Saint-Esprit
Item
-
Country
-
FR
-
Name of institution (English)
-
Landes Departmental Archives
-
Language of name of institution
-
fra
-
Contact information: postal address
-
25, place du 6e RPIMA, 40000 Mont-de-Marsan
-
Contact information: phone number
-
0033 0558857520
-
Reference number
-
IV B. 300 to 460
-
Type of reference number
-
Archival reference number
-
Title (English)
-
Saint-Esprit
-
Title (official language of the state)
-
Saint-Esprit
-
Language of title
-
fra
-
Creator / accumulator
-
Saint-Esprit district
-
Date(s)
-
1733/1790
-
Language(s)
-
fra
-
Extent
-
160 storage units
-
Type of material
-
Textual Material
-
Scope and content
-
The Saint-Esprit fonds is part of the Cours et juridictions fonds (B), and it comprises documentation related to justice administration in the Saint-Esprit district of Bayonne. It includes registers of hearings, civil and criminal proceedings, documentation on curatorships and acts of emancipation, among others. Some of these documents are related to the Portuguese Jewish community based in this Bayonne district. An example is the correspondence on economic affairs exchanged between Aarão Gomes Rebelo, established in Bayonne, and Jaime de Londres from London, in 1767 and 1768 ("Correspondances de juges Portugais" (Correspondence of Portuguese judges), IV B 376).
-
Archival history
-
The fonds prior to the Revolution in the Archives départementales des Landes are not numerous. Due to the English domination over the region for three centuries, many collections are kept in London. Moreover, the documents have suffered significant destruction over the centuries, particularly at the beginning of the 19th century and during the Wars of Religion.
-
(source: Archives départementales des Landes website)
-
Administrative / Biographical history
-
The first Jewish settlement in Bayonne was in the suburb of Saint-Esprit, where mostly immigrants of Spanish and Portuguese origin settled early in the 16th century. In 1550, they were granted rights of residence as New Christians, benefiting from a generally favourable context until 1636, when several New Christian families were expelled from Bayonne.
From the middle of the 17th century, the Bayonne community organised a congregation, the Nefuẓot Yehudah ("The Dispersed of Judah"). Their cemetery was established in 1660.
New relevant changes took place in 1723 when the authorisation to observe Judaism openly was officially recognised in France. At the beginning of the 18th century, the community numbered 700, and 3,500 in 1753. Then, the community was connected with smaller communities in Bidache, Peyrehorade, and other towns in the vicinity.
Despite facing some opposition, the Jews participated in the elections to the States-General in 1789, and they were recognised as French citizens in 1790.
In the Napoleonic period, the community benefited from the city's increasing prosperity. In 1837, a new synagogue was built. The Jewish population, nevertheless, fell to 1,293 in 1844, and by 1926 had decreased to 45 families.
After the Franco-German armistice in June 1940, Bayonne became an important reference to Jewish refugees, particularly from Belgium and Luxembourg. The official police census of March 15, 1942, registered 308 Jewish families.
In April 1943, almost all Jews in Bayonne and the surrounding district were forcibly evacuated. After the war, the community was slowly reestablished, with about 120 families living in the city in 1960. With the arrival of immigrants from North Africa, the Jewish community more than doubled. Thus, in 1969, there were nearly 700 Jews living in Bayonne.
-
Sources:
-
Virtual Jewish Library
-
Office de Tourisme de Bayonne
-
System of arrangement
-
The archives are subject to the current organisation of municipal fonds. Documents are divided into two chronologies (before and after 1790) and divided into types of documents, which are represented by different alphanumeric archival codes. Series are organized chronologically.
-
Access, restrictions
-
The documents were microfilmed. The microfilms can be consulted in the reading room under the numbers 1 MI 11 (sub-series 1 B) and 1 MI 12 (sub-series 2 B).
-
Author of the description
-
Kevin Soares, 2023
