- Institut für jüdische Geschichte Österreichs

Transcription

Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age
http://www.degruyter.com/view/books/9783110223903/9783110223903.273/9783110223903.273.xml?format=EBOK
Fundamentals of Medieval
and Early Modern Culture
Edited by
Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge
4
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Bereitgestellt von | De Gruyter / TCS
Urban Space in the Middle Ages
and the Early Modern Age
Edited by
Albrecht Classen
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
앝 Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines
앪
of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Urban space in the middle ages and the early modern age / edited by
Albrecht Classen.
p. cm. ⫺ (Fundamentals of medieval and early modern culture ; 4)
Chiefly in English with three contributions in German.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-3-11-022389-7 (alk. paper)
1. Urbanization ⫺ History. 2. Cities and towns ⫺ Growth ⫺ History.
I. Classen, Albrecht.
HT361.U718 2009
307.7609⫺dc22
2009027975
ISBN 978-3-11-022389-7
ISSN 1864-3396
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet
at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
” Copyright 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Laufen
Printing and binding: Hubert & Co., Göttingen
TableofContents
Introduction
AlbrechtClassen
UrbanSpaceintheMiddleAgesandtheEarlyModernAge:
Historical,Mental,Cultural,andSocialEconomicInvestigations . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
C.DavidBenson
TheDeadandtheLiving:SomeMedievalDescriptionsofthe
RuinsandRelicsofRomeKnowntotheEnglish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
KishaG.Tracy
DefiningtheMedievalCitythroughDeath:
ACaseStudy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
AlanV.Murray
TheDemographicsofUrbanSpaceinCrusadePeriod
Jerusalem(1099–1187) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
AndreasMeyer
HereditaryLawsandCityTopography:OntheDevelopment
oftheItalianNotarialArchivesintheLateMiddleAges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
BrittC.L.Rothauser
“Areuer...brighterþenboþethesunneandmone”:
TheUseofWaterintheMedievalConsiderationofUrbanSpace . . . . . . . . . . 245
BirgitWiedl
JewsandtheCity:ParametersofJewishUrbanLife
inLateMedievalAustria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
vi
TableofContents
RosaAlvarezPerez
NextDoorNeighbors:AspectsofJudeoChristian
CohabitationinMedievalFrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
JeanetteS.Zissell
UniversalSalvationintheEarthlyCity:DeCivitateDei
andtheSignificanceoftheHazelnutin
JulianofNorwich’sShowings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
PatriciaTurning
“WithTeethClenchedandanAngryFace:”Vengeance,
VisitorsandJudicialPowerinFourteenthCenturyFrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
JeanE.Jost
UrbanandLiminalSpaceinChaucer’sKnight’sTale:
PerilousorProtective? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
DanielF.Pigg
ImaginingUrbanLifeandItsDiscontents:
Chaucer’sCook’sTaleandMasculineIdentity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
ShennanHutton
Women,Men,andMarkets:TheGenderingofMarketSpace
inLateMedievalGhent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
LiaB.Ross
AngerandtheCity:WhoWasinChargeoftheParis
cabochienRevoltof1413? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
FabianAlfie
“TheMerchantsofMyFlorence”:ASocioPolitical
Complaintfrom1457 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
JanHirschbiegelandGabrielZeilinger
UrbanSpaceDivided?TheEncounterofCivicand
CourtlySpheresinLateMedievalTowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
TableofContents
vii
KlausAmannandMaxSiller
UrbanLiteraryEntertainmentintheMiddleAgesand
theEarlyModernAge:TheExampleofTyrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
ConnieScarborough
UrbanSpacesintheTragicomediadeCalistoyMelibea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
AlbrechtClassen
HansSachsandhisEncomiaSongsonGermanCities:
ZoomingIntoandOutofUrbanSpacefroma
PoeticPerspective.WithaConsiderationof
HartmannSchedel’sLiberChronicarum(1493) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
MarilynSandidge
UrbanSpaceasSocialConscienceinIsabellaWhitney’s
“WyllandTestament” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
MichaelE.Bonine
WaqfanditsInfluenceontheBuiltEnvironment
intheMedinaoftheIslamicMiddleEasternCity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
PnarKayaalp
TheRoleofImperialMosqueComplexes(15431583)
intheUrbanizationofÜsküdar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
MarthaMoffittPeacock
EarlyModernDutchWomenintheCity:
TheImagingofEconomicAgencyandPower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
AllisonP.Coudert
Sewers,Cesspools,andPrivies:WasteasRealityand
MetaphorinPremodernEuropeanCities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713
ListofIllustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
BirgitWiedl
(InstituteforJewishHistoryinAustria)
JewsandtheCity:ParametersofJewishUrbanLife
inLateMedievalAustria1
In1391,themunicipalcourtoftheSwisstownofZurichwasconfrontedwitha
series of charges brought in by several attendees of a wedding that had been
hostedbythefamilyofVifli,oneofthewealthiestandmostprominentJewsofthe
town.2Duringthewedding,alongpendingquarrelbetweenmembersofhisand
1
2
ThisarticledoesnotaimatprovidinganencompassingcoverageofmedievalJewishurbanlife
butratheratpointingoutvariousaspectsofJewishexistencein(Late)MedievalAustriantowns
thatmayeithercorrespondwithgeneraldevelopmentsofJewishurbanlifeordifferfromthose
due to circumstances particular to the countries thatmake up today’s Austria. For a general
overviewoverAustrianJewishHistory,seeGeschichtederJudeninÖsterreich,ed.EvelineBrugger,
ChristophLind,AlbertLichtblau,andBarbaraStaudinger.ÖsterreichischeGeschichte,15(Vienna:
Ueberreuter,2006);onJewishChristiancohabitation,seenowJonathanElukin,LivingTogether,
LivingApart:RethinkingJewishChristianRelationsintheMiddleAges.Jews,Christians,andMuslims
fromtheAncienttotheModernWorld(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,2007).Forvaluable
comments and corrections, I would like to thank Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge.
Furthermore,IwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetoMarthaKeil,HansJörgGilomen,Gerd
Mentgen,andMarkusWenningerforgrantingmeaccesstogalleyproofsoftheirnewestresearch
publications.
SeeMarkusWenninger,“JüdischeundjüdischchristlicheNetzwerkeimspätmittelalterlichen
Ostalpenraum,” Beziehungsnetze aschkenasischer Juden während des Mittelalters und der frühen
Neuzeit,ed.JörgR.Müller.ForschungenzurGeschichtederJuden,AbteilungA,20(Hanover:
HahnscheBuchhandlung,2008),163–76;here167;MarkusWenninger,“NichtineinemBett–
aberdochaufeinerHochzeit.ZurTeilnahmevonChristenanjüdischenFestenimMittelalter,”
NichtineinemBett:JudenundChristeninMittelalterundFrühneuzeit,ed.InstituteforJewishHistory
inAustria(St.Pölten:EigenverlagdesInstituts,2005);10–17,here13–14(downloadableaspdffile
here:http://www.injoest.ac.at/upload/JudeninME05_2_917.pdf;lastaccessedonApril8,2009).
MarkusWenningerisplanninganextensivepublicationonthesubject;id.,“VonjüdischenRittern
undanderenwaffentragendenJudenimmittelalterlichenDeutschland,”Aschkenas:Zeitschriftfür
GeschichteundKulturderJuden13.1(2003):35–83;here72–75.Theincidenthasfirstbeenrecounted
byAugustaWeldlerSteinberg,IntérieursausdemLebenderZürcherJudenim14.und15.Jahrhundert
274
BirgitWiedl
otherprominentJewishfamilieshadobviouslyreachedacrisisandhaderupted
infirstavociferousargument,theninabrawlandhadendedinseveralmembers
oftherespectivefamiliesfacingeachotherwiththeirswordsdrawn.Thequite
detailedcourtrecordsrevealastonishingfacts:NotonlydidtheJewsturntothe
Christianmunicipalcourttosettletheirdispute,theywerebearingarmsandwere
obviouslyaccustomedtousingthem;3yettheprobablymostremarkablefact,as
Markus Wenninger has pointed out, was the quite high number of Christian
witnesseswhogavetestimonyatcourt.Apartfromthosewhohadbeenhiredas
servants or musicians, twelve Christianshence about a third of the
witnesseshadclearlybeenpresentasguests,mostofthembeingmembersofthe
Zurichupperclass:aknight,theformermayor,thetownscribe;andatleastfive
ofthemlivedinclosevicinity,someevenwithinthesamelane,theBrunngasse,
whichhousedthemajorityoftheZurichJewishpopulationintheMiddleAges.4
Underpenaltyofexcommunication,thesynodsatWrocaw(forthearchbishopric
ofGniezno)andVienna(fortheecclesiasticalprovinceofSalzburg,andcityand
bishopric of Prague) had stated in 1267, Christians shall not invite Jews and
Jewessesastheirdinnerguests,ordrinkoreatwiththem,neithershalltheydance
at their weddings or feasts.5 This article was, in fact, an elaboration of the
3
4
5
(Zurich:VerlagsundVersandbuchhandlung‘DerScheideweg’,1959),22–24;forafocusonthe
jurisdictionalissuesseetheworksbySusannaBurghartz,Leib,EhreundGut:DelinquenzinZürich
Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts (Zurich: Chronos, 1990), and “Juden – eine Minderheit vor Gericht
(Zürich1378–1436),”SpannungenundWidersprüche.GedenkschriftfürFrantišekGraus,ed.Susanna
Burghartz(Sigmaringen:JanThorbecke1992),229–44.OnprominentJewsinZurich,seeGermania
Judaica,vol.III:1350–1519,part2:MährischBudwitz–Zwolle,ed.AryeMaimon,MordechaiBreuer,
andYacovGuggenheim(Tübingen:J.C.B.Mohr,1995),1733–34.
OntheprohibitionforJewstobeararmsandits‘reality,’seethearticlesbyWenninger,“Von
jüdischen Rittern,” and Christine Magin, “‘Waffenrecht’ und ‘Waffenverbot’ für Juden im
Mittelalter–zueinemMythosderForschungsgeschichte,”Aschkenas:ZeitschriftfürGeschichteund
KulturderJuden13.1(2003):17–33;MarkusWenninger,“BearingandUseofWeaponsbyJewsin
the(Late)MiddleAges,”JewishStudies41(2002,appearedin2003):83–92.
Wenninger,“Hochzeit,”13–14.OnthelocationofJewishhouseholdsinZurichingeneral,see
GermaniaJudaica,vol.II:Von1238biszurMittedes14.Jahrhunderts,part2:Maastricht–Zwolle,ed.
ZwiAvneri(Tübingen:J.C.B.Mohr1968),946(upuntil1350)andGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/2,
1726–27. A contrasting example, where Christians were punished for partaking in a Jewish
wedding feast, is given by HansJörg Gilomen, “Kooperation und Konfrontation: Juden und
ChristenindenspätmittelalterlichenStädtenimGebietderheutigenSchweiz,” Judeninihrer
Umwelt:AkkulturationdesJudentumsinAntikeundMittelalter,ed.MatthiasKonradtandRainer
ChristophSchwinges(Basel:Schwabe,2009),157–227;here176–77(Zurich1404).
See“ContinuatioVindobonensisa.1267–1302,1313–1327,”ed.WilhelmWattenbach.Monumenta
GermaniaeHistoricaScriptores,vol.9(1851;Stuttgart:AntonHiersemann,1983),698–722;here
699–702(Vienna),the1851originaled.online(appliestoalltheMGHvolumesquoted)here:
www.dmgh.de(lastaccessedonApril8,2009).WithrespecttothearticlesconcerningJews,see
HeinzSchreckenberg,DiechristlichenAdversusJudaeosTexteundihrliterarischesundhistorisches
Umfeld(13.–20.Jh.).EuropäischeHochschulschriften.SeriesXXIII:Theologie,497(Frankfurta.M.,
JewsandtheCity
275
regulationsoftheFourthLateranCouncilthathadgenerallyaimedatlimitingthe
possibilities for Jews to take part in the everyday lives of their Christian
neighbours,andviceversa.6Thechurchauthoritieswere,however,notoblivious
totheimpossibilityoftransferringtheseregulationsintotherealityof(inevitable)
daily interaction between Jews and their nextdoor Christian neighbors; the
lamentationsandcomplaintsoftheBishopofOlomoucandtheprovincialsynod
atSalzburgasearlyas1273and1274respectivelyaboutthe‘persistentviolation’
oftheseregulationsspeakforthemselves.7Tellingly,itwasthebreachofthe‘safe
conductandpeace’(freiesgeleitundfried)thatthetownofZurichhadpromisedthe
outoftownvisitorsonVifli’srequestthatrequiredanexaminationbeforethe
aldermen,thefisticuffs,theverbalandbodilyassaults,andparticularlythedrawn
6
7
Bern, New York, and Paris: Peter Lang, 1994), 224 (Wrocav) and 228 (Vienna, both German
translationoftherelevantarticles);SolomonGrayzel,TheChurchandtheJews,vol.2:1254–1314,
ed.andcompletedKennethR.Stow(NewYorkandDetroit:WayneStateUniversityPress,1989),
244–46, no. 6 (Wrocaw), 247–48, 277, 290, no. 7 (Vienna); Eveline Brugger and Birgit Wiedl,
Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Österreich im Mittelalter, vol. 1: Von den Anfängen bis 1338
(Innsbruck,Vienna,andBolzano:StudienVerlag,2005),59–61,no.45(Vienna);thewholebook
isdownloadableaspdffilesin3partshere:
http://www.injoest.ac.at/projekte/laufend/mittelalterliche_judenurkunden/index.php?lang=EN;
lastaccessed on April 8,2009).The secondvolume,forthcomingin2009,willcoverthetime
periodfrom1339to1365.
FourthLateranCouncil,Canon67Quantoamplius,quotedaftertheGermanrpt.ofGiuseppe
Alberigo,Conciliorumoecumenicorumdecreta(Bologna1973)byJosefWolmuth(ed.),Dekreteder
ökumenischen Konzilien: Konzilien des Mittelalters vom ersten Laterankonzil (1123) bis zum fünften
Laterankonzil(1512–1517),vol.2(PaderbornandVienna:FerdinandSchöningh,2000),265–66.
With respect to the Jews, see Solomon Grayzel, The Church and the Jews, vol. 1: 1198–1254
(Philadelphia:DropsieCollege,1933;Sec.ed.NewYork:HermonPress,1966),312–13,no.13.
Many of these regulations were adapted by legal codes like the Schwabenspiegel or
Sachsenspiegel,whichtheninturn,duetotheirquickandwidecirculation,hadanimpacton
furthersecularandecclesiasticallegislation,seeKlausLohrmann,“DieRechtsstellungderJuden
imSchwabenspiegel,”DieLegendevomRitualmord:ZurGeschichtederBlutbeschuldigunggegenJuden,
ed.RainerErb(Berlin:MetropolVerlag,1993),73–94.OnthetopicofJewsandChristiansusing
thesamebaths,aparticularlywidelydiscussedissuewhichcanbefoundinthe1267ecclesiastical
regulation as well as the Schwabenspiegel (among others), see latest HansJörg Gilomen,
“JüdischeNutzungöffentlicherundprivaterBrunnenimSpätmittelalter,”...zumallgemeinen
statt nutzen. Brunnen in der europäischen Stadtgeschichte, ed. Dorothee Rippmann, Wolfgang
Schmid,andKatharinaSimonMuscheid(Trier:Kliomedia,2008),133–45.
