THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ABATTOIR

ONE of the most fundamental ingredients of religious autonomy enjoyed by the Jews throughout the medieval world was their right to slaughter animals for their consumption in accordance with the prescribed Jewish ritual. A special place had to be allocated for this purpose in every Jewish community. The abattoir in the Crown of Aragon was not necessarily for exclusive Jewish use at all times. Depending on the amount of meat consumption, the place was reserved for the Jews’ shehitah at certain times. In this and similar cases the Jews shared the slaughterhouse with Christians or Muslims. Sometimes the meat was also sold there, but often there were butchers who provided the meat to the consumers.

There was no community in the Crown of Aragon that was prevented from providing kasher meat to its members. With the establishment of a new Jewish community, the right to slaughter and therefore the provision of a suitable place to do so were invariably included among its basic rights. When in 1320 the Infante Alfonso decided to set up a Jewish aljama in the town of Alcolea de Cinca and invited Jews to settle there, he permitted the Jews to slaughter their animals in the Christian abattoir. In 1267 Jaime I permitted the Jews of the royal part of Montpellier to buy buildings where they could establish their own slaughterhouse. For this privilege, the Jews had to pay 60 s every Christmas.

The occasional confirmations of the Jews’ right to continue their slaughter and sale of kasher meat in the places they were accustomed to use seems to indicate that there were some who challenged this right and created problems for Jewish meat consumption. Such difficulties were frequent where the Jews used the Christians’ abattoir and meat market. In Barcelona, Valencia, and Majorca, Jaime I had to confirm the Jews’ right to slaughter and sell their animals in the city's Christian abattoirs. Pedro III ordered his officials in Montblanch and Tarragona to ensure that the municipal authorities of Tarragona did not fine the Jews for slaughtering animals in the town's meat market.