Els murs fràgils dels calls. Jueus i jueves dels Països Catalans

There’s images relative to the jews, consecrated both by the historiography tradition as well as the hostle literature, hard to corner. That of the repeated usury is that with the strongest force, accompanied by one of passive subject, eternal victim of history, wich displays life in closed communities, with scarce contacts beyond the walls that encircle them. Ferran Garcia-Oliver, with this book, product of twenty-five years of research, tries to break that wich are nothing more than accomodated subjects using material documents wich shed light upon the viscititudes of the ordinary life. The jew comunities weren’t only dedicated to loans, they were defined by the fights for the power of the mosques, the verbal and phisical violence did great damage and also remained open to a part of contacts in the christian community wich dipped into the circles of transactions and businesses and were materialized in a “social market”, included the sexual one. Neglegting the latent hate, wich led to the tragedy of the avalots in 1391, would be absurd, but the secular coexistance between jews and christians was much more complex and often made with pragmatic criterias in order to do it more tolerable and beneficial. The understanding was formed upon the “tolerance” of the triumphant christianism, wich allowed the others from a supremacy guaranteed by the strength of arms, the legislative corpus and the judicial order. With everything, the separating walls were fragile and even non-existant, with the reason that in many places they lived merged without any repugnance.

Ferran Garcia-Oliver is a writer and a historian. He has the PhD in medieval history by the University of Valencia, he heas written a numerous articles and books of investigation, among wich shine Terra de Feudals, El País Valencià en la tardor de l’Edat Mitjana (1991), Cisternes del País Valencià. El monestir de Vallldigna, 1298-1530 (1998), Ausias Marc (2009), La biografia del poeta, and The Valley of the Six Mosques. Life and Work in the Medieval Valldigna (2012), the english translation of La vall de les sis mesquites. El treball i la vida a la Valldigna medieval (2003). His literary work revolves around voyages and diaries: Oc, París particular, Per espaiar la malenconia. With El vaixell de Genseric he won the XVII Essay Prize Carles Rahola (2006) and with the Valencians sense ADN. Relats dels orígens, The October Essay Prize Joan Fuster 2015. He has also published the novels La veu d’Odiló and La melodia del desig, with wich he obtained the Narrative Prize Alfons the Magnanimous (2013). He’s a member of the council of writing in the magazine L’espill.