Olomouc:Constitutionesetactapublicaimperatorumetregum,vol.3:1273–1298,ed.JakobSchwalm.
Monumenta Germaniae Historica Leges IV, Constitutiones, 3 (1904–1906; rpt. Hanover and
Leipzig: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1980), 594, no. 620; Salzburg: Joannes Dominicus Mansi,
Sacrorumconciliorumnovaetamplissimacollectio,vol.24:1269–1299(1903rpt.;Graz:Akademische
DruckundVerlagsanstalt,1961),136.In1254,PopeInnocentIVhadalreadycomplainedthatthe
JewsofthetownandbishopricofConstancedidnotwearthemandatoryattributes,seeShlomo
Simonsohn,TheApostolicSeeandtheJews:Documents492–1404.StudiesandTexts(1988;Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1991), 209, no. 203; Gilomen, “Kooperation und
Konfrontation,”172–73,alsoonthe(partial)enforcementofthisregulation.
276
BirgitWiedl
swords,8whereasthepresenceofChristiansatwhatwasclearlya‘Jewishfeast’
merelymeanttheinterrogationofadditionalwitnesses.
Inwhicheverhousetheweddingtookplace,itmusthavebeenclosetothehouse
whichoncehadbelongedtothemoneylenderMinna,9widowofMenachem,who
hadlivedinthesamestreetinthefirsthalfofthefourteenthcenturywithhersons
MordechaiandMoshe.10Shehadtherepresentativepartsofherhousedecorated
with what is today regarded as one of the most striking examples of cultural
translation, having commissioned wall paintings the iconographic program of
whichwereaccessibletobothChristiansandJewsalike.11Someofthescenes,
8
9
10
11
Wenninger,“VonjüdischenRittern,”73.
TheroleofJewishwomeninthemoneylendingbusinessisnottobeunderestimated,seethe
articleofRosaAlvarezPerezinthisvolume.Further,withparticularbutnotexclusiveregardto
Austria,seetheworksofMarthaKeil,latest“BusinessSuccessandTaxDebts:JewishWomenin
Late Medieval Austrian Towns,” Jewish Studies at the Central European University, vol. II
(1999–2001),ed.AndrásKovácsandEszterAndor(Budapest:CentralEuropeanUniversity,2002)
103–23;“PublicRolesofJewishWomeninFourteenthandFifteenthCenturyAshkenaz:Business,
Community,andRitual,”TheJewsofEuropeintheMiddleAges(TenthtoFifteenthCenturies),ed.
Christoph Cluse. Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 4 (Turnhout:
Brepols, 2004), 317–30; “Jüdinnen als Kategorie? Judinne in obrigkeitlichen Urkunden des
deutschenSpätmittelalters,”RäumeundWege:JüdischeGeschichteimAltenReich1300–1800,ed.Rolf
Kießling,PeterRauscher,StefanRohrbacher,andBarbaraStaudinger.ColloquiaAugustana,25
(Berlin:AkademieVerlag,2007),335–61;“MobilitätundSittsamkeit:JüdischeFrauenimWirt
schaftslebendesspätmittelalterlichenAschkenas,”WirtschaftsgeschichtedermittelalterlichenJuden:
Fragen und Einschätzungen, ed. Michael Toch. Schriften des Historischen Kollegs München,
Kolloquien,71(Munich:Oldenbourg,2008),153–80.
Moshewasanacknowledgedscholar,thusthefamilywas“byfarnotatthebrinkofthebaptismal
font,” as put by Martha Keil, “Lebensstil und Repräsentation. Jüdische Oberschicht im
spätmittelalterlichenAschkenas,”TresCulturas:DiedreiKulturenEuropaszwischenMittelalterund
Neuzeit.TranskulturalitätinderAusgrenzung.ProceedingsoftheConferenceinVienna2005,ed.Rudolf
KarlandHartmutKrones(Madrid[inprint]),chapter2;furtherMichaelToch,“Selbstdarstellung
vonmittelalterlichenJuden,”BildundAbbilddesmittelalterlichenMenschen,ed.ElisabethVavra.
SchriftenreihederAkademieFriesach,6(Klagenfurt:Wieser,1999),178–83;here181–82.
FrescoesinZurich,Brunngasse8.SeeToch,“Selbstdarstellung,”illustrations185–91.DölfWild,
“Bedeutende Zeugnisse jüdischer Wohnkultur in der Zürcher Altstadt entdeckt,” Aschkenas:
Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur der Juden 7 (1997): 267–99; with a particular focus on the
iconography,seeRudolfBöhmer,“Bogenschütze,BauerntanzundFalkenjagd:ZurIkonographie
derWandmalereienimHaus“ZumBrunnenhof”inZürich,”LiteraturundWandmalereivol.I:
ErscheinungsformenhöfischerKulturundihreTrägerimMittelalter,ed.EckartConradLutz,Johanna
Thali,andRenéWetzel.FreiburgerColloquium1998(Tübingen:Niemeyer,2002),329–63;see
furtherEdithWenzel,“EinneuerFund:MittelalterlicheWandmalereieninZürich,”Zeitschriftfür
deutschePhilologie116(1997):417–26;Gilomen,“KooperationundKonfrontation,”164–66;Harald
Woltervon dem Knesebeck, “Profane Wandmalerei in jüdischen Häusern des Mittealters,”
Abstractofthethirdconference“InterdisziplinäresForumJüdischeGeschichteundKulturinder
FrühenNeuzeit,”onlinehere:http://www.forumjuedischegeschichte.de/2002Wolter.html(last
accessedonApril8,2009);Keil,“LebensstilundRepräsentation,”chapter2;Wenninger,“Von
jüdischenRittern,”43–44;EdithWenzel,“AltJiddischoderMittelhochdeutsch?”Grenzenund
Grenzüberschreitungen:KulturelleBeziehungenzwischenJudenundChristenimMittelalter,ed.id.Part
JewsandtheCity
277
particularly the rural and somewhat rude dance scenes, greatly resemble the
scenesdescribedinthelyricsofthethirteenthcenturyAustrianpoetNeidhartand
could as well have been the decoration of a Christian householdlike the
‘Neidhartfrescoes’fromaround1398inthehouseofawealthyViennesecitizen,12
orthefourteenthcenturydancescenesacitizenofRegensburghadoneofhis
representationalroomsdecoratedwith.13AndliketheVienna(Christian)example,
thedecorationoftheZurichJewishhousealsobearsscenesthatcatertoamore
nobleaudiencehuntingscenes,particularlyfalconry,andasaspecial‘bonus’the
coatsofarmsofMinna’snobleguests(andquiteprobablydebtors)14onafrieze
runningabovethepaintingsandprovidedwithainscriptionoftheirnamesin
Hebrewletters.Theconclusionthatintenseculturaltranslationtookplacebetween
theJewsandChristiansofmedievalAshkenasandSepharadintheareasoftheir
livestheysharedaswellasthosetheylivedseparately,ismostwidelyrecognized
bynow.15However,itdoesnottranslateasassimilationbutratherastransferring
12
13
14
15
ofAschkenas:ZeitschriftfürGeschichteundKulturderJuden14.1(2004):31–50,47–48,onthequestion
ofaJewishChristianaudience.
FrescoesinVienna,Tuchlauben19.EvaMariaHöhle,TheNeidhartFrescoes,theoldestsecularmural
paintingsinVienna(Vienna:MuseumsoftheCityofVienna,1984);GertrudBlaschitzandBarbara
Schedl, “Die Ausstattung eines Festsaales im mittelalterlichen Wien: Eine ikonologische und
textkritischeUntersuchungderWandmalereiendesHauses‘Tuchlauben19’,”Neidhartrezeption
inWortundBild,ed.GertrudBlaschitz.MediumAevumQuotidianum,SonderbandX(Krems:
MediumAevumQuotidianum,2000),84–111.
NikolausHenkel,“EinNeidharttanzdes14.JahrhundertsineinemRegensburgerBürgerhaus,”
Neidhartrezeption,53–70;forfurtherexamplesonNeidhartmotifsinwallpaintings,seetheother
articlesinthisvolume(LakeConstance,Matrei).
Wenninger,“JüdischeundjüdischchristlicheNetzwerke,”166–67,callsthefriezea“reference
list”ofMinna’sbusinesspartners.
ThusexplicitlyputbyKeil,“LebensstilundRepräsentation,”chapter1.JustasexplicitisIsrael
JacobYuval,TwoNationsinYourWomb:PerceptionsofJewsandChristiansinLateAntiquityandthe
MiddleAges,trans.fromtheHebrewbyBarbaraHarshavandJonathanChipman(2000;Berkeley,
LosAngeles,andLondon:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,2006),206,onthequestiontowhat
extentJewswereawareofChristianrituals.Thephenomenonofculturaltranslationhasbeenthe
centraltopicofmanystudies,mostofwhich,however,focusontheEarlyModernPeriod.Forthe
specifictopicofJewishChristianculturaltranslationintheMiddleAges,seetheanthologyby
Wenzel,“GrenzenundGrenzüberschreitungen”;further,albeitwithafocusonthenineteenthand
twentiethcenturies,KulturtransferinderjüdischenGeschichte,ed.WolfgangSchmaleandMartina
Steer(Frankfurta.M.andNewYork:Campus,2006).Foramethodologicalconceptofcross
culturaltranslationintheEuropeanMiddleAges,seeMittelalterimLabor:DieMediävistiktestet
Wege zu einer transkulturellen Europawissenschaft, ed. Michael Borgolte, Juliane Schiel, Bernd
Schneidmüller,andAnnetteSeitz.EuropaimMittelalter,10.AbhandlungenundBeiträgezur
historischenKomparatistik(Berlin:AkademieVerlag,2008),195–209:partIII:ArbeitsforumB:
KontaktundAustauschzwischenKulturenimeuropäischenMittelalter,followedbytwocase
studiesonChristianJewishculturaltranslation(FrederekMusallonMoshebenMaimon,209–28,
andRainerBarzenandLennartGüntzelontheexpulsionoftheJewsinFranceandEnglandand
theperceptionofcrisis,228–51).
278
BirgitWiedl
one’s own culture into a new context,16 as adapting personal tastes as well as
generalconceptsofaestheticsthataresharedbypeopleofacomparablesocial
status.17Thissharedtasteextendstoareasoflifethatremainmoreprivate,orat
leastrepresentationalwithinasmallergroupofpeople.When,forexample,Israel
Isserl, magister iudeorum and one of the most prominent Jews of Vienna,
commissionedaSeferMordechai,acollectionofRabbinicalresponsaebyMordechai
barHillelfromthelatethirteenthcentury,tobewrittenforhimin1371/1372,he
had the manuscript decorated in what is known as Niederösterreichischer
Randleistenstil,aparticularstyleofbookilluminationthatwasquitewidelyused
at that time; it was, for example, the style a missal of the Lower Austrian
monastery of Klosterneuburg that originated from about the same time was
adorned in (see Figure 5).18 Despite the fact that Isserl’s Hebrew codex would
rather not, or at least not mainly, be used in the presence of Christians, he
neverthelesshaditdecoratedinwhatcanbecalledthe‘infashion’styleofthetime
and region, Isserl’s codex being but one example of Hebrew manuscripts the
marginsofwhichweredecoratedinthatparticularstyle.19BothJewsandChristian
monkshadacquiredthesametasteasfarasbookilluminationwasconcerned,
regardedthesamestyleasbeautifulandprestigious,and,probably,knewhowto
impressvisitorswiththeirgems.
However close though the cultural and social contacts to their Christian
neighborswere,Jewsremainedinmanyrespectsaseparate,ifnothomogenous,
groupwithin(orratheroutside)theChristiansociety.20AsfarastheChristian
16
17
18
19
20
Raingard Eßer, “Migrationsgeschichte und Kulturtransferforschung,” Das eine Europa und die
VielfaltderKulturen:KulturtransferinEuropa1500–1850,ed.ThomasFuchsandSvenTrakulhun
(Berlin:BerlinerWissenschaftsVerlag,2003),69–82;here73–74.OnthemedievalAshkenasicJews
andtheirculturalandsocialidentityingeneral,seeMichaelToch,DieJudenimmittelalterlichen
Reich.Sec.ed.EnzyklopädiedeutscherGeschichte,44(1998;Munich:Oldenbourg,2003),33–34,
ontheintensifiedcontactstoChristiansintheLateMiddleAgesasbornoutofnecessitydueto
the(violently)reducedJewishpopulation,38.
Keil,“LebensstilundRepräsentation,”ontheexampleofluxurygarments.
Andreas Fingernagel and Alois Haidinger, “Neue Zeugen des Niederösterreichischen
Randleistenstilsinhebräischen,deutschenundlateinischenHandschriften,”CodicesManuscripti
39.40 (2002): 15–41; here 15–29. Martha Keil, “Gemeinde und Kultur – Die mittelalterlichen
GrundlagenjüdischenLebensinÖsterreich,”GeschichtederJudeninÖsterreich,15–122;here28–29,
illustration(SeferMordechaiandmissalfromKlosterneuburg),28.
Keil,“GemeindeundKultur,”29.SeealsoRobertSuckale,“ÜberdenAnteilchristlicherMaleran
derAusmalunghebräischerHandschriftenderGotikinBayern,”GeschichteundKulturderJuden
inBayern(Aufsätze),ed.ManfredTremlandJosefKirmeier.VeröffentlichungenzurBayerischen
GeschichteundKultur17.88,ed.ClausGrimm(Munich,NewYork,London,andParis:K.G.
Saur,1988),123–34.
Onthehighlyproblematicandwidelydiscussed‘label’ofJewsasafringegroup,seeFrantisek
Graus,“RandgruppenderstädtischenGesellschaftimSpätmittelalter,”Zeitschriftfürhistorische
Forschung 8 (1981): 385–437; here particularly 396 on the definition of ‘fringe group’; Gerd
JewsandtheCity
279
secularauthoritieswereconcerned,thelegalaswellastheeconomicpositionof
Jews,bothasagroupandasindividuals,wasgenerallydefinedbytheruler,in
particulartheHolyRomanEmperorwhoheldthegeneralsovereigntyoverallthe
Jews of the empire, counting them as a part of his treasure:21 “the rulers’ sole
purposeismoney,”asRabbiJacobbarJechielphraseditclearlyinmidthirteenth
century.22 As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century, however, this
sovereigntywasreducedtoamereclaim,theImperiallordshipweakeninginthe
courseofthetransitionofImperialrightstotheregionalrulers,therighttothe
Jews(Judenregal)beingbutoneamongthem.23InquiteanumberofGermancities,
theirgripontheJewsdwellingwithintheirrealmtightenedalongwiththeirrise
toeconomicalaswellaspoliticalimportance,24whereasintheregionofmodern
dayAustria,bothtownsandJewsremainedunderthestronggripoftherespective
regionalruler,behetheHabsburgduke,theArchbishopofSalzburg,theBishop
ofBamberg,oralocalnobleman.
