Encyclopedia Judaica:
Cluny, France

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CLUNY (Heb. קלינו), town near Mâcon, central France. Although there were no Jews residing in medieval Cluny, those living in the region, notably in *Chalon-sur-Saône , had transactions with the famous abbey of Cluny, lending money to it to ensure the security of religious objects. *Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny (d. 1156), opposed the practice, and the Statutes of Cluny of 1301 expressly forbade borrowing from Jews. Nathan b. Joseph *Official took part in a religious *disputation with the abbot of Cluny. During another disputation in Cluny, in 1254, the Jewish speaker was killed by a Christian knight.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Gross, Gal Jud, 594; G. Duby, La société … dans la région mâconnaise (1953), 401, 485; Bulletin des travaux historiques et philologiques (1892), 385, 393.

[Bernhard Blumenkranz]

Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

 

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