BIEL

BIEL, township near Uncastillo, Aragon, Spain. The earliest information on the community of Biel dates from 1294, when a Christian girl disappeared; rumors were spread that the Jews were responsible, and the Jews of Biel were arrested. It was only after the intervention of James II that the charge was withdrawn. In 1305, however, Açac de Çalema, the wealthiest Jew of Biel, was accused of having derided the Christian religion. He was arrested and brought to trial before the Dominicans, and his property was confiscated. In 1294 and in 1305, the Jews of Biel paid an annual sum of 250 solidi, amounting to a quarter of the income derived by the king from the locality. In 1361, the king requested Solomon de la Cavallería\>\> to annul an irregular Jewish marriage at Biel. A Jewish community continued to exist until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baer, Studien, 131; Baer, Urkunden, 2 (1936), 184f., 375, 917; Baer, Spain, 2 (1966), 7–8. (Haim Beinart)