21
22
23
24
Mentgen, “‘Die Juden waren stets eine Randgruppe.’ Über eine fragwürdige Prämisse der
aktuellen Judenforschung,” Liber amicorum necnon et amicarum für Alfred Heit: Beiträge zur
mittelalterlichen und geschichtlichen Landeskunde, ed. Friedhelm Burgard, Christoph Cluse, and
Alfred Haverkamp. Trierer Historische Forschungen, 28 (Trier: Verlag Trierer Historische
Forschungen,1996),393–411;AnnaFoa,“TheWitchandtheJew.TwoAlikesthatWereNotthe
Same,” From Witness to Witchcraft. Jews and Judaism in Medieval Christian Thought, ed. Jeremy
Cohen.WolfenbüttlerMittelalterStudien,11(Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz,1997),361–74.
First explicitly stated in the general Imperial privilege by Emperor Frederic II in 1236,
Constitutiones et acta publica imperatorum et regum, vol. 2: 1198–1272, ed. Ludwig Weiland.
Monumenta Germaniae Historica Leges IV, Constitutiones, 2 (1896; Hanover: Hahnsche
Buchhandlung,1963),274,no.204.OnthevastdiscussionontheJewsasservitescamere(“servants
ofthetreasure”),seethesummarybyToch,“JudenimmittelalterlichenReich,”48and102–10.
ForasimilardevelopmentinFrance,seethecontributionofRosaPerezAlvarezinthisvolume.
MarthaKeil,“NäheundAbgrenzung.DiemittelalterlicheStadtalsRaumderBegegnung,”Nicht
in einem Bett, 2–8; here 4–5. The whole article is downloadable as a pdf file here:
http://www.injoest.ac.at/upload/JudeninME05_1_18.pdf(lastaccessedonApril8,2009).
GenerallyseeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III:1350–1519,part3:Gebietsartikel,Einleitungsartikel,Indices,
ed.AryeMaimon,MordechaiBreuer,andYacovGuggenheim(Tübingen:J.C.B.Mohr,2003),
2173–74;Toch,“JudenimmittelalterlichenReich,”48–49.
StillessentialisHerbertFischer(laterAryeMaimon),DieverfassungsrechtlicheStellungderJuden
indendeutschenStädtewährenddesdreizehntenJahrhunderts.UntersuchungenzurDeutschenStaats
und Rechtsgeschichte, 140 (1931; Aalen: ScientiaVerlag, 1969). Further see Toch, “Juden im
mittelalterlichen Reich,” 106–07; for a general summary of Jews and towns, see Alfred
Haverkamp, “Jews and Urban Life: Bonds and Relationships,” Jews of Europe, 55–69; on
Imperial/regalrightsandtheirrelationtotheImperialcities,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2167,
oncitiesandJews,2169–70,onJewsascitizens,2181–87,onjurisdictionalmatters2188–91;for
regional examples, see Alfred Haverkamp, “Die Juden im Erzstift Trier,” Die Juden in ihrer
mittelalterlichen Umwelt, ed. Alfred Ebenbauer and Klaus Zatloukal (Vienna, Cologne, and
Weimar:Böhlau,1991),67–89;KlausLohrmann,JudenrechtundJudenpolitikimmittelalterlichen
Österreich(ViennaandCologne:Böhlau,1990),especially146–66.
280
BirgitWiedl
ThefirstencompassingdefinitionofthelegalstandingoftheAustrianJewswas
thequitecomprehensiveregulationwhichtheBabenbergDukeFredericIIissued
in1244,25whichremainedthebasisforfurtherlegislationwithintheduchy of
Austria26 and also served as a model for other rulers.27 The rather detailed
economic issues, mostly in favor of the Jews, and the quite wideranging
protectionsuggestthatDukeFredericaimedatprovidinganincentiveforJewsto
settledowninAustria28aspartofhis,andnolongertheEmperor’s,treasure.
Withregardtothetowns,thisalsomeansthattherulerwasdeterminednottolose
his control over what he had just acquired29 and regarded as his immediate
property,apartofhistreasurethatheprotectedand/orexploitedandutilizedas
hesawfit.Itremainedtherulers’soleprerogativetograntJewstherighttotake
their abode on his realm, their favorite financiers were given wideranging
economic and legal privileges without as much as informing the cities. Only
duringthelastdecadesofthefourteenthcentury,someAustriancitieswereable
25
26
27
28
29
Most recent edition by Brugger and Wiedl, Regesten, vol. 1, 35–38, no. 25. For an English
translation,seehttp://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1244jewsaustria.html(lastaccessedon
April8,2009),whichisbasedonthe(somewhatproblematic)translationbyJacobMarcus,TheJew
intheMedievalWorld:ASourcebook,315–1791(NewYork:JPS,1938),28–33.
ReissuedadimitationemclarememoriequondamFridericiducisAustrieetStiriebyKingRudolfIin
1277(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,71–73,no.56).TheexplicitreferencetoDukeFrederick
IIconveysaclearmeaning—ontheonehand,Rudolf’srivalPemyslOtakar,the(outlawed)duke
ofAustria,wasbeingblatantlyignored,andontheotherhand,byrevertingtotheducalprivilege
of1244,andnottheImperialone,Rudolfstressedhisfamily’sclaimontheduchiesofAustriaand
Styria (Eveline Brugger, “Von der Ansiedlung bis zur Vertreibung – Juden in Österreich im
Mittelalter,”GeschichtederJudeninÖsterreich,123–228;here142).
Hungary:BelaIV,1251(MonumentaHungariaeJudaica,vol.1:1092–1539,ed.ÁrminFrissandMór
Weisz [Budapest: Magyar Izraeliták Országos, 1903], 23–30, no. 22); Bohemia and Moravia:
PemyslOtakarII,1255,1262,and1268(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,45–48,no.34,51–54,
no.39,and62–65,no.47,thefirstincludingAustria,thelattertwoAustriaandStyria);Poland:
DukeBoleslav,1264(JudeninEuropa:IhreGeschichteinQuellen,vol.1:VondenAnfängenbiszum
späten Mittelalter, ed. Julius Schoeps and Hiltrud Wallenborn [Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft,2001],139–43,no.65);Bamberg:BishopsHenryIIandWulfing,between1304
to1328(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,255–57,no.302).NoprivilegesfortheStyrianand
CarinthianJewshavebeentransmitted,thelaterHabsburgprivilegesofthesecondhalfofthe
fourteenth century however include both these territories, referring to an ‘older existing
legislation’ (see Lohrmann, Judenrecht, 182–89 [Carinthia], 200–06 [Styria], late Habsburg
privileges230–35).
TheJewishimmigrationintothemiddleDanubeareahadalreadyincreasedduringthefirsthalf
ofthethirteenthcentury;atleastforVienna,anexistingcommunitycanbeprovenforaround
1200(firstmentionoftheViennaSynagoguein1204;seeBruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,
18–19,no.5),thusFredericmightalsohavereactedtothenewlyarisenneedofregulatingthe
Jewishlifethathadbeguntoflourish.
In 1331, Emperor Louis IV officially enfeoffed the Austrian dukes with the right to theJews
(Judenregal),Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”143–44.
JewsandtheCity
281
togainatleastpartialcontrolovertheJews,mainlyfocusingonjurisdictionaland
economicmatters.30
YettheseeminglyunduepreferenceaccordedtheJewsrankledwiththecitizens,
causing the author of the Viennese Stadtrechtsbuch (a compendium of legal
regulationsfromtheendofthefourteenthcentury)tocomplainpolemicallyabout
the“cursedJews”havingabetterlegalpositionagainsttheChristiansthanthe
ChristiansagainsttheJews,directlyreferringtothe1244regulationsandblatantly
ignoring the everyday reality that had by then long changed to the clear
disadvantageoftheJews.31
Their increasing influence notwithstanding, Austrian cities remained for the
mostpartpowerlessshouldtherespectiveruler,inwhoseofficialpossessionthe
JewsremaineduntiltheendofJewishmedievalsettlement,decidetointerfere.The
AustriandukesgavetheirJewsasfiefstonoblementheywantedtoparticularly
honor,reward,orbribe,32withoutasmuchasnotifyingthegovernmentofthose
citieswheretheJewsdwelled;shouldaJewfleefromaruler’sterritory,thecities
wereneitherinvolvedintheensuingtrialnordidtheyparticipateinthesharing
oftheJew’sconfiscatedproperty.33Thisappliesnotonlytotownsthatwereunder
the rule of a powerful lord, like (partially) the Duke of Austria, but also to
noblemenwhoseimmediateruleextendedtoaconsiderablylimitedareamanaged
to maintain a close grip on the Jews as an outstanding group. In 1350, the
noblemanandchancellorofStyria,RudolfOttoofLiechtenstein,grantedtheJew
Häslein,thewealthiestandmostprominentJewintheCarinthian/Styrianareaat
thattime,therighttosettleinhistownofMurau,placinghimandhisfamilyina
30
31
32
33
SeeBirgitWiedl,“CodifyingJews.JewsinAustrianTownChartersoftheLateMiddleAges,”The
ConstructedJew:JewsandJudaismthroughMedievalChristianEyes,ed.KristineT.Utterbackand
MerrallL.Price(Turnhout:Brepols,forthcoming2009).
Christine Magin, “Wie es umb der iuden recht stet:” Der Status der Juden in spätmittelalterlichen
deutschenRechtsbüchern(Göttingen:WallensteinVerlag,1999),103;HeinrichMariaSchuster,Das
WienerStadtrechtsundWeichbildbuch(Vienna:Manz,1973),130–31;Lohrmann,Judenrecht,161;id.,
DieWienerJudenimMittelalter(BerlinandVienna:Philo,2000),36–37.
ThemostfamousofthesewastheenfeoffmentoftheCountsofCilli(today’sCelje,Slovenia)with
theJewChatschimandhisfamilybydukeRudolfIV.DespitethefactthatthetownsChatschim
livedinwerequiteprosperous(Ljubljana,Celje,Trieste),thereisnonotionofanyinvolvement
of either of these towns. See Germania Judaica, vol. III/3, 209; Brugger, “Ansiedlung,” 184–85;
Lohrmann,Judenrecht,206–07;MarkusWenninger,“DieBedeutungjüdischerFinanciersfürdie
GrafenvonCilliundviceversa,”Celjskigrofje,staratema–novaspoznanja,ed.RolandaFugger
Germadnik(Celje:PokrajinskiMuzej,1999),143–64;here151–52.OnJewsbetweenrulerand
(LowerAustrian)nobility,seeEvelineBrugger,AdelundJudenimmittelalterlichenNiederösterreich.
Studien und Forschungen aus dem Niederösterreichischen Institut für Landeskunde, 38 (St.
Pölten:SelbstverlagdesNiederösterreichischenInstitutsfürLandeskunde,2004).
For ‘famous flights’ of Jews see below; further Brugger, “Ansiedlung,” 181–82 (Häslein) and
184–85(ChatschimandMosche);Lohrmann,Judenrecht,218–20(Häslein)and225–30(Chatschim
andMosche).
282
BirgitWiedl
veryprivilegedpositionwithrespecttoboththeJewishcommunityofMurauand
thetownitself.34
AlthoughitisverylikelythatRudolfOttoofLiechtensteinissuedtheprivilege
withducalapproval,thereisnomentionofanyinvolvementwhatsoeverofthe
townofMurau—which,ifnothingelse,hadtorenounceanyjurisdictionalrights
over HäsleinwhofellunderthesolecompetenceofRudolfOttohimself.This
exampleconcurswithageneralincreaseofpersonalizedprivilegesinthesecond
half of the fourteenth century,35 privileges that granted a special status to an
individualJeworJewess(usuallyincludingtheentirefamily)andexemptedthem
fromthelegalrequirementsofthetowntheylivedin.Whenseveralyearslater,
Häslein left his new abode in the ducal town of Judenburg without seeking
permissionbeforehandandDukeRudolphIVconfiscatedallhispropertyand
outstandingdebts,neitherofthetownshehadlivedinorhadbusinesscontacts
withwasgivenashare.
TheAustrianrulers’controlevenextendedtoJewishgeographicalspaceswithin
acity.Thepermissiontoerectorrebuildasynagogue,toestablishortoenlargea
cemeteryremainedtherightoftherespectivelordofthetown,36leavingthetown’s
administrationwithnosayinthematter.37Tothecontrary,arulerliketheBishop
ofBambergwhoownedtheCarinthiantownofVillachcouldeven,afterhaving
grantedtheJewAschroktherighttoerectasynagogue(inreturnforapayment
of200pounds)38,coercehisChristiansubjects,inthiscasethemayorandcouncil
ofVillach,intopromisingtoprotecttheJewsshouldany“uprise”againstthem
occur.39Butevenifreducedtothemeregeographicalspace,tothepublicand
34
35
36
37
38
39
Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”181–82;WilhelmWadl,GeschichtederJudeninKärntenimMittelalter:Mit
einemAusblickbiszumJahre1867.Revisedseconded.DasKärntnerLandesarchiv,9(Klagenfurt:
VerlagdesKärntnerLandesarchivs,1992),196–98.
EvelineBruggerandBirgitWiedl,“‘...undanderfrumeleutegenuch,paidechristenundjuden.’
QuellenzurchristlichjüdischenInteraktionimSpätmittelalteramBeispielÖsterreichs,”Räume
undWege,286–305;here288–89.
SeeforthesimilarFrenchlegislationthecontributionofRosaAlvarezPerezinthisvolume.
TheChurch,however,triedtogaincontrolovertheerectionofnewandthealterationofalready
existingsynagogues.TheprovincialsynagogueofViennain1267forbadetheerectionofnew
synagogues,while(re)usedexistingoneswerenottobemadewider,highernormoreprecious
(latestprintBruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,59–61,no.45;here60).
StateArchivesofBavaria,Bamberg,A78Lade403Nr.4(1510May4).JosephBabad,“TheJews
inMedievalCarinthia,”HistoriaJudaica7(1945):13–28and193–204;here27;GermaniaJudaica,vol.
III:1350–1519,part1:AachLychen,ed.AryeMaimonandYacovGuggenheim(Tübingen:J.C.
B.Mohr,1987),415;GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/2,1533–34;GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,1759;Wilhelm
Neumann,“DieJudeninVillach,”CarinthiaI155(1965),327–66;here349–50;Wadl,JudenKärnten,
166,223.
AustrianStateArchivesVienna,Haus,Hof,undStaatsarchiv,AURUk.1359IV1.Germania
Judaica,vol.III/2,1534,GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,1759;Lohrmann,Judenrecht,163;Neumann,
“JudenVillach,”342,350;JohannEgidScherer,DieRechtsverhältnissederJudenindendeutsch
JewsandtheCity
283
privateplaces,amedievaltownwasaspaceofmeetingforJewsandChristians.40
Theywerelivingnextdoor,andnotonlyinthesetwostreetsinZurichinVienna
and Krems, in Wiener Neustadt and Graz, in the episcopal towns of Friesach,
VillachandWolfsberginCarinthiaandthethenSouthStyrian,nowSlovenian
Maribor and Ptuj, to name but the biggest of the Jewish communities, Jewish
settlementmighthavebeenconcentratedaroundcentrallocations,inparticular
thesynagogue(s),yetmanymemberslivedoutsidethesepartsofthecitywhere
Christianslived,as(notonly)theViennesesourcescallit,underdenJuden,“among
theJews”:thus,encounterwasinevitable.JewsemployedtheservicesofChristian
craftsmen as much as Christians called on Jewish services;41 and, although
frowned upon by the Church,42 Christian servants to Jewish households were
common,evenessential:“hehadservantsandmaids,nonJewishandJewishtoo,”
EphraimbarJacobwroteinhismemorialbookabouttheJewSchlom,masterof
theducalmintinViennaaround1192,notfindingthisintheleastpeculiar.43On
bothsides,religiousauthoritieswereupinarmsaboutChristianwomenengaging
Jewish,andJewessesengagingChristianwetnurses;44andthestorytoldbythe
CarinthianAbbotandhistoriographerJohannofViktringaboutaChristianwet
nurse,whoin1343abductedthedaughterofherJewishemployerstohaveher
baptized,mayontheonehandconfirmthattheworries,atleastontheJewish
side,weren’tcompletelyunfounded,butontheotherhandgivesevidenceofthe
40
41
42
43
44
österreichischen Ländern. Mit einer Einleitung über die Principien der Judengesetzgebung in Europa
während des Mittelalters. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Judenrechtes im Mittelalter, 1 (Leipzig:
Duncker&Humblot,1901),509;Wadl,JudenKärnten,162.
