Benedictus’ Summer’s Night Dream: The Journey of a Jew from Barcelona to Chios (1391–1404)

Abstract

This article is the fruit of exceptional circumstances that brought together two scholars working on late medieval notarial documents from opposite sides of the Mediterranean, one looking at the role of women in the Greek island of Chios, the other at the Jewish community of Barcelona. Discussing some curious records involving a Jew operating in Chios in 1404 led to the discovery that the name was also present in notarial records of Barcelona from 1387 to 1392. The coincidence and unusual nature of the documents prompted the unravelling of the intriguing circumstances in the life of Benedictus de Ologar presented in the following pages.