Sixteenth-Century Judeo-Spanish Testimonies

This book consists of a previously unidentified corpus of literature that contains an edition of eighty-four testimonies of the sixteenth-century responsa. An overview of the responsa literature in the relevant context and aspects of Ottoman Jewish life are discussed. The author describes the merit of the Judeo-Spanish testimonies in terms of the insight they offer into the society, economy, religion and responsa literature of sixteenth-century Ottoman Jewry. The study of these texts from a linguistic perspective constitutes the main aim of the book yet the result is a valuable and intriguing source of texts that should generate further study in fields of linguistics, Sephardic Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Jewish Studies whether cultural, historical or legal. ...this book is an important resource for linguists, social scientists, scholars of Jewish culture and law, women studies and obviously for Sephardic studies, with special reference to the Ottoman period. Rachel Simon, Princeton University