pdf des Bandes - Historisches Kolleg

Schriften des H istorischen Kollegs
H erausgegeben von Lothar Gail
K olloquien
71
R. O ldenbourg Verlag M ünchen 2008
Wirtschaftsgeschichte
der mittelalterlichen Juden
Fragen und Einschätzungen
H erausgegeben von
Michael Toch
unter M itarbeit von
Elisabeth M üller-Luckner
R. O ldenbourg Verlag M ünchen 2008
S c h r i fte n des H is to r i s c h e n Kollegs
herausgegeben von
Lot ha r Gail
in Verbindung mit
Johanne s Fried, Han s- W er n er H ah n, Manfre d Hildermeier,
Martin Jeh ne, Claudia Marti, H elm ut Neuhaus, Friedrich Wilhelm Rothenpieler,
Luise Schor n-Schü tte, D ie tm ar Willoweit und Andreas Wirsching
D as Histor ische K ol leg fördert im Bereich der historisch orien tierten W issen schaften Gelehrte, die
sich durch herausragende Leistungen in Fo rsch un g und Lehre ausgewiesen haben. Es vergibt zu
diesem Z w ec k jährlich bis zu drei Forschungsstipendien und zwei Förderstipendien sowie alle drei
Ja hre den „Preis des Histor ischen Kolleg s“ .
Die For schungsstipendien, deren Verleihung zugleich eine Auszeichnun g für die bisherigen
Leistungen darstellt, sollen den berufenen Wissenschaftlern während eines Kollc gjahres die M ö g ­
lichkeit bieten, frei von anderen Verpflichtungen eine größere Arbeit abzuschließen. Professor Dr.
Michael T och (Jerusalem) war - zusammen mit Prof. Dr. Wilfried Hartm ann (Tübingen), Prof. Dr.
H ein z Schilling (Berlin) und P D Dr. Peter Sc holz (F rankfu rt a. M.) - Stipendiat des Histor ischen
Kollegs im Kollegjahr 2004/2005. D e n Obliege nh eiten der Stipendiaten gemäß hat Michael T och
aus seinem Arbeit sbereich ein K o llo quium zum T h e m a „Wirtschaftsgeschichte der mittelalter­
lichen Jude n. Fragen und Ein schä tz un gen“ vom 21. bis 2 3.Ju n i 20 05 im H istorisch en Kolleg ge­
halten. D ie Ergebnisse des K ollo quium s werden in diesem Band veröffentlicht.
Das Hi stor isch e Kolleg wird seit dem Kollegjahr 2000/2001 - im Sinne einer „public private pa rt ­
nership“ - in seiner Grundausstattung vom Freistaat Bayern finanziert, seine Stipendien werden
gegenwärtig aus Mitteln der Fritz T hy ss en Stiftung, des Stifterverbandes für die Deu ts ch e W is se n ­
schaft und eines ihm verbundenen Fö rd erun terne hm ens dotiert. Träger des Histor ischen Kollegs,
das vom Stiftungsfonds D eutsche B an k und vom Stifterverband errichtet und zunächst allein
finanziert wurde, ist nunmehr die „Stiftung zur Förd erung der Histor ischen Ko m m iss ion bei der
Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und des Histor ischen Kol legs“ .
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I S B N 9 7 8 - 3 - 4 8 6 -5 8 6 7 0 -1
Inhalt
M ichael Toch
V orw ort.......................................................................................................................................
VII
Verzeichnis der Tagungsteiln ehm er.................................................................................
IX
G iacom o Todeschini
Christian Perceptions of Jewish Econom ic Activity in the Middle Ages..........
1
H an s-G eorg von Mutius
Taking Interest from Non-Jews - Main Problems in Traditional Jewish L a w . .
17
D av id Ja c o b y
The Jews in Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean:
Economic Activities from the Thirteenth to the Mid-Fifteenth Century . . . .
25
D a v id A bulaJia
The Jews of Sicily and Southern Italy: Economic A c t i v i t y ....................................
49
R ein h old C. M ueller
The Status and Econom ic Activity of Jews in the Venetian Dominions
during the Fifteenth C e n t u r y .............................................................................................
63
Josep h Shatzm iller
Church Articles: Pawns in the Hands of Jewish M o n ey le n d e rs ..........................
93
A nnegret H oltm ann
Medieval “Pigeonholes”. The Jewish Account B ook s from Vesoul
and Medieval Bookkeeping Practices..............................................................................
103
M arkus J. 'Wenninger
Juden als Münzmeister, Zollpächter und fürstliche Finanzbeamte im
mittelalterlichen Aschkenas.................................................................................................
121
VI
Inhalt
Rainer B a n e n
„Was der Arme benötigt, bist Du verpflichtet zu geben“ . Forschungsansätze
zur Armenfürsorge in Aschkenas im hohen und späten M ittelalter...................
139
M artha K eil
Mobilität und Sittsamkeit: Jüdische Frauen im Wirtschaftsleben des
spätmittelalterlichen A s c h k e n a s ........................................................................................
153
M ichael Toch
Economic Activities of German Jews in the Middle A g e s ......................................
181
Index
211
Vorwort
Die Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Juden leidet in ihren beiden Verankerungen, der
allgemei nen Wirtschaftsgeschichte wie auch der Geschichte der Juden, bis heute an
einer mehrfachen Isolierung. Die allgemeine Wirtschaftsgeschichte besitzt keinen
Zugang 7,u den hebräischen Quellen und begnügt sich zumeist mit oberflächlichen,
oft aus zweiter und dritter Hand tradierten Allgemeinplätzen. Trotz der einstimmig
beteuerten wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung der Juden liegt keine mittelalterliche oder
periodenübergreifende Wirtschaftsgeschichte vor, die diesen Aspekt voll inte­
grieren konnte. D er Geschichte der Juden dagegen fehlte oft das Interesse an der
allgemein-historischen Relevanz. Sie betrachtete den wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen
Aspekt als Ausdruck einer jüdischen Besonderheit, als Phänomen per se, ohne sich
mit den Parallelen und Divergenzen zwischen Mehrheitsgesellschaft und Minder­
heit aufzuhalten. Schwerwiegend ist die Tatsache, daß beide Forschungstraditionen
zutiefst von der die Juden und ihre Geschichte umwogenden Polemik und Apolo­
getik des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts beeinflußt wurden. Darin wurde dem
angenommenen Übergewicht von Juden in einigen Wirtschaftssparten eine
außerordentliche Rolle eingeräumt. D er „Handels- und Wucherjude“ galt nicht
nur unverbesserlichen Antisemiten als geradezu zeitlose Essenz des Judentums
und des Juden. Mehr als andere historische Probleme diente die Wirtschafts­
geschichte der Juden als Kärrnerin weltanschaulicher Ausrichtungen, sei es wohl­
wollenden Verbesserern der Sitten der Juden, dem modernen Antisemitismus, den
bürgerlichen bzw. sozialistischen jüdischen Emanzipationsbemühungen, oder der
zionistischen Idee einer „Normalisierung“ jüdischen Lebens. Trotz unverkennbar­
er Tendenzen zu objektiveren Sichtweisen nach 1945 hat sich in der Öffentlichkeit
wie in der historischen Forschung nicht wenig von diesen Zugängen erhalten, oft
einfach in unreflektierter Weiterschreibung alter Handbücher, die wiederum alten
Vorurteilen entsprachen.
Andererseits hat der allgemeine, in allen europäischen Regionen spürbare Auf­
schwung in der Erforschung der mittelalterlichen Geschichte der Juden auch auf
dem Gebiet der Wirtschaftsgeschichte seine positiven Auswirkungen gezeitigt.
Von Spanien bis Osteuropa erscheinen jährlich zahlreiche Neuveröffentlichungen,
darunter auch Quelleneditionen, auf deren Grundlage neue Forschungen möglich
werden (siehe dazu den Beitrag von Annegret Holtmann in diesem Band). Die
Erschließung der Archive, besonders in quellenreichen Ländern wie etwa Italien,
bringt neue Einsichten auch zu wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Fragenstellungen, sicht­
bar in diesem Band etwa in den Beiträgen von David Jacoby und Reinhold Mueller.
Neue methodische Zugänge bereichern auch die Wirtschaftsgeschichte, so etwa
VIII
Vorwort
die Geschlechtergeschichte wie in diesem Band der Beitrag von .Martha Keil. Für
gewisse Regionen liegt nunmehr so viel Material vor, daß zusammenfassende
Darstellungen möglich sind, wie in diesem Band die Beiträge von David Abulafia
und dem Herausgeber.
Die Genesis des vorliegenden Bandes ist eine denkbar einfache. Im akademischen
Jahr 2004/2005 war der Herausgeber Forschungsstipendiat des Historischen
Kollegs in München, mit dem Forschungsthema „Die Wirtschaftgeschichte der
mittelalterlichen Ju d en“ . Im Juni 2005 traten in den Räumen des Kollegs Forscher
aus Deutschland, Großbritannien, Israel, den Vereinigten Staaten, Italien und
Österreich zu einem dreitägigen Kolloquium zusammen, dessen überarbeitete und
mit wissenschaftlichem Apparat versehene Vorträge der Band vereinigt. Ziel war,
der Bandbreite der wirtschaftlichen Tätigkeiten, also den „Wirtschaftsgeschichten“
(im Plural) nachzugehen, sowie einige zentrale Fragenkomplexe wie Geld­
leihe, Buchhaltung, Armenfürsorge, Frauenarbeit anhand neuerer Forschungs­
erkenntnisse auszuleuchten. Damit war die Struktur der Tagung und dieses Bandes
gegeben: Kernfragen wie die Wahrnehmung jüdischen Wirtschaftsverhaltens durch
die christliche Mehrheitsgesellschaft; die Stellungnahmen zur Geldleihe an N ich t­
juden im innerjüdischen religiösen Denken; eine Reihe von Überblicken zu
Byzanz, Sizilien und Süditalien, den venezianischen Besitzungen im Mittelmeer,
dem Deutschen Reich. Daneben widmete sich die Tagung und widmet sich der
Band einigen wesentlichen Fragenkomplexen: das leidige Problem der Verpfän­
dung von Kirchengegenständen; Probleme der Buchhaltung.
D er vorliegende Band ist weit davon entfernt, eine einzige und das ganze mittel­
alterliche Europa verpflichtende Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Juden vorlegen zu wol­
len. Dafür fehlen einige zentrale Bereiche, die angefragt waren, leider jedoch nicht
zur Teilnahme kommen konnten: die iberische Halbinsel, Frankreich und England.
Gewichtiger jedoch kann als ein Fazit der Tagung und der nunmehr gedruckt vor­
liegenden Beiträge vermerkt werden: die Wirtschaftsgeschichten der Juden in den
verschiedenen Regionen Europas spiegeln die ganze Breite und Vielfältigkeit der
europäischen Wirtschaftsgeschichte wider.
Ganz herzlich sei an dieser Stelle dem Historischen Kolleg zu München und
Frau Dr. Müller-Luckner gedankt, die dem Herausgeber die denkbar allerbesten
Arbeitsmöglichkeiten und den Teilnehmern des Kolloquiums ein angenehmes und
zur Reflexion verführendes Ambiente geboten haben. Des weiteren danke ich
meinem Forschungsassistenten, Herrn A. L. M. Thom a in München, der an der
Organisation der Tagung wesentlichen Anteil hatte, sowie Frau Anna Gutgarts in
Jerusalem, die das Register erstellte.
Jerusalem, im März 2008
M ichael Toch
Verzeichnis der Tagungsteilnehmer
Prof. Dr. David Abulafia, Cambridge, [email protected]
Rainer Barzen M. A., Trier, [email protected]
Prot. Dr. Alfred Haverkamp, Trier, [email protected]
Dr. Annegret Holtmann, Griesheim, [email protected]
Prof. Dr. David Jacoby, Jerusalem, [email protected]
P D Dr. Martha Keil, St. Pölten, [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Reinhold C. Mueller, Venedig, [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg von Mutius, München, [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Joseph Shatzmiller, Durham, U SA , [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Michael Toch, Jerusalem (Stipendiat des Historischen Kollegs 2004/05);
[email protected]
Prof. Dr. G. Todeschini, Triest, [email protected]
Prof. Dr. J. Markus Wenninger, Klagenfurt, [email protected]
Giacomo Todeschini
Christian Perceptions of Jew ish Econom ic Activity
in the M iddle A ges
The most com mon and long surviving Jewish stereotype elaborated by Christian
culture during the Middle Ages is the image of the Jewish usurer. O n the double
and interconnected subject, the economic activity of the Jews in the Middle Ages
and its Christian representation or description, one can read in historical studies or
manuals several com mon places. They are summed up by the idea that usury actu­
ally was, still in the high Middle Ages, the more typical economic activity of the
European Je w s 1. Before analysing that strange encounter between medieval and
historiographical stereotypes2, I believe it is essential to have in mind the texts re­
garded as basic by medieval Christian authors when they utilised the word “usury”
usura to represent Jewish economic activity as a manifestation of greed. In fact, the
formation of the Jewish usurious stereotype is deeply rooted in the inner logic and
vocabulary of Christian economics. When we read Medieval Latin sources on eco­
nomic arguments, it is important to understand that these representations of eco­
nomic activity are in most cases sections of ecclesiastical sources regarding both the
real and symbolic representation of Christian society. So they draw on the tradi­
tional ecclesiastic language concerning both the earthly and eternal happiness of
the Christians. It is well known that medieval Christian authors ignore Jewish eco­
nomic culture and laws or do not pay attention to them, with the consequence that
Christian economic sources represent economic Jewish activities as totally subor­
dinate to the Christian vision of the world3. We cannot however deduce from that
Christian misrepresentation that Jewish economic culture and laws did not exist or
1 O n this problem, G. Todeschini, I mercanti e il ccmpio. La societä cristiana e il circolo virtuoso
della ricchezza fra medioevo ed eta moderna (B olo g na 20 02) ch. 6.
2 R. C b a ia n , Medieval Stereotypes and Mode rn An tisemitism (Berkeley, Lo s Angeles 1997).
3 W. C. Jo r d a n , T h e Fr en ch Mo narchy and the Je ws: from Philip Augustus to the Last Capctians
(Philadelphia 1989); G. Todeschini, La ricchezza degli Ebrei. Merci e dcnaro nella riflcssionc cbraica e nella definizione cristiana delPusura alia fine del Med ioevo (C e n t ro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto
Med ioevo, Bibliotcc a di “Studi Medievali” XV, Spoleto 1 9 8 9 ) ; / S hatzm iller, Sh ylock R ec ons ide­
red. Je w s, M on ey lending and Medieval Society (B erkeley 1990); A. Sapir A bu lafia, T h e o lo g y and
the commercial revolution: Gu ibert of No ge nt, St. Anselm and the Je ws of northern France, in:
C h urch and city 1000-1 500 . Essays in honour of Ch ri st op her Br o o k e, eds. D. A bu lafia, M.
Franklin, M. R ubin (Ca m brid ge 1992) 23-4 0; G. T odeschini, “U s u r a ” ebraica e identita ec onomica
cristiana: la discussione mcdicvalc, in: Gii Ebrei in Italia, C. V ivanti ed., ( “A n n a li” Einaudi, 11/2,
Torino 1997) 289 -3 18 .
2
G ia c o m o Todeschini
that the economic life of medieval jew s s imply consisted in a reiteration of stereo­
typed behaviours like those depicted by the word “usury”. Similarly, when analys­
ing the formation of Christian economic language, it is inappropriate to disregard
the theological vocabulary and to separate it from what we, today, conceive as a
purely economic vocabulary.
In the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus as in the Psalms, that is the sources
com mon to the Jewish and Christian traditions, the giving and receiving of interest
on a loan is forbidden, especially when the borrower is a poor; loan on interest is
admitted when the borrower is a stranger, that is a non-Jew (n o k h n ), that is to say
a person not subject to Jewish law. While medieval Christian authors did know
these texts in the Greek Septuaginta version or in the Latin version ascribed to
Jerom e - the so-called Vulgata - they generally did not know or disregarded the
Hebrew' Bible as well as the halakhic definitions of usury and contracts offered by
the mishnaic and talmudic treatises on damages. Their lack of familiarity with these
sources had important consequences. F o r instance, the word “ nokhri”, stranger,
which in the Hebrew text indicated the person who could pay interest, in the
Septuaginta version became (oXkmpioq) allotrios, “alien”, and then, in the Vulgata,
alienus. The last step of this semantic transformation was taken by the Glossa ordinaria, the medieval commentary to the Bible (standardised in the twelfth century),
which established an equivalence between the word alienus and the word infidelis
or iniquus4. Through these gradual transformations of meaning, the credit relation
between residents and outsiders, or between Christians and Jews, began to impli­
cate an economic antagonism previously inexistent.
Later, when the Church Fathers and the Christian doctors interpreted the G o s ­
pels, they found two very different representations of usury. A prohibition of in­
terest for loans seemed to be present in C h rist’s words date mutuum nihil inde
sperantes (“W hen you make a loan, you must expect nothing or nothing in addi­
tion as restitution”)5. However, in the celebrated parable of the talents Christ argued
explicitly that fructification of wealth produced by the activity of the trapezites
4 B. N elson, T h e Idea of Usury. F r o m tribal B r o th erh o o d to universal O t h e rh o o d (Philadelphia
1948); Glossa ad D t. 23, 20 (Strassburg 1480/81 = Br epols 1992) f. 406: “Sed alieno. Infideli vel
iniquo cui pecuniam damus ad usuram, cum pro verbo predicationis exigimus fidem penitentiam
et oper ation em b o n a m .” See A m brosius, D e Tobia 15, 51, in M. G iacchero, Am brosii de Tobia.
Saggio introduttivo, traduzione co n testo a fronte (G en ov a 1965): „Sect forte dicas quia scriptum
est: A lien igen ae fa e n e ra b is et non consideras quid euangelium dicat, quod est plenius. Sed hoc in­
terim sequestremus: legis ipsius uerba considera. F ratri tuo non fa e n e ra b is inquit a d usuram ; a lien igen am exiges. Q u is erat tunc alienigena nisi Amalech, nisi Amorr aeus, nisi hostis ? Ibi, inquit,
usuram exige. Cui merito nocere desideras, cui iurc inferuntur arma, huic legitime indicuntur usurae. Quern bello non potes facile uincerc, de hoc cito te potes centesima uindicare. A b hoc usuram
exige quem non sit crimen occidere. Sine ferro dimicat qui usuram flagitat, sine gladio se de hoste
ulciscitur qui fuerit usurarius exactor inimici. E r go ubi ius belli, ibi ctiam ins usurae. Frater autem
tuus omnis, fidei primum, deinde Rom ani iuris est populus: N a rra b o n om en tuum fra trib u s meis,
in m ed io ecclesiae la u d a b o t e ”', D ec re tu m Gratiani C. X I V q. 3 c. 12, F riedberg, ed. 738.
5 Lc. 6, 35; S. P iron, L e devoir de gratitude: emergence et vogue de la notion d ’antidora au X I I I '
siecle, in: Cre dito e usura fra teologia, diritto e amministrazione. Linguaggi a c onfro nto, eds. D.
Q uaglioni, G. Todeschini, G. M. Varanini (E co le F r a n ;a i se de R o m e, R o m e 20 05) 73 -101.
Ch ristian Perceptions of Je wish E c o n o m i c Activity in the Middle Ages
3
(that is to say moneychangers or moneylenders) was an appropriate representation
of spiritual life. Th e sense of this parable was supported by a logiort of Christ, that
is a sentence attributed to Christ by the Christian tradition, which began to be
quoted in the writings of the Greek and Latin Fathers of the second/third century.
This logioti affirmed the duty for the Christians to be “ like expert moneylenders”,
that is to be able to separate good from evil like the moneylenders are able to sepa­
rate the good coins from the devalued ones 6.
W hen historians state that medieval Church forbade without exception any sort
ol loan on interest and declared the sterility of money, they simplify a structural
semantic ambiguity very typical of Christian language and thought on these eco­
nomic subjects. A glance at the writings of the Church Fathers and at Canon Law
as summarized by the monk Gratianus in Bologna around 1140 is sufficient to
demonstrate the complexity of the Christian attitude in regard to money affairs
and the usefulness of wealth7. The semantic ambiguity which characterizes this
representation at the end of the Middle Ages was summed up in Erasmus’s exegesis
of the parable of the talents in the Gospel according to Matthew. Focusing on the
apparent contradiction between this parable and Psalm 15, which strictly forbade
usury, Erasmus wrote: “N o contradiction here: the Lord loves usury that yield him
profit, hates usury that a servant takes to his own self.”8
With these premises in mind, one can easily affirm that the subject of medieval
usury9 has been and remains the occasion for many disputable historiographical
6 A. Resch, Agrapha. Au ssercanonische Evangelienfragmente (Leipzi g 1889, 2 1906) n.87.
7 O n the semantic ambiguity o f early Christian attitude towards mone y and profit, see M. H e r z ,
Sacrum Co m m erc ium . Ein e begriffsgeschichtliche Studie zur Theo lo g ie der R öm isch en Liturgie­
sprache (M ü nch en er T heologis ch e Studien, II 15, Mün che n 1958); R. B og aert , Changeurs et banquiers chez les Peres de l’Eglise, in: Ancient Society 4 (1 973 ) 2 3 9 -2 7 0 ; B. G ordon , T h e E c o n o m ic
Problem in Biblical and Patristic T h o u g h t (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae I X , Leiden 1989);
G. Todeschini, “Q u a n t u m valet?” Alle origini di u n ’economia della povertä, in: Bullettino
dell’Istituto storico italiano per il Med ioevo 98 (1 99 2) 173-234.
8 Mt. 25, 2 4 - 7 (parable of the talents) and Psalm XV , 1, 5 (conde m natio n o f usury): Erasm us, Enarratio psalmi X I V Q u i est de puritate tabernaculi siue ecclesiae christianae, in: O pera om nia V, 2
Ordinis quinti tomus secundus, eds. Ch. B ene, S. D resden, A. G odin (Amsterdam 1985); see E ra ­
smus, O p e ra (Leiden 1706) vol. 10, c. 306: “Sed hie occurrit scrupulus, cum in Evangelio damnatur
servus qui pecuniam sibi crcditam non dederat ad usuram, qui convenit ut hie laudetur, qui non
dederit ad usuram. Nih il ista pugnant: D o m in us amat usuram, quae ipsi Lu cru m adfert: odit
usuram, quam servus sibi vin dicat.”
9 T. P. M cLaughlin, T h e Teaching o f the Canonists on U su ry ( X I I , X I I I and X I V Centuries), in:
Medieval Studies 1 (1 939 ) 81 -1 47; 2 (1940) 1-22; B. N elson, T h e Idea of Usury. F r o m tribal B r o th erood to universal O t h e rh o od (Philadelphia 1948);/. T. N oon an , T h e Scholastic Analysis o f U su ry
(Cambridge/Mass. 1957); O. L an g h olm , Ec on om ic s in Medieval Sch ools: Wealth, Exchange, Val­
ue, M o n ey and U su ry according to the Paris T he ologic al Tradition, 120 0- 135 0 (Leiden 1992); EL
Siems, Han del und W uc her im Spiegel frühmittelalterlicher Rec htsquellen ( M G H Schriften 35,
Stuttgart 1992).
4
G ia c o m o Todeschini
statements, especially about the role played by the je w s within Christian medieval
economy. It is still common to read in textbooks or general histories of the Jews in
the Middle Ages that, from the tenth century, usury was the specialized activity of
European Jews. This opinion, recently repeated by Kenneth Stow in his book
A lien ated M inority l0, is in each case based on unsubstantiated historical theories
regarding the econom ic role of medieval Jews that are typical of the European his­
torical culture, as can be seen in the studies of Roscher (1875) and Sombart (1911)
and the book on the so called “economic revolution of the middle ages” written by
Roberto Lopez in the 1970s11. From that point of view medieval Jewish society
appears as totally conditioned by the econom ic and political decisions and idiosyn­
crasies of the majority, namely by the cultural identity of Christian society. Many
economists or historians of economic doctrines have also repeated this widespread
idee recue, with the obligatory implication that medieval Jews did not have a spe­
cific econom ic vision, but only a daily econom ic practice, namely usury, imposed
both by external powers and by the J e w ’s lack of a specific economic identity.
Derek Penslar, for instance, in his book Shy lo c k ’s Children. Econom ics an d Jew ish
Identity in M odern Europe quotes Stow who in turn quoted Lopez, saying
“the Je w s ’ existence as a dispersed minority, dependent for their economic well­
being on external forces in their host societies, discouraged the formation of a
comprehensive economic philosophy. Although Rabbinic and Medieval Judaism
lacked an economic philosophy, it had identifiable economic sensibilities”12.
A look at the past and current production of studies on Jewish economic
reflections and laws is enough to undermine the com mon place that medieval R a b ­
bis legitimating medieval Jewish transactions did not possess a specific economic
vision. From Boaz C o h e n ’s accurate comparison between Roman and Jewish eco­
nomic laws to the more recent analysis of the rabbinic conceptions of market and
credit transactions by Aaron Kirschenbaum, Flillel Gamoran, Aaron Levine, R ich­
ard Ohrenstein, Abraham Weingort and Flaym Soloveitchik, the depth and com ­
10 K. Stow , Alienated Minority. T h e Je ws of Medieval Latin Eu ro pe (Cambridge/Mass. 1992)
215- 16.
11 W. R oscher, D ie Ju den im Mittelalter betrachtet vom Standpunkte der allgemeinen H andelsp o­
litik, in: Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft 31 (1875) 5 0 3 -5 26; W. S om bart, D ie Ju de n
und das Wirtschaftsleben (Leipzig 1911); R. S. L o p ez , T h e C om m er cia l Rev olution o f the Middle
Ages (E ng lew ood Cliffs/N.J. 1971). See T. O elsner, W. R o s c h e r ’s T h e o ry o f the E c o n o m i c and
Social Position o f the Je w s in the Middle Ages, in: Y ivo Annual o f Jewish Social Science 12 (1959)
176-195; E RiiphacL juclaisme et capitalisme. Essai sur la controverse cntre Max Weber et Werner
Som b ar t (Paris 1982); G. Todeschini, U n a polemica dimenticata: So m bart e “ Die Ju de n und das
Wirtschaftsleben” nella discussione storiografica (1911 -1920), in: Societä e storia 35 (1987) 139-160;
N. 'Lemon D avis, Religion and Capitalism O n c e Again? Je wis h Merchant Culture in the
Seventeenth Century, in: Representations 59 (1 99 7) 5 6-8 4; G. Todeschini, Les historiens juifs en
Allemagne et le debat sur l’origine du capitalisme avant 1914, in: Ecrlture de l’histoire et identite
juive. L’Europe ashkenaze X I X/' X X- siecle, eds. D. B echtel, E. P atlag ean ,J.-C . S zurek, P. Z a w ad zki
(Paris 20 03) 209-2 28.
12 D. J. Penslar, S h y l o c k ’s Children. Econ om ics and Jewish Identity in Modern Eu ro pe (B erk eley
20 01) 52.
Ch ristian Perceptions of Je wish E c o n o m i c Activit y in the Middle Ages
5
plexity of Jewish medieval economics becomes totally evident13. Indeed, many
years ago Jaco b Katz was able to recapitulate in his Tradition an d Crisis the medi­
eval rabbinic conception of credit. He pointed to a distinction “ between direct,
personal contact and impersonal, economic operations” and to a “progressive ra­
tionalization of the economic process in which the traded goods lose their specific
character and are considered merely an object for profitable enterprise”14. Thus
one can conclude that medieval Jewish communities possessed an economic vo­
cabulary and an economic language that had been highly conceptualised by their
rabbinical leaders. In the words of A. Gross Schaefer, “ the Jewish legal system enu­
merates rituals to demonstrate contract formation”, so that the growth of a “Jewish
vocabulary of obligation” is the necessary consequence of the “formal action re­
quired under Jewish law ... to reduce the possibility of unintentionally entering
into a legally binding agreement” 13.
This well attested existence of a Jewish medieval economic culture is all the more
puzzling as almost until the thirteenth century and the rise of Christian banking
and commercial companies there is little evidence for usurious practices by je w s
beyond simple and direct loans on pledge16. B y contrast, between the tenth and
thirteenth century there is clear evidence of Jewish involvement in all sorts of eco­
nomic relations or contractual forms; many historians, from Kriegel to Shatzmiller17 have pointed out that this complex Jewish participation in European economic
lj B. (.o b en , Jewish and R om an Law (N e w Y o rk 1966); A. K irschen baum , J ewish and Christian
The ories o f U su ry in the Middle Ages, in: Jewish Qu art erly Review 75 (1985) 2 7 0 -2 8 9; H. G arno-
ran, Talmudic Usu ry Law's and Business Loans, in: Jo u rn al for the Study o f Judaism in the Persian,
Hellenistic and R o m an Period 7 (1976) 129-142; Id em , T h e Talmudic Law of Mortgages in View
of the Prohibition against Lending on Interest, in: H e b r e w U n io n College Annual 52 (1 981) 15 3162; Id em , Cred it Transactions in G eo n ic Time s in the Light o f the Law against Usury, in: Je wish
Law Annual 11 (1 994) 67 ss.; Id em , Investing for Profit. A Study of Iska up to the T im e of Rabbi
Abraham ben David of Posquieres, in: H eb rew U n io n College Annual 70-71 (1 999 - 2 0 0 0 ) 153 ss.;
A. G ross S ch aefer, Contractual Intent: Is the Reason able Person Standard Sufficient?, in: Jewish
Law Annual 11 (1994) 85 -1 00; R. A. O hrenstein, B. G ordon , E c o n o m i c Analysis in Talmudic L i t ­
erature. R ab binic T h o u g h t in the Light of Mod ern E c o n o m ic s (Leiden 1992); A. L ev in e, E c o n o m ­
ics and Je wis h Law ( N e w Y o rk 1987); A. W eingort , Int cret et credit dans lc droit talmudique (Par­
is 1979); Id em , Responsabilite et sanction en droit talmudique et comp are (Paris 1998); II.
S olov eitch ik, Pawnbrokin g: a study in R ib b it and o f the Halakhah in exile, in: Proceedings o f the
American Academy for Jewish Research 3 8 -9 (1970 - 7 1 ) 2 0 3 -2 6 8 ; Id em , T h e Jewish Attitude in the
High and Lat e Middle Ages (1000 -1500), in: Cre dito c usura fra teologia, diritto e amministrazione. Linguaggi a c on fr onto, eds. D. Q u agliom , G. Todeschini, G. M. Varanini (E co le Frangaise de
R om e, R o m e 200 5) 115-127; A. Toaff, Testi ebraici italiani relativi alPusura dalla fine del X V agli
esordi del X V I I secolo, ibidem 103-113.
14 ]. K atz, Tradition and Crisis. Jewish Society at the End o f the Middle Ages ( N e w Yo rk 1993)
66 .
15 A. G ross S ch aefer, Contr actual Intent 91.
16 M. fo c h , Je w s and C om m er ce: Mode rn Fancies and Medieval Realities, in: Il ruolo ec onom ic o
delle minor anze in Europa. Secc. X I I I - X V I I I , 5. C av aciocch i cd. (Firenze, Atti della X X X I Settimana di Studi, Istituto Fr an cesco Datini, Prato 200 0) 43- 58.
17 M. K riegel, Les Ju ifs ä la fin du M oyen Age dans 1’Eu ro pe mediterraneenne (Paris 1989);
j . S batzm iller, S h yloc k Reconsidered.
6
G i a c o m o Todeschini
life survived until the fifteenth century. In sum, the factual and intellectual com ­
plexity of the Jewish economic presence in the Middle Ages, poses a problem about
the formation and sense - in the eleventh and twelfth century - of Christian repre­
sentations of medieval Jews as usurers and of Jewish wealth as completely derived
from usurious transactions. This problem concerns, first, Christian economic lan­
guage, that is the vocabulary and the categories which enabled Christians, b efo re
and during the economic and monetary revolution of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, to speak and write about the econom ic attitude or economic practice of
aliens or strangers. At the same time, when addressing this subject, we are obliged to
revise the historiographical canon constantly repeated by economic historians - on
the basis of the historiographical sanctification or trivial reading of De Roover,
McLaughlin, Noonan and other historians of medieval economic doctrines - de­
claring the medieval existence of a compact Christian or ecclesiastic “theory” which
prohibited any form of money fructification and stated the sterility of m o n ey 18. In
fact, the com mon notion of a Jewish monopoly in medieval money transactions is
strictly connected with the complementary and also unsupported idea that medie­
val Christian magistri were horrified by the concept of credit, interest and, gener­
ally, monetary wealth. It is therefore imperative to define the linguistic relation
between the “dramatic transformation” (as Cary Nederman has recently called it)
of the European economy after 1100 and the representation of this “revolution” by
contemporary theologians, canonists and confessors on the basis of their economic
culture and vocabulary. It is very difficult to reduce this theological or canonistic
attitude to a “distaste for com merce” as Cary Nederman has called it, somewhat
hastily, in a paper published in 2 0 0 2 19. Similarly, it is impossible to reduce the sig­
nificance of medieval Christian economics, as Nederman and many others have
suggested, to some especially astute medieval thinkers who were able to perceive
“systematically and cogently the temporal impact of the technological, commercial
and fiscal changes experienced by European society”20. Undeniably, Erasmus’s in­
terpretation quoted earlier was made possible by centuries of Christian thinking
on and representations of economic reality in terms which clearly separated the
utility and the needs of churches and Church from the utility and needs of indi­
viduals, especially when belonging to the laity. In more specific terms, credit dia­
lectics were analysed as regarding bonum com m une or bonum particulare, c o m ­
mon or individual good21. Especially from the twelfth century, this attitude found
18 T. P. M e L au g h lin , T h e Teaching of the C an onist s on Usu ry; J . T. N oon an , T h e Scholastic A n a l­
ysis of Usu ry ; R. D e R o o v er, La pensee ec o n o m iq ue des Scolastiques (Mon treal, Paris 1971); O.
L a n g h o lm , E c o n o m ic s in Medieval Schools.
19 C. N ed erm an , T h e virtues of necessity: labour, m o ney and corruption in J o h n o f Salisbury’s
thought, in: Viator 33 (2002) 55-56.
10 Ibidem 67.
21 G. Todeschini, II prezzo della salvezza. Lessici medievali del pensiero eeono m ico (R o m a 1994);
M. K em pshall, T h e co m m o n good in late medieval political thought (O x fo rd 1999); P. Von M oos,
“ P u b lic ” et “priv e” ä la fin du Moye n Age. L e “ bien c o m m u n ” et la “ loi de la c onsc ien ce”, in:
Studi Medievali s. 3a, X LI/ 2 (2000) 505 -5 48 .
Christ ian Perceptions of Jewish E c o n o m i c Activity in the Middle Ages
7
legal expression in the double canonistic and theological vocabulary of usura (usury)
and Interesse (interest), forbidden and alien the former, permitted and rational the
latter. The way to this opposition however had been very long, and complicated by
the fact that the Christian sources on economy in late Antiquity or high Middle
Ages used different linguistic techniques. Actually the well known expositions or
moral evaluations of contracts so typical of late medieval confessors and scholas­
tics, made use of economic categories shaped by the patristic and monastic approach
to economy; an approach synthesized from the eighth to the twelfth century in
systematic collections of canons and, finally, in the D ecretum G ratiani (1140 c.),
which was to be recognized by the late medieval popes as the formal basis of Cath­
olic doctrine and law22. We can subdivide the Christian sources on contracts and
econom y from the fourth to the eleventh century into three principal linguistic
types, that is three basic or logical styles of exposition and demonstration: exegetical or metaphorical, polemical or political, and juridical23.
The first one, chronologically and semantically antedating the others, which we
can define as exegetical or metaphorical, represents economic relations by com ­
menting on the Scriptures and derives from the scriptural vocabulary terms and
concepts which will subsequently be semantically modified and adapted to the
problems of specific historical realities. The logical centre of this procedure is met­
aphorical, and in itself based on what Christianity considered its own principal and
founding economic metaphor: the exchange between divine perfection and human
finitude or mortality, realized by the divine incarnation. The most renowned Greek
and Latin Fathers of the Church, Basil of Caesarea, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine
of Hippo, com monly described this exchange (greek: synallagm a; latin: com m er­
cium) by means of an image of commercial dialectic operating between divine and
human and having its result in Salvation24. This central point is the source, in the
Patristic writings, of a chain of conceptualisations formulated in the banking and
commercial vocabulary, and systematically utilising words and logical connections
typical of the market transactions of the late Rom an Empire. Credit and usury ap­
pear in this context in the form of a double and interconnected verbal representa­
tion: a good and virtuous logic of loaning/borrowing even characterised by the
exchange between wealth and immaterial values (favour, compassion, protection,
patronage) implying right interests, and, on the opposite, usury, that is the selling
of real money paid by a concrete amount of coins. In the Ambrosian treatise D e
T obia 25, in the Augustinian exegesis and in other patristic writings it is possible to
22 A. W inroth, T h e M ak in g o f Grati an ’s D ec re tu m (C am brid ge 200 0) ; G'. Todeschini , Linguaggi
economici ed ecclesiologia fra X I e X I I secolo: dai Libelli de lite al D ec re tum Gratiani, in: M e ­
dioevo, M e zzogiorno, Mediterraneo. Studi in on ore di M ari o del Treppo, G. Rossetti, G. Vitolo
eds. (Napoli 2000) 59-87.
13 G. Todeschini, Il prezzo della salvezza.
- ; M. H erz, Sacrum C om m erc ium ; R. B ogaert, Chang eurs et banquicrs chez les Peres de l’Eglise.
23 M. F. B arry, T h e Vocabulary of the M oral-A scetical Wor ks o f Saint Am brose. A Study in Latin
Lexicograph y (Washington 1926); L. M. Zucker, S. A m bro sii de Tobia. A Co mmentary, with an
Introduction and Translation (Washington 1933); M. G iacch ero, Ambrosii de Tobia. Saggio intro-
8
G ia c o m o Todeschini
detect some references to the judaicus populus as avaricious, and, at the same time,
to Judas as vendor of Christ as archetypical representation of the Jew s26. Neverthe­
less it is important to stress that these references in no way have to do with a spe­
cific definition of Jews as economic subjects, merchants or usurers. The problem,
here, is to describe Jewish resistance to Christian conversion by the economic vo­
cabulary of avarice and unjust acquisition, or of an incapacity for the appropriate
use of wealth. Ambrose, for instance, writes that Jews possess a Law, which is like
a devalued coin: they are attached to this useless and fictitious wealth in conse­
quence of their religious obstinacy27. This exegetical or metaphorical mode of rep­
resenting economic and credit transactions, separating good investment from un­
fruitful speculation, is understood by the high medieval monastic written culture
as a basic economic categorization28. The long chain of monastic commentaries on
Scripture and the treatises on virtues of the high Middle Ages, totally neglected by
historians of economic ideas or languages, transmits, on the basis of the patristic
economic vocabulary, more than a compact economic doctrine, a linguistic style
deeply connecting the notion of fruitfulness to the notion of faith and trust. The
church society of the fid eles must, from this point of view, continually grow and
expand its frontiers. Economic morality consists, therefore, in the multiplication of
the ecclesiastical patrimony made up both of persons and ecclesiastical goods. A
duttivo, traduzione co n testo a fronte (G enova 1965); M. M cguirc , S. Am brosii D e Nabuthae. A
C o m m en ta ry with an Int roductio n and Translation (Washington 1927); V. R. Vasey, T h e Social
Ideas in the Wor ks o f St. Am brose. A Study o f the D e N ab utha e (R o m a 1982); S. G iet, D e Saint
Basile ä Saint Ambroise. La condam nation du pret ä interet au I V siecie, in: Recherches de Sc ien­
ces Religieuse 33 (1944) 9 5- 128.
B.
B lu m en kran z, D ie Judenpredigt Augustins. Ein Beitrag zur Ge sch ichte der jüd isch -ch ristli­
chen Be ziehungen in den ersten Jahrhunderten (Basel 1946); Id em , Les auteurs chretiens latins du
M o y e n Age sur les Juifs et l e j u d a i s m e (Paris 1963); EL S chrecken berg, D ie christliche Adversus
Ju daeo s- Tcxte und ihr literarisches und historisches Um fe ld ( I - X I Jh .) (Frankfu rt, Bern 1982); M.
S. Taylor, An ti-Ju da ism and Early Christian Identity. A Critiq u e o f the Scholarly Co nsen sus ( L e i ­
den 1995).
