Marseille

24. Attestatie (general witness testimony) notarial deed, drafted by notary Daniel Bredan

25. Contract between merchant Antonio de Lespaul and Jan Brouwer

26. Transaction for the purchase of silk for export abroad

27. Letter from Hernando de Morales in Lisbon, to Simón Ruiz in Medina del Campo

28. Royal Warrant from the infanta and regent, Juana de Austria

29. Inventarium mercium raubarum recuperatarum a navi naufragato in hoc portu, patronigiata per Joannem Fure

30. An inventory of the brigantino of Antonio Gusman with one bill of lading

31. Register of expenses and profits involved in the maintenance and furnishing of a ship for use in a court appeal

32. Trade fair notebook. Medina del Campo, 17 June 1584 to 7 August 1586

33. Novi Fair scrapbook or blotter (1641–42)