the floor and throw her apron over her head. She turned to Gregorio, who rapidly crossed his breast as his lips muttered a prayer. Puzzled, not understanding, Simonetta turned back to Oderigo.
‘Manodorata? Who is he? Can he help me?’
‘He can help you, Lady.’
‘Then why do you all shrink? What manner of man is he? Am I to petition the Devil himself?’
Oderigo would not meet her eyes this time. ‘Very like, my Lady. He is a Jew.’
CHAPTER 7
Manodorata
There was a star cut into the door. A curious star with six points, designed as if two triangles had been offset, rotated to leave their points exposed. Simonetta had never seen such a thing, and for a moment her fears left her to be replaced by curiosity as her fingers traced the deep grooves in the heavy oaken door. She might have felt much at this moment, for since her interview with Oderigo Beccaria that very morning she had been given much to think about. She had had to endure the voices of her maid and squire, combined in chorus to condemn the man who lived in this house, and all his race.
Simonetta had ever been a religious girl – she had been devout until this last month when she had stayed away from Santa Maria dei Miracoli. She told herself that she had been absent from the church because she grieved too greatly for Lorenzo, that she was too occupied with the economies of her household, even that she hated God for taking her husband. She never admitted, even to herself, that she wasafraid of seeing him again.
Simonetta had no intention of turning her back on God forever. It was only that she could not think of him, not praise him, just now. She felt she had little to give thanks for, and much to pray for, but she felt that the Lord had done with listening to her. But according to her servants, she now stood in danger of losing her Christian soul forever, just by consorting with a Jew.
Never had she heard such condemnation, such censure. Never had she heard such bitter words fall from the lips of her beloved maid, and her mild-mannered squire. For the Jews were apparently demons. The men were warlocks, the women witches. They were hideously deformed, as a punishment for the death of Christ, for which they were directly responsible. The genitals for both men and women were the same – they could not mate as God intended, nor give birth in the natural way; but spat their babes from their mouths in bloody sacs. They drank blood and feasted on the flesh of Christian babes. They could not feel the warmth of the sun and walked in darkness but never in daylight. They were skilled in the dark arts and could bewitch and curse good Christians until they sickened and died. They used their arts to accrue great wealth, which they bled from good God fearing folk.
This then, was what Simonetta was to expect. But there was more. The man she was to visit, to plead for money, was the worst of the lot. He was a creature of darkness indeed.He had the face of a Devil and the body of a bear. He spoke in an evil tongue and took the livelihoods of good hardworking men and women. And he literally wore his wealth on his sleeve, for he had a golden hand (‘solid gold!’ said Raffaella) which had the power to kill at a touch. This member had given him the name by which he was known: ‘ Manodorata’ or ‘golden hand’. Better to quit the house altogether than to feed Castello with his bloody gold. Even if he helped them the place would be ruined in a matter of months anyway, because of the usurious practices of the Jews that were strictly banned in the Bible. The interest would be crippling.
So said Raffaella and Gregorio as they pleaded with their mistress not to put herself in the clutches of the Jew. And yet she knew she had to go. She would not know how to leave Castello, to start again. Where could she go? What could she do? The plague had taken her family, and Lorenzo’s too. And besides, as she made her way to Jews’ Street in Saronno she began to feel strongly
‘Manodorata? Who is he? Can he help me?’
‘He can help you, Lady.’
‘Then why do you all shrink? What manner of man is he? Am I to petition the Devil himself?’
Oderigo would not meet her eyes this time. ‘Very like, my Lady. He is a Jew.’
CHAPTER 7
Manodorata
There was a star cut into the door. A curious star with six points, designed as if two triangles had been offset, rotated to leave their points exposed. Simonetta had never seen such a thing, and for a moment her fears left her to be replaced by curiosity as her fingers traced the deep grooves in the heavy oaken door. She might have felt much at this moment, for since her interview with Oderigo Beccaria that very morning she had been given much to think about. She had had to endure the voices of her maid and squire, combined in chorus to condemn the man who lived in this house, and all his race.
Simonetta had ever been a religious girl – she had been devout until this last month when she had stayed away from Santa Maria dei Miracoli. She told herself that she had been absent from the church because she grieved too greatly for Lorenzo, that she was too occupied with the economies of her household, even that she hated God for taking her husband. She never admitted, even to herself, that she wasafraid of seeing him again.
Simonetta had no intention of turning her back on God forever. It was only that she could not think of him, not praise him, just now. She felt she had little to give thanks for, and much to pray for, but she felt that the Lord had done with listening to her. But according to her servants, she now stood in danger of losing her Christian soul forever, just by consorting with a Jew.
Never had she heard such condemnation, such censure. Never had she heard such bitter words fall from the lips of her beloved maid, and her mild-mannered squire. For the Jews were apparently demons. The men were warlocks, the women witches. They were hideously deformed, as a punishment for the death of Christ, for which they were directly responsible. The genitals for both men and women were the same – they could not mate as God intended, nor give birth in the natural way; but spat their babes from their mouths in bloody sacs. They drank blood and feasted on the flesh of Christian babes. They could not feel the warmth of the sun and walked in darkness but never in daylight. They were skilled in the dark arts and could bewitch and curse good Christians until they sickened and died. They used their arts to accrue great wealth, which they bled from good God fearing folk.
This then, was what Simonetta was to expect. But there was more. The man she was to visit, to plead for money, was the worst of the lot. He was a creature of darkness indeed.He had the face of a Devil and the body of a bear. He spoke in an evil tongue and took the livelihoods of good hardworking men and women. And he literally wore his wealth on his sleeve, for he had a golden hand (‘solid gold!’ said Raffaella) which had the power to kill at a touch. This member had given him the name by which he was known: ‘ Manodorata’ or ‘golden hand’. Better to quit the house altogether than to feed Castello with his bloody gold. Even if he helped them the place would be ruined in a matter of months anyway, because of the usurious practices of the Jews that were strictly banned in the Bible. The interest would be crippling.
So said Raffaella and Gregorio as they pleaded with their mistress not to put herself in the clutches of the Jew. And yet she knew she had to go. She would not know how to leave Castello, to start again. Where could she go? What could she do? The plague had taken her family, and Lorenzo’s too. And besides, as she made her way to Jews’ Street in Saronno she began to feel strongly
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