27 A m brosius, D e Tobia 19, 64: “Vbi coepit populus Iud aeorum non custodirc legem, coeper unt
aduenae, h oc est ex populo nationum, qui in lesu m d om in um crediderunt, interpretationcm scripturarum illi uetusto populo faenerare. Faenerauit Tim otheus patre G raec o ortus uerbum Iudaeis ,
cum sacerdotium recepisset , faeneramus hodieque sacerdotes in ecciesia uerbum Iudaeis, qui de
synagoga ad ecclesiam transierunt, faeneramus et nouam et uetustam pecuniam , Ete nim quam
habuerunt iam non habent; ocutos h a b en t et non indent, aures h a b en t et non audiun , pecu n iam
h a b en t et non h aben t, qu ia usum eius ignorant, pretiurn eins nescumt, jig u ram eius et form a m non
cognonerunt. Nam si cognouissent, numquam auctorem eius pecuniae dcnegasscnt dicentes: N olu mus hu n c regn are super nos . Q u i quidem accepto regno rediens iussit uocari seruos suos, quibus
dedit pecuniam et eos qui faenerassent pecuniam praedicauit, ei autem qui pecuniam tenuit otiosam domini sui respondit: Sciebas q u o d ego austerus h o m o sum : tollo q u o d non posu i et m eto
q u o d non sem inaui. Et q u are non d ed istip ecu n ia m m ea m a d m ensam ? E t eg o ueniens cum usuris
utiqu e exegissern illarn.”
28 J.M . C lem en t, Le xique des ancienncs Regies monastiques occcidentales (In strumenta Patristica
V I I B, Stccnbrugis 1978); B. G ordon , T h e E c o n o m i c Pro b lem in Biblical and Patristic T h o u g h t
(Leiden 1989); G. Todeschini, I vocabolari dell’analisi econom ic a fra alto e basso medioevo: dai
lessici della disciplina monastica ai lessici antiusurari ( X - X I I I secolo), in: Rivista Storica Italiana,
110/3 (1 998) 781- 833 .
Christian Perceptions o f Je wish E c o n o m ic Activity in the Middle Ages
9
keyword ot this metaphorical economics is lucrifacere, that is “to increase the
wealth”. The mystical and economic concept of divesting the Church o f wealth, res
ecclesiarum, becomes a synonym for heretical perversity. Th e climax is reached in
the ninth century, during the intense collaboration between the Carolingian em­
perors and their ecclesiastical officials. In fact, it is at this time that the dispersio
rerum ecclesiarum , the dispersion of the ecclesiastical wealth, becomes a public
crime, in consequence of the emperor’s legislation, which declares the equivalence
of fiscal or public and ecclesiastical goods29. Much more than in Justinian’s Corpus
Juris, it is probably from the time of the Carolingian alliance with the Roman bish­
op, that metaphorical Christian language regarding the sacred augmentation of ec­
clesiastical wealth becomes effectively a structured component of the public and
bureaucratic economic language.
The second type of Christian sources concerning exchange and wealth dynam­
ics, before the twelfth century, can be described as polemic or political. In fact, the
source o f the misunderstandings regarding the economic role of the Jews in the
Middle Ages and the formation of a Christian stereotype of Jewish usury, derives
from the devaluation or ignorance o f the role played in the formation of a Western
economic language by the high medieval conceptualisations about the inalienabili­
ty of Church goods. From the first collections of conciliar canons in the seventh
century to the rapid development and multiplication of these legal compilations
after the first half of the ninth century, we can observe inside the European system
of ecclesiastical law an ever-increasing attention to the political institutions or sub­
jects which could be perceived as dangerous for the economic-political organiza­
tion of the churches. A new galaxy of concepts and related words appears to cir­
cumscribe even more accurately the semantics of simony ( sim onia ), whose depiction
and logical delineation is preceding and conditioning the definition of usury in the
successive canonical texts, that is during the so called Juridical Renaissance of the
twelfth century. The sense o f the notion o f simony, or rather the sense o f the word
simoniacus, the individual who commits the crime, is intelligible as the concretisation and unification in political and legal terms o f the different econom ic behav­
iours generically denoted as infidelesi0. More than the greed of the sim oniaci, their
lack of understanding of the extraordinary economic nature of the material and
immaterial things composing the body of the churches makes of them a group of
R. N ew h au ser, Towards modus in habendo: Transformations in the Idea of Avarice. T h e early
Penitentials through the Carolin gian R eform, in: Zei tschrift der Savigny Stiftung für R ec htsg e­
schichte - Kan. Abt. 106 (1989) 1-22; El. Siems, Handel und W u c h e r im Spiegel frühmittelalter­
licher R echtsq uellen ( M G I T Schriften 35, Stuttgart 1992); G. Todeschini, Linguaggi teologici e linguaggi amministrativi: le logichc sacre del discorso e c on o m ic o fra V I I I e X secolo, in: Qu aderni
Storici 102/3 (1 999) 597-616 .
' B. S zab ö-B ech stein , Libcrtas ecclesiae. Ein Schlüsselbegriff des Investiturstreits und seine V or­
geschichte. 4 . - 1 1 . Jh . (Studi Gr cgoriani X I I , R o m a 1985); G. Todeschini, “Judas m ercator pessimus”. Eb rei e simoniaci dall’X I al X I I I secolo, in: Zakhor. Rivista di storia degli ebrei in Italia I
(1997) 11-23; T R eu ter, Gifts and simony, in: Medieval Transformations: Texts, P ow er and Gifts in
C ontext, eds. E. C oh en , M. B. de Jo n g (Leiden 200 0) 5 7-6 8.
JO
G ia c o m o Todeschini
heretics very close to the world of infidels and especially of Jews. Jewish stubborn­
ness, in this context, has nothing to do with usury or a specific illegitimate eco­
nomic way of conduct; it is, however, the infidelity model to which the heretical
deviancy of Simoniacs is compared. The connection between Judas’ lack of faith
and Judas’ greed, that is to say the notion of Judas’ untrustworthiness, is obviously
and obsessively recounted as exemplification of the mental process which deter­
mines the fall of the Simoniae into the abyss of heresy, that is the exit from the even
more delimited space of Christian fidelity31. Sometimes, at the end of the eleventh
century, the antisimoniac texts begin in fact to tell stories of Jews allied with the
Simoniacs. Th e charge to be inside enemies of the Christian world is therefore
deepened by the emphasis on the Simoniacs’ involvement with the infidels par ex­
cellence32.
Before the twelfth century, the Christian West produces a third type of linguistic
procedure, which was suitable for denoting and connoting economic discourse.
This textuality, definable as juridical or legal, after the sixth century is composed of
a more and more solid interplay between R oman and Canon law. O n the particular
subject of credit and usury, we can now utilise the fundamental book of Harald
Siems, H a n d el und W ucher im Spiegel frü hm ittelalterlicher R echtsquellen 33. Per­
haps, the most important aspect of this very accurate book, often regrettably for­
gotten by econom ic historians, is the systematic analysis of the semantic fluctua­
tion or undecided sense of the word-concept “usury” in the western Christian legal
sources until the twelfth century. This ambiguity appears, in comparison with R o ­
man and Talmudic Law, as a main Christian characteristic. In Roman law as
summed up by the Justinian Code, the word, in the plural form usurae , denoted
interests legally admitted, but not as a specific contractual form. In the Talmudic
31 See, fo r instance, H u m bertits d e S ilvacan dida, Adversus simoniacos libri tres ( M G H , Libelli de
lite I, 95 -2 5 3 ) , I I 20, 163-4: “H au t secus hos hcr cti cos [scil.: sym oniacos] nefandi am bitione c o m mercii dirumperc vincula christianae legis et proicere a se iugum apostolicae disciplinae quaerentes,
qui habitat in caelis, irridet et subsannat, ubi impudenter negotiando de D e o nichil inveniunt in
manibus suis, nisi quod ludas et Iudaci in suis, perpetuam scilicet maledictionem et damnationem,
qua exemplo Iudae fiunt filii eorum orphani, et ux or vidua, quia sanguis Ch risti super eos et super
filios eorum, ut vindicetur, m an e t”: on sim ony from a juridical point of view, see R. M. F reb er,
Preventing C r im e in the H igh Middle Ages: T h e Medieval L a w y er s’ Search for D ete rre nce, in:
Popes, Teachers, and C a n o n Law in the Middle Ages, eds. /. R. Sw eeney, S. C b o d o ro w (Ithaca,
Lon don 1 9 8 9 ) 2 1 2 ss.
32 See, for instance, G au fridu s Vindocinensis , Libellus II. G offridu s abbas Rainaldo episcopo A n degavensi non canonice electo laicorum investituram hacresim esse demonstrat, (1116-18), in:
M G H . Libelli de Lite II, 684: “ ... iilis invitis [the clergy of Angers] et non petentibus arreptus
fuistis a vulgo: et quod ibi factum est hoc pracsumptuosa et pernitiosa fecit seditio. Q u o r u m iustam reprobationem cum q u id am de g en ere lu d eoru m laicus audisset, q u i sem per ; dum potuit, op-
pressit aecclesiam et qui, nullo eum comitante de clero, a latere nostro vos primus arripuerat, turbam vulgi, quam ipse turbaverat, secum adduxit et in medium sancti conventus impudenter
prosiluit, dam ans: Q u is nobis in hoc opere nostro contradicit, eligat unus ex duobus, aut mori
statim, aut concedere quod fecimus! Sic grex religiosus abbatu m et clericorum, qui ad pastoris
electionem convencrat, turbatus est etdi spersus . . . ”.
-’3 II. Siem s, Handel und Wucher.
Christian Perceptions o f Je wish E c o n o m ic Activity in the Middle Ages
11
treatises on damages, usury was described as an illicit but clearly defined economic
transaction, very different from society contracts as iska or from particular forms
of economic transgression as o n a a M. Thereafter - as Haym Soloveitchik has clear­
ly explained - the rabbinic French and German responsa from the eleventh century
could describe it “simply [as] a way of earning a living”35. Since, as we saw, the
traditional Christian discourse developed a double and conflicting conceptualisa­
tion of credit transactions, the legal definition of usury in the works of Christian
jurists, until the great codifier Gratianus, is very incongruous, and in most cases,
although the illegality of usury is affirmed, a specific definition of the contractual
manifestations of usury is absent. The typical definition of usury in the normative
and legal Christian sources from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, or from Char­
lemagne to Gratianus, is: “ usury is when more is requested as restitution than has
been given” ( usura est u bi amplius requiritur qu am datur)M\ Actually, the elusive­
ness of this definition opened the way to the possibility of differentiating between
credit transactions perceived as favourable to increasing churches - as for instance
the commerce in rents - and loans and restitutions outside the ecclesiastical public
space, by private subjects whose aim, from a clerical perspective, was not to aug­
ment institutional wealth, but the private - carnalis carnal - prosperity of one’s
own familiar group37. The insistence of this canonical definition on the words “request”- “give” ( requ iri-dari ), in fact, established that usury, properly said, could
happen on ly when an individual firmly imposed a specific difference between the
loaned and returned value. When the credit transaction to ok place without this
precise quantification of interest, so that the gain derived from the repayment in a
different type of value (for instance a sum of money was compensated by periodi­
cal land rents), the transaction was no longer considered usurious, principally be­
cause this difference of value was granted as correct by the institutional subjects
(churches, abbeys, landlords) who normally determined it. It is in the period after
Gratianus, in the second half o f the twelfth century, that what Haym Soloveitchik
has defined as “a dramatic change” occurred38. Alternatively, we can say, it is after
j4 A. W eingort, Interet et credit dans le droit talmudique.
H. S olov eitch ik, T h e Je wish Attitude 126.
36 Capitulare Niumagae datum, (806), n. 11: M o n u m e n ts Germ an ia e Histories, Capitularia, II
p. 132; D ec re tum Gr atiani C. X I V q. 3, c. 4 and 9, Friedherg cd, 735 and 737; Siems, Handel und
Wuch er 745 ss.; Todeschini, Linguaggi teologici e linguaggi ainministrativi; Id em , Linguaggi ec o ­
nomic! ed ecclesiologia.
3/ I. Veraja, Le origini deila controversia teologica sul con tr atto di censo nel X I I I secolo (R om a
1960); W. Trusen, Z um Ren te n ka u f im Spämittclaltcr (1971), now in W. Trusen, Gelehrtes R ec ht im
Mittelalter und in der frühen Neu zeit (G old bac h 1997);/. K irshner, St orm over M on te Com un e:
Genesis o f the Moral C on tr oversy over the Public D e b t o f Flore nce, in: Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 53 (1983) 219-2 7 6 ;/ . H ern an d o, Q uae stio disputata de lieitudine contractus emptionis et
venditionis censualis cum conditione revenditionis. U n tratado sobra la licitud del contrato de
comp ra-vcn ta de rentas personales y redimibles. Bern at de Puigcercös, O P (siglo X I V ) , in: Acta
Mediaevalia Barcelona, 10 (198 9) 9-8 7; L. A rm strong, U su ry and Public D eb t in Early Renaissance
Florence: L o r en zo Ridolfi on the M on te C o m u n e (Toro n to 2003).
■
,s H. S olov eitch ik, T h e Je wish Attitude 124-25.
12
G iac om o Todeschini
1160 that a firm clarification of Christian opinions about usury is clearly evident in
the explicit condemnation of usurious contracts. Usury now appears as an even
better defined system of contractual typologies. Haym Soloveitchik points out that
this new Christian attention to usury is “ the real riddle, not the Jewish position on
usury but what came to be the Christian one, the why and the how of this major
transformation in the mentalite of Western E u ro p e”39. I suggest that it is possible
to solve the puzzle, and at the same time to understand the rapid formation at the
end of the twelfth century of the Jewish usurer stereotype, if this change is viewed
in the light o f the earlier Christian sources, and particularly from the point o f view
of their semantics of the double significance of credit. As we saw, it is incorrect to
state that Christian juridical tradition, as summed up by Gratianus in 1140, was
totally unfavourable to credit transactions; on the contrary, the credit econom y
was perceived as useful when it revealed a specific ecclesiastical or public meaning.
As Amos Funkenstein, Anna Sapir Abulafia, Miri Rubin, Jeremy C o h e n 40 and
some others have substantiated, is it highly likely that the Christian change of at­
titude concerning Jews at the end of the twelfth century depended in some measure
on the deep doctrinal change which, after the Gregorian Reform and the affirma­
tion o f the real eucharistic presence, made Christology the essential reference point
for political or religious credibility. T o believe the real presence of Christ in the
Eucharist, and to recognize as sacred the power of the ecclesiastics, became the
fundament o f belonging to the human community. From this point of view, the
growing ideological and graphical representation of Jews as semi-human monsters
menacing Christian women and children has much to do, as Trachtenberg and re­
cently Sara Lipton and Ruth Mellinkoff41 demonstrated, with the theological repre­
sentations of infidels as aliens so typical of the last part of the twelfth century
Christian thought. T h is explanation is mostly correct, but my idea is that it is nec­
essary to emphasize the economic and juridical roots of the new hostile Christian
attitude against Jews, paying attention to the way the traditional Christian vocabu­
lary of economics was adapted to the changing economic situation of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. As Violante and D u b y have pointed out42, the accelera-
Ibid.
40 A. Fun ken stein, Ch ang es in the Patterns of Christian A n ti-Jcw is h Polemics in the Twelfth C e n ­
tury, in: Zion 33 (1 96 8) 125-1 44; Idem , Basic Types of Anti-Je wish Polemics in the Later Middle
Ages, in: Viator 2 (197 2) 3 7 3 -3 8 2 ; A. Sapir A b u lafia, Ch ristians and Je w s in Dispute. Dispu ta­
tions! literature and the rise o f anti-Judaism in the West (c. 1000-1 150 ) (Aldershot 1998); Idem ,
Christians and Je ws in the Twelft h -C en tu ry Ren aissance (L on d on , N e w York 1995); M. R u bin ,
C orp us Christi. T h e Eu charist in Late Medieval Cu ltu re (C am bridge 1991);/. C oh en , T h e Friars
and the Je ws. T h e Ev ol utio n o f Medieval Antijudaism (Ithaca, L o n d o n 1983).
41 R. M ellin koff , Outcasts: Signs o f Ot herness in N o rt h e rn Eu rop ean Art of the Later Middle
Ages (Berkeley, Lo s Angeles 1993); Id em , Antisemitic H ate Signs in H eb rew Illuminated M an u ­
scripts from Medieval G erm any (Jerusalem 1999); S. Lipton, Images of Intolerance: T h e R epr esen­
tation of Je w s and Ju da is m in the Bible Moralisee (Berkeley, L o s Angeles 1999).
42 G. D u by, Lcs chanoines reguliere et la vie eco n om iq uc des X I e et X I I c siecles, in: La vita c om u ne del clcro nei secoli X I c X I I (M ilano 1962) 7 2-8 1; C. Violante, I vescovi dell’Italia ccntro-set te ntrionale e lo sviluppo deU’economia monetaria, in: Vescovi e dioccsi in Italia ncl M ed ioevo (sec.
Christ ian Perceptions of Jewish E c on om ic Activit y in the Middle Ages
13
tion and the multiplication of money transactions in the eleventh and twelfth cen­
turies was alter all not so much the result of a generic new lay enterprise spirit, but
on the whole a consequence of the economic rationality of landlords, among whom
bishops, abbots and canons were particularly prominent. In France as well as in
northern Italy the real problem with this new economic situation was, moreover,
that the creation and the increase of markets were accompanied by the multiplica­
tion of economic subjects, initially controlled by their lords, but in time even more
apt to play the role of entrepreneurs albeit outside the sacred space of political
powers. Credit, or the increase of commercial operations founded on delayed pay­
ments, was also a consequence of this economic revolution. The general effect was
the huge and rapid growth of social and economic relations based on loans and
restitutions, but, also, the empowerment of politically unauthorized subjects. In
this situation at the middle of the twelfth century, it is possible to detect some new
signals of polemic against the wealth of the Jews, though they are not yet system­
atically designated as usurers. In 1146 Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny in Bur­
gundy, writes to the king Louis V II of France with the aim to authorize him to
expropriate the wealth of the French Jews in order to finance a crusade. In this let­
ter can we see the beginning of a Christian trend that Jews as infidels and therefore
serfs of the landlords and of the Church cannot possess legitimate wealth of their
own. Thus the reasoning of Peter of Cluny that their riches are without doubt il­
legal and fruit of robbery or commercial tricks. Peter declares that the French Jews
are normally partners of Christian sacrilegious thieves, that is of Simoniacs43. In
other words, the participation of Jews, inf idels and outsiders par excellence, in the
new economic reality troubles, among other charismatic leaders, Peter the Vener­
able of Cluny, himself an important ecclesiastical landlord, because the new eco­
nomic play seem s to authorize them to acquire power over Christian land, that is
to become politically significant. In the same years, the same ecclesiastical fear of
the acquisition of wealth and, frequently, of ecclesiastical possessions by lay peo­
ple, determines the textual spreading of the crucial semantic equivalence between
cam alitas and usura. It will thereafter be common, from Bernard of Clairvaux to
Peter the Chanter at the end of the century, to utilise the word ju daisare to define
the activity of Christian usurers44. As Sara Lipton has adroitly shown in her analy­
sis of the representations of je w s and Synagogue in the Bibles Moralisees of the
I X —X I I I ) (Padova 1964) 193-217; Id em , Monasteri c cano niche ncllo sviiuppo deli’economia monetaria (secoli X I —X I I I ) , in: Istituzioni monastiche c istituzioni canomcali in O ccid cnte, 1123-1215
(Milano 1980) 3 6 9 -4 1 6 ; C. Brittain B ou chard, H o ly Entrepreneurs. Cistercian, Knights, and E c o ­
nomic Exchange in Twelfth Ce n tury Bu rgundy (Ithaca, Lo n d on 1991).
4-’ T h e letters o f Peter the Venerable, I, ed. G. C on stable (Cambridge/Mass. 1978) 32 7-3 30; Y.
Friedm an , An A n ato m y o f Antisemitism: Peter the Venerable’s Lette r to Louis V I I , King of France
(1146), in: Bar -Ilan Studies in H isto ry (1978) 87-102.
44 D ictio n ary o f Mediaeval Latin from British Sources (L o n d o n 1975) I, s.v. “judaizan tes”; Petrus
C antor, Verbum adbreviatum. Tcxtus conflatus, cd. M. B outry (Turnhout 2004) 325;/. W. B aldw in,
Masters, Princes and Merchants. T h e Social Views of Peter the Chanter and his Circle (Princeton
1970).
14
G ia c o m o Todcschini
beginning of the thirteenth century, this semantic equation does not signify that
the Christian authors recognize usury as a real and typical Jewish profession, but
that the “carnality” traditionally imputed to Jews as logical attribute of their mis­
understanding o f Scriptures makes them the obvious paradigm o f the new Chris­
tian econom ic reality when this reality appears external or dangerous to ecclesiasti­
cal economic policy43. The point becomes more and more clear when, from the
seventies of the twelfth century, the papal power assumes a precise position on the
question of the economic and juridical role of the Jews in Christian Europe. Alex­
ander III, Celestine III, and then at the beginning o f the thirteenth century, Inno­
cent III, that is from 1160 to 1215, send a series of official letters to many European
lords and kings. Their aim is on the one hand to establish that Jews that become
possessors of pledged ecclesiastical land must be compelled to pay tithe to the
churches, that is to recognize the ecclesiastical jurisdiction as a legitimate fiscal
jurisdiction46. O n the other hand, Jewish witnesses against Christians in economic
controversies may not be accepted by Christian tribunals47. It is at this moment the last years of the twelfth century - that the growth of an usurious representation
of the economic activity of the Jews becomes gradually observable in some peni­
tential manuals and narrative or hagiographic sources, but also in the pontifical
legislation collected and edited by Solomon Grayzel48. This stereotyping process
can be interpreted as the rhetoric or emotional rendering, and then as the adapta­
tion to a linguistic standard of divulgation, of a more complex situation regarding
ecclesiastical territorial power seen as a form of control apparently menaced by the
economic initiative of lay individuals. Sara Lipton describes this phenomenon very
clearly: “indebtness entails emotional as well as legal obligation. Power over the
clerical debtor is conferred upon the lay creditor, and the superiority of clergy ... is
consequently undermined. Moreover, if lay power over the clergy was at all times
a cause for concern, when the laymen in question were infidels a disturbing reli­
gious dimension came into play.”49 The persisting ambiguity of the Christian legal
sources on the matter of credit during the development of economic anti-Jewish
discourses indicates that representing medieval Jews as usurers and Jewish wealth
as completely derived from usurious transactions is, on the whole, a linguistic ster­
eotype signifying the canonistic and theological rejection of the lay economic ini­
tiatives when they are perceived as menacing the sacred wealth of the churches.
Indeed, the ecclesiastical lawyers of the late twelfth and early thirteenth century
developed an even more systematic definition regarding the legitimacy of putting
45 S. Lipton, Images o f Int olerance 34. M. A w erb u ch , Christlich -jü dische Begegnung im Zeitalter
der Frühscholastik (M ü nc hen 1980).
46 G. Todcschini, I mercanti e il tempio 248 ss.
47 W. P akter, Medieval canon law and the Je w s (E belsbach 1988) 174 ss.
48 S. G ra y z el , T h e C h u r ch and the Je w s in the T hir teen th C en tu ry (Philadelphia 1933);/. Gilchrist. ,
T h e Canonistic Treatment of Je w s in the Latin West in the Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries,
in: Zeitschrift der Savigny Stiftung für Rechtsge schichte - Kan. Abt. 106 (1 98 9) 70 -1 06; A. L in der,
T h e Je w s in the legal so u rces o f the early middle ages (D et roit, Jerusalem 1997).
49 S. Lipton, Images of Int olerance 34-38.
Christian Perceptions of Jewish Econ om ic Activit y in the Middle Ages
15
on the market the ecclesiastical rents or dccim ae (tithes), that is the right of church­
es and abbeys to make credit transactions in the form of buying and selling peri­
odical revenues50. In the thirteenth century, growing obsession with usury as a
dangerous and destructive economic practice and the accompanying detestation of
Jewish economic activities systematically represented as the paradigm of the usuri­
ous infidelity, will thereafter be perfectly compatible with the Christian develop­
ment of a market society, but also of a Christian economics promoted and popular­
ised principally in the writing and preaching of the leading intellectual magistri
active in the Mendicant O rders31. The fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and the sec­
ond Council of Lyon in 1274 will promulgate inflexible decrees on usury and usu­
rers52. However, a close reading of these norms clearly shows that their aim was an
accurate differentiation between the sinful economic practice of individuals even
depicted as aliens and strangers or heretics, and the economic trend represented in
the same years by Christian merchant companies promoted by the popes to the
role of bankers and tax collectors of the Apostolic Cham ber53. Th e Jews, in this
situation, play a strange role: as paradigm of infidelity they embody the usurious
avarice daily concretised by the indifference of sectors of the Christian market so­
ciety to the holiness of Church properties; as an actual economic presence, although
in business practice very similar to the Christian one, they appear in legal sources
as harshly reproached and sometimes condemned for their determination to par­
ticipate in economic interplay on a basis of juridical parity with Christians. At the
same time, as subjects clearly conscious of possessing a specific economic culture
sometimes conflicting with the ecclesiastical one, the Jews are presented in many
canonistic or theological writings as arrogant and ungrateful guests (bost.es ingrati)
within Christian society54. Finally, the Christian representation of Jewish econom­
ic activities as basically reducible to usury, and the interrelated idea that Jewish
wealth was the result of an extraordinary capacity to manage money, will give rise
to the paradoxical notion of a monetary usefulness of the carnal Jews for the spir­
itual Christians. Then, from the thirteenth century, the greed and avarice tradition­
ally attributed to the Jews was perceived by Christian economic powers as the o c­
casion for an economic strategy controlled by Christian governments. The Jewish
economic evil began to appear as an ambiguous component of the sacred common
30 G. C onstable, Mon astic Tithes from their Origi ns to the 12th C. (Ca m brid ge 1964); F Veraja,
Le origini della controversia teologica sul contratto di censo.
31 O. L an g h olm , E c o n o m ic s in Medieval Schools; G. T odeschini, R icchez za francescana. Dalla
povertä volontaria alia societä di mercato (B olog na 2004).
32 T. P. M e Laughlin, T h e Teaching o f the Canonists on U su ry ; U. S an tarelli , La prohib ieiön de la
usura, de canon moral a regia juridica. Modalidades y exitos de tin “transplante”, in: Del Ius mcrcatorum al de recho mercantil, C. Petit ed. (Madrid 1997) 237-2 5 6 .
33 E. D. English, Ente rprise and Liability in Sienese Bankin g, 123 0- 135 0 (Cambridge/Mass. 1988);
Gli spazi economici della Chiesa nell’O ccid en te mediterraneo (C e n t ro italiano di studi di storia
e d ’arte, Pistoia 1999).
3'1 F o r instance: S. G rayzel, T h e C h urch and the Je w s 104, 108; S. G rayzel, T h e C h urch and the
Je w s in the T hirteen th Century, II, ed. K. R. Stow (Jewish The ological Seminary, N e w York 1989),
63; VIZ P akter, Medieval canon law and the Je ws 66.
16
G ia c o m o Todcschini
good. In consequence of this evolution of the stereotype, many Italian cities at the
end of the Middle Ages could grant a sort of citizenship to the Jews who were will­
ing to play the role of public usurer35, thereby consenting to exchange wealth,
originated by means of a multitude of economic activities, with a civic identity
founded on the usurious specialization which in fact was the last embodiment of an
ancient religious stereotype: th c p erfid ia or duritia Ju d a eo ru m 36.
55 Gli ebrci in Italia, I, cd. C. Vivanti ( Torin o 1996); A. T oafj, Ju da ci cives? Gli cbrci nei catasti di
Perugia del Trecento, in: Zakhor. Rivista di Storia degli Ebrci d ’Italia IV (2000) 11-36.
56 B. B lu m en kran z, Perfidia, in: Arch ivum Latinitatis Medii A ev i-B ullc tin D u Cange 22 (1952)
157-70; I d e m , ju i fs et chretiens. Patristique et M o y en Age (L on d on 1977) V I I; G. Todescbini ,
Franciscan E c o n o m ic s and Je w s in the Middle Ages: F r o m a T heologic al to an E c on om ic Lexicon,
in: Friars and Je w s in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, eds. S. J. M cM ichael, S. E. Myers (Leiden,
Boston 2004) 99 -117.
Hans-Georg von Mutius
Taking Interest from N on-Jew s - M ain Problem s in
Traditional Jew ish Law
Questions of money lending between Jews and non-Jews and the problems of interest-charged loans can be viewed through the mirror ol Jewish law and have been
discussed by rabbinical authorities. To begin with the legal sources: All Jewish
communities of the Middle Ages in the Mediterranean area and in non-Mediterra­
nean Europe have a common stock of H oly Scriptures constituting the basis of
their legal culture and life. Apart from the Hebrew Bible with the Pentateuch as the
main law book, they all have in common use a corpus of legal und ritual works
written in Palestine and Babylonia during the Late Antiquities: the Mishna com ­
piled at the beginning of the 3 rtl century C.E. in Northern Palestine, constituting
the first comprehensive law-book of normative Judaism after the destruction o f the
Second Temple with laws and legal discussions mainly from the 2 ml century; then
a commentary to the Mishna in form of the Babylonian Talmud containing laws
and legal discussions from the 3 rd to the 6th century; further legal corpora of
secondary importance as the Tosefta and the Palestinian Talmud from the 4th and
S'1’ centuries; and the bulk of the so-called Midrashic literature. Midrashic litera­
ture, of Jewish Palestinian origin, presents the rabbinical expositions of scriptural
verses. Embodied into this literature is a canonical corpus of Midrashim with laws
and legal discussions from the 2nd to the 3rd centuries expounding the laws of the
Pentateuch. These legal or Halakhic Midrashim were, in addition to the Mishna
and the Babylonian Talmud, of obligatory significance for every community in the
medieval Jewish world.
As two thirds of the medieval discussions of the leading Jewish scholars are
based upon the laws and discussions in the Talmudic and Midrashic literature, it is
indispensable to begin with the statements of the rabbis in late antiquity concern­
ing the problem o f money lending to non-believers. O n e main problem and a blue
thread in all discussions, from late antiquity and continuing in the Middle Ages, is
the correct understanding of the central injunction of Deuteronomy 23, 21: From a
foreig n er You m ay exact interest; fro m Your b roth er You shall not exact it, in order
that: the L ord Your G o d bless You in a ll Your enterprises etc. Already in the early
rabbinical literature enumerated above we find a fundamental discord concerning
the correct understanding of the treatment of non-Jews in biblical law. Must the
text be understood as translated: From a fo reig n er You may exact interest , or is the
correct understanding of the text as follows: From a fo reig n er You must exact in -
18
H a n s-G e o rg von Mutius
terest't At the surface, it is a problem of Biblical Hebrew syntax. The verb of the
Hebrew text: tashik, uses the so-called preformative conjugation, which is ambigu­
ous in its modal uses, designing inter alia either a possibility or a necessity1. The
Mishna clearly presupposes the optional solution. In the Tractate Baba M etzi’a V,6
we find the short statement: O ne m ay borroiv fro m n on -Jew s an d len d to them at
interest1. Whereas the biblical legislation deals only with the constellation of lend­
ing money to a non-Jew, early rabbinical law presents an important enlargement: It
is also allowed for a Je w to borrow money from a Gentile and to pay him interest
for the loan5. And, to look forward into the Middle Ages: In the legal literature of
Judaism in Muslim and Christian countries we find beyond the theoretical discus­
sions clear evidence of interest charged loans in everyday life, payable by a Jewish
debtor to a Muslim or to a Christian creditor. And when the Jewish disputant in
the Sefer ha-Berit of Jo se f Kimhi, written in Narbonne in the second half of the
12th century, attacks his Christian counterpart, he uses the argument that Chris­
tians also are lending money at interest to both Christians and Jews4. His reproach
must not be a statement devoid of any substance, on the contrary, it may point to
economic realities o f that time in Southern France and Christian Spain. But let us
return to the older rabbinical legislation. Th e opposite part to the Mishnaic state­
ment is represented by the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, an important Halakhic
work of Palestinian Je wry compiled at the end of the 3rd century3. In § 263 of this
work the decisive words o f the Hebrew text: la -n ok ri tashik are expounded by the
following short remark: It is a positive com m andm ent^. Rabbinical hermeneutics
divide the laws of the Pentateuch into two parts, positive precepts and negative
ones. Negative precepts comprise actions which must be avoided under all circum­
stances, for example the injunctions: You shall not com m it murder, You shall not
h ear fa lse testim ony against you r fello w etc. Positive commandments, whose per­
formance is absolutely obligatory, are for example: to circumcise a newborn male,
to pay a worker his wages on time and so on. O n this background, the position of
the Midrash Sifre is clear: Th e biblical words o f Deuter. 23,21 must be understood
as a duty: A Je w granting a loan to a non-Jew is by divine revelation obliged to
demand interest from the foreigner, whenever he lends money to him, a thing ab­
solutely forbidden towards a coreligionist. Mishna and Midrash Sifre contain the
two positions that were to be important for the later medieval discussions. But
before we analyze the medieval controversy, we must take a short glimpse at the
1 C om pare B. K. W altke, M. O 'C on n or, An Int roductio n to Biblical H eb rew Syntax (Winona
Lake/Indiana 1990) 50811.
2 H eb rew text in the edition o f D. H offm an n , Mischnajot - D ie sechs Ordn un ge n der Mischna Part IV: O r d n u n g N es ik in ( B a s e l 31986) 71.
A very convi ncing analysis o f the Mishnaic statement is presented by J. R osen thal, Rib bit min
ha-nokri, in: id em , M eh qarim umeqoro t, vol. 1 (Jerusalem 1967) 257f.
T he B o o k of the Co v en ant o f Jo se p h K im hi, translated by F. Talm age (T oro n to 1972) 34 f.
3 C om par e G. S tem berg er, Einleitung in Talmud und Midrasch (M unich 81992) 269.
6 H eb rew text in the edition o f L. Finkelstein, Sifre al sefer D eb ari m ( N e w Y o rk 1969) 285 (reprint
o f the edition Berlin 1939).
Taking Int erest from N o n -Je w s - Main Problem s in Traditional Jewish Law
19
Talmuclic discussion presented in the Tractate Baba M etzi’a fol.70b-71a, based on
authorities living in Babylonia during the 4 th and 5 th century. The main features of
the discussions contained in this section are indeed astonishing: The Babylonian
Talmud recommends to avoid the granting of interest-charged loans to non-Jews,
if possible. Interest taken from non-Jews will bring about unhappiness to the lend­
er according to an opinion of Rav Huna. According to his son, Rav Hiyya, money
lending to non-Jews must be limited to the requirements of one’s livelihood; but
one should not exercise that activity with the intention to gather wealth; and ac­
cording to yet a third authority, the permission of the Mishna refers only to schol­
ars. They alone are free to engage in money lending to non-Jews without limita­
tions, because they are not in danger to learn from the ways of the non-Jews, in
contrast to an ordinary Jew. The Babylonian Talmud adds by citing a fourth au­
thority, that a Je w having the choice to grant a loan without interest to a coreligion­
ist or at interest to a non-Jew, is obliged to give it to his fellow without demanding
interest at the time of repayment. The words of the Babylonian Talmud are well
understandable on the background of whole regions and complete towns inhabited
exclusively or in overwhelming majority by Jews, as in Sassanid Mesopotamia.
There, the functioning of an internal Jewish economy and market was, by that rea­
son, more or less possible. Commercial dealings with non-Jews were not abso­
lutely inevitable to secure one’s existence. But the Talmudic admonitions were dis­
regarded in the diaspora of post-Talmudic times. M oney lending to non-Jews
became one important branch of Jewish livelihood, with no difference between
scholars and average members of the Jewish communities playing the role of money-lenders. In a famous statement stemming from the middle of the 12th century
Rabbenu Tam, living in France, declares the restrictions of the Babylonian Talmud
as not applicable any more to the conditions of Jewish life in his time7. He points
out that Jews of today must pay taxes to the king and to feudal lords, that Jews are
living as a minority between the non-Jews, that Jews are totally dependent on nonJewish clients in all kinds o f commercial transactions, and that therefore lending at
interest to non-Jews must be allowed to everybody in the Jewish community8.
Such theoretical discussions took place also in Egypt in the second half of the 12th
century, by no inferior scholar than Moses Maimonides, whose legal works re­
ceived broad acceptance already during his lifetime, not only in oriental Je wry but
also in the Jewish communities of Christian Mediterranean countries. In an ex­
tremely harsh statement in his “B o o k of Commandments”, written about 1170 in
Arabic language, positive precepts § 198, Maimonides says that the words of D eu­
ter. 23,21 concerning the non-Jew are of obligatory nature. O ne must lend at inter­
est to a non-Jew, “so that w e d o n ’t be useful to him nor treat him km dly; on the
contrary: that w e cause d am age to him even in m oney lending by m eans o f interest,
Mentioned already by R osen th al , Rib b it min hanokri, op. cit. 263.
8 Tosafot to Baba Met zia 70b. T h e edition used here is: Masseket Bab a Metzia min Talmud Babli
im perush Rashi, T osafot ... (Jerusalem 1981).
20
H an s-G e o rg von Mut ms
w hich w e im pose on him by contract”9. M aim onidcs continues, that the words of
Dcutcr. 23,21 contain a command and that no freedom of choice is implied therein;
and he adduces the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy as the decisive proof for his ar­
guments. In his main legal work written in Hebrew, the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides repeats his injunction in his laws concerning money lending, chapter V § 1, in
a non-polemical form by only citing Midrash Sifre without mentioning his source
by name10. Several Hebrew translations of the B o o k of Precepts already realised
during Maimonides’ lifetime secured a broad reception of this work in the other
Mediterranean Jewish communities; the same happened to the Mishneh Torah,
which did not need a translation and was completed about 1180. The reactions to
his theory of interest were negative by the majority of his commentators. The first
and m ost important one was his contemporary Abraham Ben David of Posquieres
in Southern France, who wrote a commentary to the Mishneh Torah of M aim o­
nides, consisting of very critical glosses and who, by virtue of his personal biogra­
phy, had no reason to act benevolently towards non-Jews. In his comment to chap­
ter V § 1 of Maimonides’ laws concerning money lending he remarks in his short,
enigmatic style, that such an exegetical tradition is unknown to him, and that Mai­
monides misunderstood the Midrash Sifre. The Midrash, says Abraham Ben David,
which declares money lending at interest to non-Jews as a positive commandment,
intends only to corroborate the prohibition to exact interest from a fellow Jew, and
nothing else11. Moses Nahmanidcs (Gerona, middle of the 13th century) follows
Abraham Ben David in his commentary to Maimonides’ B o o k of Commandments
(chapter 6 in his general introduction) and writes, that Maimonides committed a
mistake by classifying Deuter. 23,21 as a commandment. T he Midrash Sifre must
be interpreted as a mere permission to lend money at interest to a non-Jew, and as
a non-permission to lend money at interest to a coreligionist12. The position of
Abraham Ben David is repeated by Nahmanides’ pupil Solomon Ben Adret o f Bar­
celona in his Talmudic commentary to Baba M etzi’a 70b: T he Midrash Sifre, clas­
sifying the exaction of interest from a non-Jew as a positive commandment, intends
only to strengthen the prohibition of demanding interest from a fellow Jew. It is
not the intention of the Midrash to obligate Jews to take interest from non-Jews,
and Maimonides does not present the correct interpretation o f the Midrashic state­
9 Arabic text in: M oshe ben M aim on , Sefer hamitzwot, edited and translated into H eb rew by D.
K ap ah (Jerusalem 1971) 159. R osen thal, R ib b it min hanokri, op. cit. 265, in his H eb rew translation
of the text omits the clause on damaging the no n- Jew !
10 H eb rew text in: Mishneh Torah wehu sefer hajad hahazaqah leharab rabbenu M osh e Bar
Maim on zal, traditional edition with commentaries, 2nd part (Berlin, N e w Y o rk 1926) 34a in the
tractate H ilkot malweh wcloweh.
11 Text o f his remark according to the bibliography given in the preceding footnote. T h e critique
o f Ab raham Ben David is also cited by R osenthal, R ib b it min hanokri, op.cit. 265.
12 H eb rew text in: Sefer h amitzwot lehanesher hagadol rabbenu M oshe B en M aim on zal wehaholkim alaw - a) Hassagot haRamban (Ra bben u M oshe Ben N ah m an zal . .. ), traditional edition (J e ­
rusalem no year) 52a-b.
Taking Interest from N o n -J e w s - Main Problem s m Traditional Jewish Law
21
ment. So far Solomon Ben A d ret13. Let us again go back for a moment to Nahmanides. In his commentary on the Pentateuch to Deuter. 23,20, Nahmanides writes
that according to verse 21, it is allowed to exact interest from a non-Jew, and that
no theft or robbery to the disadvantage of the non-Jew is implied in such a deal14.
