The wills of Goig, a Jewish woman from Girona who lived in Vic

Abstract

In the early days of the Jewish community of Vic, one of its most notable figures was Goig, a Jewish woman from Girona. She arrived in Vic a few years after her sister, Regina, had taken up residence there. Like Regina, Goig established herself in Vic with her husband, sons and daughters. She dominated the credit market in the mid 13th century. While she was a major moneylender, her husband, David Canviador, was a money changer. The abundant notarial documentation about Vic’s Jewish community includes just two wills, both of them made by Goig. This article looks back at her life, analyses her wills, and offers an insight into the Latin wills of Catalan Jewish women. The first of Goig’s wills, from 1266, details her legacies to her sons, daughters and granddaughter, and includes the condition that her husband not remarry. The second, from 1283, written when she was ill, is quite different and instructs her husband to distribute her property among their sons and daughters. Goig’s will is the oldest published will of a Catalan Jewish woman studied to date. Latin wills had full validity among Jews, as well as in Christian courts, and are evidence of the society’s acculturation.