La conversione come una sconfitta o come possibile mezzo di resilienza? Qualche esempio in Italia centrale

This paper addresses the issue of late medieval conversions in central-northern Italy. I try to show that conversion should not always be considered (only) a defeat for the Jews. I present here three cases, different from each other: the first concerns the area of the Duchy of Urbino, the second Volterra and the third the Renaissance Tuscany. The first case concerns a Jew who after his conversion became the “negotiorum gestor” of Count Federico da Montefeltro, managing to maintain close contacts with his family of origin, often intervening in matters such as marriages and sales. The second case concerns some members of the Da Volterra family, and in particular the conversions of the offsprings of the famous Jewish traveler Meshullam ben Menachem Da Volterra. In particular, his son Emanuele after the conversion was placed at the direction of the local “Monte di Pietà”. The third case concerns a woman, who succeeded through conversion to get rid of an unwelcome husband, and to marry the man (a Christian) she fell in love with.