With this statement, Nahmanides is apparently dependent upon his early contem­
porary David Kimhi (1165-1235) of Narbonne, who already wrote this in his own
commentary on the Pentateuch. David Kimhi continues there with the remark,
that the granting of interest-free loans to Jewish fellows rests on the legal duty of a
Jew to act benevolently towards his coreligionists and to benefit them. These obli­
gations must not be observed in dealings with non-Jews, because most of them
hate Jews. But if a non-Jew acts benevolently towards a Je w and deals with him in
a kind manner, the je w is reciprocally obliged to a benevolent dealing with his nonJewish counterpart13. Does David Kimhi herewith indicate a moral obligation to
grant an interest-free loan to a non-Jew in certain circumstances? I am unable to
give a clear answer to this question, but David Kimhi seems to be inclined to such
a solution. The opinion of Maimonides found only a few supporters. A certain ac­
ceptance of his position was demonstrated by Levi Ben Gershom (Southern France,
14th century). Lie writes in his commentary to Deuter. 23,21, that it is absolutely
obligatory by divine law to demand interest from a non-Jew in the case of granting
a loan to him, because he is an idolater and because one must cause damage to him
to the possible extent. This does not constitute a deviation from the principle of
righteousness16. This means that according to his opinion the religious duty to take
interest from a borrowing non-Jew must be fulfilled by demanding a not too ex­
cessive percentage of interest17. But the vast majority of the Jewish scholars living
in the western Mediterranean area during the later Middle Ages regarded the bibli­
cal words of Deuter. 23,21 only as a possibility. The final decision of the matter was
prepared by the monumental law-code “A rba’a ha-Turim” o f Jacob Ben Asher
from Toledo (1st half of the 14th century). In the section Yoreh Deah § 160, Jacob
Ben Asher remarks laconically that according to the word o f the Torah it is allowed
to lend to a non-Jew at interest18. The Shulhan ‘Arukh of the Spaniard Jo se f Caro,
though written in O ttom an Palestine about the middle of the 16th century, defi-
13 Digitalized text in the foll owing edition: Hiddushe haRashba al massc kct Baba Metzia fol.70b,
in: H at aq litor hatorani leshas im rishonim (Jerusalem 1999). T h e statement o f So lom on Be n Adret
is reproduced by R osen thal, R ib b it min hanokri, op. cit. 267.
14 He brew text in: Pcrushe hatorah lerabbenu M osbe Ben N ah m an (h aR am ban ), edited by Ch. D.
C h av el, 2nd volume (Jerusalem 1960) 461.
13 He brew text in: Perush c rabbi D a v id Q irnbi (Rad aq) al hatorah, edited b y M. K a m elh a a r 0 e r u salem 1970) 282.
16 H eb rew text in: L e v i Ben G ershom , Perush al hatorah al derek beur (Venice 1547) fol. 234a. T h e
statement of Levi B e n G er sh o m is presented by R osen thal, R ib b it min hanokri, op. cit. 274 in a
totally mutilated for m withou t any mention o f the damage to be caused to the non-Jew !
17 I think that this interpretation o f Levi Ben G e r s h o m ’s statement in the article “M on eylen din g”
in the Ency clopedia Judaica, vol. 12 (Jerusalem 1971) col. 250, is correct.
18 Text in: Arbaah Hat urim - Yoreh Deah, 2nd part, traditional edition with supercommentaries,
reprint of the edition from Warsaw 1861 (Jerusalem no year) fol. la.
22
H a n s-G e o rg von Mutius
nitely puts an end to the discussion by quoting Jaco b Ben Asher verbatim in the
section Yorch Deah § 15919. Both authorities silently reject Maimonides in this
way; they represent the predominant opinion.
But at the end of these expositions, we must try to trace the rationale of the legal
discussions presented here. First, Maimonides is quite correct in interpreting the
Midrash Sifre as he does. His opponents, not daring to disregard the authority of
that old work, were forced to interpret it against its literal meaning and to squeeze
the Midrash in favour of their optional interpretation of the biblical text itself. Fur­
thermore, the Midrash Sifre and Maimonides as its follower represent the most
authentic and original Jewish tradition of interpreting Deuter. 23,21. Already the
Greek Bible of Alexandrinian Jewry in the 3rd century B .C .E . translated the H e ­
brew Text as a double commandment: Upon the stranger You must impose interest-,
upon Your b roth er You shall not impose interest (tcd aAAoTpio) ektokieic , tco 8s abzk<pco aou ouk ektokieic)20, using the indicative of the future tense as a circumscription
of a strong jussive typical for negative and positive injunctions in the legal texts of
Septuaginta21. Let us return to the Middle Ages. T he problem is that for a Christian
client borrowing from a Jew it does not make any difference whether the payment
of interest imposed on him is the result of an optional interpretation of the biblical
law or not within the Jewish community. The internal Jewish discussion remains
undisclosed to the non-Jew; and he has to pay, on the basis of non-Jewish contractlaw in general and of non-Jewish Jewry law in special, which rendered a Je w ’s title
enforceable before a Christian court of law. The reason for the controversy de­
scribed above must have been another one. If money lending at interest to a nonJew is allowed, a Je w is also free to grant to a non-Jew a loan without interest,
treating him as a Jewish coreligionist. If money lending to a non-Jew is not allowed
without demanding interest, the second possibility is obstructed a b initio. The dis­
tinction between Israel and the peoples o f the world is drawn sharply by the old
exegetical tradition in the Midrash Sifre and its medieval recipient Moses M aimo­
nides. The opponents of Maimonides with their more lenient interpretation of
Deuter. 23,21 apparently intended to open the possibility to a Je w to grant an interest-free loan to a non-Jewish friend, in order to corroborate existing ties of good
neighbourhood, friendship or something like that. Were loans without interest
from a je w to a non-Jew granted anywhere in the medieval world? Gershom Ben
Jehudah of Mainz mentions such a case in early 1 1th century Germany, but without
linking it to the discussion presented here22. Nevertheless, the presumably rare o c­
19 H eb r ew text in: Shulhan Aru kh - Yoreh Deah mehagaon moharar J o s e j Q aro zal, traditional
edition (Wilna 1925) 367.
20 G reek text according to the edition o f /. W. W evers, Septuaginta - Vetus Testam cntum Gr aecum
... vol. 111,2: D eutero n om iu m (G öttin ge n 1977) 263.
21 C o m pare C. C o n y b eare, G. Stock, G ram m ar o f Scptuagint G r e e k (no location 21995) 72.
22 See H . G. von Mutius, Rechtsentscheide rheinischer R ab b inen vor dem 1. Kreuzzug, I, (Jude n­
tum und Um w elt 13/!, Fr ankfurt a .M . and elsewhere 1984) 105. T h e case is mentioned also b y J.
S h atzm iller, S h ylo c k reconsidered - Jews, Mon eylen ding and Medieval Society, (B erk eley and
elsewhere 1990) 100.
Taking Intere st from N on -J e w s - Main Problems in Traditional Jewish Law
23
currence o f interest free loans granted by a Jew to a non-Jew shows that the mainstream of legal discussions: You m ay or You must len d at interest to a foreig n er
does not necessarily reflect frequent occurrences in daily live; and that is the main
result of the reflections on the matter presented here.
David Jacoby
The Jew s in Byzantium and the
Eastern Mediterranean: Econom ic Activities from
the Thirteenth to the M id-Fifteenth Century"'
The geographic range of this study requires a short explanation. Byzantium suf­
fered successive territorial losses in the period following the Fourth Crusade
(1202-1204), and before its fall in 1453 it was more or less limited to Constantino­
ple and the Peloponnesus. The Latin conquests of the early thirteenth century were
followed by the restructuring of commercial networks and a partial re-orientation
in the flow of goods in the eastern Mediterranean, which deeply affected B y zan­
tium in the long-run1. The investigation of the late Byzantine economy, therefore,
cannot be limited to the shrinking territorial framework of the Empire. It must be
examined within the context of the broader region within which that econom y in­
tegrated, primarily in relation to Latin Romania, the former Byzantine lands oc­
cupied by the Latins after the Fourth Crusade.
This approach is also indispensable with respect to the Jews in the late Empire
for yet another reason, namely, the paucity and nature of the sources bearing on
their economic activities. I have recently traced the continuous presence of the
T h e following abbreviations are used below: A S V = Arch ivio di Stato di Venezia, cited for
unpublished documents; Bad oer - U m berto D orin i e Tom m aso B ertele (eds.), Il libro dei conti di
G ia c o m o Ba doer (Cos tantin opoli, 143 6- 1440) (Il N u o v o Ram usio III R o m a 1956); B B = R aim on do M orozzo clella Rocca (ed.), Benven ut o de Brixano, notaio in Candia (13 01 - 1 3 0 2 ) (Venezia 1950);
L M = M ario C b iau d an o c A ntonino L o m b a rd o (eds.), Leona rdo Marcello, notaio in Candia, 12781281 (Venezia 1960); PP ~ S alv atore C a rb on e (ed.), Pietro Pizolo, notaio in Candia (1300, 13041305) (Venezia 197 8- 1985 ); PS = A ntonino L o m b a rd o (ed.), Imbrcviature di Pietro Scardon (1271)
(D oc u m cn ti della colonia veneziana di Greta I, Torino 1942); T a qq an oth = Elias S. A rtom et H u m bertus M. D. Cassiito (eds.), Taqqanoth Qan dy a vc -Zic hrono te ha (Statuta Iud aeorum Candiae eorumque memorabilia) (Jerusalem 1943) [H ebre w ]; Z F = A nton in o L o m b a rd o (ed.), Zaccaria de
Fredo, notaio in Candia (1 3 52- 1 3 5 7 ) (Venezia 1968). B B , L M , PP and Z F have been edited by the
C o m ita to per la pubblicazione dclle Fonti relative alia Storia di Venezia, in the series Fonti per la
storia di Venezia, Sez. I l l - Archivi notarili. F o r the sake of unifo rm ity kn own Jewish names cited
in documents are reproduced below in their H eb rew version.
1 D a v id J a c o b y , Chang ing E c o n o m ic Patterns in Latin Romania: T h e Impact o f the West, in: Ang elik i E. L aiou and R oy P arviz M ottabed eh (eds.), T h e Crusades fr om the Perspective o f B y z a n ­
tium and the Muslim World (Washington, D .C . 20 01) 2 2 0 -2 2 9 , repr. in D av id Ja c o b y , Commercial
Ex change across the Mediterranean: By zan tium , the Crusader Levant, Eg ypt and Italy (Aldershot
2005) no. IX .
26
David J a c o b y
Jewish community in Thessalonica from the twelfth to the second halt of the fif­
teenth century, yet without finding any indication regarding the economic occupa­
tions in which its members engaged2. The sources illustrating the strong impact of
western maritime powers in the eastern Mediterranean provide the bulk of evi­
dence regarding the Jews o f Byzantium and of Latin Romania in the period cov­
ered here. Among these sources notarial charters, of primary importance, are par­
ticularly abundant for Crete, ruled by Venice from the early thirteenth century
onward, and somewhat less for Chios, occupied by the Genoese from 1346 to
1566. Yet for many other localities the sources offer at best only scattered and iso­
lated data regarding individual Jews and their economic pursuits, or else clusters of
relevant information covering short periods. Therefore, any attempt to reconstruct
the role of the Jews in the economy of the eastern Mediterranean and to assess its
degree of continuity also requires an occasional return to an earlier period and reli­
ance upon circumstantial evidence.
With few exceptions Jews were an exclusively urban element in the eastern Med­
iterranean o f the late Middle Ages3. Their economic activities primarily took place
within cities or in relation to them, even if they held or owned rural property4.
These activities, as in other regions, displayed some distinctive features. The pro­
duction, marketing and consumption of specific commodities among Jews were
governed by religious precepts and by strict control and, therefore, were carried
out under particular conditions differing from those customary in Christian or
Muslim societies. Jews maintained an internal economic network, specific to their
communities and exclusively geared toward Jewish customers. This network war­
rants a separate treatment in view of its economic importance.
The choice and slaughter of animals for meat consumption according to ritual
requirements was generally performed in cities. O n the other hand, as urban resi­
dents Jews depended upon farmers for the supply of grapes and milk, respectively
for the production of wine and the consumption of milk, butter and cheese. We
have no information regarding the internal Jewish network in Byzantium, whether
in the centuries preceding the Fourth Crusade or following it. Yet the evidence
regarding kasher wine and cheese produced in Venetian Crete, apparently more
abundant than for any other group of medieval Jewish communities, offers an in­
sight into its nature and operation. The set of ordinances issued in 1228 by the
Jewish leaders in Crete points to well-structured communities and implies the ex­
istence o f a Jewish economic network in the island in the preceding Byzantine
period5.
In Venetian Crete the purchase of agricultural and pastoral products, mainly
wine, cheese and grain, was often tied to advance payments for the delivery of an
’ Excep t in the 1160s. See D a v id J a c o b y , Foreigners and the U rb a n E c o n o m y in The ssalonike,
c. 1150 —c. 1430, in: D u m b a rto n O a k s Papers 57 (2 00 3) 123-129.
■' A J e w living in the Creta n village o f Pala in 1352 was clearly an exception: Z F no. 43.
4 O n which see below, pp. 45-46.
T aqqanoth 3-6 , no. 2.
T h e Je ws in By za ntium and the Eastern Mediterranean
27
agreed quantity of produce at a specific date or within a specific period. This sale
credit system, with its concealed loans, is illustrated by numerous contracts, the
exact terms of which widely varied. It was presumably far more common in the
Venetian period than in the preceding Byzantine era6. F o r Jews sale credit was not
just an option. It was indispensable to ensure constant and close supervision ac­
cording to rabbinical precepts over wine and cheese directly ordered from the
producer.
Kasher wine was in constant demand for Jewish ritual functions, yet was also
purchased as beverage. In Crete Jews used sale credit before the grape harvest to
ensure the delivery of wine fit for consumption. B y contracts of May and August
1271 a Greek woman residing in Candia, the capital of Venetian Crete, promised to
deliver a total of 175 mistati or 2,252 liters wine from her vineyard in the village of
Catalagari to a Je w of the city7. Jewish seasonal workers were sent to the country­
side to clean the wine press, wine cellar, vats and casks, press the grapes, and super­
vise the transportation of the must or the wine to Candia8. In 1357 the wealthy
Moses son o f Yehudah instructed that grapes sufficient for the production o f 150
mistati or 1,930 liters wine be brought to his house in order to have them pressed
in the city9.
Ever larger volumes of cheese were being traded over long distances in the
Mediterranean from the eleventh century onward, as illustrated by Byzantine, Ar­
abic, Jewish and western sources. Exports of Cretan cheese to Constantinople are
attested from the 1020s and to Alexandria from the 1060s. An eleventh or twelfthcentury Jewish letter written in Alexandria apparently deals with the import of
Cretan cheese. B y the second half of the twelfth century Venetian involvement in
the import of high-grade Cretan cheese to Constantinople was so extensive that
the Venetian quarter had become the major market for that commodity in the
city10. We may safely assume, therefore, that kasher cheese produced in the island
also reached Constantinople and other Byzantine cities in that period.
All stages of production and distribution of kasher cheese were conducted under
close supervision, as for wine. Various precepts applied to milking, the use of
rennet from a ritually slaughtered animal to curdle the milk, as well as to the
processing, storage, transportation and marketing o f the cheese. Religious consid6 J a c o b y , Changing E c o n o m i c Patterns 218, on the backgr ound and effects of that system.
' PS nos. 319, 429. T h e b o tic o f Candia, also used for shipments to Co nstantin ople and Alexan­
dria, contained 540. 70 liters equivalent to 42 mistati'. see U go Tucci, La b o tte yeneziana, in: Studi
vencziani 9 (1 967 ) 2 1 3 -2 1 7 , esp. 21 5 -2 16. It follows that the mistatus held 12.87 liters.
8 Taqqanoth 2 2-2 5, no. 33.
9 Z F n o.93.
10 D av id J a c o b y , B y za ntine C r ete in the N avigation and Trade N et w o rk s of Venice and G en oa, in:
L au ra B alletto (ed.), O rie nte e O cciden te tra m edioevo ed eta moderna. Studi in on ore di G eo
Pistarino (Universitä degli Studi di Gen ova, Sede di Acqui Terme, Collana di Fo n ti e Studi 1/1,
Acqui Term e 1997) 5 1 9 -5 2 3 , 5 2 5 -5 29, 5 3 5 -5 36, repr. in D a v id J a c o b y , Byzantium, Latin Romania
and the Mediterranean (Aldershot 20 01) no. II. F o r the Jewish letter, see S hlom o D. G oitein , A
Mediterranean Society. T h e Jewish C om m un ities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the D o c u ­
ments o f the Cai ro G eniza, vol. I (B erkeley and Lo s Angeles 1 967-1 993) 429, n.66.
28
David J a c o b y
orations, in addition to economic incentives, prompted some Jews to commission
cheese directly from producers rather than purchase it from Jewish merchants. In a
notarial contract of 1304, a Jewess of Candia undertook to send a Jewish worker to
produce 68.7 kg ripe Jewish cheese she had ordered from a Greek living at Belve­
dere, in southern C r e te 11. The latter promised transportation and delivery of the
cheese at the market place of Candia12. In 1301 a Greek of the Cretan city of Canea
undertook to bring to the home of a resident of Candia 180 Cretan gross pounds
or some 94 kg Jewish cheese13. Jews buying cheese molds from merchants made
sure that they had been properly produced, stamped and handled14.
Laxity in supervision induced the leaders of the Jewish community of Candia to
state in greater detail the rules to be applied to the production, transportation and
marketing of Jewish products. In 1363 they issued an ordinance regarding kasher
wine, incidentally allowing the sale of improperly handled wine to Christians13.
They also prohibited at several occasions the purchase of milk, butter and cheese
they considered unfit for Jewish consumption. In 1363 they dealt with cheese
bought by je w s of Castelnuovo in southern Crete from local Christian producers
and marketed as kasher produce16.
Some contracts between Cretan Jews and non-Jews provided for the delivery of
rather small amounts of wine or cheese. In 1301 a Jew ordered 34 mistati or 437
liters must17. A Greek peasant promised the delivery of some 52 kg cheese in April
1272 to Salomon son of Shabbetai18. As in the case of the Jewess mentioned earlier,
these consignments were intended lor private consumption or for local retail trade.
Yet other transactions involved Jewish merchants acting as entrepreneurs, who
commissioned the production of large volumes of wine and cheese that they han­
dled in bulk, selling the produce to local retailers or other wholesale merchants or
else exporting it.
11 T h e quantity mentioned was 2/15 of one m ilhariu m o f Candia. T h e latter weighed 1,100 Vene­
tian libre grosse o f 0.4 76 kg, hence 523 kg. F o r this ratio, see Francesco Baldticci P egolotti, La pratica della mercatura, ed. b y A llan E vans (Cambridge, Mass. 1936) 106. T h e gross pound of Candia
or 1/1000 of the m illiarium thus weighed 0.523 kg.
12 PP no .8 5 0: d e b on o caseo C retensi b en e conducto [sic for con dicto J et sasionato iudaico (. .. ) Et
tu d eb es rnittere lu d eu m a d facien d u m ipsum caseurn. O n this ‘h ard ’ cheese, which could travel
over long distances, see D a v id Ja c o b y , Cr etan Cheese: A Neglected Aspe ct o f Venetian Medieval
Trade, in: E llen F. K ittel and T hom as P. M adden (eds.), Medieval and Renaissance Venice (U rbana
and C hicago 1999) 5 0-5 1, repr. in J a c o b y , C om m er cia l Ex chan ge no. V I II . A Jew ish ordinance is­
sued in Candia in 1363 refers to Jewish workers ‘freezing’ the cheese in the rennet: laq qa noth 27,
n o .3 7 , lines 17-18. T h e rennet is also mentioned ibid. 55, no. 55, lines 21-22.
13 B B n o.420 .
14 A stamp is mentioned in 1399: Taqqanoth 55, no. 55, line 38, and see comm en ta ry 54. O n
stamped cheese molds in Egypt, see G oitein , A Mediterranean Society, vol. IV, 251 and 444,
n.188.
15 See above, n. 15.
16 O n milk, butter and cheese in 1363: Taqqanoth 2 7-2 8, no. 37, and 5 2-5 3, no. 53, a case o f unac­
companied milk sold by a Christian to Je wish customers; in 1399: ibid. 54- 56, no. 55.
!/ B B n o . 5 0 .
18 PS no .4 38. Shabbetai appears as Sambatus in Venetian notarial documents.
['he Je ws in By zantium and the Eastern Mediterranean
29
We have already noted two contracts for some 2,000 liters and more wine19.
Within less than four months in 1280-1281 Jeremiah N om ico made advance pur­
chases of 600 mistati or 7,722 liters of Jewish wine, sufficient for the yearly con­
sumption of at least 25 people20. As we shall see below, some Jews exported even
larger volumes. Wine production in Crete was furthered by a substantial expan­
sion of vineyards from the fourteenth century onward in response to a growing
foreign demand, especially for high-grade brands21. Similarly, there was an increas­
ing Jewish demand for Cretan wine, both locally and abroad, as illustrated by later
documents adduced below.
As for wine, some Jewish entrepreneurs handled large volumes of cheese. A
Jew of Candia, Shabbetai son of Moses, ordered m three contracts concluded from
April to August 1271 a total of 628 kg chcese22. Moses the dyer was expecting 784
kg, partly in April and the rest in May 1272 at the latest23. Two Jews of Rethymno,
Salomon son of Lazar and Moses Capsali, made considerable advance purchases of
cheese before 1402, although such purchases with or without payments had been
prohibited in 1393 since they led to the indebtedness and flight of peasants and
herd owners24. Th e two Jews were heavily fined in 1402, respectively 7,219 and
3,974 hyperpers, sums that imply large amounts of cheese obviously intended for
export, in the first case well above 100 metric tons23.
Kasher cheese and wine produced in Venetian Crete were widely distributed
throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest explicit reference in this respect
appears in a contract concluded in 1300 between two Jews of Candia for trade in
kosher cheese p er terram et p er aquam . Incidentally, the contract also refers to the
19 See above, p. 27.
20 LM nos. 323, 452. In the fourteenth century, the average yearly con su m ptio n o f wine in Venice,
Gen oa and Flo re nc e was between 250 and 300 liters: J o h n D ay , Prix agncolcs en Meditcrranee ä la
fin du X I V ° siecle, in: Annales. Economie s, societes, civilisations 16 (1 96 1) 638. I have used that
average here in the absence o f a similar study for the eastern Mediterranean.
- 1 Ja c o b y , Changing E c o n o m ic Patterns 219.
” PS nos. 218, 280, 436.
23 PS nos. 421 and 448. Prices varied between 12 and 16 Cr etan hyperpers per m illian u m of C a n ­
dia.
■'' Prohibition o f 1393: Iiip p o ly tc N oiret, D ocu m ents inedits po ur servir ä l’histoirc de la d om in a­
tion venitienne en Cr ete de 1380 ä 1485 (Paris 1892) 55. T h e Je w s got hold of the herds belonging
to defaulting debtors: see ibid., 59- 60. T h e officials who condemned the tw o Je ws and the fines are
mentioned in a decision of 1403 by which the doge’s council overturned the verdict: ed. by F reddy
T hiriet, Deliberations des assemblies venitiennes concernant la R om an ic , vol. II (Paris 19 66 -1971)
308, no. 1042. These officials had left Venice in 1402: Constantin Y. Sathas, D ocu m e nts inedits
relatifs ä Phistoire de la G r e c c au M o y en Age, vol. II (Paris 1 88 0-190 0) 56-59.
■' T h e fine comp rised the value o f the chcese and, in addition, 50 hyperpers for each purchase. A
purely hypothetical calculation illustrates the magnitude of the business deals. If in the first case
we assume fifty purchases entailing fines (50 x 50 hyperpers = 2,500), the remaining 4 720 h y p e r­
pers would have covered purchases over several years totaling 27 7 m illiaria or 144.871 metric tons
at the rate of 17 hyperpers per m illian u m . F o r the sake o f comp arison, in 1300 the Venetian A n d ­
rea C o rn er ordered a total of 30 m illiaria o r i 5.690 metric tons at the same rate from two mer­
chants, one in Can ea and the other in Candia, obviously io r export, the total cost reaching 510
hyperpers: PP nos. 170, 332,
30
David J a c o b y
shipping of ritual ram horns or shojars, clearly intended tor export26. In 1352 a Jew
of Candia purchased the fourth part of a gripana, a small ship, which regularly
sailed from the Cretan port to Famagusta in Cyprus, Syria, Cilician Armenia,
Rhodes and Alexandria. The Jewish merchant obtained a maritime loan from the
Greek partner, and enjoyed free transportation and board. T h e reimbursement of
the loan was to take place within one month after arrival at Famagusta or Rhodes27.
The whole business arrangement was clearly related to the shipping of Jewish com ­
modities. This was presumably also the case in 1411, when a Je w of Candia sailing
to Rhodes suffered losses inflicted by a Sicilian merchant28.
Jewish wine and cheese were also shipped from Crete to more distant ports.
They were most likely included among the goods belonging to a Venetian Jew yet
carried by a Genoese ship, which were confiscated some time before April 1343 by
the authorities of Pera, the Genoese suburb of Constantinople29. In 1370 a Jew of
Candia concluded a contract with a local Greek for the transportation of ten casks
containing 5,407 liters wine as well as cheese to Constantinople30. In 1403 or 1404
the Genoese authorities in Pera seized 23 casks holding 12,436 liters kasher Cretan
wine31. Lazar son of Isaac de Alemania shipped wine from Candia to the Byzantine
capital in 14 1 832.
As attested in 1320, Venetian merchants went from Constantinople to the coun­
tryside at the time of the grape gathering to buy must33. There is good reason to
believe that some Jews of Constantinople acted similarly and proceeded like C r e ­
tan Jews to ensure their basic supply of kasher wine. The Jewish wine from Crete
was nevertheless competitive, as suggested by its import. It was sold in the Vene­
tian quarter of Constantinople, as well as in the Genoese quarter, as implied by its
occasional confiscation in Pera. The Byzantine authorities strongly opposed its
sale to Byzantine Jews, like that of Cretan non-kasher wine to other imperial
26 P P n o .5 5 4 , modeled after the collegancia contract no. 553. O n that type o f contract, see below,
p. 44. T h e formula p e r terrain et p e r aq u am sometimes covered trade in C rete and along its coast,
as explicitly stated in B B nos. 2 37 and 421.
27 Z F nos. 61, 66, 71, 72. T h a t sailing to Egyptian ports was c o m m o n is implied by a clause pro h ib ­
iting it on that specific occasion: ibid. no. 71.
2S N oiret, D o cu m e n ts 211.
29 ASV, Senato, Misti, reg. 21, fol. 24v-25r.
30 S ilvano Borsari, R icchi e poveri nelte co mm unita ebraiche di Candia e N eg ro p on te (secc. X II I —
X I V ) , in: Chryssa A. M altezou (ed.), Plousioi kai ftochoi sten ko nonia tes ellenolatinikes Anatoles
(= Ricchi e poveri nella societä deli’O riente grecolatino) (Biblioteca dell’Istituto ellenico di Studi
bizantini e postbizantini di Venezia 19, Venezia 1998) 216, 217.
31 N oiret, D ocu m e nts 179-180. T h e case, discussed in 1406, occurred while T om m aso M occn igo
was duke of Crete, an office to which he had been elected in 1403: ibid. 147 and n. 1.
32 N icolas Iorg a, D o cu m e n ts concernant les Gre cs et les affaires d ’O rien t tires des registres des
notaires de Cr ete, in: Rev ue historique du sud-est europeen 14 (1937) 93.
33 G eorg M artin T hom as (ed.), Diplomatarium veneto-levantinum, vol. I (Venetiis 188 0-189 9) 164
lines 2-3 from below; see also D a v id Ja c o b y , Les Vcnitiens naturalises dans l’Em pire byzantin: un
aspect de l’expansion de Venise en R o m anic du X I I I e au milieu du X V e siecle, in: I ra v a u x et
memotres 8 (1981) 2 2 4 -2 2 5 , rcpr. in D a v id J a c o b y , Studies on the Cr usader States and on Venetian
Ex pansion (N o r th a m p to n 1989) no. IX .
The Je w s in Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean
31
subjects, since Venetian citizens and subjects enjoyed full tax exemption34. Some
time before 1450 they established a special office, called s c r ib a r n a v e g e t u m
J u d e o r u m V e n e t o r u m , which collected a tax of one half of a hyperper on each
imported cask. Emperor Constantine X I promised to abolish the tax when Venice
protested against this infringement of its privileges35.
Jews were legally barred from permanently residing in Venice until 1513, except
for the years 1382—1397. Some Jews nevertheless lived in the city in the fourteenth
century, clearly with the knowledge of the Venetian authorities36. T he Cretan ship­
ments of kasher wine and cheese were intended for local Jews, as well as lor the
Jewish communities in the neighboring continental territories of northeastern Ita­
ly. However, Alexandria appears to have become the main foreign market for these
commodities in the fourteenth century. Wine was in high demand in Egypt, in
which it was not always easily available due to restrictions imposed by the Muslim
authorities37. Liachus or Elijah Capsali, a Cretan Je w from R ethymno apparently
established in Alexandria, traded in kasher Cretan wine on a very large scale. In
April 1421, he imported 70 casks containing 37,849 liters38. In the following year
he concluded in Alexandria an agreement for the transportation of 50 or 60 casks
of Jewish wine as well as cheese from Rethymno to Alexandria on board a small
vessel belonging to a resident of his home city39. He had hired or acquired in Alex­
andria a warehouse that also served as tavern to store kasher wine and engage in its
retail trade, handled by a Jewish servant40. In 1428 other Cretan Jews imported
Jewish wine that was to be delivered in Alexandria to two Jewish agents of a Jew of
Rethymno or sold in retail, a d m in u t u m s i v e a d s p i n a m 41.
Kasher cheese and wine were exclusively handled by Jews within a closed Jewish
production, distribution and marketing network requiring and affording constant
34 Ibid. 22 5-2 26.
35 T hom as, Diplomatarium, vol. II, 379 -3 80.
36 D a v id Ja c o b y , Les Juifs ä Venise du X I V e au milieu du X V I e siecle, in: H an s-G eorg B eck, M anoussos M anoussacas, A gostino Pertusi (eds.), Venezia, cencro di mediazione tra O rie nte e O c c idente (secoli X V - X V I ) : aspetti e problemi (Atti del II Co n vegno internazionale di storia della civilta veneziana, Venezia 1973) vol. I (Firenze 1977) 163-216, repr. in D a v id Ja c o b y , Recherche s sur
la Mediterranec orientale du X I I C au X V C siecle. Peuples, socictes, economies (L o n d o n 1979)
no. V I I I ; D a v id Ja c o b y , I G rec i cd altre comu nitä tra Venezia e oltrcmare , in: M aria Francesca
Tiepolo ed E urigio Tonetti (eds.), I Gr eci a Venezia (Atti del Con vegno Int ernazionale di Studio,
Venezia, 5 -7 novembre 1998) (Istituto V encto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venezia 2002) 67-79.
37 F o r instance in 1428: E liyahu Ashtor, N e w Data for the H isto ry o f Levantine Je wries in the
Fifteenth Century, in: Bulletin o f the Institute o f Je wis h Studies 3 (1 975 ) 7 8 -7 9, repr. in E liyahu
Ashtor, T h e Je ws and the Mediterranean Economy, 10 th—15 th Centuries (L on d o n 1983) no. V III .
38 Ed. by A shtor, N e w Data 9 3 -9 4 , no. I.
39 Ed. by C h arles Verlinden, Marchands chretiens et juifs dans l’Etat mam clo uk au debut du X V e
siecle d ’apres tin notaire venitien, in: Bulletin de FInstitut historique beige de Reime 51 (1981) 72-73.
O n the technical expressions d e fir m o and d e respectu, see A shtor, N e w D ata 78, n.2.
40 Ed. by A shtor, N ew Data 95-9 6, doc II, and see also 7 7-7 8; E liyahu A shtor, Eb rci cittadinl di
Venezia?, in: Studi venezianl 17-18 (1 9 7 5-76) 151-152.
41 ASV, Cancellaria inferiore, Notai, b. 211, N ic o lo Turiano, IV, fol. 50v-51r. A shtor, N ew Data
78-79, failed to note the retail trade. O n Liachus Capsali and other Je wish traders In Eg yp t in the
1420s, see ibid. 7 5-7 9; Ashtor, Eb rei cittadini 147-148, 150.
32
David Jac o b y
supervision. Since Je w s accompanied these com m odities on land and sea, it is hardly
surprising that they to o k advantage o f their business trips and connections to ex­
tend the range o f their transactions to unsold kasher surpluses, products rendered
unfit for Jew ish consum ption, and non-kasher wine and cheese. This offsh oot o f the
internal Jew ish traffic further p rom o te d the integration o f Jew ish merchants within
the broader trade patterns o f the eastern Mediterranean, bey o nd their use o f land
and maritime transportation provided by Christians and Muslims.
The sale of wine rendered unfit for Jewish consumption was permitted by the
leaders of the Jewish community of Candia42. O n 2 August 1280 the je w Lignaco
concluded an agreement with two Christian residents of Candia by which he of­
fered them 400 mistati or 5,148 liters of wine, in return for the same quantity of
must delivered at his home in the following month from the vineyard cultivated by
one of the two Christians. The must would have obviously been kasher. At first
glance the transaction appears to be an exchange, yet in fact it was a loan for some­
what more than a month, as explicitly stated in the contract. It is likely that the
concealed interest paid by the Christian traders consisted in transportation costs,
which they covered both for the wine they received and the one they were to de­
liver43. In the first half of the fifteenth century some Cretan Jewish merchants also
dealt with wine unfit for Jewish consumption in Alexandria. In 1422 Elijah Capsali
from Rethvmno sold 60 casks containing 32,442 liters wine imported from his
h o m e cicv to the consul o 1 Naples and to tw o Venetian tavern-keepers44.
Similar transactions are attested for cheese. In O cto b er 1280 Shabbetai Callamiti
of Candia transferred some 80 m illiaria or around 38 metric tons cheese to a Greek
of Belvedere, as a loan in kind until Lent of the following year43. We have already
noted the large volume of cheese handled by Salomon son of Lazar. His business
was clearly not limited to kasher cheese. Around 1382 he obtained for himself and
his descendants permission to maintain shops for retail trade outside the Jewish
quarter of Rethvmno. Th e grant was revoked in 1412, when prominent Latin resi­
dents of the city complained that the Jews dominated the local retail market. It was
decided, therefore, that in Rethymno, as in Candia and Canea, the Jews should
have shops exclusively within the boundaries of their quarters. However, they were
allowed to maintain storehouses outside their quarter, in view of the large volume
of cheese, wine and other commodities they handled46.
42 See above, p. 28.
45 L M no.1 56. Lignacus concluded a similar deal with another Christian in March 1281: ibid.
110. 5 3 5 .
44 Ed. by A shtor, N e w Data 94-9 7, no. II, and sec also 77-7 8; A sbtor, Ebrei cittadini 151-152. Je ws
also sold n on -ka sh er wine in Venice in the sixteenth century: J a c o b y , I.es ju its ä Venise 202.
45 L M no.2 93. F o r cheese from that region, see above, p. 28.
4,1 N oiret, D o cu m ents 21 3-2 14. T h e grant was made by Marco Marcello, governor of R et hym n o ,
who held that' office in 1382: E lisabeth Santschi, Regestes des arrets civils et des mcmoriaux (1 3 6 3 1399) des archives du due de Crete (B ibliotheque de 1’Institut hellenique d’etudes byzantines et
po st-byzan tin es de Venise 9, Venise 1976) 82, no. 319. In Candia the leasing of storehouses to Jews
outside their quarter was authorized in 1391 and 1406: see M aria G eorgopou lou , Venice’s Mediter­
ranean Colonie s. Architecture and Urbanism (Cambridge 200 1 ) 2 00 and 334 -3 3 5 , n. 52.
I'he Je w s in Byza ntium and the Eastern Mediterranean
33
It is time to examine Jewish involvement in manufacture. When Benjamin of
Tudela visited Constantinople around 1160, he noted three occupational groups
within the Jewish community residing in the suburb of Pera: tanners, silk workers
and merchants47. The Jewish neighborhood in the suburb of Pera was gutted by
fire in 1203, and most surviving Jews established themselves in Constantinople
proper. It is unclear whether they immediately and spontaneously settled in the
region of Vlanga, or whether Michael V III Palaeologus resettled the Jews in that
area after 1261 in the framework of his policy to promote the city ’s economy. Je w ­
ish tanners are documented in that urban region around 1300. The neighboring
harbor of Kontoskalion served as sewer for the dirty waters of the tanning4*.
Jewish involvement in the tanning of hides in Constantinople increased in the
following decades. This development was furthered by Venetian entrepreneurs.
They engaged local craftsmen and apparently attracted others to process skins im­
ported from the Black Sea, which after being tanned were shipped to Venice with
added value. In order to further reduce the cost of the hides, Venice granted Vene­
tian status to an unknown number of Jewish craftsmen, who thus enjoyed full ex­
emption from imperial taxes. Th e cooperation between Venetian and Byzantine
Jews in tanning, which also enabled evasion from imperial taxation, generated ten­
sion between Emperor Andronicus II and Venice from 1319 to 1324. Since only
Jews are mentioned in that context, it is likely that they were dominant in tanning
in Vlanga at that time. The Venetian Jews were compelled to resettle in the Venetian
quarter in 1324 or shortly afterwards49.
The Jewish neighborhood of Vlanga survived until the O ttom an conquest of
14533°. Jewish tanners presumably pursued their activity in its midst. O n e of them
appears in the account b ook of the Venetian merchant G iacomo Badoer, who re­
sided in Constantinople from 1436 to 1440. In 1438 Elijah Chanazi delivered to
him wool from 200 sheep hides, which he had tanned and were sent to Venice31.
Later in the same year he tanned and bleached one batch of 272 and another of 200
hides, also shipped to Venice52. The Jew Elijah Dedimari, who traded in pepper and
silk5’, stored in his warehouse 300 salted hides of castrated horses imported from
4/ M arcus N. A d ler (ed. and trails.), T h e Itinerary of Benj am in o f Tudela (L ond on 1907), H eb rew
text 16-17, English trans. 14. N e w dating ol his visit by D av id J a c o b y , B enjam in of Tudela and his
“B o o k of Travels”, in: Klaus H erb ers and Felicitas S cb m ied er (eds.), Venedig im Schnittpunkt der
Kulturen. Au ßen - und Innensichten europäischer und nicht-europäischer Reisender im Vergleich
(Venezia incrocio di culture. A confro n to le perceziom dall interno e dall esterno di viaggiatori
europei e non) (R o m a 2008 ), in press.
,s D a v id Ja c o b y , T h e Jewish C o m m u n ity of Constantin ople from the Kom n en an to the Palaiologan Period, in: Vizantijskij vremennik 55/2 (SO) (1998) 3 1-4 0, rcpr. in Ja c o b y , Byzan tium no. V.
49 D a v id Ja c o b y , Les quartiers juifs de Constantin opl e a I’cpoque byzan tine, in: By zan tio n 37
(1967) 191-194, 196-207, rcpr. in D a v id Ja c o b y , Societc et demographic ä Byza nc e et cn R om anic
latine (L on d on 1975) no. II.
50
51
M
Ibid. 194-196.
Badoer 395 lines 2 -9 , 435 lines 14-18.
Badoer 434 lines 2 0-2 1, 582 lines 23-24.
Ba doe r 188 lines 3 2-3 6, 803 lines 2 0- 21.
34
David Ja c o b y
the Black Sea for Badoer34. It is unclear whether he was involved in the tanning
business.
Jewish tanners are also attested in several ports of the eastern Mediterranean
under Venetian rule in the late medieval period. In Candia the tanneries were situ­
ated outside the western city gates along the Bay of Dermata or ‘Bay of hides’3’’.
The location of the Jewish quarter along that bay was clearly related to the exercise
of tanning among jew s, attested in 1228, although there was no Jewish monopoly
in the field36. The ritual slaughter of animals provided skins, and Jewish butchers
acted as middlemen between the owners of herds and tanners, both Jewish and
Christian. Yet Jews also bought dried and salted skins from Christian merchants
and butchers, as in 127137. In 1305 a Cretan Je w commissioned the construction of
a mill for the grinding of various materials, including acorn cups providing tannin
used in the tanning process58. The leather produced by Jews was not always of
good quality, as attested in 134 2 39. Incidentally, in 1396-1398 the governor of Canea, Pietro Nani, bought a large quantity of skins at the slaughterhouse. O nce they
had been tanned he to ok advantage of his position to compel Jewish cobblers and
other craftsmen to produce for him a substantial number of shoes, which he obvi­
ously intended to export. As a result, there was a shortage of shoes on the local
market60. A contract of 1419 between two Jews of Candia provided for the tanning
of skins by one of the partners61. Cretan Jews participated in the import of skins
from the Turkish em irates o f Asia Minor, which were tanned in Crete. In 1371
Salomon Astrigo entrusted 22 ducats to Elkanah son of Elkanah for the import
of hides from Palatia (ancient Miletos), in the emirate of Menteshe62. In 1370
Shemaryah of Negroponte and Mordechay son of Yehudah de Medico of Candia
54 Bad oer 39 4 iines 2-3, 7-1 3, 17-21. T h e salting preserved the h id es until the tanning was per­
formed.
