Culte israélite
Item
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Country
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FR
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Name of institution (English)
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Bordeaux Municipal Archives
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Language of name of institution
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fra
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Contact information: postal address
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Parvis des Archives, 33100, Bordeaux
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Contact information: phone number
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0033 (0)556102055
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Contact information: email
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archives@bordeaux-metropole.fr
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Reference number
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Bordeaux GG 842 to 853
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (English)
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Jewish religion
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Title (official language of the state)
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Culte israélite
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Language of title
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fra
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Creator / accumulator
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Nation portugaise de Bordeaux
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Date(s)
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1706/1793
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Language(s)
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fra
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por
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spa
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Extent
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12 storage units
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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The Culte israélite fonds comprises documentation concerning the registration of Jewish rites of the Portuguese nation (meaning, the Jews of Portuguese origin) of Bordeaux. It contains seven books with circumcision records (1750-93), one book with birth records (1738-92), another with death records (1739-92), and another one with marriage records (1775-92). The collection also contains two other books regarding the Jewish community of Avignon, containing registrations of births (1707-89) and burials (1711-92).
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Archival history
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The Archives Bordeaux Métropole preserve the documentation of Catholic and Protestant parishes and of the Jewish congregation of the city of Bordeaux from 1541 to 1793. Before being transferred to the municipal archives, these records were kept by the religious leaders of the congregations or parishes.
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(source: Archives Bordeaux Métropole website)
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The origins of the Portuguese "nação" (nation, community) of Bordeaux date back to shortly after the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian kingdoms in the late 15th century. Bordeaux was then an important commercial centre, and most of the Iberian New Christians (Jews converted to Christianity and their descendants) who settled in the city, mainly in the parishes of St. Eulalie and St. Eloy, were merchants. The growing importance of this community justified the decision of King Henry II (1519-59) to issue letters patent authorising them to take residence in any French town.
Judaism was not allowed in France, but the control was not strict enough to completely avoid the secret practice of Jewish rituals by New Christians who lived outwardly as Catholics. After 1710, the conditions changed, and New Christians began to profess Judaism more openly. A sign of this is the annotation found in some parish records that certain marriages of New Christians were performed in accordance with the rites of the Portuguese nation. However, the public profession of the Jewish religion was still forbidden.
On December 14, 1769, King Louis XV (1710-74) approved the status of the "Nation portugaise" of Bordeaux. In April 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the community appointed two representatives, Salomon Lopes Dubec (1743-?) and Abraham Furtado (1756-1817), to attend the Malesherbes committee, which evaluated possible reforms to be applied to the status of the Jews in France. Finally, on January 28, 1790, the States-General issued a decree granting citizenship to the Portuguese, Spanish, and Avignonese Jews. German Jews only received the same rights in September 1791.
A census of 1806 records 2,131 Jews living in Bordeaux, of whom 1,651 were of Spanish or Portuguese origin; 144 Avignonese; and 336 of German, Polish, or Dutch origin. On May 14, 1812, a large synagogue opened in Rue Causserouge, which was partly destroyed by fire in 1873. In the mid-19th century, Jewish institutions in Bordeaux included a school for boys and girls, a trade school, and a Talmud Torah. In the second half of the 19th century, many Jews sat on the general council of the department on the municipal council, and in the chamber of commerce. Adrien Léon was elected to the National Assembly in 1875.
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(source: Jewish Virtual Library)
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System of arrangement
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Records are organised by ritual type and chronology.
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Author of the description
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Kevin Soares, 2022