Keil,“NäheundAbgrenzung,”2–4;Haverkamp,“JewsandUrbanLife,”62and65–66.
Keil,“NäheundAbgrenzung,”2.
WhereasthesynodatWrocav,wherethematterisaddresseddirectlyforthefirsttime,doesnot
forbidChristianstoworkasservantsinJewishhouseholds,butmerelydeclaresthattheywere
nottostaytheredayandnight(dienoctuque),itisdebatedwhetherthewordingoftheViennese
synod(dienocteve)aimsatprohibitingChristianservantsatall.Grayzel,ChurchandJews,vol.2,
244–46,no.6(Wrocaw);BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,”59–61,no.45(Vienna),seeabove
for further editions; Schreckenberg, AdversusJudaeosTexte und ihr literarisches und historisches
Umfeld(13–20.Jh.),230.Fortheschabbesgoj,therituallyessentialChristianservant,seeKeil,
“GemeindeundKultur,”76.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,17–18,no.4(fulltextinHebrewandGermantranslation);
Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”126.
MarthaKeil,“LilithundHollekreisch:Schwangerschaft,GeburtundWochenbettimJudentum
desdeutschenSpätmittelalters,”AllerAnfang:Geburt,Birth,Naissance.Tagungsbandder5.Wiener
GesprächezurSozialgeschichtederMedizin,ed.GabrieleDorffnerand SoniaHorn(Vienna:
VerlagshausderÄrzte,2004),145–160;eadem,“GemeindeundKultur,”107;eadem,“Näheund
Abgrenzung,”7–8.OnthetopicoffemaleinteractionElishevaBaumgarten,MothersandChildren:
Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), 119–53,
particularly135–44onChristianwetnursesinJewishhouseholdsandviceversa.Baumgarten
emphasizesthecloserelationshipthatmusthaveexistedbetweenaJewishandaChristianwoman
ifonewastobreastfeedthechildoftheother.
284
BirgitWiedl
commonnessofthispractice(sinceJohannofViktringinterpretstheabductionas
remarkable,butnottheemploymentitself).45Therehasbeen,andstillis,avast
andvividdiscussiononthetopicofJewishquarters,andwhethertheirsettlement
wasscatteredorclosetogetherwithinthecity,andthemostprominentpublic
buildingwithin,thesynagogue.46
In addition to being the center of Jewish life on many levelsthe primary
worshipinstitution,thesocialcenter,aplaceofidentification,47butalsoaplaceof
45
46
47
Fedor Schneider (ed.), Iohannis abbatis Victoriensis Liber certarum historiarum. Monumenta
GermaniaeHistoricaScriptoresrerumGermanicaruminusumscholarum,36.2(Hanoverand
Leipzig:HahnscheBuchhandlung,1910);Keil,“LilithundHollekreisch,”151–52;GermaniaJudaica,
vol. II: Von 1238 bis zur Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts, part 1: Aachen – Luzern, ed. Zvi Avneri
(Tübingen:J.C.B.Mohr,1968),265;GermaniaJudaica,vol.II/2,786;Wadl,JudenKärnten,185.
Fromtheextensiveliteratureonthissubject,seethelatestsummaryinGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,
2082–89.FurtherseeJüdischeGemeindenundihrchristlicherKontextinkulturräumlichervergleichender
Betrachtung:VonderSpätantikebiszum18.Jahrhundert,ed.ChristophCluse,AlfredHaverkampand
Israel Jacob Yuval. Forschungen zur Geschichte der Juden, A 13 (Hanover: Hahnsche
Buchhandlung,2003);InandOutoftheGhetto:JewishGentileRelationsinLateMedievalandEarly
ModernGermany,ed.HartmutLehmann,R.PoChiaHsia,andDavidLazar(Washington,DC:
GermanHistoricalInstitute,1995),particularlythearticlebyAlfredHaverkamp,“TheJewish
QuartersinGermanTownsduringtheLateMiddleAges,”13–28;SimhaGoldin,“TheSynagogue
inMedievalJewishCommunitiesasanIntegralInstitution,”JournalofRitualStudies9.1(1995):
15–39; Keil, “Lebensstil und Repräsentation,” chapter 1; eadem, “Orte der Öffentlichkeit:
Judenviertel,Synagoge,Friedhof,”EinThema–zweiPerspektiven:JudenundChristeninMittelalter
und Frühneuzeit, ed. Eveline Brugger and Birgit Wiedl (Innsbruck, Vienna, and Bolzano:
StudienVerlag,2007),170–86;eadem,“BethaKnesset,Judenschul:DieSynagogealsGotteshaus,
AmtsraumundBrennpunktsozialenLebens,”WienerJahrbuchfürjüdischeGeschichte,Kulturund
Museumswesen4(1999/2000):71–90;SilviaCodreanuWindauer,“StadtvierteloderGhetto?Das
mittelalterlicheJudenviertelRegensburgs,”CentreRegionPeriphery.MedievalEurope,Pre
printedPapers,2(Hertingen2002),316–21;id.,“Regensburg:TheArchaeologyoftheMedieval
JewishQuarter,”andPamManix,“Oxford:MappingtheMedievalJewry,”bothinJewsofEurope,
391–403, and 405–20, respectively; Paul Mitchell, “Synagoge und Jüdisches Viertel im
mittelalterlichenWien,”Synagogen,Mikwen,Siedlungen:JüdischesAlltagslebenimLichteneuer
archäologischerFunde,ed.FritzBackhausandEgonWamers.SchriftendesArchäologischen
Museums Frankfurt, 19 (Frankfurt a. M.: Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt, 2004): 139–50;
MarkusWenninger,“GrenzeninderStadt?ZurLageundAbgrenzungmittelalterlicherdeutscher
Judenviertel,”Aschkenas:ZeitschriftfürGeschichteundKulturderJuden14.1(2004):9–30;id.,“Zur
TopographiederJudenviertelindenmittelalterlichendeutschenStädtenanhandösterreichischer
Beispiele,”JudeninderStadt,ed.FritzMayrhoferandFerdinandOpll.BeiträgezurGeschichteder
StädteMitteleuropas,15(Linz:ÖsterreichischerArbeitskreisfürStadtgeschichtsforschung,1999),
81–117.Ontheconfinedspaceoftheeruvchazerot(the‘mixing,puttingtogetherofcourtyards’to
facilitatecarryingobjectsfromonedomaintoanotheronSabbath,symbolizedbyaloafofbread,
seeEncyclopaediaJudaica,sec.ed.,vol.6[Detroit,NewYork,SanFrancisco,etal:ThomsonGale,
2007],484–85),withinacity,seeKeil,“GemeindeundKultur,”75–76,furtherYuval,TwoNations,
236–39 with particular, and intriguing, reference to the alleged host wafer accusations; also
Gilomen,“Brunnen,”133–35.ForacontinuouslyupdatedbibliographyonJewisharcheologyin
Europeseehttp://www.projectyesod.org/bibliography.html(lastaccessedonApril8,2009).
MordechaiBreuer,“AusdrucksweisenaschkenasischerFrömmigkeitinSynagogeundLehrhaus,”
JewsandtheCity
285
flauntingone’ssocialstatus48andthestagewheresanctionsoftheinternalJewish
jurisdiction were imposed publicly49the synagogue was also perceived by
Christiansnotasan“exclusively”Jewishspacebutasapubliconetheytoohad
access to. In some towns, the Jews had to take their oaths in front of the
synagogue,50andaccordingtoAustrianducallegislation,thesynagoguewasthe
placetoholdacourtsittingifaJewwassomehowinvolvedintheprocess.51Thus,
thesynagogueheldasemilegalfunctionforJewsandChristiansalike,inaddition
toprovidingaconvenientandthereforecommonmeetingplacewherebusiness
transactions were negotiated and concluded, goods delivered and the newest
gossipdiscussedwhileitsacousticsignalspermeatedintoChristianspaceasmuch
(ifnotasmanifold)aschurchbells.52
Christians therefore showed no sign of hesitation, or repulsion, to use the
synagogueasameetingpointandacceptitasaplaceofpublicsignificance.In
earlyNovember1354,NikolausPetzolt,thetownjudgeoftheprosperingsouthern
Styrian (today’s Slovenian) town of Maribor, which housed one of the largest
Jewishcommunitiesofthatregion,wascalledonbymessengersoftheCountsof
Pfannberg,alocalnoblefamilywithconsiderablebusinesscontacttotheJews.
Theyaskedhimtoaccompanythemtotheshul,thesynagogue.Petzolt,theiudex
iudeorumWilhelm,andanothercitizensofMaribor,obliged,andhavingarrived
atthesynagogue,themessengerssentfortheshulklapper53toaskaroundwhether
48
49
50
51
52
53
Judentum im deutschen Sprachraum, ed. Karl E. Grözinger (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1991),
103–16;here105;Goldin,“Synagogue,”15–16;Keil,“LebensstilundRepräsentation,”chapter1.
Germania Judaica, vol. III/3, 2085; Goldin, “Synagogue,” 22–23; Keil, “Lebensstil und
Repräsentation,”chapter1.
MichaelToch,“MitderHandaufderThora:DisziplinierungalsinternesundexternesProblem
indenjüdischenGemeindendesSpätmittelalters,”DisziplinierungundSachkulturinMittelalterund
Früher Neuzeit, ed. Gerhard Jaritz. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Realienkunde des
Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit, 17. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
PhilosophischHistorische Klasse, Sitzungsberichte, 669 (Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen
AkademiederWissenschaften,1999),155–68;here161;Keil,“OrtederÖffentlichkeit,”175–77;
GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2105–08;Goldin,“Synagogue,”23–24.
The‘minoroath’oftheJewsoftheLowerAustriantownofKremshadtobetakeninfrontofthe
synagogue, with the oathtaker’s hand on the doorknob; see Brugger, “Ansiedlung,” 151.
Accordingtoducallegislation,theJewshadtotaketheiroathsolelyinfrontoftheduke,which
provedhighlyinexecutable,whereashumiliatingritualsaccompanyingtheoath(selfexecration,
standingonasow’sskin),asdescribedintheSchwabenspiegel,arenotrecordedforAustria;see
HansVoltelini,“DerWienerundKremserJudeneid,”MitteilungendesVereinsfürGeschichteder
StadtWien12(1932):64–70;here69–70;Toch,“HandaufderThora,”162–67.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,36,no.25,§30.
On‘Jewish’soundswithinatown,seeKeil,“OrtederÖffentlichkeit,”172.
Theshulklapper(GermanSchulklopfer,inChristiandocuments—likeinthecharterquotedabove
—oftencalled‘sacristanoftheJews’,judenmesner)wasresponsibleforcallingtheJewstoprayer;
he served as a crier, and was involved in the collection of taxes, the taking of oaths, and in
handlingjurisdiction,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2092–93;EncyclopaediaJudaica,sec.ed.,vol.
286
BirgitWiedl
anyoftheJewsstillheldsomedebenturebondsofthePfannbergfamily,andifso,
toproducethematthesynagogueinorderthattheycouldrepaythedebts.The
Jewsansweredthatnoneofthemheldanyobligations;thusthemessengershad
theshulklapperdeclarethatanybondspresentedlateronweretobeconsidered
nullandvoid.Thethreecitizenscorroboratedthecharterissuedonthatoccasion
withtheirseals,declaringthattheyhadbeenpresentatthesynagoguealongwith
‘otherrespectablepeople.’54
Oneofthemainopportunitiesofcontactandinteractionremainedthecontact
viabusinessandthecloseeverydaycontactandtheinteractioncaneasilybe
detectedinitemsandactivitiesofthedailybusinesslife.Businessdocumentsare
oneofthemostextensivelytransmittedtypeofsourcesinAustriaasfarasJewish
Christianinteractionisconcerned.55
From the financier of noblemen and rulers to the lowly pawn broker, their
clientelewaspredominantlyChristianandoftenrecruitedfromtheirimmediate
surroundings, especially when it comes to smallscale pawning and loaning;
whereasthenobleclients,bothsecularandecclesiastical,offinanciallystronger
Jewsusuallycamefromagreatergeographicalarea.56JewishChristianbusiness
interactionmightevokeideasofcredittransactionsandpawnbrokingonly,yet
thesearebyfarnotthesoleformofbusinessthattookplacebetweenJewsand
their Christian neighbors. ‘Classical’ contracts like debenture bonds, pawn
certificates,andchartersforsafeguardingtheguarantor(Schadlosbriefe)arebuta
partofthevastamountofJewishappearancesinbusinessdocuments.Jewsappear
inbothducalandmunicipalaccountbooks,57theywereregisteredinrentalsnot
onlyaspawnkeepersbutasregularlandand/orhouseownersandappearin
chartersassuch;when,e.g.,theStyriannobelmanPoppoofPeggaubequeathed
severalofhisestatestotheUpperAustrianmonasteryofReichersbergin1235,he
didsoaputWinnamindomoTechaniiudei,inVienna,inthehouseofTekatheJew,
towhom,alongwithseveralViennesecitizens,58theestateshadbeenpledged.
54
55
56
57
58
18(Detroit,NewYork,SanFrancisco,etal.:ThomsonGale,2007),531.
AustrianStateArchivesVienna,Haus,HofundStaatsarchiv,AURUk.1354XI4.
BruggerandWiedl,“ChristlichjüdischeInteraktion,”285.
See the survey by Eveline Brugger, “‘Do musten da hin zue den iuden varn’ – die Rolle(n)
jüdischerGeldgeberimspätmittelalterlichenÖsterreich,”EinThema–zweiPerspektiven,122–38;
forindepthstudiesforLowerAustriaandCarinthia,seeBrugger,AdelundJuden,andWadl,
JudenKärnten,193–225,respectively.
BruggerandWiedl,“ChristlichjüdischeInteraktion,”292.