T h e name appears in 1352: Sally M cK ee (ed.), Wills from Late Medieval Crete, 131 3-142 0, vol. I
(Washington, D . C. 1998) 247.
J(' O rdinan ce of 1228 against the soaking o f skins in the water o f the ritual bath: Taqq anoth 8,
no. 15.
57 PS nos. 37, 72.
:'x C h a ralam b os Gasparis, H e ge kai oi agrotes sten mesaionike Krete, 13o s-1 4os ai. (= Land and
Peasants in Medieval Cr ete, 13th - 1 4 lh c) (National Hellenic Research Found atio n, Institute for
Byza ntine Research, Monog ra ph s 4, Athens 1997) 105.
39 Spyridon M. T h eotokes (ed.), Thespismata tes benetikes gerousias, 1281 -1 385 (= Decrees of the
Venetian Senate, 128 1-138 5) vol. I (Athens 1 9 3 7 ) 2 2 5 - 2 2 6 , no. 543.
60 ASV, Avvogaria di C o m u n , Raspe, V/II, fol. 49r, 16 M arch 1402. Nani was also accused o f other
misdeeds: N oiret, D o cu m e n ts 126-127. F o r his tenure of office, see ibid. 91-92.
61 Chryssa M altezou , Metiers et salaires en C rete venitienne (X V e siecle), in: Byzantinische F o r ­
schungen 12 (1 98 7) 329 -3 30.
62 T h e deal concerned hides and not leather, as stated by S ilvano Borsari, I movimenti del porto di
Candia AA. 1369-1372 (D al repertorio d el n otaio G iorgio A ym o), in: Universitä di Macerata, An nali della Facoltä di Lettcre e Filosofia 30-31 (1 9 9 7 - 1 9 9 8 ) 335. O n the import o f hides from Asia
Minor, see E liza b eth A. Z achariadou , Trade and Crusade. Venetian Cr ete and the Emirates of
Menteshe and Aydin ( 1 3 0 0 - 1 4 1 5 ) (L ibrary o f the Hellenic Institute of By zantine and P o s t-B y z a n ­
tine Studies 11, Venice 1983) 264, s.v. skins.
The Je ws in By zantium and the Eastern Mediterranean
35
jointly traded in hides in Negroponte, the main city of the island of Euboea and an
important transit port in which Venice had a quarter from 1211 onward63. It is
unclear whether they also dealt with tanning.
Jewish tanners were active in C o ron and Modon, two ports of the southwestern
Peloponnesus under Venetian rule from 1207 onward. In 1357 Moses son of David
from Coron and another Jew, both residents of Candia, shipped skins to Coron
and promised to pay for them after their return from that city64. Th e former resi­
dent of C o ron must have been acquainted with local Jewish tanners there and as­
sumed that tanning would be cheaper than in Candia. Fourteenth and fifteenthcentury Venetian ordinances and several travelers refer to tanners among the Jews
living in a suburb of M odon63. In 1464 only Jewish tanners appear to have been
available in the city66. Interestingly, Jews owning sheep and goats in the vicinity are
attested in 148 367. It is unclear since when this was the case.
As noted earlier, Benjamin of Tudela encountered Jewish silk workers in C o n ­
stantinople around 1160. High-grade silk manufacture collapsed in the city in the
wake of its fall to the Latins in 1204, and the local silk workers moved to Asia M i­
nor to pursue the exercise of their craft. Silk was later traded in Constantinople, yet
the production of silk textiles was not revived until the O ttom an period68. There is
some evidence suggesting the pursuit of silk manufacturing in Thessalonica in the
fourteenth century. However, as noted above, we have no information regarding
the economic activity of the city’s Jews. Benjamin of Tudela was especially impressed
by Jewish participation in the silk branch of Thebes, whether as weavers or tailors69.
Thebes pursued the production of silk textiles in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen­
tury70. The continuous existence of the local Jewish community is attested in that
period71. However, whether Theban Jews participated then in local silk manufacture
remains an open question, in view of the lack of evidence in that respect.
63 B orsari, Ricc h i e poveri 21 i, n.3 . O n the quarter, see D av id Ja c o b y , La consolidation de Sa d o ­
mination de Venise dans la ville de N eg re pon t (1 205-1390): un aspect de sa politique coloniale, in:
Cbryssa A. M altezou e P eter Schrein er (eds.), Bisanzio, Venezia e il m on d o fra ne o-greco ( X I I I - X V
secolo) (Atti del C o llo q u io Internazionalc organizzato ncl centenario della nascita di R aym o n d Jo se ph Loencrt z o. p., Venezia, 1-2 dicembrc 200 0) (Venezia 20 02) 151-187.
64 Z F no. 104; see also no. 120, which relates to the same journey.
63 Josh u a Starr, Romania. T h e Jewries of the Levant after the Fourth Crusade (Paris 1949) 64, 66-67.
66 S athas, D ocu m ents, vol. IV, 33-34.
67 Ibid. 127
(>s D a v id Ja c o b y , T h e j e w s and the Silk Industry of Con stantin ople, in: Ja c o b y , By za ntium n o . X I ,
1-20; D a v id Ja c o b y , T h e Silk Trade o f Late By za ntine Con stantinople, in: Süm er A tasoy (ed.),
550th Anniversary o f the Istanbul University. International By zantine and O t to m a n Symposium
( X V t h cen tury) (30-31 May 2003) (Istanbul 20 04) 129-144.
69 D a v id Ja c o b y , Silk in Western By za ntium before the Fo u rt h Crusade, in: By zan tinische Zeit­
schrift 84/85 (1991/1992) 466, 4 8 5 -4 87 , repr. in Ja c o b y , Trade no. V II.
70 D a v id Ja c o b y , T h e Produ cti on of Silk Textiles in Latin Greece, in: Tec hnognosia ste latinokratoumene Ellada (= T echn ol ogy in L a tin-O cc u pied Greece) (Athens 20 00) 2 4-2 7, repr. in Ja co b y ,
Co m m er cia l exchange no. X I I .
71 Steven B. B ow m an , T h e Je ws o f Byzantium, 1204-14 53 (Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1985) 269-2 70,
no. 60a; 287, no. 92; 296, no. 108 note; 30 2-3 03, no. 117.
36
David Ja c o b y
In any event, some of them were acquainted with its sources ot raw materials
and its operation. This was certainly the case of Moses son of Shabbetai Galimidi,
who in 1260-1263 left Thebes for Negroponte. His knowledge regarding silk was
undoubtedly one of the reasons that prompted David Kalomiti, a rich merchant of
Negroponte involved in silk transactions, to recruit him in his service. In the 1290s
Kalomiti entrusted Galimidi’s sons with the collection of silk. It is unclear whether
the reference is to raw material, silk textiles, or both, yet the operations must have
taken place in Euboea and presumably also in neighboring territories. After David
Kalomiti’s death the relations between his sons and those of Galimidi soured, and
some of these fled. It is not coincidental that one of them who had resided for some
time in Corinth settled in Thebes after the earthquake of 1303, while another estab­
lished himself in Andros, an island producing both raw silk and silk textiles in that
period72.
Jewish silk weaving was practiced in Candia on a modest scale. The purchase of
small quantities of raw silk, in one case by a woman in 1373, suggests the domestic
manufacture of small pieces such as girdles, hoods, veils and kerchiefs, similar to
those produced by Jewish women in Modon in the late fifteenth century73. Yet
there were also Jewish silk weavers who produced larger pieces74. Their sendals did
not always meet the required quality standard, as reported in 1342/3. Some Jews of
Chios traded in silk, as attested in 1398 and in 1408, yet presumably on a small
scale76. In 1408 Aharon Lachano and Elijah Fogiano jointly operated a dyeing
workshop in the city. Another Jewish dyer is recorded in Chios in 1456".
Jews also practiced crafts other than tanning or silk weaving. A large number of
cobblers worked in Candia in the fourteenth century, in addition to those attested
in Canea around 14007S. In 1420 a Jewish mason and his Christian partner under­
took to build a cistern for a Jewish physician in Candia79. A dagger was com mis­
sioned in 1394 from a blacksmith in Chios. Salomon Spagnoli and his son Joste
72 T h e ease is reported in an an ony mou s and undated H ebrew letter, translated by B ow m an , T h e
Je ws of By zan tium 2 3 4 -2 40, n o . 30. It has been discussed by several authors, I shall return to the
issue and justify the dates mentioned here in a fo rthco m in g study. O n silk in Andr os, see Ja c o b y ,
Silk in Western By zan tium 4 6 0 -4 62; Ja c o b y , T h e Pro du cti on o f Silk Textiles 29.
73 F o r Crete: B orsari , Ricchi e poveri 220; for Modo n: Starr, Rom an ia 64.
74 Borsari, Ricchi e poveri 220- 221 .
75 T h eotokes, Thespismata, vol. I, 226, no. 544.
76 D om en ico Giofjr'e, Atti rogati in C h i o nella seconds metä del X I V secolo, in: Bulletin de [’ Insti­
tut historique beige de R o m e 34 (1962) 393; M ichel B alard, La R om anic genoise (X11e - debut du
X V ° siecle) (B ibliotheq uc des Ecol es francaiscs d ’Athcnes et de R o m e 235, R o m e 1978) 283.
77 Philip P. A rgenti, T h e O c c u p a tio n o f C hio s by the Ge noes e and their Administration o f the
Island, 1346-156 6, vol.I (C am bridge 1958) 4 4 2 -4 4 3 , 647, and vol. I l l , 7 4 3 -7 45 , n o . 32. Fogiano is
also recorded earlier as Fo ih an o, yet wit hout indication of his occupation: P aola Villa, Do cu m enti
sugli Ebrei a C h i o nel 1394, in: Atti della Societä Ligure di Storia Patria, n.s. 5 (79) (1 96 5) 128,
110.4.
/S Sally M cK ee, U n c o m m o n D o m in io n . Venetian Crete and the M yt h of Ethn ic Purity (Philadel­
phia 2000) 9 4- 95, and see above, p. 34.
79 M altexou, Metiers et salaires 326.
T h e Je ws in Byza ntium and the Eastern Mediterranean
37
pursued the same occupation in Candia before 142 480. A shipwright was active in
Chios in 1456s1. However, commerce and money lending were clearly the main
Jewish activities in the eastern Mediterranean of the late Middle Ages.
The range of goods Jews handled in local retail and wholesale trade extended
beyond those mentioned above, as illustrated for Crete. In 1276 a Je w of Canea
was robbed of wax, silk and grain while trading in the countryside to the east of the
city along the bay of Suda82. Various sources mention w om en’s finery, ironware,
haired skins and tanned hides of domestic origin83, as well as imported textiles,
from western woolens of rather modest quality to luxury velvet84. Diversity in lo­
cal Jewish trade is also found elsewhere85.
The number of Jewish residents of Crete and Negroponte engaging in regional
maritime trade appears to have been quite substantial by the last decades of the
thirteenth century. The volume of their operations induced Venice to enhance its
fiscal revenue by imposing a discriminatory tax of 5 % upon goods imported or
exported by its Jews, similar to that imposed upon foreigners. This tax, initially
collected in Crete before 1290, was extended in that year to Negroponte, as well as
to other Venetian colonies and outposts except for Tyre86. The Jews evaded that
high rate by arriving at agreements with Venetian citizens, who presumably in re­
turn lor a payment declared the formers’ commodities as their own. In September
1290 Venice threatened those defrauding its treasury by that device with the con­
fiscation of half their goods'87.
T h e large geographic range and com plex ramifications o f J ew ish maritime trade
is am ply illustrated from the secon d half o f the thirteenth century onward. To the
cases adduced above we m ay add a few others. In 1273 or so m ew hat later a Cretan
J e w and his Christian associates returning from T h essalon ica were ro b b e d of their
g o o d s by pirates based in M onem vasia, the main port o f the B y zan tine Pelopon-
80 G ian G iacom o Musso, Gli Ebrei ncl Levante gcnovcsc: riccrchc di archivio, Be ri o - Bollc ttino
bibliografico quadrimcstrialc 10/2 (1970) 19; ASV, N otai di Candia, b. 25, G io rg io Candachiti, fol.
224r.-v., deals with Jo st e Spagnoli’s widow.
81 A rgenti, T h e Occupatio n o f Chio s, vol. 1, 443, 648.
8- G ottlieb l . Fr. T afel und G eorg M. T hom as (cds.), Urk un de n zur älteren Han dels- und Staats­
geschichte der Repu blik Venedig, vol. III (Wien 185 6-185 7) 257; dating by G areth M organ, T he
Venetian Claims C om m is si on of 1278, in: By zantinische Zeitschrift 69 (1976) 431, no. 137.
83 Taqq an oth 5, no. 10, o f 1228; N oiret, D ocu m e nts 2 5 3 -2 54, 269, respectively o f 1416 and 1419.
84 S ilvano Borsari, 11 mercato dei tessuti a Candia (1 373-1375), in: Arch ivio vcneto, 5th. ser. 143
(1994) 8, 13, 19-26.
8:1 F o r details, see below.
86 R o b erto Gessi (ed.), D elibcr azioni del Magg ior Con siglio di Venezia, vol. I l l (B ologna 19311950) 274, § 94. See also D av id Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian j e w s in the Eastern Mediterranean,
in: G aetan o G ozzi (ed.), Gli Eb rei e Venezia (secoli X I V - X V I I l ) (Milano 1987) 40, repr. in Ja co b y ,
Studies no. X ; D a v id Ja c o b y , T h e De m ograp hic Ev olution o f Eu boea under Latin Rule, 1205-1470,
in: Ju lian Chrysostom id.es, C h a ralam b os D endrinos, Jo n a th a n H arris (cds.), T h e G reek Islands and
the Sea (Proceedings of the First International C ol lo q uiu m held at the Hellenic Institute, Royal
Holloway, University of Lon don , 2 1 -2 2 Se ptember 2001) (Camberley, Surrey 20 04) 160. F o r Tyre,
sec following note.
8/ Cessi, Deli bcrazioni, vol. I l l, 283, § 124.
38
David Ja c o b v
nesus88. In Negroponte the tax of 5 % was presumably related to the export of raw
silk, silk textiles, or both to Venice89. In 1286 a Jew from crusader Acre granted a
piece o f samite apparently bought in Negroponte and woolens to two Venetians in
return for a loan90. Jewish merchants from the Aegean traded with Acre and Tyre
before 129191. Cretan Jews were regularly traveling to Alexandria before 130 192.
T hey pursued that activity in the following decade, as implied by the complaints of
the Dominican inquisitor Andreas D o to against them, voiced in 1314 or somewhat
earlier and reproduced by the canonist Oldrado de Ponte93. Cretan Jews continued
to do so even after Venice imposed a ban on trade with Egypt in 1323. Jewish and
foreign merchants claimed that it did not apply to them since they paid the dues
levied from aliens in Crete. In response Doge Giovanni Soranzo extended the ban
to all the island's inhabitants in Ju ly 132494. The resumption of direct trade be­
tween Venice and Egypt in 1345 reduced the role of Crete as intermediary until
137495. Yet in 1357 a Je w and a Greek of Candia jointly exported to Damietta cop­
per imported from an unknown western source96.
In 1318 Venice changed its policy in Negroponte and abolished the discrimina­
tory rate it had imposed on Jewish maritime trade, in order to promote an increase
in the number of its Jews in the city97. In 1321 two Jewish partners of Negroponte
involved in regional maritime trade reported a loss of 1,544 hyperpers and a third
Jew a loss of 42 hyperpers, both inflicted by Byzantine pirates operating in the
Aegean98. There is no indication about the commodities they handled. O n the oth­
er hand, around 1340 some Venetian Jews were trading in samites, most likely col­
lecting them from weaving workshops in Euboea and Andros and exporting them
to Venice. In 1340 a group of Jews who had recently obtained Venetian status c om ­
plained that Jewish tax collectors in the service of the feudal lords of Euboea con-
®* T afel und T h om as , Urk un de n, vol. I l l , 160-1 61; dating by M organ, T h e Venetian Claims C o m ­
mission 429, no. 79.
89 O n this export, see below, next paragraph.
90 D a v id J a c o b y , L’expansion occidentale dans le Levant: Ies Venitiens ä Acre dans la seconde
moitie du treizieme siecle, in: Journal of Medieval H isto ry 3 (1977) 2 4 8 -2 4 9 , repr. in J a c o b y , R echcrches no. VII,
91 See previous note and fo r Tyre, above, n. 87.
92 As implied by B B no. 354.
93 D a v id J a c o b y , Venice, the Inquis ition and the Je w ish C o m m u n iti es o f C r e te in the early 14th
Cen tury , in: Studi veneziani 12 (1 970) 128- 129 , 138 -141 , repr. in J a c o b y , R cch er ch es no. I X .
Tran slation o f D o t o ’s arguments by N orm an Z acour, Je w s and Saracens in the C onsilia o f O l d radus de P on te (Ponti fic al Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Studies and Texts 100, T o r o n to 1990)
3 6-3 7.
94 D a v id Ja c o b y , Creta e Venezia nel con testo cco n om ico del Medit erraneo orientale sino alia
meta del Qu att roce nto, in: G h erard o O rtalli (ed.), Venezia e Creta (Atti del Con vegno int ernazio­
nale di studi, Irak lion-Chan ia, 30 settc mbre - 5 ottobre 1997) (Venezia 1998) 97-9 8.
95 Ibid. 99.
96 Z F 67, no. 91.
97 Ja c o b y , T h e D em og ra ph ic Ev ol utio n of Eu b oea 161. T h e rate was maintained in Crete: see
above, n. 94.
98 T hom as, Diplomatarium, vol. I, 183-184.
The Je ws in Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean
39
tinued to collect from them the trade tax on behalf of these lords. They requested
Venice to intervene in order to ensure them the same fiscal exemption as that en­
joyed by the Ju d e i an tiqui of Venice. Leo Psoma of Negroponte presented the peti­
tion in Venice, where he must have been involved in trade". Some twenty years
later he was importing raw silk to Venice on a large scale. In 1361 the verdict in­
flicting upon him the huge fine of 4,000 hyperpers or more than 1,000 ducats for
illegal dealings was quashed and he was exceptionally allowed to transfer that sum
or its equivalent in goods on board a state galley sailing to Negroponte. In 1440 the
Venetian Senate stressed the importance of the state revenue deriving from Jewish
trade in Negroponte. A petition submitted by the Jews of Negroponte in 1452
mentions commercial journeys to Genoese Chios, Turkish Asia Minor, Rhodes,
ruled by the Hospitallers, and other destinations100.
We have already noted some commercial operations of Cretan Jews directed to ­
ward Constantinople. These operations were undoubtedly furthered by the pres­
ence of Venetian Jews established in the Venetian quarter of the Byzantine capital,
among them immigrants from Crete who retained links with their family in the
island101. In 1350 the Venetian Jew David Yalomati, who resided in Constantino­
ple, gave power o f attorney to Samuel son of Samson to collect in his name in Crete
money owed by Moyse Casani, a resident of Candia, transfer it to David’s son
Elijah, who obviously would be there, and appear before the Venetian authorities
in the island if necessary102.
As noted above, Jewish trade between Crete and Venice was not limited to kasher
goods. A decree issued in 1402 exceptionally allowed some Jews undoubtedly
living in Venetian colonies to send money from Venice to Corfu, Coron, Modon
and Crete on board state galleys in return for a fee o f two percent103. A Jewish
merchant and his wife from Candia resided in Venice some time before 1414104,
Isaiah son of Hayyim was a Cretan merchant who often traveled to that city. In
Alexandria Elijah Capsali gave him power of attorney in 1420 to obtain in Venice a
loan of 130 ducats and transfer the sum to the Egyptian port or to Candia103. In
1422 he entrusted the same Jew, another one of Candia and a resident of Venice to
99 Ed. by F ran gois-X avier l.ed u c (ed.), Venezia - Senato. D eli berazioni miste, Registre X I X ( 13401341) (Istituto veneto di scienze, lettcre ed arti, Venezia - Senato. Deliberazioni miste V I, Venisc
200 4 ) 18, no.3 6 . See J a c o b y , T h e De m og raph ic Ev olution o f Eu b oea 161-162.
100 Ibid. 164-165.
101 Ja c o b y , Les quartiers juifs de Co nstantin ople 205-2 14.
102 A n g eliki E. L aiou , U n notaire venitien ä Con stanti nople: A n to n io Bresc iano et le comm erce
international en 1350, in: M ichel B alard, A n g eliki E. L aiou , C ath erin e O tten-E roux, Les- Italiens ä
B y z an c e (B yzanti na Sor bonensia 6, Paris 1987) 125-126, n o . 27.
IOj Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian Je w s 4 8 -4 9 and 57, n. 81.
104 ASV, Avvogaria di C o m u n , Miscellanea civil, b. 31, fasc. 27, ed. by D a v id J a c o b y , Inquisition
and Conve rts in Candia and N eg ro pon te in the 14t,! and I S '1' Centuries, in: S efu n otb, Annual for
Research on the Jewish C om m un ities in the East 8 (1964) 314 -3 1 6 , no. 2, with c o mm en ta ry ibid.
3 0 8 -3 1 0 [Hebrew],
l'° Ed. by Verlinden, Marchands chreticns et juifs 53.
40
David Ja c o b y
obtain for him in that city full Venetian citizenship106. In 1428 a Jew of Candia en­
gaged a Majorcan je w as servant for the duration of his round- trip to Venice107.
jew s also conducted local, regional and long-distance trade in and around Genoese
Chios. Moses Cohen together with some Jews of Pent imported foodstuffs such as
grain, flour, chickpeas and figs, the dyestuff orchil, as well as skins, cloth, carpets and
blankets from the island of Mytilene (Lesbos) to C h io s108. Jews bought imported
goods, such as silks in 1408, pearls and precious stones in 1413, and fustians in
1414109. In 1450 or somewhat earlier the Christian Lazarus Catalanus entrusted a
Jew with the purchase of grain110. Elijah Calaihi traded in Pera before 13941! 1.
It is noteworthy that in Chios Jews handled two commodities, grain and mastic,
that were closely supervised by the local authorities. The O f f i c iu m p r o v i s i o n i s , ap­
parently composed of wealthy residents, namely two Latins, two Greeks and one
Jew, was responsible for the supply of grain to Chios. It concluded agreements
with merchants undertaking to import specific quantities of grain from Apulia,
Sicily, or Phocea on the coast o f Asia Minor, found the necessary capital to finance
the deals, and guaranteed minimum prices it would pay112. In 1404 the Jew B en ­
jamin was member of that office, and the Jew Nathan undertook to bring in the
same year 200 modia grains to C h io s 113. The gross sale of mastic was a monopoly
of the Maona of Chios, the body composed of Genoese settlers governing the is­
land114. In 1386 this institution promised mastic to a Jew in return for a loan. In
1394 the Je w ceded his right to obtain the remainder of the mastic to two Genoese,
who were to sell it in Cyprus, Damascus or Alexandria113. In 1403 Elijah Cohen
concluded in Chios a contract with a Turk of Bursa by which he undertook to de­
liver him thirteen cases of mastic either in Pergamon or in Iasmati (AyiasmatinHagiasmatin, presently Altun-ova), situated on the coast of Asia Minor between
Chios and M ytilene116. All three localities were then under O ttoman rule.
106 Ed. by A shtor , Ebrei cittadini 147-148 , and comm en ta ry ibid. 152-153. Ash to r was completelymistaken about the issue of Jew s and Venetian citizenship, for which see J a c o b y , Venice and the
Venetian Je w s 34-38.
107 Ed. by D a v id J a c o b y , Qu elque s aspects de la vie juive en Crete dans la premiere moitie du X V C
siecle. Actes du Troisiemc Con gr cs international d ’ctudcs cretoises (R et h y m n o n 1971) vol. II
(Athcn cs 1974) 115, n. 39, and c omm en ta ry ibid. 114-115, repr. in Ja c o b y , R echerches no. X ,
108 G io ffre, Atti rogati in C h i o 3 4 8 -3 4 9 , 389 -3 90.
109 Mtisso, Gli Ebrei 16.
110 A rgenti, The Occupatio n o f Ch ios, vol. I l l , 629, no. 215.
111 Villa, D o cu m e nti sugli Ebrei 126-127 , no. 3.
112 O n the operation of the office, see B alard, La R om anic genoisc 3 8 8 -3 8 9 , 392, and the following
note.
113 P aola P iana Toniolo (ed.), N otai genovesi in Oltr emare. Atti rogati a C h i o da G r eg orio Panissaro (1 403 - 1 4 0 5 ) (Accademia Lig ure di Scienze e Lettere, Serie Fo n ti 2, Gen ov a 1995) 176-177,
no. 126; and 180-181, no. 131.
I,4 M ichel B alard , Le mastic de C h io, m onopole genois ( X I V C- X V I * s.), in: R a ou l C uricl et R ik a
G yselen (eds.), Itineraires d’Orient. H om m ag cs a Claude C a h c n (B ures-sur-Y vette 1994) 223 -2 28.
115 Villa, D o cu m e n ti sugli Eb rei 138-144 , nos. 9-10.
II,1 P ian a Toniolo, Notai genovesi 105-106 , nos. 52-5 3. M y thanks to Elizabeth Zachariadou for
identifying and locating Iasmati.
T he Jew s in By zantium and the Eastern Mediterranean
41
The Jews residing in Constantinople engaged in regional maritime commerce,
yet they appear to have been primarily involved in local trade. Two Jews bought
respectively a garment and a piece of cotton cloth from a Genoese merchant in
Pera around 1 39 0!1/. In 1389 the physician Baronus living in that suburb willed a
quarter of his movable wealth to his son-in-law Ismael from Chios, also a physi­
cian, yet on condition that his investments would be limited to trade from the is­
land of Tenedos northward and in the Black S ea 118. In 1394 Shemaryah, a nephew
or grandson of Baronus, and a Jew of Candia, settled their business accounts in
C h io s 119. In 1398 two Jews of Pera traded in Mytilene and C h io s 120. In 1437-1438
Baron, most likely a grandson of the physician Baronus mentioned above, acted
jointly with m agister Elijah, who appears to have been a Venetian Jew, buying silk­
en veils from the Venetian Giacomo B ado er121. The two, as well as Barona, surely a
relative of Baron, appear in 1443 among the creditors of Gabriele Catacalo, a Greek
of Candia who served as notary and interpreter at the court of the Venetian bailo in
Constantinople between 1434 and 1449. The verdict issued by the bailo Marino
Soranzo in 1443 was transcribed ten years later in Pera at the request of a Genoese
creditor122. The cooperation of Venetian Jews with other merchants in Constan­
tinople is illustrated in 1418. Emperor Manuel II accused Venetian citizens, subjects
and Jews of defrauding the imperial treasury by declaring at the customs goods
belonging to imperial subjects and to Turks as their o w n 123.
The Venetian G iacomo Badoer conducted business with thirty Jews during his
stay in Constantinople from 1436 to 1440. Most transactions involved Jews selling
high-grade silk from the region of the Caspian Sea, requested by silk weavers in
Venice, and purchasing western textiles or bartering the silk for these goods. In one
117 M ichel lull d r d, Pera au X l V e siecle: D o cu m ents notaries des archives de Genes, in: B alard,
L aiou , O tten -F rou x , Les Italiens ä B y za n c e 63, no. 139. A n o th e r customer, Lo dix io Portonario, is
attested in do cum ents o f 1389 and 1390 and thus provides an approximate date for the leaf from
the merch ant’s account b o o k on which the Jews are recorded: ibid. 31, no. 59; 34, n o . 7 ! ; and 42,
no. 102.
118 Ibid. 35, n o .7 5 , and see also no. 74. Similar restrictions appear in charters drafted in Black Sea
ports limiting trade to the region extending as far as Ab yd os in the Dardanelles: N icolas O ikon o-
mtd'es, H om ine s d ’affaires grecs et latins ä Con stantin ople ( X I I I C- X V C sieclcs) (Montreal-Paris
1979) 39.
119 Villa, D ocu m e nti sugli Ebrei 148-14 9 no. 12.
120 See above, note 76.
121 Jo in t operations in Badoer, 174 lines 17, 21; 21 9 lines 2 4 -2 5 ; 2 87 lines 1 0 - 1 1; 340 lines 2 5-2 6, 28;
348 lines 18-20; 349 lines 18-19; 368 lines 28; 40 9 lines 2-3 ; 466 lines 4-5. Magister E’ lijah was a
relative of a Venetian Jewess, mentioned in a letter o f the bailo Pietro Con tar ini written in 1424:
ed. by Ja c o b y , Les quartiers juifs de Constan tin op le 224, no. II.
122 Ausilia R occatagliata, N otai genovesi in oltremare. Atti rogati a Pera (1453), in: Atti della
Societä ligure di Storia patria, n.s. 39 ( C X I I I ) (1999) 136-142, no. 11. F o r the tenure o f office of
Catacalo, see Chryssa M altezou, O thesmos tou en Konstantinoup olei Be ne tou bailou (1 268-145 3)
= T h e Institution o f the Venetian Bailo in Con stanti nople, 1268 -1453) (Athens 1970) 184 n o . 33;
186-188 n o .3 7 ; 206 n o .5 3 ; 2 0 7 - 2 0 9 n o . 58.
I2j Ju lian Chrysostomides, Venetian Co m m er cia l Privileges under the Palaeologi, in: Studi veneziani 12 (1970) 3 5 4 -3 55, no. 19.
David J a c o b y
42
case Daniel de Anastaxo sold more than 1,385 pounds of silk worth 6,237 hyperpers,
which he exchanged for silk cloth, silken veils and woolens of various qualities124.
Several Jews bought western gold thread used in embroidery123. These commodities
were partly intended for re-export to Ottoman territories and to Black Sea ports.
Such was certainly the case of the woolens bought in 1438 by a Jew from Adrianople/Edirne, the Ottoman capital at that time126. There was a large demand for Italian
silks and woolens among the Ottoman elite127. Yet Jews also handled other com ­
modities. Wax imported from the Black Sea, especially from the region of Zagora in
Bulgaria, was shipped to Venice on a large scale128. While two local Jews sold wax
bought from importers129, Jacob of Sofia arrived in 1438 in Constantinople with a
large consignment of wax that he sold directly to Venetian merchants, in one case in
exchange for woolens from iVIaiorca130. Elijah Flaflama and Elijah Dedimari bought
pepper imported from Caffa in the Crimea, which they sold to Venetians131. O n the
other hand, the Jew Zechariah purchased tin brought from Venice132.
Jewish trade in the eastern Mediterranean was furthered by two factors: Jewish
mobility across political and cultural boundaries, more extensive than for other
ethnic, religious or cultural groups, and linguistic aptitudes. Negroponte attracted
Jewish immigrants from the Greek mainland and Crete in the thirteenth and four­
teenth century, yet there was also emigration from Negroponte to Candia. Spanish
and Oriental Jews appear in that city by the mid-fourteenth century, as well as in
C onstantinople. Cretan Jew s established in Constantinople and Alexandria have
already been mentioned133. Some Jews from Genoese Chios settled in Pera134.
Connections between family members and partners dispersed throughout the east­
ern Mediterranean and beyond were an important asset in business.
The use of Hebrew facilitated connections and transactions between Jews living
in different cultural milieus. The extensive business of Cretan Jews in Alexandria in
the 1420s was undoubtedly furthered by their meeting with Jews from other Chris­
tian and from Muslim countries in th efu n d u q or fo n d a co for foreign Jews, attested
in 1405l3a. In addition, migration across the Mediterranean created polyglot Jewish
communities. Polyglot Jews acted as middlemen and interpreters, functions that
enabled the collection of precious commercial information. Jews appear as official
124 Badoer, 792 lines 1-18, 793 lines 2-9.
125 Badoer, 197 lines 4 - 5 , 1 0 -1 1 , 1 5 -1 8 , 21-2 2; 22 9 lines 2 5-3 1, 35-37.
126 Badoer, 511 lines 11-13.
127 J a c o b y , T h e Silk Trade of Late By za ntine Co nstan tin opl e 134-14 0, 142-144.
128 G iovan n i B ertele, II Li b ro dei conti di G i a c o m o Ba doer (Cos tantinipoli 1436-1440). C o m p lemento e indici (Padova 20 02) 161-163, s.v. Zera.
129 Ba doer 30 lines 2 7-2 9; 55 lines 18-20; 9 7 lines 4 3 -4 4 ; 170 lines 2-4.
130
131
132
133
Ba doe r
Ba d oer
Ba doer
Jacob y ,
740 lines 2 0-3 8; 743 lines 3 7-4 0; 745 lines 12-13.
745 line 25; 759 line 11; 760 lines 2-5, 18-19.
74 lines 2 5-2 7; 75 lines 18-19.
T he D em ogr ap hic Ev olution o f Eu boea 159 -162, 165-167; J a c o b y , Qu elque s aspects
108-112.
134 See below, note 154.
135 See A sbtor, N e w Data 81. T h e authorities would not have established a Ju n d u q for local Je ws.
T h e Je ws
111
Byza ntium and the Eastern Mediterranean
43
and private middlemen in Crete until 1433, when Venice prohibited their employ­
ment in that capacity in transactions between Christians136. O n the other hand,
private Jewish brokers are attested in fifteenth-century Constantinople137, and o f­
ficial ones operated in Alexandria138. In this city the Mamluk authorities and some
foreign consuls employed Jews as official interpreters139.
Jewish moneylending is often attested by notarial and official documents, since
it generated lawsuits, legislation and taxation. However, it is important to note that
its nature differed widely. We have already mentioned advance payments for the
delivery of cheese, wine and grain, as well as loans in kind, such as wine, cheese and
grain, the latter to be sown in return for the entire product of the harvest to be de­
livered at the creditor’s hom e140. Jewish retailers in Rethym no and undoubtedly
also in other Cretan cities sold various commodities on credit141. All these transac­
tions, which often resulted in heavy indebtedness among peasants, were prohibited
in 1393142. From the thirteenth century onward many urban residents in Crete,
including Venetian fiefholders, prominent Greeks, as well as some of the duke’s
councilors and members of their staff took consumption loans or bought goods on
credit143. The treaty concluded by the Cretan archon Alexios Kallergis with Venice
in 1299 contains a provision allowing Jews to reside wherever they wish144. His
intervention on their behalf was presumably related to loans obtained from them
during his rebellion. In the years 1360-1381 Yehudah de Medego son of Elijah
granted in Candia loans to members of the Venetian and Greek aristocracy of
Crete, 1,440 hyperpers in one case and 8,038 hyperpers in another143. In 1408 Cassani of Candia loaned 500 ducats to the local authorities for the equipment of the
galley of C r e te 146. David Kalomiti lent money to the feudal lords of Euboea in the
second half of the thirteenth century, as implied by the Hebrew letter referring to
136 Ja c o b y , Venice, the Inquisition and the Jewish Com m un iti es 128--138; N oiret, D ocu m ents 3 5 9 361.
137 G iov an n i Bertel'e, II Li b ro dei conti di G i a c o m o Ba doe r 173, s.v. Cain; 196-1 97, s.v. Pulixoto;
198, s.v. Samaria zudio sanser.
138 Verlinden, Marchands chretiens et juifs 69; Ash tor, N e w Data 89.
139 Ibid. 88-89.
140 Grain: L M no. 358. O n loans in wine and cheese, see above, p. 32.
141 See above, note 24.
H- See above, p. 29.
I4j See below, p. 45; Jo h a n n es Jeg e rleh n e r (ed.), Beiträge zur Verwaltungsgeschichte Kandias im
X IV .Ja h rh un de rt s, in: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 13 (1904) 450, § 64: prohibition of 1369 regarding
officials.
144 Ed. by Konstantm os M ertzios, H e syntheke En et on-K aler ge kai oi sunod euontes auten katalologoi (= T h e Venetian-Kallergis Treaty and the Adjunct Lists), in: Kretika Ch ro n ik a 3 (1 94 9) 272,
§ 22. O n the long rebellion o f Kallergis and the treaty, see Silvano Borsari, II dom in io veneziano a
Cr eta nel X I I I secolo (Napoli 1963) 51-66.
143 Borsari, R icchi e poveri 212 and n. 4.
146 F reddy T hiriet, La R o m an ic venitienne au M o y c n Age. Le dcvcloppement et l’exploitation du
domainc colonial veniticn ( X I L '- X V 0 siecles) (Bibliotheque des Ecolc s franchises d ’Athenes et de
R o m e 193, Paris 1959) 408.
44
David J a c o b y
him, and possibly also to the Venetian authorities in N egroponte147. It is likely that
David ot Negroponte was granted Venetian status in 1268 after loaning a substan­
tial sum to these same authorities148. Local Jews lent money to prominent men in
the Catalan Duchy of Athens around 1370, and in the 1390s to the count of Cephalonia, Carlo Tocco, who had taken hold of Corinth, in this case in return for
jewels as security149. In February 1389 two Jews of Chios jointly loaned 2,669 duc­
ats for about two and a half months to the Maona of C h io s '30. Geronimo da
Camoglio, bishop of Chios, claimed in the 1470s that his predecessors had been
compelled to obtain loans burdened with heavy interest from Jews, since the Maona
had failed to transfer to them the entire yearly amount it had promised131.
Credit was an indispensable tool in local and especially regional trade. Jews around
the eastern Mediterranean granted and received commercial, exchange and maritime
loans and concluded unilateral collegancia contracts binding a sedentary investor to
a traveling manager, who obtained one third of the profit. In 1301 the Jew Belus
concluded two contracts by which Matteo Beaqua, like him a resident ot Candia,
invested capital in a societas terrc for trade in Crete during three months and in a
cam bium m aritim m n with repayment of the loan in Alexandria in local currency132.
Moses son of Ychudah of Candia granted 31 maritime loans totaling 1,002 hyperpers
with interest within the second half of 1369, the rate of interest varying according to
destination and the presumed length of the roundtrip, which included ports of the
Aegean, Cyprus, Alexandria, Constantinople, Venice and Pisa. Within the years
1369-1372 he extended such loans amounting to more than 7,700 hyperpers133. In
1391 the Jewish physician Yishmael ot Chios granted in Pera a commercial loan to
Francesco Giustiniani de Campis, which had not been repaid by 1394l54. In that year
the Jew Ilaffael Catalano received in Chios a loan of 350 ducats from Giovanni
Giustiniani, who acted on behalf of Domenico Cataneo ot G enoa133. In 1400 the
patriarchal court in Constantinople dealt with a commercial loan granted by a Jew to
a Greek in the previous year136. In 1418 Elijah of Rethymno loaned in Candia
2,200 hyperpers to Niccolö Taiapetra of that city, a sum not yet repaid in 1421l37, and
in 1414 Lazar Todescho granted 1,082 hyperpers to Bernardo Balbi and his brothers,
147 See above, n. 72.
148 Ja c o b y , T h e De m ograp hic Ev ol utio n o f Eu boea 160-161.
149 Ibid. 164.
b0 E nrico Basso (cd.), N otai genovesi in Oltr em ar e. Atti rogati a C h i o da Giuliano de C a n d i a (2
N ov e m b r e 1380-31 M a rz o 1381) (Accademia Ligure di Scien ze e Lettere [Serie Fo n ti J 1, Athena
1993) 101 -102 no. 45.
151 A rgenti, T h e O c c u p a tio n o f Chios, vol. I, 655. G er o n im o , bishop from (470, negotiated a new
settlement with the M a on a after the intervention o f Pope Sixtus IV, elccted in 1471.
1,2 B B , nos. 353- 354 .
ls3 Borsari, Rice hi e povcri 2 1 3 -2 14 ; Borsari, I movimcnti del porto di Candia 3 2 7 -3 2 9 , 338.
134 Ed. by Villa, D ocu m e nti sugli Ebrei 145 -147 no. 1 1.
155 Ibid. 127 -129 no. 4.
136 Franz M iklosich et Jo se p h M utter (eds.), Acta et diplomat» gracca medii aevi sacra et profana,
vol. II (Wien 1860-1 8 9 0 ) 3 13 -3 1 4 no. D X X X .
1,7 Ed. by V erlinden, Marchands chretiens et juifs 61-62 .
Fhe Jews m Byza ntium and the Eastern Mediterranean
45
residents of Venice138. The will of Bartolomeo Zane de Visdanelis, drafted in Patras
in 1430, provided for the reimbursement of two commercial loans granted by Jews.
O ne of the creditors was to obtain 1,000 pounds of iron, to be brought from Lepanto,
in addition to a sum of money, the other a sum corresponding to the debt recorded in
the testators account b o o k 159. By the early fifteenth century the Jews of Rethymno
were investing money in colleganze on a large scale, besides exporting cheese
and wine to Egypt. In 1412 prominent Latin residents of the city pointed to the
considerable profit the Jews enjoyed from these investments, in addition to moneylending160. We may safely assume that this was also the case in Candia.
