Medical history of Malta / [Paul Cassar].

  • Paul Cassar
Date:
1964 [i.e. 1965]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Medical history of Malta / [Paul Cassar]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    40/632 page 16
    In medieval Jewish life the practice of medicine was frequently combined with the performance of certain religious duties. Thus the Rabbi who was the spiritual head of the Jewish community was very often a physician. Hence we find the physician Braccone Safaradi of Gozo acting as deputy of the Chief Rabbi of Malta in 1446. Abraham Safaradi was Rabbi in 1485 and as such he was given preference over any other Jew in the Maltese Islands in matters pertaining to medical practice and the interpretation of the Jewish law.21 In later years another important and more lucrative office was added to that of the Rabbinate. This was the post of notary of the Jews. The person filling this post had to possess a good knowledge of Jewish law. As this qualification was possessed by the Rabbi it is not surprising that sometimes the latter was made to assume also the office of notary. Such a combination prevailed in Malta in 1492 when the physicians Abraham Saba and Abraham Safaradi were appointed notaries22 so that towards the end of the fifteenth century the physician in Malta was an adept not only in the art of medicine but also in Jewish religion and law. We can now build up a picture of the daily life of the Maltese-Jewish doctor in the Middle Ages. He lived at Mdina which was then the capital city of the Island. As Rabbi he had to attend the synagogue where his devotions would occasionally be disturbed by the rabble of the city who did not scruple to break the doors, smash the lamp of the synagogue and even throw stones at the congregation.23 Every now and then he had the sad duty of accompanying the remains of one of his co-religionists to the Jewish cemetery which was outside the bastions of Mdina. More often he would be called to visit the sick in Mdina and Rabat and in other parts of the Island as well. After his rounds he had his notarial duties to attend to when members of the Jewish community would call on him to draw up contracts and to seek legal advice on matters pertaining to business and family affairs. While on the continent of Europe the relationship between Jew and Christian was not always a happy one, in Malta the Jews were relatively well treated except for some restrictions imposed upon them towards the close of the fifteenth century. The Jewish doctors were respected more than their co-religionists who were engaged in commerce. The surgeon Xema was particularly liked by the citizens of Mdina.24 However, in spite of this deference shown to them, the Jewish doctors, like other members of their race, were compelled to wear the badge prescribed by the Lateran Council of 1215 and enforced by the Emperor Frederick II in 1221. This badge consisted of a wheel-shaped piece of red cloth and special custodians were appointed to see that this regulation was obeyed. The feelings of hostility towards the Jews which on the continent had been mounting gradually during the fifteenth century reached their climax in 1492 when the edict ordering their expulsion from the Kingdom 21 Lagumina, B. G., Codice diplomatic dei giudei in Sicilia, 1844, vol. ii, p. 358. 22 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 566. 23 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 569. 24 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 398.
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