ApartfromtheaforementionedbroadvarietyofotheroccupationsJewspursued,itisofgreat
importancetostressthatmoneylendingwasatnotimeexclusivelya‘Jewishtrade’;seewith
respecttoJewsthenewestsummarybyMichaelToch,“EconomicActivietiesofGermanJewsin
theMiddleAges,”WirtschaftsgeschichtedermittelalterlichenJuden,181–210;here184–87and194–95;
generally Joseph Shatzmiller, Shylock Reconsidered. Jews, Moneylending, and Medieval Society
(BerkeleyandLosAngeles:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1990);foracomparisonofthedifferent
JewsandtheCity
287
Evenmoreso,Tekadidnotonlyactasahostbutwasnamedastheintermediary
oftheentiretransaction(quomedianteetprocurantehocomniafactasunt).59Although
Tekaistobeconsideredaratherexceptionalfigurewithcloseconnectionstothe
HungariankingandtheAustrianduke60,quitecasualreferencestoJewsowning
housesorplotsoflandarenotexceptional,andoftenmerelygiventoidentify
anotherChristianownedhouse.61
However,itwouldmostdefinitelybeshortsightedtodismissthosebusiness
contractsasyieldingmerelyinformationonmattersofeconomy;62asobjectsof
59
60
61
62
formsofcredit,seeHansJörgGilomen,“DieökonomischenGrundlagendesKreditsunddie
christlichjüdischeKonkurrenzimSpätmittelalter,”EinThema–zweiPerspektiven,139–69;further
id., “Wucher und Wirtschaft im Mittelalter,” Historische Zeitschrift 250 (1990): 265–301; id.,
“Kooperation und Konfrontation,” 216–22, with statistics on Jewish and Lombard credits in
fifteenthcenturyZurich.Asearlyasthethirteenthcentury,LombardsandCahorsinsappearin
the Austrian region; Duke Rudolf IV bestowed himself with the right to “hold Jews and
Cahorsins” (tenere judeos et usurarios publicos, quos vulgus vocat gawertschin) in the forged
PrivilegiumMaiusofaround1358.ParticularlyinthesouthofAustria,theCarinthiandukesand
thenobilityresortedtobusinesscompaniesfromtheVenetoFriulanianareathatincludedboth
JewsandChristians;seenowthetwoarticlesbyWenninger,“Jüdischeundjüdischchristliche
Netzwerke,”andGerdMentgen,“NetzwerkbeziehungenbedeutenderCividalerJudeninder
erstenHälftedes14.Jahrhunderts,”BeziehungsnetzeaschkenasischerJuden,163–76and197–246
respectively,withfurtherliterature.SeealsoGerdMentgen,StudienzurGeschichtederJudenim
mittelalterlichenElsaß.ForschungenzurGeschichtederJuden,AbteilungA,Abhandlungen,2
(Hanover:HahnscheBuchhandlung,1995),574–789,onthe‘Jewish’Alsacevs.the‘Lombard’
Lorraine as far as moneylending is concerned, with further literature. However, Christian
participationinallkindsofmoneybasedbusinessisnotreducedtothesespecificgroups.Apart
from(ratherrare)openmoneylendingandpawnbroking,whichwasseverelycriticisedbythe
contemporaries,Christiansusuallyengagedthemselvesinmore‘clandestine’transactions,like
masking the pawning of a pledge, usually a plot of land, as selling and subsequently re
purchasing it after a predetermined time span, where only the final total was stated in the
documents,usuallyalreadyincludingtheinteresttobepaidattheend;forAustrianexamples,
seeBrugger,“Ansiedlung,”157.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,24–25,no.11.
Probablythebestexampleforthisisthepeacetreatyof1225betweenKingAndrewIIandDuke
LeopoldVI,whereTekastandsbailfortheAustrianduke;afewyearslater,heisthecomescamere
(taxfarmer)oftheHungarianking(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,20–21,no.7,23,no.10,
withfurtherliterature).
Fromthevastamountofcharters,seethearbitramentthatsettledadisputebetweencitizensof
theLowerAustriantownofKlosterneuburgoverseveralvineyardsandhouses,oneofwhichwas
locatedandemnidernmarchtzenachstSteuzzenhausdezjuden(“atthelowermarket,nexttothe
houseof[David]SteusstheJew,”ArchivesoftheMonasteryofKlosterneuburg,Uk.1364X31,
facsimileonlineat:http://www.monasterium.net,subarchivio;lastaccessedonApril8,2009).
Onthebroadvarietyofusingchartersassources,seePaulHerold,“SchriftalsMöglichkeit–
MöglichkeitenvonSchrift.Genese,WirkungsweiseundVerwendungvonSchriftamBeispiel
österreichischerPrivaturkundendes12.und13.Jahrhunderts,”TextalsRealie,ed.KarlBrunner
andGerhardJaritz.VeröffentlichungendesInstitutsfürRealienkundedesMittelaltersundder
FrühenNeuzeit,18.ÖsterreichischeAkademiederWissenschaften.Philosophischhistorische
Klasse,Sitzungsberichte,704(Vienna:VerlagderÖsterreichischenAkademiederWissenschaften,
288
BirgitWiedl
daily life, they give as much clear evidence of the mutual impact of the
overlappinglivingspacesofJewsandChristiansasanybuilding,pieceofcloth,
or object of art. In everyday transactions, Jewish businessmen adjusted to the
needs of their Christian clientele: documents they issued for their Christian
partnerswerenotonlyineitherGerman63or(veryrarely)inLatin,64theydifferin
nopointtothoseissuedbyChristianstheformulacommonlyusedbyChristians
isadoptedwordforword.Crucialdatesliketheduedateofthedebtorthedate
ofissuancearerenderedinthesamewayasinChristiancharters,byusageof
commonlyknowndaysofsaintsorfeasts.Asmuchasthisisduetothefactthat
theChristianbusinesspartnerhadtounderstandthedocumentaswell,thisalso
providesevidenceofafirmknowledge(andusage)oftheChristiancalendarand
certain‘keydays’liketheeverpopularpaydaysofSt.Michael(September29),St.
Martin(November11),andSt.George(April23/24).
Followingthestandardformulae,however,wasnotlimitedtodocumentsissued
byJewsforChristians;inthe(rare)chartersinHebrew65,whichwereeither,inthe
majorityofcases,issuedasanadditionalconfirmationofthetransactiondealtwith
intheGermanone(seeFigure6)66orkeptbytheJewishbusinesspartner,mostof
thecommonphrases(e.g.,“ofourownaccordandwiththeapprovalofourheirs,”
the Schadlosformel that protects the business partner should a third party raise
claims)wereliterallytranslatedintoHebrew.Incontrast,allthedatesarestated
accordingtotheJewishcalendar,andthecorroborationisexclusivelygivenby
signature. Quite telling is the only modification to one of the standard
formulaewhereastheChristianversionreads“allwhoseethisletterorhearit
being read” (allen die diesen brief sehen oder hören lesen), the Hebrew version is
adaptedasmerely“allwhoseethisletter,”proceedingontheassumptionthatany
Jewwhoseestheletterwillbeabletoreaditaswellonhisown.67
63
64
65
66
67
2003),135–52.
ThequestionwhethermedievalAshkenazicJewsspokeMiddleHighGermanorOldYiddish,or
regionaldialects,hasbeenatopicofacademicliteraturesincethenineteenthcentury,albeitwith
aclearfocusonliterarytexts.Thestillongoingdiscussionhasbeensummedupandanalyzed
latelybyEdithWenzel,“AltJiddischoderMittelhochdeutsch?”GrenzenundGrenzüberschreitun
gen,31–50,withanextensivebibliographyinthefootnotes.
TheeldestLatincharterintheAustrianregionisalsotheeldestoneissuedbyaJewaltogetherin
thisregion:February18,1257,thetwobrothersLublinandNekelo,comitescamere(taxfarmers)
oftheAustriandukeandlaterBohemiankingOtakarPemyslII,settledadisputewithBishop
ConradIofFreising,whichtheycorroboratedwiththeirshared(and,unfortunately,missing)seal,
seeBruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,50–51,no.38,withfurtherliterature.
BruggerandWiedl,“ChristlichjüdischeInteraktion,”305,fig.2.
These Hebrew charters were often stitched, glued, or somehow else attached to the German
documenttheycorrespondto(whichwaspartiallydonecenturieslater);seetheexamplefromthe
monasteryofKremsmünsterfrom1305,Figure6.
See,e.g.,thetwoeldestHebrewchartersfromtheAustrianregion,bothofthemissuedbythefour
JewsandtheCity
289
Jewsdoappearinotherfunctionsaswell:shouldtheneedarise,theyactas
arbitrators together with Christians,68 they corroborate Christian charters as
witnesses even if they (or any Jews at all) are not involved in the transaction
documentedinthecharter.69Jewishappearanceaswitnessesdeclinesperceptibly
fromthelastquarterofthethirteenthcenturyonward,whichprecedesthegeneral
decreaseintheusageofwitnessesinfavourofsealsasthe(almost)onlymeansof
authenticationbyonlyafewdecades.WealthyandprominentJews,however,did
adaptthiscustom,this‘newfashionarticle,’70andstartedusingseals,albeitonly
forchartersissuedforChristianbusinesspartners.71
ThecommonwayofcorroborationamongJewsremainedtheaforementioned
HebrewsignaturethatwasusedonbothHebrewandGermandocuments,72partly
announcedwiththesameformulathatwouldbeusedforannouncingaseal:with
the forumla und umb taz pesser sicherhait bestett ich die obergeschrift mit meiner
judischen hantgeschrift unden darunder (“as an additional corroboration [as an
additionalinsurance]Iherebyconfirmtheabovewritten[text]withmyJewish
68
69
70
71
72
brothersMosche,Mordechai,IsakandPessach,sonsofSchwärzlein/Asriel,andcorroboratedby
theirsignaturesandthoseoftheRabbisChaimandAbraham,BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.
1, 119, no. 124 (April 29, 1305, see Figure 6), 167–68, no. 165 ([1309]), Hebrew and German
translation.
E.g.,theducalcellarerKonradvonKyburgandtheJewMarusch,whodecidedadisputebetween
themonasteryofHeiligenkreuzandtheJewMordechaioverthepostponedpaymentofduties
(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,203–04,no.219).
E.g.,theJewBibaswhotestifiedinadeedofsuretyshipwhichthe(ratherhighranking)nobleman
AlberovonKuenringandthecitizensofthetownsofKrems,Stein,andLinzissuedfortwoother
noblemen in 1247, assuring them of their standing surety. Bibas is listed as the last of the
altogether21witnessesfromKrems(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,39,no.28);afurther
exampleistheJewSmoielwhoactsasawitnessinasalecharterofcanonIrnfriedofPassauin
1270(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,66–67,no.49).
Heinrich Fichtenau, Das Urkundenwesen in Österreich vom 8. bis zum frühen 13. Jahrhundert.
MitteilungendesInstitutsfürÖsterreichischeGeschichtsforschung,Ergänzungsband,23(Vienna
andGraz:Böhlau,1971),238.
TheeldeststillexistingJewishsealintheGermanspeakingrealmisthesealofPeterbarMosche
haLevifromRegensburg,attachedtoacharterissuedbyhissonsHatchimandJacobin1297for
ArchbishopConradIVofSalzburg.Itshowsacornutedhatwithabirdontop,flankedbya
crescent and a eightpointed star, see Keil, Martha: “Ein Regensburger Judensiegel des 13.
Jahrhunderts.ZurInterpretationdesSiegelsdesPeterbarMoschehaLewi,”Aschkenas:Zeitschrift
fürGeschichteundKulturderJuden1(1991):135–50;BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,97,no.93;
onsealsofAustrianJewsingeneral,seeBrugger,“Ansiedlung,”123–228.SeealsoDanielM.
Friedenberg, Medieval Jewish Seals from Europe (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987),
unfortunatelywithseriousmistakesandmisunderstandings.
Keil,“Judensiegel,”135–36;eadem,“‘Petachja,genanntZecherl’:NamenundBeinamenvonJuden
imdeutschenSprachraumdesSpätmittelalters,”PersonennamenundIdentität.Namengebungund
NamengebrauchalsAnzeigerindividuellerBestimmungundgruppenbezogenerZuordnung,ed.Reinhard
Härtel.GrazerGrundwissenschaftlicheForschungen,3.SchriftenreihederAkademieFriesach,
2(Graz:AkademischeDruckundVerlagsanstalt,1997),119–46;here138–41.
290
BirgitWiedl
handwriting”) the Jew Mosche from Herzogenburg announced his signature
(MoschebenhaKadoschRabbiIzchaks.k.l.,“Mosche,sonofthemartyrRabbiIzchak,
thememoryofthemartyrmaybehonored”),usingthesame‘keywords’ofpesser
sicherheit a Christian would herald their seal with.73 Additional confirmatory
signatures,oftenthoseofRabbis,wereintroducedusingofawordingsimilarto
thatChristianswouldintroduceadditionalcorroboratorswith.74
Towndwelling Jews without a seal of their own often turned toward the
particularChristianwhoatthattimeoccupiedtheofficeofwhatwasknownas
iudexiudeorum,anofficequiteuniquetotheeasternpartsofmoderndayAustria,75
to witness and seal their documents.76 Introduced in Duke Frederic II’s 1244
privilegefortheAustrianJewsandusuallyheldbyamemberofahighranking
familyofthetown,theprincipaldutyoftheiudexiudeorumwasthesettlingof
disputes between Jews and Christians;77 furthermore, he had limited rights of
controloverthesellingofunredeemedpledgesandwasentitledtoanumberof
finesfrombothJewsandChristians,thus,participatingatleastmarginallyinthe
revenuesoftheducalprotectionoftheJews.Despitethestrongtiestotheruler
whichtheiudexiudeorumcouldenjoy,78thetownsweregenerallyinterestedin
73
74
75
76
77
78
Keil,“NamenundBeinamen,”138,salesdeedfromMay10,1445.
BruggerandWiedl,“ChristlichjüdischeInteraktion,”294–95.
ThefirstiudexiudeorumismentionedinthelowerAustriantownin1264ofKrems(Bruggerand
Wiedl,Regesten,vol.1,56–57,no.42.).ItwastobecomearathercommonofficeinbothAustria
and Styria, partly also in the Styrian and Carinthian enclaves of Salzburg, but was never
introducedintootherpartsoftheHolyRomanEmpiresaveBohemiaandMoravia,wherethe
1244privilegewasintroducedbyKingPemyslOtakarII.Forthefewappearancesoutsidethese
territoriesseeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2190.
HavingsomeoneelsesealadocumentwasacommonpractiseamongJewsandChristiansalike;
iftheissuerhadnosealoftheirown,theyaskedforsomeoneelsetocorroboratethecharterwith
theirseals(Siegelbitte),whichwasnoteddownseparatelyinaparticularformulatogetherwiththe
announcementoftheseals.FortheiudexiudeorumascorroboratorforJews,seealsoKeil,“Namen
undBeinamen,”138.
Little is known about the organization that is referred to as Judengericht (despite the literal
translation“Jewishcourt”itisnottobeconfusedwiththeinternalcourtoftheJewishcommunity,
seeKeil,“GemeindeundKultur,”40–41,60–72).Itsexistenceisfirstdocumentedforthecityof
Viennain1361(Lohrmann,WienerJuden,47;Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”150).Inthe courseofa
general court reform, Duke Rudolf IV decreed the continued existence of the Viennese
Judengericht,yetspecifiedneitheritsconstitutionnoritscompetenceindetail.Presidedoverby
theiudexiudeorum,itsassessorsconsistedofdelegatesfromthecityandtheJewishcommunity
inequalrepresentation.Itsrangeofjurisdictionalcompetence,however,cannotbeinferredfrom
itsonlymentionforViennaorfromtheStyrianreferencesofthefifteenthcentury(seeBrugger,
“Ansiedlung,” 150), although it is very likely that the extent of empowerment mainly
encompassedconflictsbetweenJewsandChristians.
E.g.,alloftheiudicisiudeorumoftoday’sUpperAustria’scapitalofLinzwerealsocaretakersof
thecastleofLinz,theresidenceoftheducalsteward(Lohrmann,Judenrecht,159).Noneofthelegal
documentsrefertohowtheiudexiudeorumwastobeappointed/elected;thus,anappointmentby
therulerisatleastpossible,ifnotlikely(atleastasfaraslessinfluentialtownsareconcerned).