Jews conducted maritime trade with the assistance of agents or acted as agents
and operated as partners in joint ventures. Jews appear as agents of Jews in Alexan­
dria in 1428 and in Constantinople in 1437U)i. Around 1300 some Cretan Jews
served as agents or partners of Christian Catalans on their way with western w o o ­
lens to Cyprus, Rhodes, the Levant and Egypt. Partnerships between Cretan Jews
and Venetian citizens residing in Venice or elsewhere, some of them belonging to
the city’s social elite, are attested in the first half of the fifteenth century. They in­
volved the transfer of capital between Venice, Venetian colonies and Venetian out­
posts162. In 1394 Elisha of Chios jointly with several Latins insured the cargo on
board the ship of Bcrnabo Dentuto sailing to Altoluogo (also called Theologo,
ancient Ephesos), in the emirate of Aydin163. In 1404 Elijah Cohen of Chios con­
tributed 300 ducats to a jo int venture with a capital of 8,800 ducats involving a
sailing to Sicily and trade in that island164.
Credit operations resulted in various cases in the transfer of rural land and de­
pendent peasants into Jewish hands as acquisition from insolvent debtors, whether
temporarily as security for loans or permanently, at least in principle. In the second
half of the thirteenth century David Kallomiti of Negroponte had fields and vine­
yards in E u b oea163. In 1370 four rich Jews of Negroponte held rural property be­
longing to the Latin patriarchate o f Constantinople166. In 1402 Venice, alarmed by
the increase in Jewish rural property in Euboea, ordered the Jews to relinquish all
assets located outside the old Jewish quarter of Negroponte and prohibited further
acquisitions167. Verdicts issued by the dukes of Crete in 1364 and 1372 illustrate
Venice’s strong opposition to the transfer of a specific category of property to Jews,
1.8
1.9
zig
If’°
ASV, Notai di Candia, b. 26, Gasparino C o c c o , fol. S8v.
Ed. by Ernst G erlan d , N eu e Qu ellen zur Geschich te des lateinischen Er zbistum s Patras (L eip ­
1903) 213 and 215 no. 17.
N oiret, D o cu m e nts 213. See also above, p. 44.
161 See respective!}' above, n .41, and Ba doe r 179 iincs 15-16, ISS lines 32, 40.
162 Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian Je ws 48.
163 Villa, D o cu m c n ti sugli Ebrei 149-151 no. 13.
IM P iana Toniolo, Notai genovesi 118-119 n o . 65.
163 See above, note 72.
166 B orsari, R icchi c poveri 2 1 9 -2 20. In 1314 Pope Clem en t V united the functions o f bishop of
Neg ro pon te and Latin patriarch of Con stanti nople, whose seat was since then in Negroponte:
G iorgio F edalto, La chiesa latina in Or iente, vol.I (Verona 21981) 281, 443.
u'7 Satbas, D ocu m ents, vol. II, 83 -8 4 no. 303; also in N oiret, D ocu m e nts 131-133.
46
David Ja c o b y
namely, fiefs and sergeantries entailing military service granted by the state to Lat­
ins and some G reeks168. A verdict of 1414 ordered the immediate sale of real estate
serving as collateral to a loan to Venetians capable of performing the required serv­
ice169. In 1423 Venice issued a general ban on Jewish acquisitions of property out­
side the Jewish quarters in its overseas territories, and enjoined the Jews to sell the
property they held within two years170. The decree was repeated in the following
year with additional clauses to prevent transgressions171. Jews nevertheless contin­
ued to acquire property outside their quarters. Thus in 1450 the Je w Theodora
Cresto of Candia obtained a vineyard in the region of Bonifacio in southern Crete
from a Greek peasant, as partial repayment of a loan172.
There was apparently no limitation to Jewish rural property in the eastern M ed­
iterranean outside the Venetian territories. In 1394 a Genoese judge in Chios
allocated to Elijah Cohen a sum of money, a fruit garden, a field and part of a vine­
yard in compensation for a loan to N iccolö Tilano173. In 1398 the Jewess Ihera
Melicha of Chios owned fruit gardens in the city’s suburb and vicinity and other
vineyards in the countryside174. Jews must have been eager to obtain rural land
with their villeins as security for loans, for such lands’ yield of revenue and, more
importantly, for enabling close supervision over the production of kosher produce.
N o t surprisingly, therefore, Jews also leased land, like Salomon son of Abraham, a
resident of Patras in the Peloponnesus, who for many years before 1436 had held a
plot o f rural land turned into a garden in the city’s vicinity173.
This brief survey is far from exhaustive. It covers only some major fields of Je w ­
ish economic activity and fails to deal extensively with various Jewish occupations
such as those of rabbis, physicians, pharmacists, lawyers, teachers and scribes, as
well as communal and ritual officers, which were often combined with trade and
moneylending. Shopkeepers, servants and seasonal workers have been mentioned
in passing only. T he picture emerging from the evidence, overwhelmingly found in
Venetian and Genoese sources, is necessarily fragmented and biased. It neverthe­
less allows some conclusions.
168 M aria K. C h a irete, A n ek dota benctika eggrafa peri ton Ebraion en K r ctc (= Unpublished Ve­
netian D o cu m e n ts regarding the Je ws in Cr ete), in: Epeteris Etaircas byzan tin on spoudon 33
(1964) 17 1-179, nos. 1-5: exceptis tarnen feiid is q u e rem an en tu r in dispositions ducalis dom in ii and
sim ilar formulations. O n the illegal transfer of a fief to a J e w in 1341, see M cK ee, U n com m on D o ­
minion 71 and 184-187.
169 C h airete, An ek d ot a benctika eggrafa 180-182 no. 6.
170 N oiret, D ocu m e nts 2 9 7 -2 9 8 . F o r C orf u, see Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian Je w s 53, n .26, and
the study by Reinhold Mue ller in this volume.
171 Eliya.hu A shtor, G li inizi della C om un itä ebraica a Venezia, in: La Rassegna Mensile di Israel 44
(197 8) 6 8 9 -6 90, rcpr. in idem , T h e Je w s and the Mediterranean E c on om y , Tenth to Fifteenth C e n ­
turies (L o n d o n 1983) n. IV.
172 ASV, N otai di Candia, b. 2, Fran ces co Avonal, fol. 3v. See also Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian
Je w s 37- 38.
173 Villa, D o cu m e n ti sugli Eb rei 122-1 26, n o . 2.
174 G ioffre, Atti rogati in C h i o 379 -381.
173 G erlan d, Neu e Quellen 2 1 8 -2 20, no. 19.
T h e Je w s in By zan tium and the Eastern Mediterranean
47
Jews operated within two distinct, though partly overlapping and strongly inter­
woven economic networks. Indeed, the internal network dealing with Jewish
goods was a closed circuit, yet required close cooperation with non-Jews. It large­
ly, though not entirely conformed to the features of the broader eastern Mediter­
ranean economy within which it was integrated with respect to capital investment,
business patterns, production, transportation, distribution and sale. It was also
similarly subject to state regulation and taxation. However, the geographic range
and orientations of its distribution pattern, especially for wine, were far more ex­
tensive than for non-kasher commodities since they were determined by the wide
Jewish dispersion in the Mediterranean region and beyond. Some Jewish com mu­
nities could not ensure the production of kasher food and wine, either because of
their small size, unfavorable economic conditions in their region, or the absence of
a rabbinical authority sanctioning the fitness of the commodities. As a result, these
communities and scattered individual families depended upon provisioning from
larger or well-supplied centers. However, the diffusion of kasher goods was also
determined by a demand for alternative qualities, as for instance wine in Constan­
tinople176. The three main ports of destination of Cretan products in the eastern
Mediterranean acted as distribution centers. Constantinople supplied Jews in
neighboring European and Asian territories and around the Black Sea177. Alexan­
dria acted similarly with respect to provincial cities in E gy p t178, and Venice to
northeastern Italy. Kasher commodities were clearly more expensive than others,
as a result of the added cost of supervision, the special arrangements related to it,
and a less competitive market than for other goods. In 1422 the wholesale price of
a cask of Cretan wine in Alexandria was 12 ducats, whereas that of kasher wine was
14 1/2 ducats. In addition, the profit margin for the kasher wine was undoubtedly'
much larger, since its retail sale was expected to yield at least 23 ducats per cask179.
There was no economic activity exclusively carried out by Jews, expect for ritual
and communal functions, no legal impediments to the exercise of occupations, nor
was any occupation imposed upon them, as often argued with respect to tanning in
Byzantium. Th e Jews were firmly integrated within the production, manufacture
and trade networks of Byzantium and Latin Romania, though to varying degrees
determined by local and regional conditions. Their financial and actual involve­
ment in maritime trade appears to have been more important than generally as­
sumed, yet its extent and volume was restricted by two factors. Jews were entirely
barred from the lucrative trans-Mediterranean trade in precious commodities, m o­
nopolized by the Venetian and Genoese social elites, and could only participate in
it at the local or intermediate level, as illustrated for Crete and Constantinople. In
addition, Jews lacked transportation facilities o f their own, were reluctant to invest
176
177
24:
1/8
See above, pp. 30-3 E
Wi ne exported f rom Candia reached Tana at the mouth o f the river D on: P eg olotti , La pratica
We may safely assume a similar transfer o f kasher wine.
As attested for Sicilian cheese: G oitein , A Mediterranean Society, vol. IV, 251 -252 .
1/9 Ashtor, N ew Data 9 5-9 6, no. II.
48
David Jacob)'
in them, and only seldom acquired a share in small vessels180. As a result, they were
totally absent from the large-scale trade and transportation of grain, alum and cot­
ton across the Mediterranean.
Some developments were specific to the Jewish communities in the Venetian
colonies. The growing fiscal burden upon them in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen­
turies limited the capital available for investment in trade181, and the restrictions on
the acquisition of real estate undoubtedly enhanced the involvement of Jews in
moneylending. In terms of capital, this appears to have been the largest sector of
Jewish economic activity in Venetian Crete.
150 T h e religious restrictions on sailing on Sabbath and Jewish holidays were clearly an Indirect,
though important factor in that respect and also account for the absence o f Jewish sailors.
Isl T bin et, La R om anic venitienne 4 0 6 -4 07; J a c o b y , Venice and the Venetian Je ws 40-4 1.
David Abulafia
The Jew s of Sicily and Southern Italy:
Econom ic Activity
The aim of this paper is to make a series of comparisons: between the economic
activities of the Jews in Sicily and southern Italy in the early Middle Ages and the
late Middle Ages; between the economic activities of the Jews on the mainland and
on the island of Sicily (as well as its dependent territory of Malta). We are fortunate
in the survival of a large range of sources - the Cairo Genizah letters for the early
period, notarial acts and government decrees for the later period - and at first sight
it seems a straightforward task to compare the evidence of these different groups of
sources. However, some caution is needed. The Cairo Genizah letters document
the activity of international merchants, in the main, with connections to Spain in
the wrest, Tunisia in the south, Egypt and even Yemen and India in the east. N o ­
tarial evidence, on the other hand, tends to illuminate local communities with often
quite restricted networks of trade and credit. Even bearing this in mind, it does
seem possible to draw a broad distinction between an early period in which Jews
played a leading role in the long-distance trade of the Mediterranean that passed
through Sicily, and a later period m which their role as artisans and small traders
was more confined, now that others - Genoese, Tuscan or Catalan Christians dominated the longer distance networks of trade. Jews thus came to play the role
of retail merchants, of distributors on a local scale. But it was precisely in this role
that they were able to participate alongside local Christians in the economic recov­
ery of the Italian South during the fifteenth century.
If we turn to the tenth and eleventh centuries, we are struck by the contrast be­
tween the wealth of documentation concerning the economic life of the Sicilian
Jews and the lack of information concerning the econom ic life of the much larger
communities of Muslims and Greeks on the island during the period of Islamic
rule. The miraculous survival of the Cairo Genizah documents has resulted in this
imbalance1. It is therefore hard to be sure whether the Jews were distinctive in their
commercial interests; occasional references to partnerships with Muslims or even
Christians suggest that others shared their interests, but it is possible that the Je w ­
ish merchants were able to exploit family connections right across the Mediterra­
nean, and that they thus occupied a more prominent position in long-distance trade
1 S. D. G oitein , A Mediterranean Society, vol. 1, E c o n o m ic Fou ndations (Berkeley, Los Angeles
1967).
50
David Abulafia
than their mere numbers would warrant. They seem to have been uninterested in
some commodities, such as grain, which undoubtedly were being traded in massive
quantities out of both Egypt and Sicily7. Their speciality was the luxury trade,
though they were also very interested in the cheese trade out oi Syracuse, export­
ing kosher cheese as far as Egypt, and remaining involved in the cheese business
right up to the fifteenth century. Dietary requirements certainly had a significant
impact on the range of goods Jews produced and traded. Among notable imports
handled by Sicilian Jews are found dyestuff such as brazil wood and lapis lazuli;
silk was both imported and exported, and it was normal to bank one’s spare cash in
investments of silk. These were commodities which were traded along the much
extended trade routes that carried Jews from Sicily and Tunisia all the way down
the Red Sea to Yemen, and in some cases as far as India. However, the Jews of Sicily
also to ok a significant interest in the export of unprocessed or semi-processed raw
materials such as hides, as well as Sicilian cloths in the form of turbans, blankets
and shawls2.
O ne important feature of the trade of the Sicilian Jews in the Islamic and early
Norman period is the fluidity of the community itself; Egyptian Jews would come
to settle in Palermo, buying houses, marrying and, o f course, making business deals
with fellow Jews. Among notable arrivals were important Spanish Jews, such as
Khalaf bar Ya’aqub h a-S efardi [‘the Spaniard’) in the early eleventh century, who
retained a distinctive identity, but also possessed a magical ability to seize positions
of leadership in the island3. Thus an intimate relationship with Spain long precedes
the Catalan-Aragonese conquest of 1282, for in the open Islamic Mediterranean
movement between al-Andalus and Sicily was constant and fluent. There was also
a large community of north African settlers, who were to be a consistent feature of
Sicilian Jewries: the political troubles that wracked north Africa in the mid-elev­
enth century acted as a stimulus to immigration, though occasionally it was Sicily
that suffered local wars, with the result of net emigration. It was with Tunisia that
the Sicilian Jews not surprisingly entertained the most intense relations, with Mazara (later to be superseded by Trapani) functioning as the major jumping-off point
for Tunis or al-Mahdiyyah, termini of the Saharan gold caravans. Assuming that
the Genizah merchants were a dominant force in the eleventh century, it then fol­
lows that by 1150 they had ceded control of the key trade routes, including that
towards Sicily, to competitors better placed to service demand in the hinterland of
an expanding western Europe: the Genoese, Pisans, Venetians4. They also lost c on­
2 S. D. G oitein , Sicily and southern Italy in the C airo G en iz ah docum ents, in: Archivio s t or i c o p e r
la Sicilia orientale 67 (1971) 9-3 3 ; see also M. Gil, T h e Je w s in Sicily in the light o f the Geniza
documents, in: Italia Judaica. Atti del I C on ve gn o internazionale ( R o m e 1983) 87 -134.
3 M. Ben-Sasson, T h e Je ws o f Sicily 825 -1 068. D ocu m ents and Sources (O rien s Judaicus, ser. 1,
vol. 1, Jerusalem 1991) doc. 20, 10 7-110 [= Ca m brid ge University Library, T -S 24.6].
■' D a v id A bu lafia, T h e Tw o Italies: econom ic relations between the N orm an Kin gd om of Sicily
and the northern comm une s (Cambridge 1977); E. Ashtor, Gli Ebrei ncl com m er cio meditcrraneo
nelPalto medioevo (sec. X - X I ) , in: Gli Eb rei nell’alto medioevo (Settimane di studio del Cen tro
italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo vo l.26, Spoleto 1980) 447- 50.
T h e J e w s o f Sicily and S o u t h e rn Italy
51
trol o f the spice trade linking Eg y p t, via Yemen, to the Indies, which fell into the
hands o f the M u slim merchants k now n as the karim i, or merchants o f the caravan3.
T h e J e w s were sq ueezed out o f the role as middlem en between the markets o f the
western M editerranean and those o f the Orient. A n d the arrival first o f N o r m a n
co n q ue rors in Sicily (still quite benign to the J e w s) and then o f crusaders in the
Levant confirm ed that hegem ony in the Mediterranean, political as well as e c o ­
nomic, belonged henceforth to C hristen do m .
O n the mainland arou nd 1150, the image is different. Lon g-ran ge Je w ish mer­
chants co m parable to those living in Palerm o seem relatively rare. T h e J ew ish p o p ­
ulation consisted prim arily o f artisans. All the evidence su ggests that it was C h r i s ­
tian merchants from Am alfi, Ravello and neighbouring centres, w h o dom inated
the internal trade o f southern Italy in the twelfth century, including the exchange
o f m o n e y 6. P u rsuing regrettable stereotypes, so m e historians have searched all too
eagerly for signs o f Jew ish involvement: the great Salernitan b usinessm an S o l o ­
mon, w h o in any case lived mainly in G e n o a, w as clearly not a Jew, despite c o m ­
m on a ss u m p tio n s7. T h e preparation, especially dyeing, o f cloth, including silk,
dom inated the econ om ic life o f the Je w ish co m m unities at such towns as Salerno,
but the su b se q u en t m arketing o f these cloths do es not seem to have been a Jew ish
speciality. In fact, the Je w s, though econom ically specialised, were well integrated
in the w ider structure o f the south Italian economy. Within the towns, J e w s often
so ugh t out a m o n o p o l y over the slaughtering o f animals; this was apparently c o n ­
ceded because it was a m essy business, but also because o f the H alak h ic require­
ments a b ou t the w ay beasts should be slaughtered and abou t which parts o f the
animal could be eaten. What the Je w s rejected was regularly added to the wider
meat stock. Similarly, there was an interest in wine p rodu ction , for the rabbis for­
bade the c o n su m p tio n o f wine p rodu ce d or handled b y non-Jews. B y 1250, the
econ om ic character o f the Jew ish com m unities in Sicily seem s to have been similar
to that on the mainland; in Sicily, the Jew ish artisans fa m o u sly included a num ber
o f G r e e k Jew ish silk weavers, k id nap ped fro m T h eb e s by K in g R o g e r II to bo o st
his luxury silk production.
F rederick II, in his Constitutions o f Melfi, attempted to regulate Jew ish m o ney
lending; and it is easy to assum e, as Bresc does, that this was a reality; in fact, the
em pe ror was sim p ly imitating papal legislation o f the Lateran councils, and his
p rovision s seem rather theoretical8. In b oth territories, Je w s were not particularly
deeply involved in m o ney lending at this period - no m ore than were Christian
businessm en. Indeed, they served for the south Italian T h o m a s A q u in a s as a model
for the sm aller north E u ro p ea n com m unities, fo r w h o m lending at interest had
3 D a v id A b u la fia , A s ia , A fric a and the trad e o f med ie va l E u r o p e , in: C a m b r i d g e E c o n o m i c H i s ­
t o r y o f E u r o p e , vol. 2, 2 ml edition, ed. M. M. P o stan et al. ( C a m b r i d g e 1987).
6 G. Im p c ra to , A m a lfi e il s u o c o m m e r c io (Sa le r n o 1980); M. d e l I'reppo a n d A. L e o n e , A m a lf i
m ed io eval e ( N a p l e s 1977).
7 A b u la fia , T w o Italics.
8 H . B resc, A r a b e s d e la ngu e, juifs d e religion (Paris 2001).
52
D a v i d A b u la fia
becom e the sole significant occupation, or rather the sole occupation Christian
rulers and artisan competitors would permit the Jew s to have. Aquinas, in his famous
letter to the duchess o f B rabant De regimme J udaeorum, expresses the view that it
is better for je w s to w o rk productively sicut in partibus Italiae faciunt than to let
them indulge in the easy and fraudulent life o f usu rers9. T h u s the Je w s of southern
Italy, to his know ledge, were involved m a wide variety o f ec onom ic tasks; while in
reality lending o f m o ney was practised on a m oderate scale by anyone, J e w or
Christian, who had m o ney in his pock et in the M editerranean w o rld o f the thir­
teenth century. If anyone dom inated the handling o f m o ney in southern Italy at
this period, it was the A m alfitans and, increasingly, non-native merchants from
Tuscany and the north o f Italy. O n ly at the end o f the Trecento did the south Italian
Je w s b ecom e heavily involved in m oney lending. Meanwhile, it was their involve­
ment with silk p rodu ction and cloth dyeing that was o f m ost interest to Frederick
II, as we can see from his edict o f Jun e 1231 in which he decrees that silk produced
in Val di Crati, A pu lia and Calabria must be sold to a Jew ish factory in Trani, which
will produ ce silk g o o d s for him a d opus curie. T h u s he seem s to have continued the
m ethods o f R o g e r II, using Jew ish silkworkers to fabricate tine vestments, which
m ay well include those that now hand in the Vienna Schatzkammer. A Jew ish firm
from C a p u a was com m issioned with oversight o f the cloth dyeing industry, as well,
though here we should note again the encouragement to J e w s to carry out ‘ m e ss y ’
econom ic activities such as dyeing, slaughtering and leather-making10.
C learly these econ om ic activities must have been disrupted by the anti-Jewish
measures o f 1290, which led to m ass conversion, em ig ration and the im po verish­
ment o f so m e co m m unities in Apulia. B u t there is little evidence for a radical
ch ange in the p ositio n o f the south Italian J e w s until the early fifteenth century.
Jo a n n a I, queen o f N a p le s in the late fourteenth century, confirm ed the right o f the
Je w s to trade freely with Christians; but K in g Lad islau s, at the start o f the fifteenth
century, offered the family o f L igu cio di D a t to lo the right to open a p aw n sh op and
to trade in the A b ru z z i. T h is coincides with the spread o f Jew ish p aw n b ro k in g in
northern and central Italy, and it is hardly surprising that the n orthernm ost terri­
to ry o f the k in gd om o f N a p le s sh ou ld have open ed its d o o r to Je w is h banchieri ,
especially since there was a need fo r credit follow ing the destructive internal wars
o f the late A ngevin p e r i o d 11. T h e availability o f J ew ish credit no d o u b t had a b en ­
eficial effect on the economy, despite the lurid image presented not so long ago by
the m o dern N e ap o lita n historian Silvestri o f rapacious Jew ish usurers feeding off
the southern economy. Furth er similar privileges follow ed from 1420 on w ard s in
A b r u z z o , M olise and nearby areas, in the face o f the bitter disapproval o f Q u een
J o a n n a ’s II charismatic confidant, Fra G iovan ni di C a p e s t r a n o f2. In the end, the
9 Thom as A quinas , D e reg im in e J u d a e o r u m .
,0 W inckelmann , A c t a imperii no. 796; A bulafia, L o S ta to 165-87.
11 N icola Ferorelli, G li E bre i neli’ Italia mericlionalc d all ’ eta r o m a n a al sc c o lo X V I I I , 2 nci edition,
cd. F. P atroni Grifft ( N a p l e s 1990) 73-4.
52 Ferorelli , G li E b r e i nell’ Italia m erid io na lc 74-5.
The J e w s o f Sicily and S o u t h e r n Italy
53
queen ignored the friar, and thus laid the basis for the A ragon ese relationship with
the J e w s o f southern I t a ly 13.
Th e arrival in 1442 o f A lfo n so ot A ra g o n as co n q u e ro r o f N a p le s, unlike the
arrival o f Charles o f A n jo u, p o se d little threat to the j e w s o f so uthern Ita ly 14.
A lfon so and his su ccessor F errante retained the awareness o f the financial utility o f
protecting the J e w s that had long been practised in their native Spain. W hat did
change, however, was the level o f involvement by the crow n in the control and
taxation o f J ew ish money-lending, and here royal fiscal needs co m bined with lon g­
term changes in the character o f the Jew ish co mmunity. Th e arrival o f Jew ish
moneylenders from central Italy shifted the em phasis in royal taxation o f the Jew s;
moreover, the A ragon ese m onarchy had for centuries exacted fees and fines from
the J e w s in Sp a m in return for perm ission to lend at interest. T h u s as early as Jun e
1452 A lfo n so confirm ed the right o f the J e w s to lend at interest, follow ing the
pay m en t o f a fee o f 1,000 ducats by the south Italian J e w s 13. O n the other hand, it
w ould be a serious mistake to imagine that m oneylendin g rapidly came to d o m i ­
nate what remained co m m unities o f artisans; we sh ou ld distinguish between the
native J e w s and the n ew com ers, such as the p aw n b r o k er M o se de G a u y o f C esena,
w ho settled in the far south, in C ose n z a .
There also existed Jew ish elites: as now, medicine was a traditional Jew ish occup a­
tion. But new technology was not ignored. Southern Italy became a major hom e of
H eb r ew printing. R eggio di Calabria already had a H ebrew press in 1475. N ap les
itself rapidly became a highly productive, pioneering centre o f Jew ish publishing, at­
tracting to the city Spanish and Germ an rabbis who could w o rk as correctors o f the
p r o o f texts (note again the presence o f newcomers). Th e monarchy recognised the
profitability o f the printing industry; in 1491 D avit B o n o, J e w o f N ap les, received a
royal privilege allowing him to export book s, without liability for custom s d u tie s16.
13 Ferorelli , G li E b r e i nel l’ Italia m erid io na le 75.
14 T h e be st general a c co u n t o f s o u t h e r n Italy in this p e rio d is G. G alasso , II R e g n o di N a p o l i , t. 1,
II M e z z o g i o r n o a n g io in o e a ra g o n e s e, Sto ria d T t a l ia diretta d a G. G alasso, vol. 15 (T or in o 1992)
56 1- 775 . '
b In a d d it io n to Ferorelli’s G li Ebr ei nell’Italia m er id io n a le 89- 19 8, see fo r the A r a g o n e s e p eriod
VC Bonazzoli, G li ebrei del r eg n o di N a p o l i a lP e p oc a della lo r o e sp u ls io n e , I parte , II p e r i o d o arag onesc, 1456-99, in: A r c h iv io s t o ric o italiano 137 (1979) 49 5-5 59.
I(> N. Ferorelli, T ip o g r a f i c librai ebrei nel N a p o l e t a n o ve rs o la fine del s e c o lo X V , repr. in: Ferorel­
li, G li E b r e i nell’ Italia m er id io n a le 27 9- 83, with a valu able bi b li og ra p hic a l a g g io r n a m c n t o b y F
Patroni G riffi, ibid. 282 -3 ; also, Ferorelli, 133. O f note are R. Frattarolo, T ip o g r a fi e librai, ebrei e
non, nel N a p o l e t a n o alia fine del s e c o lo XV, in: B ib ii o teca degli eruditi e dei bibliofili 23 (Fir e nz e
1956); M. F av a a n d G. Bresciano, L a s t a m p a a N a p o l i nel X V s ec olo , 2 vols . ( S a m m l u n g b i b l i o ­
t h e k sw is se n sch a ft li c h e r Arb eiten, v o l . 32, I.ipsia 1 9 1 1 -12);/ . Bloch, Hebrew' p rin tin g in N a p l e s , in:
N e w Y o r k Pub lic L i b r a r y Bu lletin (1942) repr. in H e b r e w prin tin g and bib li ogra p hy. S tu d ie s b y / .
Bloch and ot hers, ed. C. Berlin ( N e w Y o r k 1976); M. Santoro, L a S t a m p a a N a p o l i nel Q u a t t r o c e n ­
to ( N a p o l i 1984); to b e a dd ed to her list is A. K. O ffenberg, H e b r e c u w s e I n c u na bulcn in de Bi b li o
theca R o s e n t h alia n a, in: S tu d ia Rosen thal ia n a. T ijd sch r if t v o o r J o o d s e W et ensc ha p en G e sc h ie d e nis in N e d e r l a n d 14 (1980 ) 176-90, e specially the lo n g sec tio n fr o m 178 o n w a r d s o n ‘ H e b r e c u w s e
d r u k k e r s in N a p e l s ’ ( H e b r e w printers in N a p l e s ) ; and C. Roth, A H e b r e w prin ter in N a p l e s , 1477,
in: Bu lletin o f the J o h n R y la n d s L i b r a r y 39 (195 6) 188-95, repr. in: C. Roth, S tu d ie s in b o o k s and
b o o k lo r e . E s s a y s in J e w i s h b ib lio g ra p h y and allied s u b je c t s ( F a r n b o r o u g h 1972).
D a v id A b u la fia
54
After 1494 H eb r ew printing ceased at N ap les, though it continued in the Venetian
lordship o f M o n o p o l i 17. A lo ngside these professionals, Je w s were involved still in
the widest range of economic activities, industrial and agrarian. In Apulia, Jew ish
advance purchases lubricated the trade in cereals and oil; je w s acted as intermediaries
with Florentines and Venetians18. A J e w o f G erm an origin was involved, in 1446, in
a partnership with the aim of setting up a dye workshop; in 1470 som e Jew s o f Lecce,
experts in the leather industry, made a deal with a Florentine merchant, who was to
finance the purchase o f raw skins but who proved to be an unreliable partner19. Th us
the traditional involvement of Jew s in leather and dyeing continued even as money
lending became more a significant activity.
Increasingly, however, Je w s were seen as a source o f credit, and so valued for this
that in the A b r u z z i Je w s w h o did not lend m o ney were exempt from taxes on the
groun ds, apparently, that they must be indigent20. A s early as 1409 the citizens of
Brindisi thanked the crow n for perm itting J e w s to lend at 4 0 % interest21. A m ajo r
factor in d em an d fo r loans was the periodic shortage o f specie in western Eu rope,
which affected the R e g n o as much as elsewhere; once an im portant source o f silver
coinage, merchants in southern Italy n o w occasionally adopted barter as a means
to o v ercom e the bullion fam ine22. L o a n s from J e w s could stimulate the ec on om y
and restore the rate o f transactions to m o re familiar levels. E c o n o m ic recovery in
the 1470 s did not render the J e w s su perfluous, bu t on ly served to underline their
fundam ental im p o rta n c e23. K in g Ferrante anticipated these events. A s early as 20
A pril 1491 he assured newly arrived Spanish J e w s that they could enjoy the sam e
privileges as the antiqui, and that they w o u ld be treated exactly as if they were na­
tives o f the R egn o. Perhaps the m ost revealing part o f these orders is the k in g’s in­
sistence that his officials should record not merely ho w m an y Je w s had arrived and
from where their ship had come, but de che artificio o mercancia sia the head of
each household. O n c e on south Italian soil, these J e w s must be free to ch oose a
place to live, so that they could b u y food , conduct trade and produ ce g o o d s w ith­
out hindrance. H e saw the Spanish and Sicilian Je w s w h o arrived en masse in 1492-3
17
18
19
20
B on azzoli, G li E bre i pt. 2, 226.
Bon azzoli , G li E b r e i pt. 1, 551—5.
Ferorelli, G li E b r e i nell’ Italia m erid io na le 135.
Ferorelli, G li E b r e i nelPItalia m er id io n a le 137: “ q u il lo iu d io ehe no n p r es t as s e dinari, ne ha ve sse
m o d o d e teuere b a n c o ” .
21 Ferorelli, G li E b r e i nell’ Italia m erid io na le loc. cit.
11 Petr alia, op . c it .; /. D ay, T h e med ie va l m a r k e t e c o n o m y ( O x f o r d 1986).
23 B u t K i n g Fer r an te p r o b a b l y app re ci at e d the J e w s p r im a r ily as artisans , not m o n e y le n d e r s: D a ­
v id A b u lafia, T h e C r o w n a n d e c o n o m y un d er Fer r an te I o f N a p l e s , 1458-1494, in: T. D ean , C.
Wickham (eds.), C i t y and C o u n t r y s i d e in late m edie va l and early R e n a is s a n ce Italy. S tu d ie s p r e ­
sen ted to Philip J o n e s ( L o n d o n 1990) 125-46, here 137. E v e n so, J e w s d id not a p p e a r in the ran ks
o f the great m er ch a n t b a n k e r s at court, as B on azzoli, G li E b r e i pt. 1, 556, o bse rv e s. T h e ir in div i­
dual role w a s o n a m u c h sm a ll e r scale than, say, the m illionna ire S tr o z zi. F o r d ata o n J e w i s h loans
in Sal e rno, see A. Silvestri, II c o m m e r c io a S ale r n o nella s e c o n d a m et a del Q u a t t r o c e n t o (Sale rn o
1952) 30-6.
T h e J e w s o f Sicily and S o u th e r n Italy
55
as a further source o f econom ic benefit to a k in g d o m w h ose industries and (not
least) finances he was attempting to en co urage24.
1492 saw one dramatic change, the doubling (probably) o f Jew ish numbers in
southern Italy follow ing the expulsio ns o f Ferdinand and Isabella. F erd in and’s c o n ­
quest o f N a p le s in 1503, after nine years o f chaos within the kingdom , marked an­
other dramatic change. S om e Jew ish co m m unities had fallen on very hard times
during the Italian wars; but Ferdinand was only interested in tw o things: their even­
tual expulsion, and in the meantime the maximisation o f his income from those Jew s
w h o could p rodu ce funds for him, the moneylenders. Therefore in 1510 he broke
his golden rule and allowed so m e J e w s to remain in one o f his kingdom s: 200 o f the
richest south Italian Jew s. In fact, there seem s even to have been a trickle o f Jew ish
immigrants after 1510, m any o f w h om were sim ply returning home; and in 1520, at
N a p le s, the citizens tried to explain to the crow n il bisogno grandissimo ehe teneno
de h hebrei23. In Apulia, it became obvious that without Jew ish moneylenders,
Christian usurers filled the gap; but they sh ow ed far less consideration to their
clients. T h e main factor delaying final expulsion, which after p ostponem ents took
place in 1 5 4 1 , was the economic climate: seeondo le earestie sono state in lo regno et la
poverta in ehe la gente a l presente se trova, saria grandissim a ruina ai populi quando
se desse materia ehe li hebrei useessero dal regno. A reflection o f the continuing
economic importance o f the A pulian Je w s can be found in the 400 entries in six
notarial registers from Bari between Ja n u a ry 1540 and A ugu st 1541. A group o f
Jew ish moneylenders, including several o f G erm an descent, are seen making a multi­
plicity o f small loans to Christians, often to help with purchases o f cloth. But by
early 1541 the main item o f business was the recovery o f debts, as the Je w s o f Bari
gave up hope o f remaining any longer26. What was perhaps surprising was that after
forty years o f failing to decide to expel the Jew s, expulsion was firmly and irre­
vocably decreed in 154127. Even this was not the absolute end o f a Jew ish presence in
southern Italy: the Lanciano fairs were again being visited by Je w s in 154328. But
even before the death of Ferrante I the centre of gravity of Italian Je w ry had begun
to shift northwards, to the loan banks o f Tuscany, U m bria, the Marche, to R o m e and
to Venice, to Ferrara and Mantua.
We m u st n ow retrace o u r steps to the mid-thirteenth century, to see how this
image o f Je w ish econ om ic activity co m pares with that o f Sicily; here we n ow have
the additional help o f H en ri B r e sc ’s stu dy o f the Sicilian Je w s, ‘J e w s b y religion,
A ra b s by langu age’, as he describes them, and N a d i a Z e ld e s’ helpful examination
o f the com m unities at the time o f the exp u lsio n 29. A sense o f the rather ‘p rovincial’,
24 Ferorelli , G li E b r e i nell’ Italia m c ri d io n ale 93-4.
25 Ferorelli ', G l i E b r e i nell’ Italia m c ri d io n ale 22 0; B onazzoli, G li E b r e i pt. 2, 204.
26 Ferorelli , G l i E b r e i nell’ Italia m c ri d io n ale 22 8; P r e s en za eb raica in P ug lia 91-167.
27 B onazzoli, G l i E b r e i pt. 2, 281.
28 Ferorelli, G l i E b r e i nell’ Italia m erid io na le 23 7; C. M arciani, E bre i a L a r c ia n o dal X I I al X V I I I
s cco lo , in: A r c h iv io s t o r ic o per le p rovin cie nap oletane, n.s., v o l . 2 (1962).
29 Brese, Ju i f s d e religion; N ad ia 'Zeldes, T h e f o r m e r J e w s o f this k in g d o m . Sicilian con ver ts after
the e x p u ls io n 149 2- 151 6 (L e id e n 2003).
56
D a v id A b u la fia
almost archaic, character o f Sicilian Je w r y in the later M iddle A ges emerges from
the fourteenth and fifteenth century do cum entation in other ways than the su r­
vival o f A rabic speech am on g the Sicilian J ew s: Bresc remarks that, whereas once
the use o f A rabic had been a signal of integration into the wider world, it now b e ­
came a signal o f isolation. T h e situation o f late medieval Sicilian Je w r y is best a p ­
preciated through a series o f case studies, fo r there is still much to be discovered
abou t their legal status, ab ou t their tax arrangements, about their d e m o g ra p h y and
internal organisatio n, and recent research on the individual communities has only
brough t this out m ore clearly. M aybe, indeed, it is precisely the fragmented, local­
ised character o f the Jew ish communities o f Sicily that needs to be stressed in this
period, for certain changes, such as seclusion in reserved areas o f the towns, o c ­
curred m ore rapidly in so m e cities than in others. This is not to deny the im p o r­
tance o f local trade networks, managed by Jew s, linking the smaller towns across
the island. T h e m ajor co m m o n theme is the largely artisan identity o f the Jew ish
com m unities (with a g o o d sprinkling, however, o f physicians), as on the mainland;
but it will also be possible to identify several successful Jew ish merchants.
T h e first case to examine is the Jew ish co m m u n ity o f Erice or M o nte San
Giuliano, on the steep hill overlooking Trapani in western Sicily, the econom ic ac­
tivities o f which are am ply recorded in a notarial register o f the years around
13 0 030. A m o n g the J e w s o f Erice, who m ay have numbered as many as 400, up to
5 % o f the total popu lation o f the territory, there are artisans, sh opkeepers and ag­
ricultural labourers, but no ob viou s professional moneylenders. When J e w s a d ­
vance m o n e y to Christians it is in the form o f im provem ent grants for land, often
vineyards; these J ew ish investments are no different in character from investments
m ade b y C hristian inhabitants o f the town. Indeed, the co m m u nity leader Chilfa
de D a v id not merely lived next d o o r to C atalans and other Christians, but he
ow ned lands o f his ow n outside the tow n walls, which he decided in 1298 to put to
g o o d use, by having a Christian w o rk m a n plant trees, construct walls and irriga­
tion ducts, and harvest the p rodu ce under terms quite similar to those o f the c o n ­
tem porary north Italian m ezzadria contracts. It was normal for Je w s with a p r o fe s­
sional interest in, say m etalworking, such as the prominent figure A z a r o n u s de
Sydica, also to maintain additional interests in wine production. Th e sam e applied
to one o f the t o w n ’s Je w ish physicians, Iacob us R u d e de Rum en, w h o c o m m i s ­
sioned a n on-Jew to w o rk on his land b ey o n d the tow n walls, and provided him
with an im provem ent grant made explicitly ‘ without profit or u su ry ’ in order to
get the w o r k started. A su rvey o f the p rofession s mentioned in the m ajo r source
for the history o f the Erice Jew s, the cartulary o f the notary Giovanni M aiorana o f
->0 D a v id A b u la fia , U n a c o m m u n it a eb raica della Sicilia occiden tal e: E ric c 1298-1304, in: Arc hiv io
s toric o p e r la Sicilia or ientale 80 (1984) 7-39, repr. in: D a v id A b u la fia , C o m m e r c e and C o n q u e s t
in the M e d it er r an e an , 11 00- 150 0 ( A ld e r s h o t 1993); a ls o p u b l ish e d in H e b r e w as Jc h u d e i E rice
( M o n t e S an G iu l ia n o ) sh ebeSitsiliah , 1298-1304, in: Z io n : a q ua rterly for research in Je w is h history
51 (1986) 2 95-317; the ke y text is: II reg is tro del n o ta io cricino G io v a n n i M a io r an a ( 129 7-1 300 ), eel.
A. S p a rti, 2 vols. ( P a le r m o 1982); old er edition : II regis tro n otarile di G . M a io r a n a ( 129 7-1 300 ), ed.
