172 Tasca
In another decree, on 13 January, the king also entrusted the secretaries
with judging los malsinos (informers, blasphemers, slanderers, etc.). In this
case, a Jewish expert in Jewish law—namely a supreme juez ( juez major or
court rabbi), appointed by the incumbent secretaries—had to confirm the
sentence.23 During the first period of enforcing the new rule, the king directly
appointed Bonjusas Bondavin to cover this tricky role. Jehudah ben David,
the rabbi doctor better known as Bonjusas Bondavin, had practiced the art of
medicine in his hometown of Marseilles between 1381 and 1389. Thanks to his
expertise, eruditus de industria sciencia plena que ipsius artis pericia multorum
fide dignorum testimonio (learned in the full knowledge of the industry, whose
skill in his art [was attested] by the faithful testimony of many worthy men),
he became the personal physician of Queen Maria of Provence. He moved to
Alghero in Sardinia in 1390 and a few years later became the rabbi of Cagliari’s
Jewish community. In 1397, he became Martin the Humane’s personal physi-
cian and was granted a license to practice medicine in Cagliari’s Castello and
anywhere else on the island.24 Moreover, reliable Jewish sources underline his
authority as a rabbi.25
Thus, Martin the Humane’s reform should be considered as a means of ob-
taining greater control within the Jewish community. This gave rise to a pre-
cise system that, since it was based on a democratic structure in the modern
sense of the word, allowed any of its members to assume a role in public office.
While the king’s interventions were indeed designed to safeguard social peace
and public order, they also attempted to protect the rights of all members of
society, especially those of the religious minorities. For this novel and unique
administrative and bureaucratic system to succeed, he would have needed
to count on his most skilled and trustworthy followers, such as the rab de la
Corte.26
7 The Juharias
During the fourteenth century, the Jews from Cagliari’s Castello, Alghero, and
Sassari came to form a sizeable and close-knit group of habitatores. As such
they were protected in every aspect of their private and legal lives, both by
common principles and by particular royal and local council privileges and
concessions. They were free to move around as they wished, despite the
23 Ibid., doc. DCCXXII.
24 Krasner, “Aspetti politici,” p. 180.
25 Ibid., pp. 181–182.
26 Ibid., p. 185.