Bergamo, Italy
BERGAMO, city in northern Italy; ruled mainly by Venice between 1430 and 1797. Jewish moneylenders in Bergamo are mentioned in the 15th century. The anti-Jewish sermons preached there by the Franciscan Bernardino da *Feltre in 1479 led to the temporary expulsion of the Jews. By the beginning of the 16th century, Jews in Bergamo still owned houses and real estate. When Louis XII of France captured the city in 1509 the Jewish inhabitants were expelled, but they were permitted to return when it reverted to Venice in 1559. There has been no Jewish community in Bergamo in recent times.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Milano, Italia, 208, 277. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Antonucci, "Per la storia degli ebrei in Bergamo," in: Bergomum 15 (1941), 52–54.
[Umberto (Moses David) Cassuto]
Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.