A. d e S te fa n o ( P a le rm o 1943).
T h e J e w s o f Sicily and S o u th e r n Italy-
57
1297-1300, indicates that eight were described as m etalw orkers [fabri ), including
one goldsmith. Th ere were also a couple o f butchers, a carpenter and so m e clothw orkers. In other w ords, they were a w ell-rou n ded co mmunity, o f m o dest sta n d ­
ingL ess rich is the docu m en tation concerning je w s in the notarial registers o f P a l­
erm o from the sam e period, but many o f the prime features observable in Erice are
there too. S o m e activities were more characteristic o f a big city, such as the sale of
slaves, and joint enterprises with Christians in silk p ro d u c tio n 31. A t Palermo, as at
Erice, wine p rod u ction was a special concern o f the Je w s, not sim p ly in order to
provide wine that was ritually fit, but also as a reliable form o f investment: wine
and grapes were bou gh t from Christians (there was no bar on bu yin g and selling
n on-k osh er wine, since the rabbinic injunction forbad e co n su m p tio n only, and was
p ro b a b ly m uch ho n ou re d in the breach). M o ney lend in g by J e w s is not mentioned
in the notarial d o cu m en ts o f this period, even though it remained the subje ct o f so
much restrictive legislation, much o f which (o nce again) was theoretical rather than
practical. Indeed, the Palermitan notaries preserve one d o cu m en t in which a J e w
receives a loan from so m eo n e w h o seem s to be a Tuscan Christian. It was to a
C hristian o f Palerm o that the kosher butchers of Palerm o in 1299 consigned the
fleeces and skins o f the sheep they expected to slaughter over the next three or fou r
years. T h is su ggests that the activities o f the J e w s o f Palerm o as tanners were quite
limited b y co m p a riso n with mainland southern Italy, C atalon ia or B y zan tiu m . O n
the other hand, the Sicilian Jew s, like those o f southern Italy, d o appear to have
continued to d om inate the dyeing industry right up to the expulsio n o f 1492. O th e r
areas o f the textile industry in which they w o rk ed (though not alone) included the
p rodu ction o f silken cloths, for instance in eastern Sicily, but this was not a specifi­
cally Jew ish craft.
J e w s were not absent from involvement in the overseas trade o f Palerm o in the
early A ra g o n e se period, as witnessed by an act o f 1287 revealing links between a
J e w and a Christian o f M essina for trade as far as G e n o a. B u t the m ajor area o f in­
terest in overseas trade appears to have been the slave market, fo r Palermo, along
with Barcelon a and M ajorca, was one o f the key7 centres o f exchange o f M uslim
slaves. Even so, the Je w s appear in the do cu m en tation as purchasers rather than as
international slave dealers; and the indications are that Christian C atalan and north
Italian merchants com pletely dom inated the M editerranean slave trade through
Sicily, as one w ould expect o f those w h o ow n e d ships and fou ght aggressively
against M u slim and even C hristian foes. Increasingly' strict legislation (especially
u nder Frederick III from 1310 on w ard s) to ensure that J e w s did not p o sse ss Chris-
31 D a v id A b u la fia , L e attivitä e c o n o m ic h c degl! E br ei siciliani a tt o r n o al 1300, in: Italia J u d a i c a 5:
G li E bre i in Sicilia s ino all’es p u lsio n e del 1492. Atti del V C o n v e g n o internaz iona le , P ale r m o , 1519 g iu g n o 1992 ( R o m e 1995) 89-95. T h is d isc u ss io n is b a se d on P. B u rg a r e lla , L c im brev iat ure del
n o ta io A d a m o de C it cll a a P a le r m o ( 1 ° R c g is t r o : 1286 -128 7) F o n d c S tudi del C o r p u s m e m b r a n a r u m italicarum , ser. 3, 1 ( R o m a 1983); s u m m a r ie s in: P. B u r g a r e lla , II p r o t o c o llo del n o ta io A d a m o
de Cit clla d e ll’a n n o 1286-7, in: A r c h iv io s t o ric o p e r la Sicilia Orientale 75 (19 79) 43 5-553 .
58
D a v i d A b u la fia
tian slaves meant that the M u slim slave was the object o f special dem an d in Jew ish
h ouseholds; m any o f them came from the M o n te Barca region of Cyrenaica.
Palerm o was certainly the m o st substantial Je w ish co m m u n ity in Sicily at the
start o f the fifteenth century, with ab ou t 850 families in 1487, according to the trav­
eller O b a d ia h o f B e rtin o ro 32. A lth ou g h there w as a traditional focus for Jew ish
settlement close to the M artorana convent, they had sh o p s and houses all over the
city, in the Kalsa, in Seralcadio, and close to the shore, where the physician M o se s
C h a z en ow ned a tannery. T h e im pression is that the J e w s remained well integrated
into the structure o f Palermitan society during the fifteenth century. A wide range
o f p ro fessio n s attracted them: there were su gar planters, m uch in dem an d in a p e ­
riod when the island’s su gar industry w as und ergo in g a dramatic Renaissance, and
so m e were involved in oil p rodu ction and o f course viticulture; Palerm o was s o m e ­
thing o f a ‘ garden city’, with plots o f land within and outside the walls, and a siz e ­
able p ro p o rtio n o f the p opulation engaged in specialist agriculture. In 1239-40 F r e ­
derick II had already encouraged the settlement in Palerm o o f north African Jew s,
w h o were invited to restore the cultivation o f henna, indigo and other specialised
crops which had flourished under M u slim and early N o r m a n rule; this co m m u n ity
even had its ow n sy n agogu e. Artisan crafts included not just dyeing and tanning,
but m etalw orking, carpentry, cloth p rodu ction , shoem aking. Th ere were also J e w ­
ish tunny fishermen alongside the m any Christian and occasional M u slim ones.
Th e presence o f such a wide range o f skills was cited as an argum ent against the
expulsion o f 149 233. Indeed, the im pression is that the J e w s were p erform ing virtu­
ally every conceivable econ om ic function, while they preserved their traditional
interests in cloth-dyeing and metalw ork, crafts traditionally assigned to Je w s in
so m e parts o f the Islamic w orld. B u t in so m e areas J e w s were forced to p erform
de meaning tasks such as the execution o f criminals, if Ra b b i O b a d ia h o f Bertinoro
(1488) is to be believed: ‘the labour im p o se d u p o n them b y the government weighs
heavily u p o n them, fo r they are com pelled to go into the service o f the king w h en ­
ever any new lab our project arises; they have to drag ships to the shore, to c o n ­
struct d y k e s and so o n ’.
P a le r m o ’s J e w s also included successful merchants, handling C atalan cloths for
re-export to the east. T h is is not to sa y that they co uld co m pete with the large-scale
im po rt-expo rt businesses o f the G eno ese, C atalans and Tu scans. B u t the J e w s may
have played an im portant role in the internal market as p u rv ey ors o f g oo ds, where
H en ri Bresc has fo u n d them to be increasingly active, across the island, by the late
fifteenth century (a similar role, on a sm aller scale, can be p osited in Malta). There
32 E, A sh to r, Palerm itan J e w r y in the fifteenth century , in: H e b r e w U n i o n C o l l e g e A n n u a l 50
(1979) 21 9 -2 51.
33 O n the e x p u ls io n , see n o w E R e n d a, L a fine del g i u d a i s m o sic iliano ( P a le rm o 1993) and 'Zeldes,
T h e f o r m e r J e w s o f this k i n g d o m ; o ld e r s t ud ie s o f value in clu de E. A sh to r, L a fin d u J u d a i s m e sicilien, in: R e v u e d e s etud es ju ives 142 (1983 ) 32 3-4 7, a crit ique o f C. T rasselli, S u lP e s p u ls io n e degli
ebrei della Sicilia, in: A n n a li della F a c o lt ä di e c o n o m ia e c o m m e r c io , U n iv e rs it ä di P a le r m o 8 (1954)
and C . T r a ss e ll i’s lecture G li ebrei di Sicilia p rinted in his: Siciliani fra Q u a t t r o c e n t o e C in q u e c e n t o
(M e ss in a 1981) 135-57.
T h e J e w s ot Sicily and S o u t h e rn Italy
59
is an interesting co m pa rison to be made here with the co n tem p o ra ry J ew ish mer­
chants o f Castile, Valencia and Gran ada. A s in the day s o f the Genizah, there were
also north African J ew ish b u sinessm en w h o maintained a base in Palerm o, S y ra ­
cuse, or Trapani, and regularly traded across the straits tow ards Tunis and Tripoli.
Th e p ow erful Sala family o f Trapani was involved in the wheat trade tow ards north
Africa at the start o f the fifteenth century. J e w s purchased such g o o d s as English
and French cloth, which they passed on to cu stom ers such as the royal court and
Sicilian bishops. What this evidence reveals is once again the broad similarity b e ­
tween the e con om ic function o f the J e w s and that o f the Christian merchants, even
though the J e w s were small fry co m pared to the G eno ese, C atalans and Tuscans.
Certainly, there is very little evidence even in the last years o f Sicilian Je w r y for the
involvement in m o ney lending which characterised the J e w s o f northern and cen­
tral, and, increasingly, southern Italy. S o m e measures were taken at the start o f the
fifteenth century against Jew ish usury; but this p olicy was so heavily m o u ld e d by
Catalan experience that it provides no p r o o f that excessive interest was being regu­
larly charged.
F r o m M alta to M essin a the Jew ish elite practised medicine, as in southern Italy;
well over a hundred and fifty Jew ish physicians are recorded in late fourteenth and
fifteenth-century Sicily. T h e dienckelele, the head o f the Jew ish com m unities a p ­
pointed b y the C r o w n , assum ed the right to grant licences to practice medicine.
A cce ss to universities remained extremely difficult fo r Jew ish students o f medicine,
though Pad ua in the north becam e willing to adm it a few Jew s, even a Sicilian. A t ­
tempts to establish Jew ish centres o f medical and other studies, co m parable to the
universities, are recorded, notably a grant from the C r o w n in 1466, but there were
no long-lasting results.
A sm aller co m m u n ity such as that o f Sciacca in the so uth o f the island displays
m any features in c o m m o n with the giudecca o f P a ler m o 34. First heard o f in 1295,
when Sa n t’A lberto da Trapani was at w o rk converting J e w s o f Sciacca, the c o m ­
m unity was concentrated in the area o f the tow n k n o w n as L a C a d d a , bu t there
were Jew ish properties in other parts o f town, and Christian house-ow n ers in L a
C ad d a . In 1435 187 male J e w s voted in an election o f the p ro d or syn dics o f the
co mmunity, which w o u ld p rodu ce a total figure o f anything from 500 to 1,000
Je w s in the town, perh aps ten per cent o f the total tow n popu lation o f so m ew here
around 10,000. A distinctive feature o f the co m m u n ity was that it was granted to a
secular lord, A n to n io de L u n a Peralta, in 1457; around the sam e time the Je w r y of
A grigen to was granted to another great baron. Th e count o f Lu na could prove
obd urate in his attitude to the Jew s, so that on one occasion the V iceroy X im enes
d ’U rre a had to intervene to secure the release o f s o m e Je w s the count had illicitly
imprisoned. In this respect, the Jew ries of the m iddle-ranking tow n s w ere no dif-
34 A. S c a n d a lia to and M . G e ra r d i, L a G iu d e c c a di S ci ac ca tra X I V e X V s e c o lo ( d o c u m e n t ! inedtti)
( C a s t e l v e t r a n o 1992), r ep rin ting their article o f sim ilar title f r o m the b o o k Sci acca citta d eg n a
(Scia cca 1990) and an a dd it io na l s t u d y b y A. S c a n d a lia to , L a d o n n a ebrea siciliana nel M e d io e v o ,
first p u b l ish e d in: F a r d cili an a 1991.
60
D a v i d A b u la fi a
ferent fro m other royal assets, on which the m o n e y-fam ish ed A lfo n so the M a g ­
nanim ous was always ready to capitalise. In fact, the giudecca o f Sciacca was care­
ful to m ake h an dsom e contributions to A l f o n s o ’s w ar funds, such as fifty onze in
1436; una cifra non indifferente, as two accom plished historians o f Sciacca’s Je w s
point out. T h is did not release the J e w s from the familiar but vexatious humiliation
o f having to wear a rotella rossa one p a lm ’s breadth broad; in 1427 the priest G i o ­
vanni Planellario travelled to Sciacca to ensure that this law was being respected.
Moreover, there were ou tb reak s o f violence against the J ew s, who were subje cted
to the usual vigorous attempts at conversion.
A final exam ple o f a Jew ish co m m u n ity in the Sicilian k in gd om is provided by
M alta3-'’ . H e r e the J e w s were to all intents treated as citizens o f the arch ipelago’s
small tow ns, and in the fifteenth century even the angaria or corvees traditionally
im po sed on the J e w s had been very largely relaxed. T h e status o f the J e w s as servi
o f the C r o w n was in fact cited by the J e w s themselves, in 1492, to escape intrusion
in their affairs by the local C h u r c h 36. Th e Maltese co m m u n ity enjoyed especially'
close links to Syracuse, w h ose Jew ish community' was active in trade tow ards not
just Malta but north Africa, se nding such obje cts as coral, spun cotton (perhaps
grow n in Malta), raw silk and cheese to the M agh reb, and olive oil to Malta. Malta
was a valued part o f the k in gd om , despite its physical separation from Sicily and its
cultural separation, expressed in the remarkable survival o f an A rabic vernacular
not j ust am ong the J e w s but am ong the general population. Moreover, the Maltese
co m m u n ity is well docu m en ted for the fifteenth century. T h e y were landowners,
petty merchants and retailers, rarely big businessm en, not especially involved in
m o ney lending. Bah yu n i M e h y r and his wife Z am b ite possessed fourteen fields
and thirteen sm aller p ortio n s o f arable land in Malta and G o z o , and even so m e
p rop erty near Syracuse in Sicily. T h e easiest w ay for propertied Je w s to participate
in the exploitation o f such scattered estates was through m ezzadria agreements
with farmers, J ew ish or Christian. T h e Maltese historian Wettinger believes that
m ost o f the Jew ish land was acquired from Christian ow ners who effectively m o rt­
gaged it in return for loa n s37. It is true that Maltese J e w s made rather little effort to
consolidate their estates, in the way typical o f m any Maltese Christians; but there
is really no evidence that the J e w s o f Malta were heavily involved in m oneylending,
and such m ortgage practices were as frequent a m o n g Christians as they were
a m o n g J ew s. T h e image preserved in English literature o f C h risto p h er M a r lo w e ’s
Je w of M alta sim p ly cannot be substantiated in the late medieval evidence. Wet­
tinger points out, in fact, that land m ortgages were even more co m m o n am on g
Christians than they were a m o n g J e w s 38.
Malta was pre-em inently f a m o u s as a source o f raw cotton, and Je w s, so m etim es
w o rk in g closely with partners from Syracuse, were active in the exploitation o f this
35 G. W ettinger, T h e J e w s o f M a lt a in the late M id d le A g e s (Valletta 1985).
-'(y W ettinger, J e w s o f M a lt a 16; cf. 262.
57 W ettinger, J e w s o f M a lt a 34-42.
J * W ettinger, Je w s o f M a lt a 24.
T h e J e w s o f Sicily and S o u t h e rn Italy
61
resource: in 1487 X im x o n Ketib p rom ised to su p p ly the C hristian Pero C aruan a
with a substantial quantity o f co tton; the very sam e clay another Maltese J e w ar­
ranged for the delivery of cotton from the fields. O n c e again, the J e w s had no sp e ­
cial place in this da y -to -d a y business; they were active alongside native and Sicilian
C hristians and foreign merchants such as the Catalans. T h e sale of foreign cloths
was, however, an area where the J e w s were particularly active, and J ew ish petty
traders were som etim es the target of hostility in the villages (there were also at­
tempts to create a ghetto in Mdina). It has to be remem bered, though, that the Jew s
were generally transmitting g o o d s acquired on the international trade ro utes by
big-time foreign merchants with w h o m they could in no w ay compete. Th eir func­
tion lay in the distribution o f these g o o d s out o f the medieval capital o f Malta,
M dina. Yet there was a Jew ish involvement in trade between Sicily and Malta,
which slotted into the existing m edium -range trade network linking Tripoli and
Tunis to Syracuse: in 1442—3 Je w s are found exporting chick-peas to Malta; one o f
the exporters came from Tripoli in Cyrenaica. In 1482 a S yracusan J e w supplied
Malta with so m e coal. A n o th er speciality was metalw ork: in the late fifteenth cen­
tury a group o f J e w s p roba bly from Syracuse fun ction ed as the main blacksm iths
on the island; and they were so valued that H a u a d C u s s u the J e w received ex e m p ­
tion from the corvee norm ally im po sed on J e w s and from certain taxes; his w o rk
included the repair of the cathedral bells in Mdina. T h is speciality in m etalw ork has
parallels with the practice in parts o f the Islamic world, from M o ro c c o to Yemen,
where metal produ ction was often assigned prim arily or exclusively to Jew s. T h us
Maltese J e w r y seems to consist o f a m icrocosm o f that o f Sicily, excepting only the
linguistic convergence between J e w s and Christians; but that too was largely a
thing o f the past in Sicily before 1492.
In both Sicily and southern Italy, then, there is plentiful evidence that the p re s­
ence o f J e w s was seen as econom ically valuable, and it should be em ph asized that
historians increasingly see the fifteenth century as a period o f gathering economic
recovery in both southern Italy and Sicily, a recovery in which the J e w s played a
part. T h is was not sim ply a fiscal question, that is, a matter o f using the J e w s as a
fruitful source o f taxation. In southern Italy the C ro w n , in Sicily the cities, insisted
on the usefulness o f the Je w s as artisans in the years arou nd 1492. Later, in so u th ­
ern Italy, there is evidence that Je w s were often regarded as a preferable source of
sm all-scale credit to unregulated Christians. O n the mainland, it appears that the
shift to p a w n b r o k in g was m o re noticeable than in Sicily, u nder the impetus o f w id ­
er changes taking place in the Jew ish d e m o g ra p h y o f Italy and in the e c o n o m y of
the region; even Ferd in and the C atholic recognised this when he perm itted som e
J e w s to remain in N a p le s after 1510. A nd, despite p o p u lar agitation against the
Jew s, there was no overw helm ing p ressure to expel them from within these territo­
ries; the decision was made by the C r o w n - by Ferd in and in respect o f Sicily, in
1492; and by Charles V and his Viceroy Pedro de T o ledo in respect o f N a p le s, in
1541. It is also clear that the Jew ish com m unities of the end of the M iddle Ages
could s h o w far few er p ow erful business families than appear in the age o f the G e n i­
zah. Lo ca lly such families as the Sala o f Trapani exercised influence, and there was
62
D a v i d A b u la fi a
a tradition in several Sicilian noble houses o f em ploy in g J ew ish m a jo r-dom os; but,
until the A bravanels arrived in N a p le s from Castile, few J e w s possessed close links
to the viceregal courts in the way that the Iberian Jew ish elites had enjoyed ready
access to the royal courts in Spain and Portugal. Cumulatively, however, as highly
p roductive artisans and local traders, the J e w s played an im portant role in the e c o ­
nomic recovery o f the Italian South, only to be forced out when that recovery was
well under way.
Reinhold C. Mueller
The Status and Econom ic Activity of Jew s in the
Venetian D om inions during the Fifteenth Century
Recent studies on the history o f J e w s in the Venetian Terraferma in the last century
o f the M iddle A g e s have expanded ou r k no w led ge considerably. A n excellent co l­
lection o f studies by the late D aniel C arp i on J e w s in Pad ua appeared in 2002. A
seminar held in Verona in 2003 was dedicated to the cases o f Treviso, Verona, Vicen­
za, Feltre and, b ey o n d the bord ers o f Venice but in its sphere o f influence, R o v ig o
(part o f the Veneto on ly from 1484) and Trieste (in the empire); m o st o f the par­
ticipants were y o u n g sc holars w h o had devoted laurea and doctoral theses to sp e ­
cific cities and areas o f the Te rrafe rm a1. A s regards the social and econ om ic history
o f J e w s in the maritime provinces, the Venetian Stato da m ar, the single historian
w h o has contributed m o st is u nq uestio nab ly D a v id Ja cob y , m an y o f w h ose articles
have been collected in readily available volum es. T h e largest o f the provinces,
Crete, as Ja c o b y affirmed already in 1983, remains even tod ay - fo r the history o f
the J e w s - the least-studied area with the m ost vo lu m in o u s d o cu m en tation 2. Th e
present contribution considers the social status and the econ om ic activity o f Jew s
in both regions u nder the direct governance o f Venice.
The status o f Jew s in Venetian territories
T h e conventional vo cab ulary o f the m ajo rity reflects at first glance the social and
legal status o f a minority, in Venice as anywhere else. T h e terms subditus and servus
1 D an iel C arp i , L ’ in d iv id u o e la collettivitä. S ag g i di s tori a degli ebrei a P a d o v a e nel Ven eto nell’eta del R in a s c im e n to ( F lo r e n c e 2002) ; E bre i nella T e r r afe r m a ve ne ta del Q u a t t r o c e n t o , Atti della
G i o r n a t a di s t u d io (Veron a, 14 n o v e m b r e 2003), edited b y G ian M aria Varanini and Reinhold C.
M ueller (F lo r e n ce 2 0 05) 149-50 (available also on -line in R e ti M ed ie vali - R ivis ta, VI, 2005 , 1;
w w w .d s s g . u n if i.it / _ R M /r iv is t a / a t t i/e b r e i.h t m ). M y o w n c o n tr ib u t io n to that v o lu m e , L o status
degli ebrei nella T e r r afe r m a ve neta del Q u a t t r o c e n t o : tra politica, religione, cultura ed econom ia .
S a g g io in trod u ttiv o, ibid. 1-22, c on st it ute s a first att e m p t to deal wit h s o m e o f the t hem es o f this
p a p e r as well as other, wider, issues. M y th anks to D a v id J a c o b y fo r his careful rea d ing o f an ear­
lier ve rs io n o f the p r e s e n t e ss a y and f o r his helpful s u g g es tio n s.
- T h e best ov erview is still D av id Jacoby, Venice and the Venetian J e w s in the Eas tern Mediterrane an,
in: G aetano C ozzi (ed.), G li E bre i e Venezia, secoli X I V - X V I I I (Mila n 1987) 29 -5 8, reprin ted in:
D a v id Jaco by , S tu d ie s on the C r u s a d e r States a n d on Venetian E x p a n s io n ( N o r t h a m p t o n 1989),
art. X . See also idem, R c ch e rc h es sur la Me ditcr rane c orientale d u X I E 'a u X V 1' siecle ( L o n d o n 1979).
64
R e in h o ld C . M u el le r
had widely different connotations. Letters addressed by the d o ge to the council in
Verona in the later fifteenth century, as reported in a recent study, refer to the Jew s
residing in that city as Venetian subjects: “ Iudaei subdili nostri” . Th e phrase was
p ro b a b ly u n d ersto o d to mean that the J e w s were subje ct in the first place directly
to the governm ent o f the capital city, secon dly to the Venetian governors serving in
loco, and thirdly to local authoritie s3. It meant that the state a ssum ed the obligation
o f p rovidin g protection fo r Je w s resident in its territories and as such was a so ughtafter condition. It was very different from the concept o f “ servitude o f the J e w s ”
c o m m o n ly invoked by medieval kings and em perors, a concept not without an
echo in Venice, albeit in expressions not originating from the organs o f the re p u b ­
lican government.
T h at the status o f the J e w s as a minority in the states o f medieval C hristian E u ­
rope was often given expression by calling them servi regis or servi regie earnerae
or servi earnerae nostre (unsere Kammerknechte) is well known. It was long thought
that the concept w as introduced by Frederick II in 1236 but D a v id Abulafia, in his
search for the origin and meaning o f such proprietary terms in different places and
times, has fou nd that the ro ots in the Mediterranean w orld lie considerably further
back - at least as early as 1176, date o f the statute o f a tow n in A ragon - and that
France, En gland and G e rm a n lands had laws with similar form ulations antedating
Frederick II. Fie has sh ow n that the concept involved a kind of “ apertaining” to
the royal treasury or fisc, a direct (Latin: im m ediate) subje ction or dom inion that
was intended to guarantee protection to the J ew s. Servus, he affirms, did not mean
serfdo m or slavery and the unfreedom o f the J e w concerned only his relationship
to the king or the em peror; at the sam e time, the term and the reality behind it b e ­
came m ore pejorative in the later M iddle A ges, beginning with the Angevins in
N a p le s and the A ra gon ese in Sicily4.
Perhaps closer to Venetian experience was the B y zan tine tradition, ab ou t which,
however, very little is known. O n e particular diplom atic exchange between em ­
p eror A n d ron icus II and do ge G iovan ni S o ra n z o in 1319—20 sheds so m e light on
the issue, even if the original G reek texts are not extant. A cco rding to the surviving
Latin texts, the em pe ror wrote o f the J e w s o f the Vlanka quarter of C onstan tin op le
3 G ia n M a r ia Var anini m en tio n s the p hrase concitarc populos contra lu daeos subditos nostros in a
w a r n in g p r o h ib it in g a n y acti on in the T e r r afe r m a city that w o u ld incite the p e o p l e against the
Je w s , “ o u r s u b j e c t s ” ; see his S oc i c ta cristiana e m in o r a n z a cb ra ic a a V e r o n a nella s e c o n d a metä del
Q u a t t r o c e n t o . Tr a id eo lo gia osservante e vita q u o t id ia n s in Ebrei nella T e rrafe rm a vcncta, in: idem,
Reinbold C. M ueller (eds.), E bre i nella T e r r afe r m a veneta (above , note 1) 149-50. It is w o r t h noti ng
that lettere ducali m ere ly tran sm itted to the aut ho rit ie s o f s u b j e c t territories relevant d ec is io n s o f
the s ta te ’s legislative org an s.
4 D a v id A b u lafia, T h e S er vit u d e o f J e w s and M u s l im s in the med ie va l M ed it er ran ean : origin s and
d if fu sio n , in: M e la n g e s de l’ E c o l e F ra ng a is e d e R o m e - M o y e n A g e 112 (2000) 687 -7 14; idem,
N a m lu de i servi regis sun t, ct s e m p e r fisco regio dcputati: L o s Ju d fo s en el F u e r o m unicipal de
Tcrucl ( 11 76 -7 ), in: E l m ö n u r b a a la C o r o n a d ’ A r a g ö del 1137 als D e c r c t s d e N o v a Planta, X V I I
C o n g r c s d ’H i s t ö r i a d e la C o r o n a d ’ A r a g o , 3 vols., vol. 2 ( B ar ce lo n a 2003) 1-10; idem, T h e first
Servi C a m e r e R e gie in Sicily, in: M e d it crr a n co, M e z z o g i o r n o , E u r o p a . S tu di in o n o r e di C o s i m o
D a m i a n o F o n s e c a (Bar i 200 4) 1-13 - p u b lic at io n s kin dly p r o v i d e d b y the author.
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c Activ it y of J e w s m the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
65
as “ our Jew s, legitimate p rop erty o f the Em pire ( nostri Iudei quedam appropriata
possessio sunt Im perij)” . T h e seem ingly “ p ro p rie ta ry ” relationship was em phasized
in connection with the rank trade o f tanning hides, in which Je w s under both im­
perial and Venetian ju risdictions were heavily involved. T h e poin t o f contention
was the right o f J e w s o f the Venetian quarter to live where they wished and ply the
trade they wished, including tanning, while profitting fro m the exem ption from
imperial taxes as Venetians. T h e contending parties referred to the J e w s as “ vestri”
and anostri” \ the imperial chancery wrote o f those o f the Venetian quarter as “ves­
tri Iudei ut Veneti” and the Venetians insisted u pon imperial recognition that “ Iu ­
dei nostri vel alij nostri subditi” be free to p ly the trade o f their choice. T h e p o s s e s ­
sive pron oun s used did not im ply servility and the exchange concerned who was
subditiis o f w h om ; the Venetian side gave expression to its obligation to protect its
subjects and their interests, which ob viou sly coincided with the interests o f the
state3.
So far only three cases reflecting a certain currency o f terms o f servitude have
been uncovered in Venetian docum en ts. Tw o are in petitions made to the Venetian
government, while the third com es from a serm on. T h e first was directed in 1441
to do ge F rancesco Foscari b y the J e w s o f Treviso regarding the tax paid by their
banks, in which they refer to themselves as “ y o u r m ost faithful servants (fedelissimi
3 T h e texts can be f o u n d in tran sl at ion in Steven B. Bow m an, T h e J e w s o f B y z a n t i u m , 1204-1453
(U n iv e r s it y o f A l a b a m a 1985) 244-247 , d ocs. 37-39; the y are d is c u s s e d on 22-24. In the L atin texts,
in G e o r g M. Thom as, D i p l o m a t a r i u m vene to-l e vantin um , vol. I (Venice 1880), the w o r d i n g o n the
e m p e r o r ’s side o f the d is p u te is ... sic respondemus, quod nostri Iu d ei quedam appropriata possessio
sunt Imperij-, ... aliq u i de vestris htdeis Venetis a d eos concordati s u n t ... cum ipsis nostris Iudeis ...
(142). T h e d o g e r e s p o n d e d - and ha d his a m b a s s a d o r s r e s p o n d - w ith the s a m e te r m in o lo g y o f
“ o u r s ” and “ y o u r s ” : ... q u o d [dom inus im peratorj dictos nostros lu d eos perm ittat ibi stare, sia it
stcterunt hiicusque, et laborare cur am en et pellam cn a d suam hberam voluntatem , nullam eis propterea molestiam facien d o (153); ... qu od Iu d ei nostri vel alij nostri subditi laborent de suis artibus,
quicquid volunt (129). It s h o u ld be note d that B o w m a n alr ea dy in his in tro d u c tio n (7) w a r n s
against falling in to the te m p t a t io n “ to d r a w p ar a ll e ls ” be t w e en the c o n d it io n o f J e w s in B y z a n t iu m
and “ the m u c h - d is c u s s e d q u e s t io n o f J e w is h st at us o r J e w i s h s e r f d o m in the L a t in W e s t ” and he
con tinue s: “ T h e J e w s , tor their part, we re citizens (albeit s e c o n d class) o f the B y z a n t in e E m p ire
fr o m its incep tion and thus w e re entitled to the rights a n d privile ges o f R h o m a i o i ( R o m a n s ) , even
t h o u g h the y w e re s u b ject to v a rio u s restriction s as J e w s . ” See a ls o Jo sh u a Starr, R o m a n ia . T h e
Je w r ie s o f the L e v a n t after the F o u r t h C r u s a d e (Paris 1949) 27-3 2, w here the J e w is h q u a r ter is
called pelam ina, that is, c o r r e s p o n d i n g to the area o f the tann ers. F o r the con te x t and analysis o f
this co n tr oversy , see D a v id Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian J e w s in the E a s t e rn M e d it er ran ean
38-3 9; on the s tatu s o f Venetian J e w s in B y z a n t iu m , see idem, L e s V cnit icn s naturalises dans
P E m p ir e B y z a n t in : un asp e c t de l’cx p a n s io n d e Venisc en R o m a n i c du X I I F au milieu d u X V 1'
siecle, in: T r a v au x et m e m o ir c s , C e n t r e de rech erche d ’ histoire et civilisation de B y z a n c c , 8 (1981),
reprinted in: idem , S tu die s , esp. 227 -2 28 . Sta rr rem a rk e d that in 1414 it was rep o r t e d to the Senate
that the J e w s o f N e g r o p o n t e we re t o o p o o r to p a y the tax o f 1 2 5 0 yp e r pcr i, nam pro m aiori parte
sunt servi s h e vilani, p r o b a b l y m ea n in g on ly that s o m e w o r k e d o n the land (Starr, R o m a n ia 53).
Finally, it is w o r t h m en t io n in g a parallel; a c co r d in g to A b u ia fia the a rc h b ish o p o f C a p u a had
received fr o m C o n s t a n c e , m o th e r o f F re d e r ic k II, the gr an t o f the ju d aica ot C a p u a , whi ch
gu aran tee d him tax reve nue s fr o m the d y c - s h o p s o f the J e w s , a trad e not d is s im il a r fr om that o f
tann ing; see: T h e S er vit u d e o f J e w s a n d M u s l im s 701.
66
R e in h o l d C . M u el le r
servitori vostri; ... vostri' f edel H ebrei)” . T h e second, less equivocal, was made by
Salom on cino, the wealthy Jew ish moneylender o f Piove di Sacco ten kilometers
from Padua, when - in 1477 - he called himself, m ore than once in the sam e d o c u ­
ment, “ slave and servant o f this illustrious governm ent ( schiavo e servidore de
questa Illustrissima Signoria)”b. In both cases the petitioners were p roba bly being a
bit obseq u iou s, while stating the favor they asked o f the government, but they
could not have afforded to use such u n a m b ig u o u s language if it did not reflect an
und erstood legal concept, cognizance o f which they, as A shk enazi Jew s, might
have acquired fro m their G e rm a n ancestors. T h e final case co m es from the Lenten
serm on preached by a Franciscan, fra G iova n M aria d ’A r e z z o , at the conventual
church o f S. M aria dei Frari in 1515, during the d iscussion s a b ou t what to do with
the many J e w s w h o had taken refuge in Venice from the invading armies o f the
L eague o f C am b ra i. T h e account com es from M arin Sanu do , in the context o f an
invective o f his o w n against the J e w s who, du ring H o l y Week, were su p p o sed to
disappear fro m sight; that year, he noted, they had not and no one did anything
abou t it, because during this w ar the state needed them (“ hanno bisogno di loro").
T h e preacher, he writes, sp o k e out against them “ conclu ding that they could be
d ispossessed and all their g o o d s used for the defence o f the state because they are
our servants (perche sono servi nostri)” 7. T h e Franciscan was p ro b a b ly not a jurist
6 A ngela M öschter , J u d e n im venezi an is ch en T reviso, 13 89-1509, u n p u b l ish e d d o c to ra l thesis
( U n iv e r s it y o f Trie r 2 00 4) Q u ell en , no. 29, 433-4 34. S a l o m o n c i n o ’s p eti tio n, kin dly b r o u g h t to m y
attentio n b y A rie l T oa ff , w a s p u b l ish e d b y F ranz Babinger, J a ’a q ü b - P a s c h a , ein L e ib a r z t M e h m e d s
II., L e b e n u n d S ch ic k sa l des J a c o p o aus G a et a , in: R ivis ta degli S tu di O r ie n ta li 26 (1951) 87-113, at
196-197, rep rin ted in his A u f s ä t z e und A b h a n d l u n g e n z u r G e s c h ic h t e S ü d o s t e u r o p a s und d e r
L eva n te , vol. 2 ( M u n ic h 1966). O n S a l o m o n c i n o see a ls o D a v id Jaco b y , L e s J u i f s ä Venise du X I V C
au milieu d u X V I C siecle, in: H an s-G e o rg Beck, M anoussos M anoussacas, Agostm o Pertusi (eds.),
Venezia, c e ntro di m e d ia z io n e tra O r ie n t e e O c c id e n te (se co li X V - X V I ) : aspetti e p r oble m i. Atti
del II C o n v e g n o in tern az io na le di stori a della civiltä ve n e zia n a, V en ez ia 1973 (F lo r e n c e 1977)
vol. I, 163-216, rep rin ted in: idem , R e ch er c h e s, art. V II I , at 185, 197-198, 201; and idem, N e w
E v id e n c e on J e w i s h B a n k e r s in Venice and the Venetian T e r r a fe r m a (c. 1450-1550), in: T h e M e d i ­
terrane an and the J e w s . B a n k in g , Fin a nc e and In ternation al Tr a de , X V I - X V I I I C e n t u r ie s ( R a m a t
G a n , Tel Aviv 1989) 154-159.
7 M arino Sanuto (als o M arin Sanudo), Diarii, R inaldo Fulin et al. (eds.), 58 vols. (Venice 18791903) vol. 20, col. 98: ... concludendo si pol tuor tutto il stio h aver e rneterlo a defension dil Stato,
perche sono servi nostri. C i t e d first b y Fnnio Concina, P ar va Je r u s a le m , in: Ennio Concina, Ugo
Carnermo, D on atella C alab i, L a cittä degli ebrei. II G h e t t o di Venezia: a rchi tettura e urb ani stica
(Venice 1991) 33 a n d n o te 38 (an d cf. 34, 43). O t h e r friars in their L e n t e n s e r m o n s had in p r eviou s
years alr eady in siste d o n a right to s a c k the J e w s ; S a n u d o w r o t e in A p r il 1511 o f D o m in i c a n s,
F ra nci sc ans a n d p aris h p riests w h o railed against the J e w s : F t atento ehe in questi zorm ' Jr a Ruf in
Lovato, q u a l predicha su l campo di San Polio, h avia dito contra li z udei ‘et saria bon tuorli tutto
quello ehe hanno et ponerli a sach o’, perche questa terra e piena di zu dei fu z iti qui, et eri [1 April]
predicoe assai, e dubitando di novita contra di Ihoro, in questa m atina Anselmo et Viviam, bancheri,
fonno a li capi di X, dolenclossi d i questo. I q u al capi andono a la Signoria et fo term inato adm onir
dito predichador, et cussi quel di fra ti m enori et di San C assam , ehe predichano tal cosse, accio non
segui contra ditti zu d ei qualche cossa : Dia rii, vol. 12, col. 9 8-9 9 (2 A p r il 1511). F o r the orig in s in
A u g u s tin e o f the right a s s u m e d b y C h r is t ia n s to d i s p o s s e s s infidels, e specially J e w s , see Giacom o
Todeschini, I m er cant i c il t e m p io . L a socie tä cristiana e il c ir c o lo v ir t u o s o della ricche zza fra M e ­
d io e v o ed E ta m o d e r n a ( B o l o g n a 20 0 2) 239-45.
The S ta t u s a n d E c o n o m i c A c t iv it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
67
but he knew both his legal sources and what his audience w ould understand and
S an u do considered it im portant to re port the phrase that underscored the servitude
o f the Jews.
If a direct b o n d between the republican governm ent o f Venice and “ its” J e w s is
surprising at first sight, it is the only legal relationship that can explain a series o f
otherwise a n o m a lo u s situations. It explains why the charters (condotte) negotiated
between local authorities and Jew ish moneylenders had to be app rov ed by the S en ­
ate8, as did requests for expelling Jew ish moneylenders or the J e w s tout court, even
over the head o f the Venetian gov ern or in loco. It explains w h y the charters had
alm ost universally to guarantee exem ption o f the J e w s fro m local taxes, in order
that they could be taxed centrally and as a single co m m u n ity despite the fact that its
members operated in m any centers. Th e sam e holds true for forced loans, both
gratuitous and interest-bearing, that could be - and were - requested at any time
by the Senate in favor o f the central treasury, especially in times o f war; even local
authorities often had to b o rr o w from J e w s in order to meet taxes levied b y the
next-higher administration. It explains w h y in so m an y sm aller localities the banks
and so m etim es the ho uses o f J ew ish lenders were located within the castle, a place
by definition ow n e d and defended by the government, with a centrally-chosen
castellan and a garrison o f soldiers, for the protection o f the J e w s in the interests of
the state. T h is was the case in Mestre, Piove di Sacco, Monselice, M ontagn ana, Villafranca and yet m o re fortified tow n s in the Terraferma9. It w o u ld explain w h y many
decrees o f expulsion o f the J e w s concerned only the m a jo r urban centers, whereas
the banks were licensed to operate in localities o f the p eriphery so as to keep alive
fo r the state a vital source o f taxes and loans, even thou gh credit in the small towns
was m ore costly to urban clients w h o were considered foreigners outside their city
of residence and w h ose p aw n s had to be transported, at further risk and c o s t 10. Fis A lr e a d y in the y e a r 1400 a Je w , w h o s e services w e re r e q u e s t e d b y the local W o o l G u il d , agreed
to lend in T r e v is o b u t o n ly if he received a special license fr o m Venice ( A r c h iv io di stat o di Venezia,
hereafter AS V, S e n a to misti, reg. 45, fol. 13r, 14 m ag g io ). B u t it W'as o n ly in 1424, in a p e rio d o f
h e avy p r es s u r e a ga in st the J e w s , c o n co m it a n t and in the w a k e o f B e r n a r d in o d a S ie n a ’s p rea ching
in the Veneto, that the Sen ate, having ref us ed c o n fir m a t io n o f the cha rt e r neg otia ted b y r ectors in
V er on a with three J e w i s h ba n k e r s, dec reed that thenc eforth no cha rter c ould be m a d e with J e w is h
lenders w it h o u t c o n fir m a t io n b y the Sen ate itself: ibid., reg. 55, fol. 7v (30 m a r z o 1424). It s h o u ld
be noted that this latter p r o v is io n w a s sig na li ze d in the m ar g in , exception ally , b y s o m e n o ta r y or
sc rib e in the ch a n ce r y w ith the w o r d s , in large letters, JU D E O R U M M O R S U S and a large “ O ” , in
o b v i o u s reference t o the y e llo w sign J e w s we re on ce again re q u ir ed to wear. A n a tte m p t to rescind
the la w b e cau se o f the tedium it in vo lved w a s defea ted five y e a rs later b y a large m aj orit y: ibid.,
reg. 57, fol. 123r (1 J u l y 1429).
