Bondavin revisité. Le prêteur juif de Marseille Bondavin de Draguignan (ca 1285–1361 ), suite et fin

Abstract

Bondavin revisited : Bondavin de Draguignan, Jewish moneylender of Marseille (c. 1285–1361) – further analysis and conclusions Bondavin de Draguignan (c. 1285–1361), a Jewish citizen of Marseille, managed to climb the heights of urban society thanks to credit, maritime trade, and his real estate holdings. He exemplifies J. Shatzmiller’s concept of “Shylock reconsidered” and enables further analysis of Jewish credit in Marseille. Bondavin, a scion from a family with deep roots in Marseille and heir to an accumulated and compact property inheritance, is a reliable witness. His financial partnerships demonstrate forms of cooperation that transcended community boundaries. His lending activities, which brought him prestige and high repute, were supported by a network of loans advanced to major Christian businessmen in Marseille, thus contributing indirectly to the financing of Angevin expansionism. Emphasis is placed on Bondavin’s symbolic dimension, as Jewish usury was a good match for the moral economy it shared with the urban Christian upper classes.