The Jazigo dos Judeus in Santarém is known through a fifteenth-century documentary reference connected to the city’s medieval Jewish community. In 1454, Mousem, described as a Jewish merchant and cavaleiro, and his wife D. Houro, both residents of the Judiaria of Santarém, made an exchange with the Convent of São Francisco.

A Jewish Burial Ground in the Record

Through this transaction, Mousem and D. Houro received from the convent a plot of land belonging to the lamp of the sacristy. The land was described as being near the adro and the jazigo dos judeus. In return, they gave the convent an olive grove in Monte de Corvos.

The document is important because it preserves a direct reference to a Jewish burial place in medieval Santarém. It also records Jewish residents by name, together with their property dealings and their legal interaction with a major Franciscan institution.

Mousem, D. Houro, and the Judiaria

The contract also names Jewish witnesses, including Abraão Mota and Jacob Celamim. These names place the transaction within the documented social world of the Judiaria of Santarém.

The record shows that members of the Jewish community could appear in formal property exchanges with Christian institutions. It also connects the community to landholding, urban property, and recognized legal practice in the town.

Location of the Jazigo dos Judeus

The exact location of the Jazigo dos Judeus has not been identified. The documentary reference links it to the surroundings of the Convent of São Francisco and its adro, within the wider geography of medieval Santarém and its Jewish community.