9 F o r the transfe r o f b a n k s fr o m cities to n e a r b y to w n s, see C arpi, L ’in d iv id u o e la collettivitä 3334, 64. T h e c o u n t s o f P o rc ia and B r u g n e r a in Friuli (part o f the Venetia n T e r r afe r m a since 1420)
neg ot ia ted cha rters, a p p r o v e d b y the Sen ate, with J e w s w h o s e e m to have b o t h lived and lent
m o n e y in the f a m i l y ’s castles in the fifteenth century. T h e cha rt e r o f 1580 explicitly state s that the
c o u n t w a s to accettarm i [A bram ebreo] nelpredetto suo castello di B ru gn ara et fen erar et mercantar: A. de Pellegrini, B a n ch i di p e g n o deg li ebrei nei castelli di P orc ia e B r u g n e r a (14 51 -160 4),
S p o s a liz io F a n n y dei con ti P o rc ia e B r u g n e r a c o n FI C oll arin i, V en ez ia 1920 ( P o r d e n o n e 1920) 24,
k in d ly b r o u g h t to m y atten tion b y B e n n y A rbe l.
10 C arpi, L ’ in d iv id u o c la collettivitä 63-64.
68
R e in h o ld C . M u el le r
nally, the direct subjection was underscored also when litigation involving Je w s
was withdrawn fro m the jurisdiction o f local courts and reserved lor the court of
the Venetian governor, as a ducal letter addressed to the podestä of Pad ua in 1434
s h o w s 11. In brief, direct subje ction o f Je w s to the central governm ent guaranteed
them protection in return for the chance to tax them and extract loans from them.
Whether that status as subjects involved any aspect o f “ se rvitu d e” is less im portant,
although it remains interesting that the latter term was used at all in so m e c o n ­
texts.
C itizensh ip
In spite o f the positiv e elements entailed in the status o f subditi, it is not surprising
that Venice did not grant citizenship privileges to individual Jew s, as it did to im ­
migrant Christians, even during those periods when they legitimately resided and
kept banks in the city o f Venice (1382-1397, 1516-1797). In R o m an ia, the status o f
fidehs and Venetus albus fo r Jew ish residents was recognized, but it was useful for
protection and fo r the privileges it entailed on ly there, not outside o f the R o m a ­
nia12. Even after the onslaught o f the Black D ea th when Venice invented incentives
to repopulate not only the capital city but also the maritime colonies and offered
citizenship privileges in 1353 to inhabitants and new immigrants to N e gro p o n te ,
C o r o n , M o d o n , C an dia, Catiea, Rethimno, Sitia and their su bu rbs, the Senate
underscored the exclusion o f J e w s from the provision: “ non intelligendo in hoc
htdeos’H~.
Even though the exclusion was peremptory, J e w s occasionally attempted to o b ­
tain so m e kind o f privilege that w ould im prove their ability to com pete as inter­
regional merchants, attempts that involved mere wishful thinking. Eliyahu A sh to r
reported a notarial d o cu m en t o f 1422 written in A lexandria in which Elia C apsali
o f Rethim no (C rete), a hosteller and wholesaler o f wine, asked a Venetian nobleman
and tw o Jew ish merchants to petition the Venetian governm ent in his name to get
“ som e kind o f special citizenship privilege {de gratia sp etiali... quoddam citadrnantie privilegium )”, with clauses similar to those conceded to other faithful citizens
(“ sicut aliis fidelibus civibus”) and with the seal o f San Marco. C apsali p rom ised to
pay any and all expenses incurred, but he p ro b a b ly never received what he was
looking for, that is, treatment as a local citizen as regards cu stom s charges and the
law o f reprisals. It is a second case that makes one seriously d o u b t it14.
O n ly three years later a co un try m an o f C ap sali, “ Cressonus judeits de Rethimno
filius Solomonis L azari de M eir” was p rosecuted and sentenced fo r having acquired
11 A n to n io C isc ato , G l i ebrei in P a d o v a (1 300-1 800 ) ( P a d u a 1901, repr. B o l o g n a 1985) 179. A p ­
peals, wh ether in volv in g J e w s o r C h r is tia n s , were heard in Venice b y the A v o g a d o r i d i conw n.
12 See J a c o b y , L e s Ven it ie ns naturali ses d a n s P E m p ir e By za n tin .
13 ASV, C o m m e m o r i a l i , rcg. 5, fol. 3 r; S en at o Misti, reg. 26, cop ia , fols. 2 4 5 v -2 4 6 v (21 J u n e 1353).
14 E liy ah u A sh to r, E bre i cittadini di V enezia?, in: S tu di ve ne ziani 17-18 ( 19 75- 76) 145-156.
The S ta t u s and E c o n o m i c Act ivit y o f Je w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
69
a false privilege, forg ed by a notary o f the Venetian chancery for a fee o f 40 ducats.
H e had told the n otary he needed the letter patent as an international merchant:
“ quia erat grossus rnercator in partibus Crete et quod tractaretur pro cive in partibus Crete, quia Iudei tractantur pro forenstbus” . T h e forged patent contained the
following phrases:
quod dictus Cressonus, avis, subditus et habitator Retbimi, a d diversas
m undi partes se conferat et m ittat suos factores cum mercationibus et aliis
rebus per m are et per terram; quod ipse Cressonus mercationes et res sue in
m ari et quolibet loco tractantur et expediantur secure, favorabiliter et be­
nigne,
that is, with the protection and favorable conditions o w ed to citizens o f Rethim no
(he did not aspire to Venetian citizenship - it was en ou gh to be proven a citizen o f
Rethimno). B u t C r e s s o n o w as sentenced for having procured a forgery, which
means that he knew he could not aspire to the privilege legally. In fact, the forgery
said he w as a citizen, whereas he himself had admitted that J ew s, even if habitatores
o f a city o f the Venetian maritime dominion, were treated as forenses. Sentenced in
absentia, he escaped incarceration and seem s later to have been quite rehabilitated
in C r e t e 13.
In Italy individual urban governments had the right to grant citizenship even to
Je w s when they saw fit to do so, as was the case in Perugia, whereas princes simply
issued decrees. In C arra ra Padua, for example, F ra n c esc o I il Vecchio around 1377
granted Paduan original citizenship ( quem adm odum civ es on gin an i P atavii ) via a
decretum civilitatis to a Jew ish medical do cto r and banker A b ra h a m and his son.
T h is privilege was renewed b y F rancesco II N o v e llo in 1394 and again by the new
overlord of Padua, Venice, in 1406. B u t tw o details characterize the privilege to be
scribantur in numero civium Padue ...: first o f all, norm ally a grant o f citizenship
to a C hristian did not have to be renewed, as was this one, although it may well be
that the Je w s had requested the renewal in order to strengthen their position; sec­
ondly, the relevant clause in the charter reads that the lender, his em ployees and his
family were “ to be had, treated and reputed in all matters just as other citizens of
Padua and Piove di S a c c o ” , with the right to purchase real estate and the obligation
15 ASV, Avo g a ria di c o m u n , reg. 3647/11, i. 114 (13 M a y 1427). In D e c e m b e r 1434 Venetian a u ­
thorities '‘ ref us ed to p r o se c u t e C r e s s o n c ( G e r s h o n ) , a J e w o f R e t h y m n o , for thefts and exaction s
a pp a r en tly a ttr ibuted to him o u t o f m ali ce ” : Z vi Ankori, T h e L iv in g and the D e a d : the S to r y o f
H e b r e w I n sc r ip tio ns in C r e t e ( P a r t I, T h e L o s t R ecord ) in: P ro c e e d in g s o f the A m e ri ca n A c a d c m y
f o r J e w is h R e se ar ch 3 8 -3 9 (1970-7 1 ) 83. T h e s a m e man, su p p lie r to Venice o f a lm o n d s , m alm se y
w in e and o t h e r C r e t a n p r o d u c t s , w a s b a n k r u p t in 1450. A civil ca se r eg a r d in g him m en tio n s a
sentence b y the P rovveditori di comun in 1426 and a nothe r ca se o f 1432; see ASV, G iu d ic i di
p eti zi on , S en ten ze a g iu stizia , reg. 112, fols. 9 6v-99 v (22 M a y 1450); the case o f 1432 w a s actu ally
an a rbitratio n b y w hich Acrcsone hebreus qd. Salom onis receive d dam num o w e d him b y M a r c o di
P ietr o M u a z z o : ibid., reg. 64, fols. 35v -3 6 (12 F e b . 1432, m o r e ve neto). F o r the ca se o f a n o to rio u s
s p y w o r k in g for Ven ice w h o was to receive tax -e x e m p t io n in C r e t e “ like Venetian c it iz e n s ” (he
a ls o petitio ne d su c c e ss fu lly f o r license to p u r c h a se real esta te in C a n d ia ), see D a v id Jaco b y , U n
agent J u i f au service d c Venise: D a v id M a v r o g o n a t o de C a n d ie , in: T h e s a u r is m a t a 9 (1972) 79-80.
70
R cin h old C . M u el le r
to p ay taxes on it H>. What A b ra h a m received, at the sam e time as he opened his
banking operation in Piove di Sacco in 1377, was p ro b a b ly a kind o f tem porary
citizenship, according to the category defined by the jurist O n o f r io Bartolini o f
Perugia in 1397, that is, he was to be treated “ as other citizens” were treated for the
duration o f the charter b y which he was licensed to lend at u s u r y 17.
In exactly the sam e years but in a city long u nder Venetian rule, Treviso, Jew s
included under the provisions o f a charter insisted on their being treated as citizens:
quod per form am ipsorum pactorum debent tractari tam quam alii civ es Tarvisii
(1396). T h is privilege meant protection and so m e level o f equal treatment under the
law. In a d o cu m en t o f 1409 the relevant clause p rom isin g quasi-citizensh ip read:
ceu proprie alios civ es Tarvisini haberetis et prout in similibus vestros homines et
civ es pertractari, that is, again they are to be “ treated like other citizens and as you
treat y o u r citizens” . If this p hrase is a m bigu ous, taken literally, a little further on,
when the charter is discussed as a d o cu m en t negotiated inter cives et ipsos the a m ­
biguity vanishes: the cives are the Christian representatives, while ip si are the other
party, the Jew s. A s A ngela M ö sch ter writes, this kind o f “ citizenship” was not
equatable with that o f Christian s because it was tem p orary and because it made
possible neither e m p lo y m en t in the governm ent bu reau cracy nor participation in
the religious and civic rituals o f the city, which were limited to Christians, that is,
to fideles18. Even this tem p orary and incomplete kind o f citizenship, however, was
no longer offered to the J e w s o f Treviso after that and studies o f other cities o f the
Terraferma have n ot b ro u gh t to light exam ples o f similar treatment. Finally, the
nexus between citizenship and the right - or even obligation - to purchase real
16 C iscato , G li ebrei in P a d o v a 22 9-2 30: ...h abean tm ; tractentur et reputentur in om nibus velut
allij cives Pachte et Plebis Sachi. A l s o C arpi , L ’in d iv id u o e la collettivita 197-198, and Francesca Zen
Benetti, P re statori ebraici c cristiani nel P a d o v a n o fra T r e cen t o e Q u a t t r o c e n t o , in: C o zzi (ed.), G li
ebrei e V enezia 63 5-6 36. C i s c a t o p o in te d o u t that the toscani, the C h r is t ia n m o n e y l e n d e r s w h o
o p e ra ted in P a d u a b e fo r e the arrival o f the Je w s , w e re o b li g e d b y the statute s to p u r ch a se a ho u se
and a terrain, w h e r e b y they b e c a m e citizen s o f P ad ua . W h e n Venice in 1423 gave J e w s in all su bjec t
te rritories t w o ye a rs to sell a n y real esta te the y o w n e d , the capital city t o o k a w a y a n y cha nc e to
b e c o m e citizens in this t rad itional m an ne r: Ciscato, G li ebrei in P a d o v a 17-18, 39. U n d e r Venice,
the J e w s lost their sing le m o s t im p o rt a n t d ep osit or, the C a r r a r a lord s. F r a n c e s c o il Vecchio, for
exam p le , m ad e a d e p o s i t o f £ 90 00 0 - s o m e 25 00 0 d u cats - w ith on e J e w i s h b a n k e r in 1372: Ben­
jam in G. Kohl, P a d u a u n d e r the C a rr a r a , 1305-1405 ( B altim o r e , L o n d o n 1998) 140.
17 T h e c o m u n e o f P er ug ia had a sk e d B artolin i fo r an o p in io n a b o u t the legal stat us o f a Jew, w h o
he said c o u ld be elther/orews/'s, civis p er tempus, o r civis in perpetuum . See A riel Toaff, J u d c i cives?
G li ebrei nei catas ti di P er ug ia del Trecen to, in: Z a k h o r 4 (200 0) 11-36. A b r a h a m ’s s o n J o s e p h ,
w ho , as w e will see be low , w a s tried b e fo r e sever al c o u r t s in P a d u a and Venice on cha rges o f le n d ­
ing illegally, c o u ld d efen d h im s elf aga in st the interference o f yet a n o t h e r j u d g e o n the basis that the
latter d id n ot have j u r is d ic t io n inter cives; see Philippe Braunstein , L e pret s u r gag e s ä P a d o u e et
d a n s le P a d o u a n au milieu d u X V C siecle, in: C ozzi (ed.), G l i ebrei e V en ez ia 661.
18 Angela Möschter, G li ebrei a T r e v is o d ur an te la d o m i n a z i o n e ve ne ziana, in: E b r e i nella Terrafer­
m a ve neta 75, and her J u d e n im ve ne zianische n T reviso, Q u e ll e n , nos. 21 -22, 42 6-4 27. F o r the
“ e x t r a n e o u s n e s s ” o f the J e w s in the civitas cbristiana, see, f o r e xa m p le , Giacom o Todeschini, Spirit u m non ha be ntes: a p p u n t i sulla ‘ b e s ti a liz z a z io n e ’ degli ebrei nell’ alto m e d io e v o , fo r t h c o m in g in:
S tudi in o n o r e di E n z o D ’A lc s s a n d r o ( P a le rm o 20 06) ( m y th a n k s to the a u t h o r for having m ad e
the text available to m e p r io r to publ ication).
T h e S ta tu s and E c o n o m i c Ac tiv it y of Je w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
71
estate, as was normal fo r Christian immigrants and novi ewes, was eliminated by
the Venetian Senate in 1423 when it prohibited Je w s from ow ning real p r o p e r t y 19.
This developm ent p ro b a b ly came about under the influence o f minorite preaching.
H ow ever, it m ay not have constituted a serious limitation to the freedom o f Je w s to
invest money, since in the fifteenth century Jew ish bankers had to invest in several
and dispersed bank ing enterprises and keep their investments as liquid and mobile
as possible, both b y choice and per force, given the increased insecurity and the
constant vacillation o f the authorities between renewal and termination o f licenses
to lend.
In brief, in Venetian subje ct cities and towns, as in E u r o p e generally, the civitas
w as in the essence christiana; the infideles were extranei and could at best be ac­
cepted pro tempore as hospites.
T axation and forced loans
M o st historians w o u ld agree with Michael T o c h ’s m etap ho r co m parin g the Jew s,
especially the bankers, to “ milk c o w s ” , to be taxed alm ost at will20. In economic
terms, however, the concept has to be rendered m ore precise. First o f all, ability to
p ay an annual tax im p o se d b y the central governm ent depended both on the ex­
em ption from local direct taxes and on the mix between the capital meant to be
made available in a given locality and the ceilings placed on legal rates o f interest.
B o th were essential elements o f negotiation prior to agreement on a new charter.
T h is is clear from the sim ple arithmetical option offered b y the governm ent to the
Je w s in Venice at the time o f the renewal o f their charter in 1385. Th e choice was
between m axim u m interest rates o f 10 % on collateral and 12 % on written instru­
ments (chirographs) p lu s a tax o f 4 0 0 0 ducats, or rates respectively o f 8 % and 10%
with no tax. T h e J e w s calculated that the higher rates w o u ld not p ro d u ce the
am ou n t asked as an annual tax and opted therefore to lend at the lower rates, on the
edge o f profitability bu t u nquestionably providing a service fo r the needy, as the
Senate had requested. In 1397, the year o f the expulsion o f J e w s from Venice, the
Senate tried to tax the J e w s in the province o f Treviso fo r 3 000 ducats. T h e local
govern or called in representatives o f all the centers involved in order to discuss the
matter and the bankers sh ow ed, locality b y locality, that with the capital they were
required - by charter - to make available for loans and the limits im p o se d on inter­
est rates, they w o u ld be unable to raise the requested tax. F igures at hand, they
sh ow ed that the tax constituted 13.6% o f the capital they were required to make
19 AS V, S en ato misti, reg. 54, foi. ! 4 7 v (26 S e p t e m b e r 1423). T h e decree w a s p u b lis h e d va ri ou s
times, not a lw ays com plete ly . See Sirne L ju b ic (ed.), L istine o o d n o s a j ih izm e d ju J u z n o g a Slavenstva
M let a ck e r ep ublik e, 10 vols. ( Z a g r e b 1868-91) vol. 8 (1886) 253, a n d H ip p o ly te N o ire t (ed.), D o c u ­
m en ts inedits p o u r scr vi r a l’histoire d e la d o m in a ti o n ve nitiennc en C r e te de 1380 ä 1485 (Paris
1892) 297-98.
20 M ic h ae l 1'och, D i e J u d e n im Mitte lalterlich en Reich ( E n z y k l o p ä d i e D e u t s c h e r G e sc h ic h t e 44,
M u n ic h 1998) 49-51.
72
R ein hol d C . Mu eller
available in loans, whereas in the m ajo r popu lation centers o f Treviso and Mestre,
which served Venice, the m axim um interest rate was only 14 or 15% on collateral.
Table 1 makes this clear.
T a b le I. C a p it a l in th e J e w i s h b a n k s o f th e p o d e s t e r ia o f T re v iso in 1 3 9 7 a n d th e resp e c tiv e
m a x im u m r a te s o f in te r e st
Locality
Treviso
M estre
C on eglian o
Castelfranco
S c r r a v a ll e
total'.
capital (ducats)
12300
7400
1000
700
700
22 100
m a x i m u m i n te r e s t rat es
14%
14%
20%
20%
20%
on
on
on
on
on
paw ns
paw ns
paw ns
paw ns
paw ns
(previously 15% )
and 2 5 % on chirographs
and 2 5 % on ch irograph s
and 2 5 % on chirographs
N ote to Table 1: Tax requested: 30 00 ducats, divided by 22 100 ducats = 13.6%.
B y negotiation, the am ou n t o f the tax requested o f the J ew s, w h o asserted they
would not be able to continue to lend if that level o f taxation were im posed, was
reduced21.
A further clarification concerns the lowest links o f the credit chain which are
so m etim es overlook ed. L o a n s by J e w s to individuals were often necessary to ena­
ble them to pay their local taxes, part o f which in turn w ent to the central gov ern ­
ment (or to the local Venetian Cam era jiscale). T h e follow ing example o f 1445 is
enlightening. T h e adm inistrators o f L e g n a g o in the district o f Verona - the Ve­
ronese podesta and the Venetian provveditore o f the fortress - seeing that the tax
farmer was im p o u n d in g the belongings of insolvent tax-paycrs, dispatched the
to w n ’s unn am ed J e w (“ el zudio” ) to Padua to find the liquid capital necessary to
keep his lending b ank su pplied with m o ney and the c o m m u n e itself afloat (de tegnir jornido el so bancho de denari, massime per satisfar at debiti de eomun). Th e J e w
was threatened b y the tw o officials that if he were u nsuccessful in finding fun ds he
would be terminated, expelled and replaced - hopefully - by another J e w who
would p rom ise to meet local fiscal needs ( perche speremo de atrovar zudio servira
de denari ab astan za)22. A t the top end o f the credit chain was Venice, the ultimate
beneficiary.
Finally, forced loans, generally at interest, paralleled the outright taxes ow ed by
the Jew s. S o constant w as the pressure o f taxes and the recourse to loans that the
21 T h e initial d o c u m e n t w a s p ub lis h ed b y G ia m p a o lo C a g n in , C it t a d in i e forestieri a Tr evis o nel
M e d io e v o (secoli X i l l - X I V ) (Stud i e fonti di storia locale, 7 S o m m a c a m p a g n a , Verona 20 04) 152-154
and d oc. 74, 4 85-487, while M ö sch ter, J u d e n im venezi an is chen T r e v is o 162-166 and the respective
Q u ell en , nn. 10-15, 4 08-417, p uts it in the co n te x t o f the co n ti n u e d disc u ss io n .
11 G ia n M a ria V aran im , A p p u n t i p e r la sto ria del p r e s t it o c d e ll’in se d ia m e n t o e braic o a V er on a nel
Q u a t t r o c e n t o . P ro b le m i e linee di ricerca, in: C o z z i (ed.), G li ebrei e V en ez ia 62 0 and 627, n.27,
and in: id em . C o m u n i cittadini e st at o regionale. Ricerc he s ulla T e r r a fe r m a vene ta nel Q u a t t r o c e n ­
to (Veron a 1992) 287-28 8.
I'he S ta tus a n d E c o n o m i c Activ it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
73
Jew ish pawn bankers ot M estre were permitted to rent houses in Venice in order to
facilitate their business with the state, that is, for the p ay m en t o f their debts to the
Signoria and for the collection o f credits ow ed them by the state, a presence per­
mitted nominally for on ly twenty d a y s per year2-'.
Clearly, the expansion o f Venice on the Terraferma in 1404-06 brough t the capi­
tal city sudden ly in touch with several Jew ish com m unities, which they learned
quickly to “ m ilk ” (som e o f whose members had p reviou sly lent in Venice, up to
the expulsion o f 1397). In 1406 the annual tax levied on the J e w s in Pad ua was
raised from 700 to 1000 du cats24. In 1409 an annual tax o f £ 1 0 0 0 (di piccoli) was
levied on the lenders o f both Mestre and Treviso w h o had been paying no taxes
despite earning big profits (rnagna utilitas et lucrum)13. L e ss than a decade later a d ­
ditional dues o f 500 and 1 000 ducats respectively were asked o f J e w s at the same
banks because they were “ very w e a lth y ” and did not pay taxes on their patrim ony;
the J e w s o f Treviso, also “ very n u m e ro u s” , were said to “ have beautiful palaces,
real estate and personal p r o p e r t y ” 26. In 1432 the rent for the banks o f Mestre, set at
£ 2 0 0 0 in the co ndotta, was raised to £3 000, at which the J e w s refused to continue
lending; a c o m p r o m ise was attempted at £2 5 0 027. D u r in g the war o f Ferrara in
1483 the rent on those banks - then £600 each - was farm ed out to three noblemen
w h o collected the rents, which became for them a kind o f annuity28.
Beginning with Venice’s expansion on the Terraferm a, ordinary and extraordi­
nary taxes and forced loans alternated, especially according to military needs, lev­
ied som etim es on individuals, som etim es on Je w s o f a specific city, som etim es on
those o f the Terraferma or on those o f the do m in ion s as a whole. T h e war against
M ilan provides various examples. In 1434 a surtax (ultra illud quod presentialiter
solvunt ) o f 3 000 and 2 000 ducats was levied on J e w s ot the Terraferma and those a
parte m ans respectively29. In 1438 a tax o f 4 0 0 0 ducats had been subdivided arbi-
23 AS V, C o ll e g io , N o t a t o r i o , reg. 10, fol. 112 (28 N o v e m b e r 1464), w hi ch clearly state s that the
rented a pa rtm e n ts w e re to be used for th os e J e w s hue v e n ie n tib u s p ro tax atio n e et m o d is d an d is
circa recu p eratio n em so lv e n d a ru m p ecttn iariim n ostro d o m in io etc., as p erm it ted b y cha p te rs 14, 19
and 23 o f their co n ce s sio n . A l m o s t i m m e d ia te ly it was a d d ed , however, that the p e r m is s io n to have
a h osp itium h e b re o ru m d id n ot m ea n that c o m p le t e s y n a g o g u e serv ice s c o u ld be held in Vcnicc citing a bull o f P ius II; ibid., fol. 113. T h e fiscal intent o f the p r o v is io n d o e s n ot m ea n that the
a c c o m m o d a t i o n s we re not a ls o used to facilitate the J e w s ’ b u sin e ss with private clients living in
Venice.
ASV, S en ato Misti, reg. 47, f. 54 (13 Ju ly ).
25 Ibid., reg. 48, f. 59 (2 \ M a r c h 1409).'
26 Ibid., reg. 52, fol. 2v (18 M a r c h 141 7) for T reviso, w h o s e J e w s sunt m ulti numero et valde divites
et habent pulcerim as domos in Tarvisio et alias possessiones et bona m ulta et num quam sustenent
a liq u a s fa c tio n e s reales nee personales in casibus necessitatis ; fo r M estre : ibid., fol. 88v (18 April
1418),
~/ Ibid., reg. 58, fols. 153v (31 O c t o b e r 1432) and 162v (9 D e c e m b e r ),
28 Bi b li otee a del M u s e o C o r r e r , Venice, C o d . C ic o g n a , 2835 11/2, p ar c h m e n t c o p y dated 22 S e p ­
t e m b e r 1483, with an “ a p p e n d i x ” o f later Sen ate d elib er ations . T h e beneficiaries p r o m o t e d the
im p o rt a n t rene wal o f the ch arter o f M e s tre in 1503: Reinhold C. M ueller , C h a r ita b l e institutions,
the J e w is h c o m m u n it y , a n d Venetian society, in: S tu di vcneziani 14 (1972) 67-68.
lK} Bil anci generali della R e p u b b l i e a di Venezia, Fa bio Besta (ed.), vol. I (Venice 1912) 105.
74
R c in h o ld C . M u el le r
trarily by the Signoria a m o n g the areas closest to Venice, which p rom p ted the Je w s
o f the towns o f Feltre and Belluno to petition the Senate to apply a p rop er estimo
o r calculation o f ability to pay, a suggestion that was p ro m p t ly accepted. Th e next
imposition, o f 9 9 0 0 ducats, was consequently subdivided as follows: Padua and
Treviso 3 500 ducats each; V icenza 1 500; Istria and B a s sa n o 500 each; and Feltre
and Belluno 200 ducats each, which also gives an idea o f the relative size o f the
co m m u nities30. A gain , in 1439 the Je w M o se s o f M estre was forced to lend to the
Signoria 4 0 0 0 ducats at 12 % interest in order that it could p ay arrears due to the
mercenary captain G a tta m ela ta 31. In late 1453 the Senate im p o se d a tax o f 16000
ducats, half on the j e w s o f the Terraferma (including Istria), half on those o f the
Stato da m ar , due in tw o p ay m en ts in the follow ing y ear32.
Given delays b y the state in paying its mercenary captains, the condottieri them ­
selves were often forced to take loans from J e w s in order to keep their armies t o ­
gether. A n astasio di S. A ngelo, one o f the captains killed in a battle against Turkish
invaders in Friuli in 1477, turned out to have debts o f 545 ducats with J ew s, a sum
which the Signoria offset (excomputa) from the annual tax ow ed by the Jew s, but
required restitution o f the p a w n s33. Late in the century Je w ish paw n bankers lent
m uch m o n e y to the condottiere Tu z io da C o st a n z a to maintain his army; at a cer­
tain point he asked that his p ay m en ts o f “ u s u r y ” be su sp en de d to help him redeem
his “ many b e lo n g in g s” ; a m o ra toriu m o f seven m onths w as negotiated by the S en ­
ate with Samuel o f M estre and I s o p o o f Castelfranco (where he had his fief) so that
the p aw ns could be redeemed for the principal alone34.
Shortly thereafter, at the start o f the maritime w ar with the Turks in 1499, d ip lo ­
matic sources learned that the im position o f a tax o f 2 5 0 0 0 ducats on the J e w s was
hoped to serve as gu arantee fo r a qu ick and m u ch-needed advance from the Pisani
bank on the Rialto, itself pressed by its depo sitors du ring the banking crisis o f that
y ear33. A decade later, the w ar o f the L e a gu e o f C a m b ra i caused m any hundreds o f
J e w s o f the Terraferma to take refuge in Venice, where so m e also transferred their
30 See M atteo Melcbiorre, G li ebrei a Feltre nel Q u a t t r o c e n t o . U n a stori a r im oss a, in: E b r e i nella
T e r r afe r m a vene ta 89.
31 M ichael E. M allett a n d Jo h n R. H ale, T h e M ilit ary O r g a n i z a t i o n o f a R e n a iss a n c e State: Venice
ca. 1400 to 1617 ( C a m b r i d g e 1984) 129, n. 123.
32 AS V, Scn a to terra, reg. 3, fol. 89v (7 D e c e m b e r 1453), p as s ed u n a n im o u s ly ; cf. Besta (ed.), Bilanci
generali, I25n. T h e end o f the w a r did not b rin g the J e w s im m e d ia t e relief: in 1455 an ann ua l surtax
f o r five years w a s levied, 2 0 0 0 each f r o m J e w s o f the T e r r afe r m a and f r o m C r e te , 1 0 00 fr o m thos e
elsew her e in the m arit im e p r ovin c e s (ibid. 130); in 1463 at the o u t b r e a k o f the w a r w ith the l u r k s
a n ew surtax o f 5 000 d u c a t s w a s levied (ibid. 138-139).
33 AS V, S en ato terra, reg. 8, fol. 31 r-v (14 D e c e m b e r 1478); cf. M allet and H ale, M ilit ary O r g a n i ­
za t io n 49, n. 122.
34 AS V, C o l l e g i o , N o t a t o r i o , reg. 14, fol. 140 (9 J u n e 1496); cf. M allet a n d H ale, M ilit ary O r g a n i ­
za t io n 199.
35 T h e M il an ese a m b a s s a d o r w r o t e o f the im p o sitio n o n 25 M ay, a d d in g et si crede ne sara servita
d a l bancho d e ’ Pisani sopra questo assignamenW . A r c h i v o di st at o di M il a n o , S f o r z e s c o , cart. 1271.
T w o w e e k s later r ep rese n tat iv es o f the Je w s c o m p la in e d that the y w ere ha ving tr ou b le collecting
fr om all the j e w s , w h e t h e r b a n k e r s o r not: AS V, C o ll e g io , N o t a t o r i o , reg. 15, fol. 5v (5 J u n e 1499).
F o r the crisis and the in v o lv e m e n t o f M e s tra n J e w s as stra w m en fo r illegal loa ns o n p a w n s by
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c Activ it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
75
banks. A t one point in the year 1512 the J e w s were taxed for 10000 ducats but they
refused to pay, saying that they “ had paw ns but no m o n e y ” - to which the govern­
ment replied b y im prison in g tw o bankers and five other heads o f the c o m m u ­
n ity36.
A s we have already seen, forced loans and taxes were extracted also from the
Jew ish com m unities in Crete, in an entirely different context, however, since those
J e w s were not b ou n d by charters, but were perm anent residents, so m e few active as
moneylenders bu t m o st as artisans and merchants. T h e extent to which there were
form al paw n banks at all in Crete is not com pletely clear37. B u t there were enough
wealthy J e w s to p r o m p t the governm ent to levy taxes and forced loans. In 1408 the
J e w C assa n o , habitator Candide but at that m o m en t present in Venice, a man d e ­
scribed as dives et potens, agreed to lend 500 ducats to enable the state to get the
C an d ia galleys off. H e lent the m o ney ad cambium, that is, via a draft on the Vene­
tian government o f Crete, payable at term in C an d ia 38. A huge loan o f 2 0 0 0 0 ducats
w as levied on J e w s o f C rete in 1431, which the govern m ent o f C rete was p roh ib it­
ed from repaying w ithout specific approval from the S e n a te ’9. In 1441 the J e w s of
C rete taken together were to advance 4 000 ducats necessary to p ay the interest due
on Venice’s public debt, a loan at 10% interest to meet the 3 - 4 % interest due on the
state’s ow n obligations in the p ortfolio s o f its citizens. Q u ic k repaym ent o f the
loan, p resum ably b y remittance from the capital city, w as called for later so as to
limit the accumulation o f interest ( usura ) that the state w ould have to p a y to the
J e w s 40. A fter a few years the J e w s o f C an dia, said to be m ulti et potentes, were
called upon, as the J e w s o f the Terraferma had been, to lend 5 0 0 0 ducats to exp e­
dite the departure of a co n v o y o f seven heavily armed galleys up the Po river against
the arm y o f Milan. In order to have the m o ney rapidly, it was gotten b y a draft on
the government o f C rete but payab le by the Je w s within one m onth o f p resenta­
tion o f the bill o f exchange, with penalties - in case o f refusal - for all concerned41.
O n e way or another, b y taxes or by loans, funds made available by the J e w s of
F lo r en tin e ba n k e r s, see R einhold C. M ueller, T h e Venetian M o n e y M a rk et: B a n k s , P an ics and the
Publi c D e b t , 1200- 15 00 ( B a l ti m o r e and L o n d o n 1997) cha p te r 6, 240 -2 41 .
36 Sanuto, Diarii, vol. 14, col. 255, 258, 291, 304 ( M a y - J u n e 1512).
37 T h e w o r d in g o f t w o d eli ber a tio ns is n ot co m p le t e ly un e q u iv o cal. In 1447 a loa n o f 5 0 00 d uca ts
w a s requ este d f r o m Ju d e i civitatis C andide fenerantes, and in 1462 there w a s an a ccu sa tio n again st
Je w s o f C a n d i a f o r e x p lo it in g C h r is t ia n s w h o left p a w n s as collateral fo r loans (... circa factum
pignerum que ipsi [Iu d ei]h ah en t a Christianis in mutuo fenerationis
N oiret, D o c u m e n t s 41718, 479. A s regards m ercha nts, it is n o t e w o r t h y that the Sen ate reiterated pap a l threats o f a u t o ­
matic e x c o m m u n ic a t io n o f a n y o n e w h o t o o k a b o a r d any s h ip “ p e rf id io u s J e w s ” o r their g o o d s
(142 9) o r a ll ow e d the m to se rve as b r o k e r s (1433), bu t it is d o u b t fu l that su ch d ecla ratio n s actually
im p e d e d co m m e r c ia l tr an sa ctio n s betw een C h r is tia n s and J e w s : ibid. 329, 359-61.
38 AS V, S en at o misti, reg. 48, fol. 44 (14 N o v e m b e r 1408).
39 N oiret, D o c u m e n t s 372 (the p r oh ib it io n to r e p a y is d at ed 1435).
40 ASV, S en ato mar, reg. 1, fol. 12v (21 J a n u a r y 1441): ... restituendo autem subito predictos denarios suprascriptis Ju d eis ut m inus dam num usuarum curat dom inio nostro-, the loa n s e e m s to have
be en m ad e t w o years earlier (see N oiret, D o c u m e n t s 387).
41 Ibid., reg. 3, fol. 37v (27 D e c e m b e r 1447), in: Noiret, D o c u m e n t s 417-1 8; cf. als o ibid. 436, 530.
76
R e in h o l d C . Muel ler
Venice’s do m in ion s constituted an important lubricant fo r the gears o f the m a ­
chines o f war.
Econ om ic activity
T h e topic o f econ om ic activity calls fo r a premise. T here was a fundam ental differ­
ence between the condition o f J e w s in the Terraferma - so m e o f Italian or R om an
heritage, others deccndents o f immigrants from G e r m a n y 42 - and those in the
Venetian maritime provinces, w h o were largely m em bers o f com m unities that o rig­
inated from By z a n tin e settlements of centuries earlier, even though many Je w s of
C an d ia were A shkenazi. T h e leaders of the com m unities in the Terraferm a were
generally the bankers, w h o se licenses to lend co rre sp o n d ed to their perm ission to
reside - fo r the time span defined by the charter - in a given locality. Th e right to
ply other arts and trades was generally su bservient to the role o f the bankers and
often tied to the limitations o f the same. We k n o w little a b ou t most trades, aside
from sh op s dealing in second-hand g o o d s, which will be touched u p o n below;
mere mentions are often the best we can do. F o r example, in Mestre, a m o n g the 27
Je w s and their families w h o rented houses between 1466 and 1507 from the C o n ­
fraternity o f S. M aria dei Battuti, which administered the local hospital, we find
one registered as dy er and hat-maker, one was a scriptor, one a weaver, one a g o l d ­
smith, and the hospital occasionally called in a Jew ish d o c to r to care fo r the sick4-’.
T h e much larger co m m u n ity in Treviso had an inn, with an innkeeper (and a fam u ­
lus in hospitio), a stall f o r the horses (and a fam u lu s a d stallam ), a carter, a paper
maker, a co ok , as well as a medical doctor; there are m entions o f transporters to
Venice of g o o d s, especially perish ables (perhaps kosh er food s); because o f the ex­
istence o f a jeshiva, besides a rabbi there were other m agistri, a scribe and a school
teacher44.
B y contrast, J e w s in the maritime do m in ion s were active in nearly all private
walks o f life. T h e y could be long-distance merchants, retailers and artisans - from
tanners to goldsm iths; am o n g them there were so m e professional m oneylenders
but they were not necessarily leaders o f the co m m u nity ; the right o f J e w s to reside
in a given city was therefore not delimited by charters or condotte. A lth ough, as we
have seen, they were not - with the notable exception o f C o r f u - considered citi­
zens, Je w s were recognized as Venetian fideles sim p ly by reason o f their residence
in a Venetian territory. O n the other hand, even that so m ew hat privileged status
42 A r ie l T o aff, C o n v c r g e n z a sill V en eto di banchicri ebrei r o m a n i e tedesch i nel ta r d o M e d io e v o ,
in: C o z z i (ed.), G li ebrei c V en ez ia 595- 61 3.
43 A le x a n d r a C hecchin , L a s c u o la e 1’o s p e d a l c di S. M a ria dei Ba ttuti di M e s tre dalle origini al
1520 ( C e n t r o S tudi Storic i M estre , Q u a d e r n o di st ud i e n ot iz ic 6, M e s t re 1996) 59, 100 (table 14);
the c on fr ate rnit y a ls o t o o k a small loa n fr o m a J e w that a ll ow e d the m to finish the sac ris ty o f the
church.
44 M u x h lr r , J u d e n im ve nezianische n T r e v is o 128-136. T h e a u t h o r identified n u m e r o u s f a m u li,
m o s t ly J e w s th e m se lv e s (128, n.98).
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c Ac tiv it y o f J e w s in die Venetian D o m i n i o n s
77
did not relieve them o f the requirement - im posed by Venice around 1325 but
harking back to a much earlier situation in C on stan tin op le - to live in defined
areas, ebraike, judaicbe or giudcccbe, which was not the case in the cities o f the
Terraferma43.
Paw n banking is the econom ic activity ot J e w s in the Terraferma ab ou t which we
k no w m ost, in part from the charters but also from notarial contracts and testa­
ments unearthed in recent investigations. Three factors seem w o rth underscoring:
a) the relatively small n um bers of j e w s making up even the largest communities,
such as those o f Treviso and Padua (with so m e 150 m em bers each in the early 15'1’
century); b) the fact that their p erm anence in a given locality was continually at the
whim o f the authorities, the preachers and the populace; c) the e n d o g a m y of this
religious and ethnic minority, which protected patrimonies and directed dowries
within a small circle ot families - all these factors brou gh t the econom ic leaders
am o n g the Je w s to resort to what seem s to be the m ost extensive mobility know n
in medieval Italian entrepreneurship o f both human capital and m o ney capital, irregardless o f political boundaries, through com plex netw orks that can be only par­
tially reconstructed. T h e active econom ic role o f especially A shkenazi wom en , not
only as investors but also as ow ners and managers o f banks, is part o f the picture45.
T h e exam ples are m yriad but I will limit m y self - using extreme oversim plification
- to only tw o families revolving initially around Padua during the transition from
C arra ra lordship to Venetian dom inion, without naming the n um erou s other
Jew ish partners and investors in each bank and their diverse places o f origin47.
T h e Finzi brothers o f A nco na, Salom one, G a io and Manuele, recent immigrants
to Padua, dissolved tw o banking partnerships in 1380, one of them with the very
considerable capital o f 12000 ducats, and co n tem pora n e ou sly established a new
4:1 Ja c o b y , Venice and the Venetian J e w s 43, 37.
46 See Miriam D a v id e , 11 ru o lo delle d o n n e nclle c o m u n it a cbraiche d ell ’Italia n o rd -o r ie n t a le ( P a ­
d ova, T reviso, Tr ie ste e Friuli), in: E bre i nella T e r r afe r m a ve neta 31-4 3, fr o m w hich it is cle ar that
w o m e n o f G e r m a n origin we re freer to b e c o m e directly inv olve d in b a n k in g activity than were
those of Italian o r R o m a n origin, be cau se o f their distin ctly diff eren t m ore s. See also the article by
Keil in this vo lu m e .
47 In general o n the m o b ilit y o f J e w s and o n the familial ch ara ct er o f their n e t w o r k s , see especially
Michele L u z z ati , Ba nch i e in sc d ia m enti ebraici neil’ Italia c c ntr o-s e ttcntr io na le fra tar d o M e d io e v o
e inizi d e ll’Eta m o d e r n a , in: Sto ria dTtal ia, Annali, 11, G li ebrei in Italia, ed. C orrado Vivanti
(Turin 1996) 175-238, and M öschter , s u b c h a p te r entitled “ N e t z w e r k e : V er b in d u n g e n trev isanischer
B a n k ie r s in ander e Stä d te un d R e g i o n e n ” , in her J u d e n im ve ne zianisch en T r e vis o 128-133. T h e
m o v e m e n t o f not o n ly p r in cipals b u t also fa ct ors and lesser e m p lo y e e s s h o u ld be k ept in mind.