JewsandtheCity
291
strengthening his position as well as expanding his competences, gradually
transformingtheofficeintoanatleastpartlymunicipalone.
Withthegrowingclaimofthetownsonamorecomprehensivejurisdictional
andeconomiccontrolof‘their’Jews,which,unsurprisingly,startedshortlyafter
thewiderangingpersecutionsof1338,theofficesofthetownjudgeandtheiudex
iudeorumwereutilizedtosupervisethebusinessactivitiesoftheJewstoagreater
extent.Jewswereobligedtoproducetheirdebtinstrumentstothetownjudge
annually79oreventhriceayear,80whereaspledgeshadtobepresentedtotheiudex
iudeorumonaregular,sometimesevenweeklybasis;81insomeStyriantowns,the
municipalcontrolwasexpandedfurtherbydemandingthatanydebtinstrument
wastobesealednotbyeitherbutbyboththetownjudgeandtheiudexiudeorum.82
Inthesecondhalfofthefourteenthcentury,citiestriedtogetorganizedwhenit
cametokeepinganeyeontheJewsandtheirbusinesstransactions.
Theincreasingdeclineoftheducalprotectionofferedconsiderableleewayfor
thetownstoshiftcompetencestotheirfavor,allowingthemtotightentheirgrip
on the Jews perceptibly. Their aim of controlling and monitoring loans and
pledges no longer merely encompassed the aforementioned producing, and
certifying, of business documents but was extended to the many transactions
concerningsmalleramounts,mostofwhichhadheretoforthnotbeendocumented
inwritingatall.Toestablishthiscontrol,manytownssetupwhatisknownas
Judenbücher(“codicesfortheJews”).83SometimesincludedinthegeneralSatzbuch
of the respective town84 and usually administered by the iudex iudeorum, the
79
80
81
82
83
84
E.g., 1376 in the town charter of the Salzburg town of Ptuj, today in Slovenia, see Scherer,
Rechtsverhältnisse,549–50,Wadl,JudenKärnten,176–77.
E.g.,inthetowncharteroftheLowerAustriantownofSt.Pöltenfrom1338,grantedbythe
BishopofPassauwhowasthelordofthetown;seeBruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,341,no.
444.
Ptuj:Inanimatepledges(Schreinpfand,asopposedtoessendesPfand,“eatingpledge,”i.e.,livestock)
hadtobepresentedtotheiudexiudeorumeveryThursday,Lohrmann,Judenrecht,160;Germania
Judaica,vol.III/2,1100.
Meir Wiener, Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland während des Mittelalters, vol. 1
(Hanover:Hahn’scheHofbuchhandlung1862),236,no.144(Graz,Leoben);Lohrmann,Judenrecht,
160,incorrectlyappliesthisregulationtothemajorityofStyriantowns.
ThesettingupofJudenbücherwasnotexclusivetothecitiesrulersaswellasnoblefamiliesand
inthefifteenthcentury,alsotheEstatesofStyriaandCarinthiatriedtokeeptrackoftheirdebts
byestablishingJudenbücher(Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”161–62).Insomecases,itwastherulerwho
committed the town to set up a Judenbuch (e.g., Duke Albrecht III, who obliged the Lower
AustriantownofBrucka.d.LeithatosetupaJudenbuch,seeLohrmann,Judenrecht,158).Mostof
theJudenbücherwerelostduringthepersecutionsof1420/1421thatendedJewishsettlementin
LowerAustria.AsfarasthegeneralscholarlydiscussiononJudenbücherisconcerned;fora
recent discussion see Thomas Peter, “Judenbücher als Quellengattung und die Znaimer
Judenbücher.TypologieundForschungsstand,”RäumeundWege,307–34.
ThebestdocumentedexampleswithinAustriaarethe“JudenbuchderScheffstrasse”andtheLiber
292
BirgitWiedl
Judenbuchwastheplacewhereallthebusinesstransactionsconductedbyandwith
Jewshadtoberegisteredin(whichalsoprovidedsomeprotectionfortheJews
sincetheentryrendereditimpossiblefordebtorstoclaimthatthebondstheJews
presentedwereforgeries).
Withthe tighteninggripofthecitiesontheirJews,thedemandforthemto
partakeincivicdutiesgrew,85whilstinreturn,manyGermancitieshadtakento
granting(partial)citizenshipstoJews;86arightthathad,forthemostpart,been
transferred to them by the lord of the town.87 In the territory of modernday
Austrianterritory,boththedominatingpositionoftheruler(s)andthelackof
reallypowerful,importantcitiesismostlikelythereasonfornonexistingJewish
citizenship,thegrantingofsettlementremainingexclusivelyinthehandsofthe
rulers.88InformationonAustrianJewsparticipatinginurbandutiesistherefore
85
86
87
88
JudeorumofWienerNeustadt.TheScheffstrasse,asmallcommunityrightoutsidetheViennacity
wallsthatwassubjecttotheduchessofAustria,haditsownregister,keptbybothducalofficers
andrepresentativesofthecityofVienna,whichwasacadastralregisteraswellasabookofloans.
Whereas the second part was dedicated to loans among Christians, the third part is the
“Judenbuch,”entriesofloansgrantedbyJews(VienneseaswellasLowerAustrianandBohemian
Jews)toinhabitantsoftheScheffstrasse.Sincethemajorityoftheinhabitantsweresmallscale
craftsmen,mostofthesums(aconsiderablenumberofwhichweregrantedbyJewesses)were
rathersmall.ArturGoldmann,DasJudenbuchderScheffstrassezuWien(1389–1420).Quellenund
ForschungenzurGeschichtederJudeninDeutschÖsterreich,1(ViennaandLeipzig:Wilhelm
Braumüller,1908).AnolderJudenbuchofthecityofViennahasbeenlost;seeArturGoldmann,
“DasverscholleneWienerJudenbuch(1372–1420),”QuellenundForschungenzurGeschichteder
JudeninÖsterreich,11:Nachträge(Vienna:SelbstverlagderHistorischenKommission,1936),1–14.
ForWienerNeustadt,seeMarthaKeil,“DerLiberJudeorumvonWienerNeustadt1453–1500.
Edition,”StudienzurGeschichtederJudeninÖsterreich,ed.eademandKlausLohrmann(Vienna,
Cologne,andWeimar:Böhlau,1994),41–99.
Wenninger,“VonjüdischenRittern,”54–67,onJewspartakinginthemilitarydutieswithinacity.
Alfred Haverkamp, “‘Concivilitas’ von Christen und Juden in Aschkenas im Mittelalter,”
Gemeinden,GemeinschaftenundKommunikationsformenimhohenundspätenMittelalter,ed.Friedhelm
Burgard,LukasClemensandMichaelMatheus(Trier:Kliomedia,2002),315–44(rpt.ofthearticle
firstpublishedinJüdischeGemeindenundOrganisationsformenvonderAntikebiszurGegenwart,ed.
RobertJütteandAbrahamP.Kustermann.Aschkenas:ZeitschriftfürGeschichteundKulturderJuden,
Beiheft 3 [Vienna, Cologne, and Weimar: Böhlau, 1996]: 103–36); Germania Judaica, vol. III/3,
2181–87; Barbara Türke, “Anmerkungen zum Bürgerbegriff im Mittelalter: Das Beispiel
christlicher und jüdischer Bürger der Reichsstadt Nördlingen im 15. Jahrhundert,”
Inklusion/Exklusion:StudienzurFremdheitundArmutvonderAntikebiszurGegenwart,ed.Andreas
GestrichandRaphaelLutz.Secondedition(2004;Frankfurta.M.andVienna:PeterLang,2008),
135–54;moregenerally,seeHansJörgGilomen,“StädtischeSondergruppenimBürgerrecht,”
NeubürgerimspätenMittelalter:MigrationundAustauschinderStädtelandschaftdesaltenReiches
(1250–1550),ed.RainerChristophSchwinges.ZeitschriftfürhistorischeForschung.Beiheft,30
(Berlin:Duncker&Humblot,2002),125–67.
Thereareveryfewexamplesofcities(Worms,Prague)wherethisrighttograntcitizenshipto
Jewswas independentfromtheconcessionoftheruler;seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2169,
2181–82.
KlausLohrmann,“BemerkungenzumProblem‘JudeundBürger’,”JudeninderStadt,145–66;here
JewsandtheCity
293
scarce.SincetheJewsweregenerallysubjectedtotaxationtonoonebuttheruler,
the towns strove either to charge additional taxes or at least partially to
incorporatetheJewsintothetaxrevenueofthetown.89Theearliestdocumented
exampleinAustria,however,isremarkableintworespects:in1277,KingRudolph
Inotonlyconfirmedbutalsoexpandedtherightsofthe(small)townofLaa/Thaya
(LowerAustria),amongstwhichheaddedtherighttoexclude‘their’Jewsfrom
thegeneralJewishtaxandtoincludethemintothecitizens’taxrevenue,90thus
documentingnotonlythefirstexceptiontothegeneraltaxtheJewswerepaying
directly into the treasury but the first mention of the ‘Jewish tax’ on Austrian
territoryatall.91
Formorethanacentury,however,therulers’claimtotaxingtheJewsremained
widelyunchallenged;onlythelatefourteenthcenturysawAustriandukesyield
tothepressureofbothtownsandtherisingestates.In1396,alargenumberof
StyriantownswereallowedbytheDukesAlbrechtIVandWilliamtocoercethe
Jewsowninghousesand/orplotsoflandwithintherealmofthetowneithertosell
thesepremiseswithinayearortoparticipatehenceforwardinthetaxrevenueof
the town.92 The references to Jews partaking in other civic duties like the city
89
90
91
92
161–64.Thereisbutoneexception:thesmalltownofFeldkirchintheutmostwestoftoday’s
Austriawhichwasundertheruleofalocalandnotoverlypowerfulnoblefamily.Unlikein
Austria,JewishcitizenshipwasfairlycommonespeciallyintheareaaroundLakeConstance,to
whichFeldkirchbelongedbothpoliticallyandculturally;seeKarlHeinzBurmeister,medinat
bodase.ZurGeschichtederJudenamBodensee,vol.1:1200–1349(CKonstancez:Universitätsverlag
Konstanz,1994),40–42.However,Jewishcitizensareonlymentioned‘intheory’inthetown
charterofFeldkirchfromthemidfourteenthcentury,andnoindividualspossessingthestatus
ofcitizensareknown;GerdaLeipoldSchneider,“asmittelalterlicheStadtrechtvonFeldkirch:
Überlieferung und Edition,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Innsbruck, 2001, 236. See also
Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”204.
Onthemany‘stages’andcompromisesoftaxationofJewsbycities,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,
2263–67.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,74,no.57.SeealsoLohrmann,Judenrecht,113–14.
RudolphIwasactingasKingoftheRomansandnotasthedukeofAustria(whichheneverwas),
preparing,however,thegroundsforhissonstotakeovertheduchyandthustryingtocoax
the—howeversmall—townsintosidingwithhim.Old,butstillaworkofreferenceisThomas
Michael Martin, Die Städtepolitik Rudolfs von Habsburg. Veröffentlichungen des MaxPlanck
InstitutsfürGeschichte,44(Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,1976),withparticularrespect
tothischarter75–78.
Scherer, Rechtsverhältnisse, 403. There is a rather similar regulation noted down in the then
Hungarian town of Eisenstadt; it is questionable though whether this town charter, which
mentionsthetaxesofJewslivinginandoutsidethecitywalls,isauthentic;seeHaraldPrickler,
“BeiträgezurGeschichtederburgenländischenJudensiedlungen,”JudenimGrenzraum:Geschichte,
KulturundLebensweltderJudenimburgenländischwestungarischenRaumundindenangrenzenden
RegionenvomMittelalterbiszurGegenwart,ed.RudolfKropf.WissenschaftlicheArbeitenausdem
Burgenland,92(Eisenstadt:BurgenländischesLandesmuseum,1993),65–106;here68–69.
294
BirgitWiedl
watch,ofwhichthereisevidenceinotherregions,93areevenrarer;thereisbutone
example of the nowadays Italian town of Gorizia where in 1307, Jews and
Christiansalikewerecommittedtowatchduties.94
Facedwithsimilarchallenges,JewsandChristiansoftenarrivedatquitesimilar
solutions.TheorganizationoftheJewishcommunity(kehilla)isinitsmainfeatures
ratheruniform;95yet,itbearsastonishinganalogiestoChristianorganizations,
particularlytothoseofcraftguilds.96Thecontemporarieswerenotobliviousto
thisfact:intheAustrianregion,97theJewishcommunityisquitecommonlycalled
Judenzeche, “Jewish guild,” whereas their parnass, the head of the Jewish
community,wasreferredtoasZechmeisterderJuden,“guildmasteroftheJews.”98
ThetermwaspartlyusedasselfdenominationbytheJewsaswell,99whereasthe
scribeoftheVienneseEisenbuch100translatedtheHebrewexpressionintosammung,
awordregularlyusedtodescribeconventualcommunities.101Asdivergingasthe
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
Wenninger, “Von jüdischen Rittern,” 54–67, who gives numerous examples from the late
thirteenth century onwards. See also Germania Judaica, vol. III/3, 2181–82; Toch, Juden im
mittelalterlichenReich,51–54;Magin,“‘Waffenrecht’,”23–24;Haverkamp,“Concivilitas,”125–128;
from a ‘rabbinical perspective’ Israel Jacob Yuval, “Das Thema Waffen aus der rabbinischen
Perspektive,”GrenzenundGrenzüberschreitungen,13–16;here15(Jewsparticipatinginthedefense
ofthecityofWormsin1201).
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,160,no.153.ForSwissexamples,seeGilomen,“Kooperation
und Konfrontation,” 168–70, who discusses the question of Jews actually partaking in watch
dutiesormerelypayingtheirshareinthechargesandgivesexamplesforboth.
ForalatestsummaryontheJewishcommunitiesandtheirformoforganization,seeGermania
Judaica, vol. III/3, 2080–2138; Yacov Guggenheim, “Jewish Community and Territorial
OrganizationinMedievalEurope,”JewsofEurope,71–92,onthestrikingsimilaritiesofJewish
communitiesthroughoutmedievalEurope72–73,andwithfurtherliterature.
Seethetwocorrespondingarticles:RainerBarzen,“‘Sohabenwirverhängtundbeschlossen...’
TakkanotimmittelalterlichenAschkenas,”218–33,andBirgitWiedl,“‘Confraternitaseorumquod
invulgaridiciturzhunft’:Wirtschaftliche,religiöseundsozialeAspektevonHandwerkszünften
imSpiegelihrerOrdnungen,”234–52(bothinEinThema–zweiPerspektiven).
GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2080,withtheemphasisonthisbeinganAustrianparticularity.
E.g.,inKrems:zechaiudeoruminamunicipalrentalfrombetween1350and1370,LeopoldMoses,
“AusdemKremserStadtarchiv,”JüdischesArchivNeueFolge1,3–4(1928),3–8;here5;forfurther
references,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/1,678(Krems),1598(Vienna),1621(WienerNeustadt).
SeealsoKeil,“GemeindeundKultur,”39.
