‘The Jew Who Made Me’: The Catalan Atlas and the Concept of the “Port Jew”

Amalya Feldman, PhD candidate, University of Toronto

The Catalan Atlas was a world map created around 1375 by a Jew living on the island of Mallorca in the western Mediterranean. By analyzing the features of the atlas, we can begin to understand the culture of the Jewish community in the medieval Mediterranean port city of Palma di Mallorca as an example of the diverse communities in which “Port Jews” lived.