Overview

In A Stake in the Ground, Michael Schraer explores the economic functions of real estate amongst the Jews of the medieval crown of Aragon. He challenges the view of medieval Jews as primarily money-lenders and merchants, finding compelling evidence for extensive property trading and investment. Jews are found as landlords to Christian tenants, transferring land in dowries, wills and gifts. Property holdings were often extremely valuable. For some, property was a major part of their asset portfolios. Whilst many property transactions were linked to the credit boom, land also acted as a liquid and tradeable investment asset in its own right. This is a key contribution to the economic history of medieval Iberia and of medieval Jews. See inside the book.

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In this excellent work, Schraer enjoins us to challenge more vigorously the erroneous notion that Jews were simply financiers who sat the margins of medieval society. As property owners and investors who knew how to utilize property for a range of investment goals, Jews were, in fact, deeply integrated into the core fabric of medieval society . Jennifer Speed, in The Medieval Review, 20.10.10 Click here.

Author Information

Michael Schraer, Ph.D. (2016), Cambridge, is an economist and economic historian researching Iberian Jews. He has published on the merchant, financier and rentier, Salamon Abnarrabi, and a chapter on Jewish mortgage lending in Briggs and Zuijderduijn (eds.), Land and Credit (2018).

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