E.g.,intheSeferTerumathaDeschen(acollectionoflegalopinions)oftherabbiIsraelIsserlein
ofthe(then)StyriantownofWienerNeustadt(ed.ShemuelAbitan,Jerusalem1991),whousesthe
termquitefrequently,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/2,1621.
AcollectionofrightsandlibertiesofthecityofVienna,keptfrom1320to1819;seeFerdinand
Opll,DasgroßeWienerStadtbuch,genannt“Eisenbuch.”InhaltlicheErschließung.Veröffentlichungen
des Wiener Stadt und Landesarchivs. Reihe A: Archivinventar, Serie 3, Heft 4 (Vienna:
EigenverlagdesWienerStadtundLandesarchivs,1999).
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,33–338,nrr.439(Hebrew)and440(German),theJewish
communityreducingtheirinterestratein1338.ThescribewhocopiedtheHebrewtextintothe
EisenbuchalsoprovidedaGermantranslation,whereheusedtheabovementionedexpression.
Adepictionofthepagecanbefoundhere:
JewsandtheCity
295
‘basic prerequisites’ may have been, the similarities both in the general
compositionofthecommunityaswellasmanydetailsarestriking:bydemandof
mandatorymembership,theorganizationcouldnotonlyofferextensiveprotection
for,butalsowieldwiderangingauthorityoverthemembers,whilstthebanfrom
thecommunity,whichposedagenuinethreattoinsubordinatemembers,was
utilizedtoexertcontrol.Socialconcernslikethecareforwidows,orphansand
impoverishedmembersweredealtwithby,andthrough,thecommunitybythe
institutionofTzedakahandtheguilds’welfaresystemrespectively,bothofwhich
were financed by regular contributions;102 members who somehow offended
againstruleswereputontrialattheinternalcourt;premisesofreligiousaswell
asseculardenominationwereownedincommon;andgenerally,acodeofconduct
regulated(atleasttheoretically)manyareasoflifebothpublicandprivate.Feasts
that were celebrated together played an important role in creating a sense of
identity, an identity that in fact went far beyond the local scopeitinerant
craftsmenarrivinginthetownweretakencareofbytheguildwhichprovided
themwithshelter,foodandsometimesmoney,thesamewayasforeignJewish
studentsand/orpauperswerelookedafterbythekehilla.103
Jews were participating in everyday activities at the cities’ market(s), thus
entering and sharing both social and economic space with their Christian
neighbors.104Areaslikemarkets,however,alsoprovidedconvenientopportunities
forexclusionand(physical)division.Whilethirteenthcenturytownswerebusy
banningJewsfromholdingpublicoffices105,theygenerallystrovetogaincontrol
102
103
104
105
http://www.wien.gv.at/kultur/archiv/geschichte/zimelien/images/juden.jpg (last accessed on
April8,2009).
Forasummaryoftheacademicdiscussion,seeRainerBarzen,“‘WasderArmebenötigt,bisDu
verpflichtetzugeben:’ForschungsansätzezurArmenfürsorgeinAschkenasimhohenundspäten
Mittelalter,”WirtschaftsgeschichtedermittelalterlichenJuden,139–52;particularly142–48.
Onthesimilarities,seeBirgitWiedl,“EinezünftigeGemeinde:Handwerkszünfteundjüdische
GemeindeorganisationimVergleich,”NichtineinemBett,44–49,downloadableaspdfhere:
http://www.injoest.ac.at/upload/JudeninME05_4_4349(1).pdf.
Ontheimportanceofmarketsas‘crucialelementsofthemedievalcity,’theaspectofgender,and
howmarketspacecanbeutilizedforinandexclusionseethearticlebyShennanHuttoninthis
volume.
Theprohibitiongoesbacktocanon69oftheFourthLateranCouncilwhichinturnreferredto
canon14oftheThirdConciliumToletanumof589.Itis,however,theonlyregulationfromthe
LateranIVthathadmadeitswayintosecularlegislation.Fromthevastliteratureonthetopic,see
Heinz Schreckenberg, Die christlichen AdversusJudaeosTexte (11.13. Jahrhundert): Mit einer
IkonographiedesJudenthemasbiszum4.Laterankonzil.EuropäischeHochschulschriften.Second
edition.ReiheXXIII:Theologie,335(1988;Frankfurta.M.,Bern,NewYork,andParis:PeterLang,
1991),425–26.EmperorFrederickIIincludedthisparagraphintheprivilegehegrantedthecity
ofViennain1238(forthelatestedition,seeBruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,28–29,no.17,with
additionaleditionsandliterature).ThebanwasreconfirmedforViennain1247(byEmperor
FrederickII)and1278(byKingRudolfI)andwasalsoincludedintheprivilegefortheStyrian
296
BirgitWiedl
overthelegalstatusandtorestrict,oratleastmonitor,theeconomicactivitiesof
‘their’Jewsduringthelatethirteenthandfourteenthcenturies106.NeitherJewish
landownership nor Jews being involved in winegrowing and trade107 were
uncommon,yettherangeofprofessionstheJewscouldmakealivingwithwithin
thetowns’realmswasbeingmoreandmorelimited.Withthecraftguildsgaining
importance,regulationsthatexcludedJewsfromspecificprofessions108onbehalf
of the respective guild appeared in town charters as well as guild articles. In
Austria,theJewsofoneofthebiggestandmostimportantJewishcommunitieson
Habsburgterritory,WienerNeustadt,wereprohibitedthetradingandsellingof
cloth, presumably at the request of the guild;109 but it was mainly professions
concernedwithfoodthatwereblacklisted.Forinstance,professionssuchasthe
brewingofbeer(St.Veit,Carinthia)110orthetradingaswellasservingofwineat
a(local)bar(Ptuj,LowerStyria,Slovenia)111wasnotpermittedtoJews,yetoverall,
thebutcheringandsellingofmeatturnedouttobethemostdisputedissue.
106
107
108
109
110
111
townofWienerNeustadt,whichallegedlypredatestheViennesecharterbutisinfactaforgery
fromthelastthirdofthethirteenthcentury(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,40,no.29,76,no.
60,22–23,no.9).ForthewholecomplexoftheWienerNeustädterforgeries,seePeterCsendes,
“DieWienerNeustädterStadtrechtsfälschungen,”FälschungenimMittelalter,vol.3:Diplomatische
Fälschungen(part1).MonumentaGermaniaeHistoricaSchriften,33.3(Hanover:HahnscheBuch
handlung,1988),637–52;forthischarter646–47);onthefactualvalidityofforgedcharters,see
ThomasHildbrand,“SisyphusunddieUrkunden:MediävistischeÜberlegungenzursemiotischen
Arbeit,”TextalsRealie,183–92;here186.
Wiedl,“CodifyingJews.”
HaymSoloveitchik,“Halakhah,TabooandtheOriginofJewishMoneylendinginGermany,”Jews
ofEurope,305–17,who,despitethetitle,examinesJewishwinegrowingandtradingaswellas
viticulturalcredits;furtherToch,“EconomicActivities,”205–06.ForAustrianJews,seeMartha
Keil, “‘Veltliner, Ausstich, Tribuswinkler’: Zum Weingenuss österreichischer Juden im
Mittelalter,”‘Undwennschon,dannBischofoderAbt’:ImGedenkenanGüntherHödl(1941–2005),ed.
ChristianDomenigandothers(Klagenfurt:KärntnerDruckundVerlagsgesellschaft,2006),53–72,
BruggerandWiedl,“ChristlichjüdischeInteraktion,”302–03.
ForJewsascraftsmen,seeMichaelToch,“JüdischeGeldleiheimMittelalter,”GeschichteundKultur
derJudeninBayern,ed.ManfredTremlandJosefKirmeier(Munich,NewYork,London,andParis:
K. G. Saur, 1988), 85–94; here 85–86; id., “Geldleiher und sonst nichts? Zur wirtschaftlichen
Tätigkeit der Juden im deutschen Sprachraum des Spätmittelalters,” Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für
deutscheGeschichte22(1993):117–26;id.,“EconomicActivities,”187,204–10;Mentgen,Judenim
mittelalterlichenElsaß,579–85;GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/3,2139–46.
WienerNeustadt1316,BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,195–96,no.205.Itisnotquiteclear
whethertheregulationreferstoclothtradeortailoring,orboth.
1297/1308,BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,99,no.96,§13.
Ptuj/Pettau1376.FerdinandBischoff,“DasPettauerStadtrechtvon1376,”Sitzungsberichteder
AkademiederWissenschaften,philosophischhistorischeKlasse113(1886),695–744.Thearticle(§18),
however,refersonlytotheretailtradewithinthecity;theJewsofPettauwerefardistancetraders
onabigscale,especiallywithwineandgoodsfromVenetia.Wenninger,“JudenSalzburg,”753.
JewsandtheCity
297
TheChristianmistrusttoward‘Jewishmeat’hadbeenclearlyexpressedatthe
provincialsynodsofWrocawandViennain1267,whereinveryclearwords,
ChristianswerecautionedagainstbuyinganynourishmentsfromJewslestthese,
whoallegedlyregardedtheChristiansastheirenemies,poisonthemwiththeir
food(necchristianicarnesvenalesseualiacibariaaiudeisemant,neforteperhociudei
christianos, quos hostes reputant, fraudulenta machinatione venenent).112 The later
adaptions in several town charters, however, hardly ever referred
straightforwardlytoanythreatposedtoChristiansshouldtheybuy,orconsume,
meat(or,cometothat,anyothergoods)of“Jewishorigin.”Thefirstattemptat
excludingJewsatleastpartiallyfromthatbranchofbusinessappearedasearlyas
1267 (!), when the butchers’ guild of the Lower Austrian town of Tulln put
additionalchargesonthefatstockthatwasboughtbyJews.Consideringthatthe
Jews were most likely butchering the animals themselves to guarantee kosher
slaughter,thesumtheJewshadtopaywaspresumablyintendedasakindoffine
forthelossofincomethecraftsmensufferedsincetheycouldnotchargethemfor
theirslaughteringservice.113
Upuntilthefifteenthcentury,themainproblemhoweverremainedthatthe
Jewswerenotonlydoingtheslaughteringthemselves,114butwerealsoselling
meattoChristians;andthatbydoingsotheyenteredthedomainofthecrafts
guilds.TheChristianauthorities,partiallyattheinstigationofthecraftguilds,
partially of their own volition, dealt with the issue in different ways, most of
which went along with, or were expressed by, a physical separation. The
“simplest”solution,chosenbytheCarinthiantownofSt.Veitinthelatethirteenth
century,wastobanJewsfromsellingtheirmeatpubliclyaltogether.TheJewsof
thistownwereonlyallowedtobutcherandselltheirmeatathome;accordingto
thetown’sregulations,theynotonlyremainedwithoutapossibilitytoparticipate
inthepublicmeatmarkedbutwerealsobeingdeniedtherighttoownlivestock
(mostlikelyforbreedingpurpose,sincetheywereallowedtoslaughterathome)
andrefusedtheirshareintheborough’scommon.115
112
113
114
115
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,59–61(quote59),no.45.
Brugger and Wiedl, Regesten, vol. 1, 61, no. 46. English translation (incorrectly dated 1237):
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1237butcherstuln.html(lastaccessedonApril8,2009).
Germania Judaica, vol. I: Von den ältesten Zeiten bis 1238, ed. I. Elbogen, A. Freimann, and H.
Tykocinski(Tübingen:J.C.B.Mohr,1963),388–89.
Jewswere,however,nottheonlygroupofpeoplemedievalbutchershadtoconcedetherightto
carryoutslaughterontheirown.Butcheringwithincertainlimits(zurhausnotdurft[forpersonal
needs at home]) was regarded as the right of the citizens in many towns, and particular
institutionslikeinnsortavernssometimesevenhadtheirownslaughterhouseandemployed
journeymenofthebutchers’guilds.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,99,no.96,§13.
298
BirgitWiedl
ThiscompletebanofJewsfromthepublic(economic)sphereofmarketactivities
remained rather unique among the regulations of the thirteenth to fifteenth
centuries.Commonly,Jewswereallowedtoselltheirmeatatthepublicmarketvia
aspecificstallthatwaseitherdirectlyadministeredbythemunicipalgovernment
oratleastundertheirstrictcontrol.Thatstallwasusuallyremotefromthoseofthe
Christianbutchersandquiteoftenlocatedatthefringeofthemarketplace.116In
addition to that, some towns demanded that the meat be presented ‘in an
unobtrusiveway’:not,asatthebutchers’guild’sbooths,hookedupanddangling
fromtheceilingorapole,butplacedonastool.117Thattheirmeatwastobesold
solelyatthisparticulartypeofstallmaythusbeinterpretedasplacingtheJewsat
a mere economic disadvantage, yet in many of the regulations, additional
specificationsaimedatasegregationoftheJewsthatwentfurtherbeyondamere
economicmeasure.
Themunicipalstallwasusuallytheplacewherepfinnigfleischwastobesold,118
whichmeantfoul(trichinous)meataswellasmeatfromsickorinjuredanimals.119
116
117
118
119
Andenendten(“atthesides”)andnotattheregularbutchers’stallsshallthejudenfleisch(“Jewish
meat”)besold,whereithasbeensoldvonallter(“sincetimeimmemorial”),statestheregulation
thetownofJudenburgissuedfortheirbutcher’sguildin1467;FritzPopelka,Schriftdenkmälerdes
steirischenGewerbes,vol.1(Graz:EigenverlagdesWirtschaftsförderungsinstitutesderKammer
dergewerblichenWirtschaftfürSteiermark,1950),137–37,no.104;GermaniaJudaica,vol.III/1,594.
LibertiesofthecityofSalzburg,1420:Item,dasjudenfleischundpfinnigssolmanvordemschlätorr
vaillhabenaufeinenstullundnietauffhahen.AdolfAltmann,GeschichtederJudeninStadtundLand
SalzburgvondenfrühestenZeitenbisaufdieGegenwart.Rpt.ofthe1913ed.andcontinueduntil1988
byGünterFellnerandHelgaEmbacher(Salzburg:OttoMüllerVerlag,1990),100–01.
Salzburg1420(seeabove),buttheregulationdatesbacktotheearlyfourteenthcentury:itappears
asearlyas1307inthetowncharteroftheBavariantownBurghausen(1307,ChristianHaeutle,
“Einige altbayerische Stadtrechte,” Oberbayerisches Archiv für vaterländische Geschichte 45
[1888/1889]:163–262;here183)andwasadopted,oftenwithaquitesimilarwording,inthetown
chartersofNeuötting(1321,id.,“EinigealtbayerischeStadtrechte:FortsetzungundSchluß,”
OberbayerischesArchivfürvaterländischeGeschichte47[1891/1892]:18–124;here29),Landshut(1344,
GermaniaJudaica,vol.II/1,467–68),andSchärding(1316,todayUpperAustria,BruggerandWiedl,
Regesten,vol.1,194,no.202).Theinclusion ofthearticleinthetownprivilegeofSchärding,
however,istheonlyindicationofaJewishsettlementinthis(rathersmall)townatall;andsince
thewordingofthearticleinthetownchartersisrathersimilar,itmighthavemerelybeencopied,
perhapsasakindof‘preventivemeasure’againstpotentialfutureJewishinhabitants.Further,
e.g.,GermaniaJudaica,vol.II/2,557andGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/2,902(Munich),1500(Ulm),
GermaniaJudaica,vol.II/2,946(Zurich);Gilomen,“KooperationundKonfrontation,”177.
