Through the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the most important Jewish communities (then called universities) were formed, on the basis of statutory laws passed mainly by Amedeo the 8th, Emanuele Filiberto and Vittorio Amedeo the 2nd.
Despite the numerous prohibitions which aimed to separate Jews from the rest of society, sovereigns allowed them to be pawnbrokers, as a sort of privilege.