Marriage and Networkbuilding

In eastern France Jewish marriages are well documented in the eighteenth century. Following a decree by Louis XIV in 1701 that Jewish marriage contracts had to be deposited with notaries within 15 days of marriage, these documents were registered with increasing frequency in the entire French-German region. Registration became generally obligatory in that time, so that we have large amounts of documents both for Christian as for Jews. Historians have never fully analyzed these files. Jean Fleury, who was prompted by genealogical interests, surveyed the 8500 items in the Metz archive, and compiled 2021 marriage contracts from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that were signed before the rabbinical authorities and deposited with a royal notary. Sometimes we have the Hebrew original, more often a translation or a shortened version of the whole text either in French or in German. The same applies to Alsace: More than 5000 Jewish marriage contracts and last wills have been deposited with royal notaries. This presentation is for the following text(s): Marriage Contract Between Abraham Jacob and Sara Kassell (1754