AccordingtothelibertiesofthetownofMühldorf(before1360),pfinichsflaischs,wolfpaizzichs
flaischsundswazderjudersucht(foulmeat,meatthat‘hasbeenbittenbythewolf’andmeat‘which
theJewdesires’),shouldbesoldbythebutchers,butinfrontofandnotinsidetheirbooths.Karl
Theodor Heigel (ed.), “Mühldorfer Annalen 1313–1428,” Die Chroniken der baierischen Städte
Regensburg, Landshut, Mühldorf, München, ed. Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen
AkademiederWissenschaften.Secondedition.DieChronikenderdeutschenStädtevom14.bis
ins16.Jahrhundert,15(1878;Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,1967),369–410;here396;
HansGeorg Herrmann, “Das Mühldorfer Stadtrecht im Spätmittelalter und in der Frühen
JewsandtheCity
299
TheadditionalassociationofJewswiththe“rotten”and“foul”isthereforequite
obvious, a connotation that was stressed even more when the meat had to be
clearlytaggedand/orthepotentialChristiancustomerhadtobealertedtothefact
thattheywereabouttobuyeitherfoulor“Jewishmeat.”120Inlatefourtheenth/
early fifteenth centuries, the idea of the wellpoisoning Jews prevailing, many
townsresortedtomoredrasticandencompassingmeasuresbydeclaringanymeat
thathadmerelybeentouchedbyJewsasbeinginthesamecategory,therefore
consideringitbeingofalesserquality,orevenunfitforChristianconsumption.
This often concurs with, or is included in, regulations which aim at a
comprehensivecontrolofthebehaviorofJewsatthemarket:insteadoftouching
thegoods,Jewsweretopointatthoseitems,particularlyvictuals,theyintended
tobuy,andshouldtheyhappentotouchanitem,theyhadtopurchaseit,often
withasurcharge.121
Jewishexistencewithinthespaceofcitieswas,toconclude,ariskyoneatalltimes.
Schlom,themasteroftheducalmintandthefirstAustrianJewknownbyname,
fellpreytogetherwithhisfamilytocrusadersin1196;122some100yearslater,the
firstbloodlibelsandaccusationsofallegedhostwaferdesecrationswerelaunched
onAustrianterritory,claimingtheirvictimsamongtheJewsofLowerAustrian
towns.Yetasmuchasthesehorrendousincidentsareindicativeoftheatbest
fragilebalancebetweenJewsandtheirChristiansurroundings,detailsstillhintat
120
121
122
Neuzeit,”MühldorfamInn:SalzburginBayern935–1802–2002.Begleitbandzurgleichnamigen
Ausstellungvom8.Junibis27.Oktober2002(MühldorfamInn:EigenverlagderStadt,2002),
36–47;here36;Altmann,JudenSalzburg,67–69.
LibertiesofthetownofMühldorf:(...)swerdazflaischvoninchauft,ezseigastoderpurger,demsol
erezsagen,wieezumbdazflaischste,pei72den(whoeverbuysthemeat,betheyvisitororcitizen,
he[thebutcherwhosellsthemeat]shalltellthemabouttheconditionofthemeat,atapenaltyof
72pence),Heigel,“MühldorferAnnalen,”396;Thejudenfleischhasbeenfrequentlyinterpreted
as“koshermeat”ingeneral,whereasthefactthatitwassoldatthemarkettoChristianssuggests
thatthetermreferstothepartsofthekosherlyslaughteredanimalstheJewswerenotallowedto
eatandthussoldviathemunicipalstall(which,infact,mighthavealsoheightenedtheChristian
suspicionthattheJewsweresellingthemmeatoflowquality).ThebiggerJewishcommunities
usually owned a slaughterhouse and employed their own kosher butcher, e.g. Vienna; see
Lohrmann,WienerJuden,55,100,and102.
TownlibertiesofBolzano(latefourtheenthcentury,seeGermaniaJudaica,vol.II/1,99;pertaining
toallkindsofgoods),adaptedthebutchers’regulation;townlibertiesofMunich(fish),orderof
the municipal council of Ulm (1421, livestock, fish, meat, poultry, fruits), see Scherer,
Rechtsverhältnisse,577–78,withanalogiestoFrenchlegislation;whereasthecityofPassautooka
different(andquiteintriguing)stancebyforbiddingtheirbutcherstoworkforthem,Municipal
Archives of Passau III/22 (Gemainer Statt Passau Recht und Freiheiten sambt alten und neuen
Verträgen).The1424datinginGermaniaJudaica,vol.III/2,1089,isquestionable:thebutchers’
regulationoriginatesfrom1432,andtheparagraphcontainingtheaforementionedsentenceisan
undatedyetclearlylateraddition.
BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,17–18,no.4(HebrewandGermantranslation).
300
BirgitWiedl
a in parts functioning JewishChristian coexistence. Schlom had his thievish
Christianservantimprisoned,andonlythestridentcomplaintsoftheservant’s
wifeinthenearestchurchalertedthecrusaders;andwhentheaccusationofahost
waferdesecrationwaslaunchedinthesmallLowerAustriantownofKorneuburg
in1305,theJewZerklinsoughtrefugeathisChristianneighbor’shouse,whotook
him in willingly and tried to protect him from the enraged citizens, albeit in
vain.123
Thefirstoverallshifttotheworsecamewiththepersecutionsthatfollowed
anotherallegedhostwaferdesecration.StartingfromPulkauin1338,thusalmost
parallel to the catastrophic “Armleder” persecutions that heavily affected the
JewishcommunitiesinSouthernGermany,124thissoonbecamethefirstwaveof
persecutionsthatwentbeyondthelocalscope,affectingover30townsinAustria,
Bohemia,andMoravia.125WhileinZurich,Minnaandhersonsfellpreytothe
pogromsaccompanyingtheBlackPlague126duringthefatalyearsof1348–1350,
DukeAlbrechtIIstillmanagedtoholdaprotectivehandovermostoftheAustrian
Jewishcommunities;hiscomingdownheavilyonthetownofKremsthathad
persecutedtheirJewsonaccountofanallegedwellpoisoningearninghimthe
123
124
125
126
Thewholeincidentisuniquelydocumented:atranscriptoftheinterrogationofaltogether21
witnessesbytheCistercianmonkAmbrosiusofHeiligenkreuz,whocarriedouttheinvestigation
attheorderoftheBishopofPassau,istransmitted(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,125–42,
no.133),andfromalatersourceweknowthatthebloodiedwaferhadbeenfakedbyapriest
(BruggerandWiedl,Regesten,vol.1,339–40,no.442).SeeEvelineBrugger,“Korneuburg1305–
eineblutigeHostieunddieFolgen,”NichtineinemBett,20–26,downloadablehere:
http://www.injoest.ac.at/upload/JudeninME05_2_1926.pdf(lastaccessedonApril8,2009);Miri
Rubin,GentileTales:TheNarrativeAssaultonLateMedievalJews(NewHavenandLondon:Yale
University Press, 1999), 57–65; Winfried Stelzer, “Am Beispiel Korneuburg: Der angebliche
Hostienfrevel österreichischer Juden von 1305 und seine Quellen,” Österreich im Mittelalter:
BausteinezueinerrevidiertenGesamtdarstellung,ed.WillibaldRosner.StudienundForschungenaus
dem Niederösterreichischen Institut für Landeskunde, 26 (St. Pölten: Selbstverlag des
Niederösterreichischen Institut für Landeskunde, 1999), 309–48, on this source, particularly
312–28;FritzPeterKnapp,DieLiteraturdesSpätmittelaltersindenLändernÖsterreich,Steiermark,
Kärnten, Salzburg und Tirol von 1273 bis 1439. Geschichte der Literatur in Österreich von den
AnfängenbiszurGegenwart,vol.2,part1(Graz:AkademischeDruckundVerlagsanstalt,1999),
106–07;Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”211–26,allwithfurtherliterature.
Fromthevastliterature,seeFriedrichLotter,“HostienfrevelvorwurfundBlutwunderfälschung
beidenJudenverfolgungenvon1298(‘Rintfleisch’)und1336–1338(‘Armleder’),”Fälschungenim
Mittelalter, vol. 5: Fingierte Briefe. Frömmigkeit und Fälschung. Realienfälschungen. Monumenta
GermaniaeHistoricaSchriften,vol.33.5(Hanover:HahnscheBuchhandlung,1988),533–83;Jörg
R. Müller, “Erez gezerah – Land of Persecution: Pogroms Against the Jews in the regnum
TeutonicorumFromc.1280to1350,”JewsofEurope,245–60.
Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”216–19;Rubin,GentileTales,66–67.
Keil, “Lebensstil und Repräsentation,” chapter 2; Toch, “Selbstdarstellung,” 181–82; Böhmer,
“Bogenschütze,”330–34.
JewsandtheCity
301
insultingephitetoffautoriudeorum,“PatronoftheJews,”fromtheChurch.127The
traditional stereotype of the ‘Wucherjude,’ the rapacious Jewish usurer, was
repeatedinandpermeatedbyliteratureandiconographyalike,128posingadeathly
threattogetherwiththeideasofJewishwellpoisoning,thebloodlibelaccusations
andallegedhostwaferdesecrations.Althoughtherewerefewerpersecutionsin
the second half of the fourteenth century than had been in the first half, the
politicalandeconomicinterestsofrulers,estatesandmunicipalitiesalikeledtoa
considerable worsening of the overall situation of the Jews in the Austrian
territoriesduringthelastdecades.Therulers’,noblemen’s,andcities’ideasof
profitingfromprosperingJewishcommunitieshadchangedfromsqueezingas
muchmoneyaspossibleoutofthemtonotneedingthemanyfurtheratall,129
while the ecclesiastical climate had shifted from being at least ambiguous to
clearlyandoutspokenlyantiJewish,furtherfosteringthosesentimentswithin
both authority and the populace. From the devastating Viennese Geserah in
1420/1421thatendedJewishlifeintheduchyofAustriatotheexpulsionofthe
JewsofSalzburgin1498,130Jewishexistencewasviolentlybroughttoanendinthe
Austrianterritoriesinthecourseofthefifteenthcentury.
InthebeautifulilluminationofanearlyfourteenthcenturyMahzor,awoman
andamanduringaweddingscenearedepicted(seeFigure4).Theman,cladin
acloakofanoffishwhiteanddarkgreengarments,wearsacornutedhat,andhis
handreachesouttowardshispresumptivebride.Itisthefigureofthebridethat
isunusualnotthegarmentsinreversedcolors,thecloakbrimmedwithfur,and
thehintatathronewhichsheissittingon,buttheacrownonherheadandthe
blindfoldacrosshereyescomeasasurprise.TheconnectionwiththeChristian
iconography is clear, the reference to the numerous statues and depictions of
127
128
129
130
WilhelmWattenbach,ed.,“KalendariumZwetlensea.1243–1458,”MonumentaGermaniaeHistorica
Scriptores,vol.9,ed.GeorgHeinrichPertz(1851;Stuttgart:AntonHiersemann,1983),689–98;here
692;Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”173,219;GermaniaJudaica,vol.II/1,454;AlfredHaverkamp,“Die
JudenverfolgungenzurZeitdesSchwarzenTodes,”ZurGeschichtederJudenimDeutschlanddes
spätenMittelaltersundderfrühenNeuzeit,ed.AlfredHaverkamp.MonographienzurGeschichte
desMittelalters,24(Stuttgart:AntonHiersemann,1981),27–93;here40,46–47,and60;Lohrmann,
Judenrecht,144.
SeethecontributionbyAlbrechtClasseninthisvolume,ontheexampleofHansSachs;further
seeChristophCluse,“ZumZusammenhangvonWuchervorwurfundJudenvertreibungim13.
Jahrhundert,”JudenvertreibungeninMittelalterundfrüherNeuzeit,ed.FriedhelmBurgard,Alfred
Haverkamp,andGerdMentgen(Hanover:HahnscheBuchhandlung,1999),135–64;seealsothe
overviewbyGiacomoTodeschini,“ChristianPerceptionsofJewishEconomicActivityinthe
MiddleAges,”WirtschaftsgeschichtedermittelalterlichenJuden,1–16.
Withanemphasisonthefinancialaspect,seeDavidNirenberg,“WarumderKönigdieJuden
beschützenmusste,undwarumersieverfolgenmusste,”DieMachtdesKönigs:HerrschaftinEuropa
vomFrühmittelalterbisindieNeuzeit,ed.BernhardJussen(Munich:C.H.Beck,2005),225–40and
390–92.
Brugger,“Ansiedlung,”221–27,withreferencetofurtherliterature.
302
BirgitWiedl
Synagogadefeatedwithherblindfold,thebrokenstaffandthecrownslippingoff
her head, Ecclesia triumphant with her crowned head watching her often
somewhat warily (see Figures 1, 2, and 3). Here, the roles are reversed, the
ChristiancharactersitswithhereyesblindfoldedandtheJewishonecansee,yet
bothfiguresreachoutforeachother.Encounter,contact,andinteractionwere
inevitable,neitherChristiannorJewishauthoritiesbeingabletohamperChristians
andJewsmeetingonadailybasisintheirsharedlivingspaceofamedievalcity.
Neithergroupbeingahomogenousone,JewsandChristiansalsomeetonseveral
sociallevels,thepersonalmeetingleveloftenbeingmoredefinedbybelongingto
acomparativelysimilarsocialclass.Theclosecontactallowedandfacilitatedthe
exchangeofknowledge,themutualtranslationofculturalgoodsandhabits,and
the general acquaintance with the respective other; but with changes in the
economic, social, and ecclesiastical climate and by the will, or at least lack of
interest,oftherulers,theseneighborlyrelationshipseruptedintoviolenceand
expulsion.
WhiletheacademicfocushaswidenedasfarasJewishhistoryisconcerned
duringthepastdecadestoencompassbroader,andmoredifferent,questions,it
is,inmanyregards,stilladesideratumforJewishhistorytobefullyintegrated
intothehistoryofaregion,city,ortopicratherthantobetreatedinafootnoteor,
atthebest,aseparatechapter.Jewsdoplayaroleinurbanhistory,claimingtheir
spaceswithinmedievalcitiesandinteractinginmanywaysandonmanylevels,
theirhistorybeing,inthecasedealtwithhere,asmuchurbanasitisAustrianand
Jewish.
JewsandtheCity
303
Figure1:StatueofSynagoga,Bambergcathedral,ca.1230
304
BirgitWiedl
Figure2:StatueofSynagoga,Strasbourgcathedral,ca.1225
JewsandtheCity
305
Figure3:StatueofEcclesia,Strasbourgcathedral,ca.1225
306
BirgitWiedl
Figure4:Mahzorwithadepictionofabridalcouple,thebride,withthetypical
itemsofEcclesia,hashereyesblindfolded,which,inChristiandepictions,isthe
distinctivefeatureforSynagoga,ca.1330,
(StaatsundUniversitätsbibliothekHamburg)
JewsandtheCity
307
Figure5:Decorationinthe“NiederösterreichischenRandleistenstil,”Missale,
secondhalfoffourtheenthcentury(StiftsbibliothekKlosterneuburg,Cod.74)
308
BirgitWiedl
Figure6:SalesdeedofthemonasteryofKremsmünster(UpperAustria)with
thecorrespondingHebrewcharterattachedtoit(StiftsarchivKremsmünster,
1305April29,Hebrew,andMay3,German)

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