A m o n g the J e w i s h w it n es s es called to testify a b o u t the o p e ra tio n s o f the b a n k e r J o s e p h di m ae stro
A b r a a m o , d is c u ss e d im m e d ia te ly below , B o n a i u t o di B o n a i u t o said that in the last d e c a d e he had
n ot been e m p lo y e d b y a ba nk ; S a l o m o n strazarolus said that he had w o r k e d fo r B e n ia m in o Finzi
u p to f o u r years be fore; S a l o m o n di A b r a a m that he w a s ohm factor in bancho M ichaletis ; A b r a a m
d e Mele that he w a s a d presens factor in bancho Beniam ini [F in zi] et olim in bancho Bov is; M a n d o ­
lin that he was fa ctor in the b a n k at S. L o r e n z o , while p r e v io u s l y he had be en fa ct or in that at the
V olto d e ’ N e g r i; M e le Vitale, finally, said he w a s at the tim e fam ulus in the ba n k at S. L u c ia , but
olim fam u lu s in nonnulhs alns banchis H ebreoru m : Bi b li oteca M a rcia n a, Venice, M s s . lac., cl. XIV,
2 90 (= 4261), fasc. Ill , fol. 4v (M ar ch 1449).
78
R e in h o l d C . Mu el l er
c o m p a n y in Padua - with a capital o f 9 0 0 0 ducats - together with other partners,
none o f w h om were resident there. In the sam e act the partners fou n d ed a new
bank in nearby M o ntagn ana, with a capital o f 3 800 ducats. In 1389 they purchased
a half interest in a b ank in Lendinara (for 2420 ducats). In the 1390s they invested
in banks in Badia Polesine, R o vigo, and Este, while maintaining principal ow ner­
ship and managem ent o f the bank in Padua. Even though Salom on e, a medical d o c ­
tor, m oved to B o lo g n a where he open ed a bank in 1418 and lent m o ney to the
co m m u ne, in Pad ua - a city subje ct to Venice alter 1405 - he, G a io and the heirs of
Manuele continued to invest in b anks there and outside o f the city. Benjam ino and
C on sig lio, so ns o f Manuele, ran a b ank in Vicenza, where Benjam ino, w h o seems
to have learned the business at a bank in R o v ig o , resided fo r alm ost thirty years.
H e also invested heavily in a secon d bank in Vicenza, one in C o l o g n a Veneta and
one in M o d e n a , until 1445, before returning to Pad ua to manage yet another bank.
A t the sam e time, G a io and B en jam in o remained partners initially in the bank in
Lendinara, then in that o f Ro v ig o , managed by yet other partners from nearby Fer­
rara. A ro u n d 1426 G a i o follow ed his brother and an uncle to B o lo g n a where he
obtained the license f o r a lending bank in 1428, leaving his so ns to represent his
interests in Pad ua and M o ntagnana. Beginning in 1437, after G a i o ’s death, the latter’s sons to o k over the banks o f Lendinara, where J o s e p h resided, and R ovigo,
where Leuccio resided, till 1462 - all the while maintaining interests in banks in
B o lo g n a and Ferrara, where the third son, C onsig lio, resided48.
T h e second case involves a single person, the above-m en tion ed medical do ctor
maestro A braham di maestro Aleuccio da Rom a, form erly d o c to r to p o p e Innocent
V II and “ original citizen ” o f Padua. B y 1377 he had a b ank in Piove di Sacco, by
1392 he was head also o f a bank in Padua in which he, together with a partner, had
already invested 6 000 ducats in 1380; both concessions were renewed by Venice in
1406. Before 1401 he had partnerships in six further banks: Este, Bagnocavallo,
Soave, Cittadella, M onselice and an unn am ed location “ in the Trevigiano or L o m ­
b a r d y ” . Between 1406 and his death ab ou t 1420 A b ra h a m maintained his role in
both banks in Piove di Sacco and in Pad ua and had partnerships in another bank in
Pad ua as well as in b anks in Vicenza, B o lo gn a, and Siena49.
A b r a h a m ’s son J o s e p h (Joseph quondam m agistri A braam da Rom a quondam
A liuzzo) continued the business as licensed titular head o f b anks in the small
centers o f Piove di Sacco and Este, run b y factors, while he himself resided in Padua
- after 1423 in rented ho uses - where it seem s he invested in one or m ore local
banks. H is taxable p atrim o n y w as estimated at 10500 ducats in 1434, 8 0 0 0 in 1442
48 C arpi, L ’in d iv id u o e la collettivitä, cha p. 1; fo r S a l o m o n e and G a i o F in z i in B o l o g n a , see M aria
Giuseppina M nzzarelli, I ba nc hieri e la cittä, in: B a n ch i ebraici a b o l o g n a nel X V s ecolo , ed. b y
eadem ( B o l o g n a 1994) 105-106; also R achels Scuro, L a p r e s e n z a eb raica a V icen za e nel s u o territor io nel Q u a t t r o c e n t o , in: E b r e i nella T e r r afe r m a ve neta 110-113; Elisabetta Traniello, T r a ap partene nza ed estraneitä: gli ebrei e le cittä del P ole sin e di R o v i g o nel Q u a t t r o c e n t o , in: E bre i nella
T e r r afe r m a veneta 163-168; and eadem , Gli ebrei e le p ic c o le cittä. E c o n o m i a e soc ie tä nel pol e si n e
del Q u a t t r o c e n t o ( R o v i g o 20 04) 72 -8 1, 90-1 11.
49 C arpi, L ’ in d iv id u o e la collettivitä 195-204. C f . Kohl, P a d u a 272.
The S ta tus and E c o n o m i c A ctivit y o f Je w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
79
and 1445. B y co m parison, the Paduan condotta o f 1437 sh o w s an unexplained drop
in capital to be m ade available by the five banks from 25 000 to 15 000 ducats. We
k n o w abou t J o s e p h ’s operations because he was accused by a coreligionist o f lend­
ing illegally in Padua, practically as an interloper, to which he countered a) that the
condotta perm itted lending by m ore than the five licensed banks, and b) that he had
a secret agreement with a licensed banker to begin lending when that bank found
itself illiquid. T h e tension du ring the court procedure, which lasted years, must
have been considerable, also within the Jew ish co m m u n ity itself: both the accuser,
p ro m ise d a cut o f any eventual fine, and the accused were Je w s, and the translator
f o r the court o f entries from his account b o o k s was a baptised J e w and strazarolo.
S o m e witnesses accused Jo s e p h o f mistreating the p o o r and the peasants, but all o f
them were themselves wealthy50.
In light o f such w idespread and rapidly changing investments in m oneylending
operations, involving several Jew ish partners and investors even from distant
regions and across political boundaries, it is understandable that the head o f a bank
named in a charter might at a given m om en t m ove elsewhere. In other w ords,
w hole banks could be b ou ght and sold, as could shares in them, even du ring the
validity o f a charter. O n at least one occasion, in 1447, the municipal council of
Pad ua tried to sim plify matters by making an agreement with a single Jew ish
banker, in this case a Iacop de Florentia sen de Perusio, charging him with the task
o f finding interested parties fo r the five other b anks o f the city, as conductor om­
nium bancorum Padue. A t the sam e time, limits might be set in order to p rom o te
com petition am o n g the b anks; in 1435 the charter for Vicenza, which specified that
fou r banks make available 2 0 0 0 0 ducats, stated that they were to be divisi et sepa­
rat i, although that might have been wishful thinking51. If in the larger cities the
matter o f licensing operations could be rather flexible, so that it was not always
necessary to be specifically named in a condotta, by contrast, in sm aller tow n s the
charter often contained a specific clause granting the chartered bank m o n o p o ly
rights, to protect the ow ner or op erator from unw elcom e com petition in a limited
market.
Little that is new can be said abou t the daily operation o f banks, given the p a u ­
city o f accounting do cu m en ts, but since two k now n fragments o f accounts regard­
ing cities o f the Terraferma are extant, it is w orth reviewing them briefly.
T h e above-m entioned legal p rosecu tion o f J o s e p h son o f master A b ra h a m o f
Padua, last studied by Philippe Braunstein, p rodu ce d extracts from his accounts'’2.
30 B ra u n ste in , L e pret s u r g ag es ä P a d o u e 6 53-663; fo r the id entification o f J o s e p h as son o f the
m ed ical d o c t o r A b r a h a m , see C a r p i, L ’ in d iv id u o e la collettivita 31.
51 C a rp i, L ’ in d iv id u o e la collettivita 31, 62, 115-123, 125.
32 B ra u n ste in , L e p r et s u r g ag es ä P a d o u e ; a lm o s t all the a c co u n t s w e re p ub lis h ed b y A n ton io
M e din and G . Tolornei, Per la stori a a n e d d o t ic a d c ll’un ive rsitä di P a d o v a nel s e co lo X V I , in: Atti e
m c m o r ic della R. A c c a d e m i a di sc ienze , Icttcrc ed arti in P a d o v a (a. 370, n.s ., vol. 27, 1910-11) a p ­
p e n d ix 1, 102-122. I have als o co n su lt ed the original m an u s cr ip t d o s s ie r in B ib li o teca Marciana,
Venice, M ss. lat., cl. X IV , 290 ( = 4 2 6 1 ), fasc. III. T h e a cco u n t s were co n sid e re d b y L eon P o lia k o v ,
L e s banchicri juifs et le S ain t-S icg e d u XIII'-' au X V I I Csiecle (Paris 1965) 134n, 150-51.
80
R e in hold C . Muel ler
T h ese were used as evidence to p rove both that he lent m o ney illegally in Padua
while being licensed to lend only in Piove di Sacco and Este where he had so m e o f
the p aw ns transferred, and that he so m etim es charged c o m p o u n d interest on over­
due loans (a charge made against the Jew ish lenders of Padua as a whole). A s a
result, the entries translated for the court reflect occasional loans, made more or
less secretively, to the wealthy rather than the daily operation of a normal bank,
but they are nonetheless enlightening. T h e first entries concern a do cto r in arts and
medicine, m aistro Nicolb di maistro G aleazzo di Santa Sofia, w hose entries for the
years 1433 to 1441 sh ow that he continually renewed his loans and his paw ns, o b ­
viously turning over valuables he did not need but did not wish to sell in exchange
for liquidity, for sum s ranging from as little as £30 dipiccoli to as m uch as 110 d u c ­
ats. S o m e p aw ns were kept for as long as three years for loans paying the legal rate
o f 2 0 % interest per year, before being redeemed; they were entered on the b o o k s of
the bank at Este, where the paw ns themselves had p r o b a b ly been transferred.
N ic o lb was one o f J o s e p h ’s accusers, even though he had been a client f o r 25 years,
continually adjusting his balances and exchanging his paw ns. A m o n g the p r o f e s ­
so rs and medical do ctors was the jurist Francesco Porcellino, who b o rro w e d 90
ducats in 1444 on valuables, while his brother and another Porcellino, also jurists,
b orrow e d 18 ducats each on b o o k s (II letture cum tavola, uno Degesto vechio );
J o s e p h registered one loan in Este, the other in Piove di Sacco, but kept the b o o k s
in his residence in Padua. A m o n g the notable clients o f J o s e p h were at least two
Venetian noblem en (Alvise Storlato53 and Piero Badoer), the m arquis Taddeo
d ’E ste, mercenary captain in the Venetian arm y for thirty years, beginning in 1416,
his wife M argherita Pio, and A lberto Pio, lord o f C arpi, w h o was represented byT ad deo d ’E s t e ’s chancellor. Q u ite a few clients were Paduan noblemen. There were
also artisans and sh op keep ers, like the three speziali who bo rro w e d su m s o f 79, 50
and 16 ducats; three dyers o f the sam e family t o o k loans o f 70-90 ducats in 1438
and again in 1447, on the sam e paw ns, perhaps as renewals; even a Paduan banker
(banchiero, cam biadore), G iovan ni M oreia, in 1428 b o rr o w e d £ 110 (21.6 ducats)
and renewed the sam e loan ten years later, on different pawns. S o m e clients were
students, like G iovan ni de Cicilia w h o paw ned a c o py o f Avicenna for 6 ducats.
Several borrow e rs exchanged paw ns at the time o f renewal o f their loan. In brief,
this court case takes us outside the clauses o f the usual condotta, which insisted on
a fixed m axim um term for a loan on collateral, generally one year plus 15 days.
J o s e p h had w ell-to-do clients w h o stayed with him for m an y years, clients w h o
form ed part o f the Paduan ruling gro up (B raunstein reports a request for an inter53 P r o c u r a t o r o f San M a r c o , twice rec tor in P ad u a ( p o d e s t a in 1435, c a p it a n o in 1446), Sto rla to
was mar rie d to M a r ia di I a c o p o di F r a n c e s c o il Vec ch io d a C a rr a r a : Me din and Tolomei, Per la
st ori a 120, n .2 . S to r la to, w h o w a s very we althy indeed, also p a w n e d jew els in M e stre , as we k n o w
fr o m the p ap e r s o f his estate, a dm in is te r ed b y the P r o c u r a t o r s o f San M a r c o . O n 13 J u l y 1459 the
latter repaid the J e w Z a ccar ia , factor o f the J e w C r e s s o n o , tenenti banehum usure in Mestre, pro
capitali [30 d ucats] et usure [6 d uc ats], that is, at 2 0 % fo r an un d efin e d p e riod , u p o n whi ch a
m o u n t e d r uby [ballasium in tabula) w a s r e- consig ned . See ASV, P r o c u r a t o r ! di San M a r c o , co m missa rie, de ultra, b. 265, c o m m is s a r ia Alv is e S to r la to, reg. 1, fol. 7.
T h e Status and E c o n o m i c Activ it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
81
cst-free loan for the friend o f a client and an ano m alous loan made to one o f the
n egotiators for the co m m u n e of the then current condotta). Even though his lending activity in Pad ua was in the end ruled illegal and he was finally cond em n ed af­
ter having to go from one court to another in both Padua and Venice, he seem s not
to have been considered an interloper b y the licensed Jew ish bankers o f the city
since after sentencing the authorities sequestered the p aw ns and liquid funds he
had deposited at their banks, which the latter had in no way been obliged to ac­
cept34.
If the accounts o f the Paduan paw n banker J o se p h were out o f the ordinary,
those p ro d u ce d during the p rosecu tion o f Je w s in Brescia a generation later f or the
sam e crime - n on-observance o f the charter - seem more in line with daily practice,
even if they cover only ten days. U p o n the accusation o f a citizen o f Brescia in 1488
that J e w s were ru nning illegal lending operations there and keeping the paw ns in
their hom es rather than transferring them to their licensed b anks elsewhere, an in­
vestigation was initiated b y the Venetian podestä. A cco un tin g materials - a sheet of
paper o f M o y se, a small n o teb o o k o f L a z z a r o and two regular a c c o u n tb o o k s oi
so m e 140 folios each o f Vitale and J o s e p h - were sequestered and the accuser found
a Je w w h o w o u ld translate entries lo r the last ten days o f O ctober, u nder oath but
also under protection o f anonymity. T h e entries reflect m o stly small loans on rela­
tively p o o r collateral made to a cross section o f m em bers o f the populace. O n ly
five loans exceeded 12 lire (the highest was .£ 66 5s granted b y M o y s e to a tailor on
paw ns o f cloth and clothing); quite a few were o f £ 1 or less, one for as little as 2s; a
bed-sheet or covering (linzuolo) brough t each o f three b o rr o w e rs 34s, 10s and 8s
respectively; nine b o rro w e rs were tailers (som e o f them masters) and one o f them
had recourse to tw o lenders; even p ersons called goldsm iths appear as borrow ers
o f very small su m s o f m o n e y (11s to £ 5). T h e p od e stä G iovan ni D o n a threw out
the case as baseless and unju st (tam quam indebite, injuste et calumniose), the ac­
cuser was forced to p ro m ise he w ould not bring similar charges in the future, and
the accounts were returned to the Je w ish lenders55. Th us, if the accusation against
the J e w s in Brescia was the sam e as that against J o s e p h in Padua, the ou tco m e was
ju st the opposite: rapid justice and a sentence o f not guilty.
What is im portant to underscore here, despite the perfectly correct insistence in
recent historiograph y that attention be given to a m ore com plete social and eco­
nomic history ol the Jew ish m inority in Christian society, is that Christian society
had need o f moneylenders. II Jew ish lenders closed their b anks out o f protest
against dem an ds made b y local authorities, the popu lace might protest and force
the council to co m e to term s36. Exa m p les from the accounts o f J o s e p h son o f m as­
34 See the d o s s ie r cited above , n ote s 47 and 52, fols. 95v-97r, a cco u n t s not p u b l ish e d b y M edin and
Tolomei in P er la storia.
“ la b io Glissenti, G li E br ei nel B r e sc ia n o al t e m p o della d o m i n a z i o n e veneta. N u o v c ricerche e
st ud i ( Bres cia 1891) 21-22, 56-61.
M'> See the e x a m p le s in C isc ato , Gli ebrei in P a d o v a 42 -46, ref erring to n e g otia tio n s held in the
1430s.
82
R e in h o l d C . M u el le r
ter A b ra h a m clearly reflect the extent to which J e w s were necessary, not on ly to
the p o o r or, in the case o f Padua, to im pecunious students, m entioned in the d o c u ­
ments as prim e clients, but also to m em bers o f the urban elite. T h e latter - as long
as they dealt with that particular lender - did not have to observe those clauses of
the charters that called for repay m ent o f loans within a given time, after which the
paw n or p aw ns were to be sold. L o a n s to m em bers o f the elite could be in the hu n ­
dreds, even thou san ds o f ducats. T here are cases o f recourse to J e w s fo r sizeable
loans by religious entities - bisho ps in Padua and Verona, the cathedral chapter of
Padua, the m ajo r confraternity o f M estre (for the construction o f a sacristy), the
hospital o f T reviso37 - as well as b y city govern m ents58. T h e Jew ish lenders, as long
as they were accepted, were part and parcel o f the whole urban econ om ic system.
C lo se ly connected to m o neylend in g was the trade in secon d-han d g oo ds, the
strazzaria or p ezzaria, that flourished am o n g the J e w s especially in certain urban
centers. While J e w s in M estre had to bring unredeem ed p aw ns to Venice for sale at
public auction, supervised b y the Venetian S op racon so li, in order to safeguard the
collateral o f Venetians and to guarantee that they did not lose any eventual residual
balance ( soprabondanza) above principal and interest, those in Padua and espe­
cially those in Vicenza were not so obliged and after a given time the lenders could
claim com plete ow nership o f the pawns. T h ese they were then free to keep or to
sell at the best price possible, to cover at least the principal and interest o f the loans
fo r which they had been collateral and perhaps som eth in g more. A s a result, the
strazzaria grew rapidly into a trade that dealt in selling unredeem ed pawns, as well
as other second-hand - and som etim es even new - goo ds. O f course that put them
in direct com petition with Christian second-hand dealers; those o f Padua accepted
the J e w s as m em bers o f their guild, with a special “ section ” o f their ow n and with
F o r the loa n o f 500 d u c ats m ad e to the b is h o p A l b a n i o Michiel b y f o u r J e w s in 1409-11, gua r­
anteed on c o n tr ib u t io n s b y the faithfu l and b y sureties w h o we re a m o n g the princ ip al citizens o f
P ad ua , repaid after t w o ye ars b y the “ P a d u a n c le r g y ” , see ibid. 46 -4 7, C a r p i , L ’ in d iv id u o e la collettivitä 203, 206, and A n to n io R ig o n , C l e r o e cittä: “ fratalea c a p p e l l a n o r u m ” , parroci, cur a d ’anim e in: P a d o v a dal 12° al 15° s e c o l o ( P a d u a 1988) 145 ( kin d ly b r o u g h t to m y attention b y M . M elchiorre) . Z e n B e n ctt i m e n t io n s as client als o F r a n c e s c o C a p o d ili s t a , P a d u a n n ob le m a n , d octo r, and
b is h o p o f F o lig n o , as well as an a n o n y m o u s d o m in u s episcopus o f P a d u a : P re statori ebraici e cristiani 649, n.9 0. E v e n E r m o l a o B a r b a r o , w h e n n am e d b is h o p o f Veron a, ha d dea lin gs with a local
Je w, a u t h o r iz e d to m a k e a p a y m e n t o n an e p is c o p a l m an d a tu n r. V aran in i, S o ci etä cristian a e m inoran za ebr aica 159, n .4 8 . T h e P a d u a n ca thed ral c ha p te r b o r r o w e d m o n e y fr o m a J e w ( p r o b a b ly
L e o n e di S a lo m o n e d a C o s t a n z a ) at the b a n k o f the Volto d ei N e g r i, o n p a w n s o f the sacre stia; the
loan w a s repaid w ith £ 216.6 (38 d u cat s ) in 1449 b y the ca non G i a c o m o C o n d u l m e r , relative o f the
recen tly dece ase d E u g e n i u s IV; since the p a w n s were ritual items, as w a s e x p r e s s ly f o r b id d e n b y
the te rm s o f the co n d o tta, the Venetian Sen ate and the local p o d e stk interve ne d to o r d e r their resti­
tution: M a tteo M elch iorre, C o n t i in Ca tted ral e . S to r ia e c o n o m ic a della Sac restia del D u o m o di
P a d o v a nella p r im a m et a del Q u a t t r o c e n t o , u n p u b l is h e d thesis o f the “ la ur ea s p ecia li s t ic a ” , ( U n i ­
ve rs ity o f Venice 20 06) 20 1-2 03. T h e hos pital o f S. M a r ia dei Ba ttuti in T r e v is o b o r r o w e d m o n e y
fr o m J a c o b lu d eu s in 1414 a d u su ra m in o r d e r to p a y t w o o u t s t a n d in g deb ts: A r c h iv io di stat o di
Treviso, O s p e d a le , b. 393 ( u n d e r the ye ar 1414). F o r M e stre , see above , n ote 43.
,s V ice nza, to give o n ly on e e xa m p le , t o o k loans in 1438 fo r the pu r c h a se o f a rm s and whe at “ nec­
e ss a ry for the m ar k e tp lac e and f o r the c i t y ” : Scu ro , L a p r e s e n z a ebr aica a V ic en za 111.
I'he S ta tus and E c o n o m i c A ctiv it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
83
special privileges, while those o f Vicenza seem to have insisted on p ay m en t to the
guild o f the matriculation fee fo r the right to open shops, without thereby granting
them full m em bersh ip 59.
T h e case o f Vicenza sh o w s ho w the p ezzaria was reinforced after the term ina­
tion o f the license to lend in the city in 1445, a termination caused both by M in o r­
ite preaching and by pressure from Christian m oneylenders, especially local p atri­
cians, anxious to see their com petition leave the city. W hen local notables took
over lending in the city, largely via fictitious contracts, at least one Jew ish banker
resettled in A rzignano , the m a jo r tow n o f the contado. T h e fo rm er em ployees of
the bankers, however, remained in Vicenza without the need o f a charter and m an­
aged sh op s offering for sale used clothing and g o o d s, including, in all likelihood,
the unredeemed p aw ns left with the very banks that had been forced to relocate. In
social terms, it was the A shk enazi paw n bankers w h o retired fro m the city, while
the Italian Je w s remained to ply the flourishing trade o f the p e zza ria60.
Tw o special cases: C ap o d istria and C o rfu
T w o c a se s sta n d o u t as p a r tic u la r ly in te re stin g , the fir st in the Istr ia n p e n in su la ,
c o n s id e r e d so m e tim e s as p a r t o f the T e rra fe rm a , so m e tim e s as p a r t o f the Stato da
M ar, th e o th e r th e c ity an d islan d c o lo n y o f C o r f u 61.
Capodistria
T h e case o f C a p o d istr ia is unique to the extent that what is fo r all practical pur­
p oses a charter for the presence o f Jew ish moneylenders in the city, but without
specific names o f J e w s and w ithout any tem poral reference, was included as ch ap ­
ter 76 o f B o o k II o f the statutes o f the city, dated 1423. In fact, the title o f the ch ap ­
ter is D e pactis et conventionibus usurariom m and it seem s that the terms were put
to the test in actual eondotte contracted with Jew ish lenders in 1391 and 1409 and
only then included in the statutes. Th e w o rd in g is left generic so that it w o u ld a p ­
p ly to quilibet Iudeus vel Iudea wishing to lend m o ney at u su ry “ to the people,
citizens and inhabitants o f C a p o d is tr ia ” . Fie or she w ould merely have to register
at the co m m u nal chancery before opening for business. It is a quite flexible and
permissive text, dating fro m the sam e year that B ern ardino da Siena was preaching
in the Veneto against those city governm ents which treated J e w s as other than infi­
dels, to be kept strictly apart fro m the Christian p o p u latio n 62.
■’9 C iscato , G li ebrei in P a d o v a 2 53 -260, doc. X (1448), and Sciiro, L a p e z z a r ia ebraica a Vicen za
nella s e c o n d a m et ä del Q u a t t r o c e n t o , in: Z a k h o r 9 (2006) 13-43.
60 Scuro , L a p r e s e n z a ebraica a V ic en za 108-115.
61 In general, see Benjam in A rbel , C o l o n i e d ’ oltremare, in: Sto ria di V enezia, vol. V, II Rin ascim en to: soc ietä ed e co n o m ia , ed. b y Alberto Tenenti and Ugo Tucci ( R o m e 1996) 947-985.
62 T h e statute s, pr in ted in Venice in 1668, we re edited b y Lttjo M argetic, L o s t a t u t e del c o m u n e di
C a p o d i s t r i a del 1423 con le a gg iu nte fin o al 1668 ( R o v i g n o 1993) 9 2-94 fo r cap. 76. T h e m o s t re-
84
R e in hold C . Muel ler
C lau ses regarding the status ot the j e w s are dispersed a m o n g those concerning
rates ot interest and other details o f moneylending. N o direct concession of citi­
zenship was made, not even tem porary, but the a m b igu o u s form ulation used in
Trevisan charters appears here as well: the Je w s were “ to be treated and reputed as
other citizens and inhabitants o f C ap o d istria are treated, re puted and held”63. S im ­
ilarly, the Je w s were given the sam e right “ to trade, to buy and to sell as other
merchants o f C ap od istria, both movable go o d s and real estate and also cu stom s
f a r m s” 64. T h e exact date o f the statute is not given, but it is clearly so m e months
prio r to the law o f 26 S ep tem ber 1423 which forb ad e Je w s in lands u nder Venetian
d om ination to ow n real estate, which m ay have forced the authorities to amend the
statute very so o n after p rom u lgation . A t the sam e time, the Je w ish moneylenders
- for the statute regards only them and their extended families and em ployees were exempted from p ay ing local taxes, which ob viou sly set them o ff from “ other
citizens” or other local “ m e rch ants” .
Th e clauses regarding loans are scattered throughout chapter 76. First o f all, the
moneylenders were to operate ad bancurn publicum ; if they needed to leave the city
on business, they had to lind a replacement, w h o was b ou n d b y the same pact or
charter. If they left definitively, they could cede their rights to other Jew ish m o n e y ­
lenders, but they had to give fou r m o nths’ notice in order to perm it borrow ers to
redeem their pawns. Th e total am ount to be made available was 1 000 ducats. Lo an s
made to citizens and residents on paw ns could earn a m axim u m ot 12.5% per year,
loans on written notes 15%; the rate o f interest on loans to “ foreigners” , on the
other hand, was open to negotiation and had no ceiling. Unreclaim ed pawns were to
be sold at auction to the highest bidder on three successive Sundays.
Given the date o f the statute, 1423, that is the same year that Bern ardino da Siena
was preaching in the Veneto, it is particularly interesting that the Venetian rector
( podesta ) w as enjoined to sec to it that no ecclesiastica persona , inquisitor or cleric,
be allowed to molest the Je w s, that is neither by legal prosecu tion nor in the course
cent ana ly sis o f c ha p te r 76 in legal te rm s is
imperiale e a u t o n o m ia locale, D e p u t a z i o n e
154-164, with b ib lio g r a p h y ref er rin g also to
o g r a p h y were b r o u g h t to m y att ention in a
b y D ea M oscarda, L ’ar ca alto adria tica tra so vra n it a
di S to r ia Patria per la V enezia G iu l ia (Trieste 2002)
the earlier condotte. T h i s case and the pert in ent bib li­
term p a p e r written for m y rese arch se m in a r b y Ju lie
F lo r en ce D o u r n o n , w h o m I th ank fo r her assent to m y us in g her material. F o r e ls ew h er e in Istria,
see the capitoli o f 1484 in Piran, p u b l ish e d b y Antonio Toe, D e i banchi fenera tizi e ca pitoli degli
ebrei di P ir an o e dei M o n t i di pietä in Istria, Italian tran slation ( R o v i g n o 1881) a p p e n d ix , and Ja -
nez Persic, Z id je in k r ed itn o p o s l o v a n je v s re d n j e v e s k e m Piranu ( Je w s and cred it tr an sa ctio n s in
m edieval Piran) ( L u b lij a n a 1999). R ita M oretti, L a p r es e n z a ebrea a R o v i g n o in e p o c a veneta. S t o ­
n e n ascost e da no n d im etn ic ar c, C e n t r o di ricerche storich e, R o v ig n o , Atti 23 (1993) 47 1- 80; the
a u t h o r cites the stat ut es o f n e ig h b o rin g M u g g i a (1420), whi ch refer to the castigbi ehe D io diede
alii falsi e perversi G iudei (479). With the help o f the librarians at the R o v i g n o C e n t r o , I was able
to che c k the stat ut es for the o t h e r urba n centers o f the Istrian pe nin su la , w it h o u t fin d in g a nyth ing
even va gu ely sim ilar to cha p te r 76 in the stat ut es o f C a p o d i s t r i a ; it s t a n d s as an unicurn.
63 Item quod debeant tractari et reputan sicut tractantur et reputantur et tenentur alii lives et h abitatores lustinopolis.
64 Item quod dicti lu d ei possint mercari, emere, vendere secundum qu od alii mercatores lustinopo­
lis, tam bona m obilia quam stabilui et eciam d atia possint emere.
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m ic A ctiv ity of J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
85
o f sermons. Finally, the Jew ish bankers were not required to wear the “ O ” or any
other sign - in direct contradiction to what Bernardino was preaching at that very
m om en t not far a w a y 63.
Corfu
T h e condition o f the J e w s in the city and on the island o f C o r f u in the M iddle Ages
is rather unique, for the J ew s, w h o were quite n um erous, had rights tantam ount to
full citizenship and econ om ic freedom s that were nearly complete. Cecil Roth
went so far as to say that the treatment o f the Je w s in Venetian C o r f u “ was s o m e ­
thing absolutely unparalleled in the Middle A ges, anticipating to so m e extent, by
m any centuries, the emancipation which elsewhere came ab ou t only after the
French R e v o lu t io n ”66.
T h e mere size of the co m m u n ity is notew orthy to begin with. If Benjam in of
Tudela mentions on ly one Jew, a dyer, in C o r f u in the 1160s, the traveller Mesullam
o f Volterra reported that there were 300 families o f J e w s in 1481, when he visited
the island city, and he noted that so m e o f them were rich and honored. T h at figure
w ould mean a co m m u n ity o f at least 1 500 members, a considerable part - easily
15% - o f an urban popu lation o f so m e 9 -1 00 00 inhabitants. While a Venetian
traveler in 1557 said merely that the J e w s were “ m a n y ” , the C o rfio te historian A n ­
tonio M arm ora, who we will meet again shortly, wrote in 1662 that there were
so m e 500 Jew ish houses (c a s e ) , constituting perhaps an even higher percentage of
the total population o f the city than was the case earlier67.
ro T h e existence o f cha p te r 76 did n ot render charters un n e c e ss a ry o r a void d is p u te s. At va rio us
tim es w e find the J e w s rem in de d o f their o b li ga tio n to register ( “ se s c r i b i ” ) at the ch a nce ry to mak e
a cha rter valid, and Venice often w a s called u p o n to r eco g n ize the d isp e n s a t io n o f the J e w s of
C a p o d i s t r i a fr o m the o b li g a t io n to w e ar the “ O ” , both clear reflections o f the statute. O n the
other hand, n otific ation o f the law f o r b id d in g o w n e r s h ip o f real estate w a s sen t in a d ucal letter
dated 9 n o v e m b e r and tr an sc rib ed into the L i b e r N i g e r o f the local cha ncery. A ctu a l rates of
in terest we re m u ch higher than th os e in dicated in the statute. B a n k s c ould be b o u g h t and s o ld at
will, a m o n g J e w s . Sec Francesco Mctjer, G li ebrei feneratori a C a p o d i s t r i a , in P ag in e istrianc, a. 9
(1911) 2 35-246, 272 -2 76; a. 10 (1912) 25-3 2, 182-185, 22 5-2 30, 27 5 -2 79; a. 11 (1913) 31 -42, 76-84,
129-130, 167-182. T h e fact that this kind o f condotta w a s part o f the c o m m u n a l st at ut e p r o b a b ly
m ad e it easier for the city to con ti n ue to habere Ju d eos; rep re sentative s o f C a p o d i s t r i a petitio ne d
the C o u n c i l o f Ten to rescind the cl ause in a set o f reg ulation s co n ce r n in g that city p a s s e d b y the
Sen ate in 1459 whi ch w o u ld have m ad e it im p o ss ib le fo r it to ke ep J e w is h lende rs; the requ est
se e m s to have be en gran ted : AS V, C o n s i g l i o dei d ied , deli bera zio n i miste, reg. 15, fol. 186v
(5 Sept. 1459).
66 C ecil Roth, H i s t o r v o f the J e w s in Venice ( L o n d o n 1930, N e w Y o r k 1975) 310-331 (ci tation on
318).
67 F o r B e njamin , see B ow m an, J e w s o f B y z a n t i u m 75; M esullam da Volterra, V ia g g io in terra
d ’ lsraele, tran slated b y A lessandra Veronese (R im in i 1989) 93. A l e s s a n d r o M a g n o , the Venetian
n o b le m a n , no ted in 1557 that the borgo o f C o r f u was inhabited als o da m olti hebrei and m en tion s
that en route betw een C o r f u and V al on a the ship was met b y J e w s in several sm all boa ts
front w h o m the travellers b o u g h t diverse robbe-, see Alessandro M agno, V o y ag e s ( 1 5 5 7 - 1565),
translation and notes b y Wilfred N a a r (Paris, Bari 20 02) 589. Antonio M arm ora, H is t o r ia
86
R e in h o l d C . Muel ler
C o r f u came under Venetian do m ination only in 1386, when the city and the is­
land were convinced by the Venetian C ap tain general o f the fleet, G iovan ni Miani,
to subm it to Venice after the death o f Charles III o f D u r a z z o 68. In order to negoti­
ate the text o f the so -called dedication, the council o f C o r f u in M a y 1386 sent a
co m m ittee o f six representatives or sindici to Venice, one o f w h o m was D avid Sem
(or de Sem o), a J e w 69. A J e w sent as form al representative o f a subje ct city to the
capital? Indeed, and the fact so disturbed the seventeenth century C o rfio te histo­
rian A n to n io M a r m o ra that he sim p ly su p pressed it, giving the nam es o f only five
m en70. When time came to give ho m a ge and sw ear fidelity in the name o f the city
and island o f C o r f u before d o g e A n to n io Venier, all six, including D a v id Sem the
Jew, were there, a d prestandum sacramentum, in all so le m n ity 71. Sem, a citizen o f
C o rfu , was a plenipotentiary o f his native city. B u t his presence in the delegation
had a further significance, since the privileges o f the J ew ish co m m u n ity (or Univer­
sitas) were to be discussed as part o f the general negotiations, because it was ob vi­
ous, states the p ream ble to the deliberation o f the Venetian Senate that concluded
the negotiations, quod ipsi Iudei sunt utiles tarn habitatoribus insule quam civitatis
in casibus m ultis...72.
di C o r f u (Venice 1672) 437: “ S o n o nella C it t ä di C o r f u da 500 C a s e di G iu d e i, c o m o d e e
fa co lt o s e p e r gli traffichi e u s u r e c h ’esercit an o col L eva n te e c o ’ Pone n ti n i . . . ” F o r the total
p o p u la t io n , see G eorge Plum idis, I paesi greci s o t t o il d o m i n i o ve n e zia n o, 150 3-1537, (in
G r e e k ) ( A t h e n s 1974) 41, w ith d ata extrac te d fr o m the D ia r ii o f M a r i n o S a n u t o fo r the years
1505-1534.
68 See Giorgio R avegn ani, L a c o n q u is ta ve ne zi an a di C o r f u , in: V en ez ia e le isole ionic, ed. b y
Chryssa M altezou and G berardo O rtalli (Venice 20 05) 101-112.
69 T h e fact itself is k n o w n ; p e rh a p s the m o s t recent m en t io n is in B ow m an , J e w s o f B y z a n t i u m
2 90-291, d oc . 98. T o clarify the m atte r further, it is im p o r t a n t to refer to the Ven etian d o c u m e n t a ­
tion. T h e six veri, legittim i et generales sindici, yconom i certi et indubitati nunci speciales sent b y
the coun cil w ere three n o b le m e n P etrus C a p ic e , miles, R ic a r d u s d c Altavilla , J o h a n n e s Alexii
C a v a s u le , then A n t o n iu s d e H e n r i c o , notarius, N i c o l a u s de Tr ach an io ti, comitus, and D a v id de
S e m o , Indens: ASV, C o m m e m o r i a l i , reg. 8, fols. 118 (28 M a y 1386) a n d 119 (8 J a n u a r y 1387
[ m o d e r n style]). T h e first three o f the a b o v e were a m o n g the five C o r f i o t e s m ad e citizens o f Venice
de gratia on the s am e o c c a s io n , o n the ba si s o f a p r o m is e m a d e to the m b y the C a p t a i n G e n e r al
Mian i. T h e other t w o C h r is t ia n rep rese n tat iv es a n d D a v i d S e m o w ere not a m o n g the m: ASV,
G r a z ie , reg. 17, fol. 223 (21 J a n u a r y 1387, the d a y p r io r to the del ibera tion o f the Sen ate m ar k in g
the c o n cl u s io n o f the n eg o t ia tio n s ) and the d a t a b a n k w w w .c iv e s v e n e c ia r u m .n e t .
70 M arm ora, H i s t o r i a di C o r f u 2 31-251, as first revealed o n the ba si s o f d o c u m e n t s o n c e part o f
the archive o f the J e w i s h c o m m u n i t y b y J. A. Rom anos, H is t o ir e d e la C o m m u n a u t e Israelite de
C o r f o u , in: R e v u e d es etud es ju iv e s 23 (18 92) 3-14, then b y D a v id K au fm ann, C o n t r i b u t i o n s a
l’ histoire des J u if s de C o r f o u , in: R e v u e des e tu d es juives vols. 32 (189 6) 22 6-3 5, 33 (1896) 64-76,
219-3 2, and 34 (1897) 263-7 5. A m o n g the d o c u m e n t s p ub lis h ed b y K a u f m a n n are a u t h o r iz e d
tran sl ations, m ad e b y the c h a n ce r y o f C o r f u in the eighteenth ce n tu r y at the r eq u est o f the Je w s , o f
th os e d o c u m e n t s that n am e d D a v i d S e m as m e m b e r o f the dele g a tio n and o f the privile ges reg is ­
tered in J a n u a r y 1387; his role w a s crucial to their history, as w a s co n ti n u a ll y r e c o g n iz e d b y them
a n d b y Venetian aut ho rit ie s in the f o l lo w in g centuries. Finally, see als o Eugenio Bacchion, II d o ­
m in io veneto su C o r f u (1386 -1 7 9 7 ) (Venice 1956) 60.
71 See the d o c u m e n t o f 8 J a n u a r y cited a b o v e in note 69.
72 AS V , S en ato misti, reg. 40, fol. 59v (22 J a n u a r y 1387).
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c A ctiv it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
87
Tw o unnamed representatives o f the Je w s o f C o rfu , who had clearly a c c o m p a ­
nied D avid Sem, asked confirm ation o f their privileges but also the correction of
extorsions and gravam ina to which J e w s were subjected at ho m e (a multis extorsionibus et gravam inibus que eis illata fuerunt). T h e first correctio n was to see to it
that the hanging o f criminals no longer be staged in the Jew ish cemetery. B u t m ajo r
em phasis was placed on rights o f citizenship and what that entailed in terms of
taxation, which was meant to be just the sam e as that asked o f “ other citizens of
C o r f u ” (ad conditionem aliorum civium civitatis et inside Corphoy ); the kinds of
tax were registered as they cam e up in the discussion:
- the tax fo r arming the c o lo n y ’s galley and other ships necessary for de­
fence;
- forced loans o f such things as beds and beasts o f burden, similarly necessary
for defence;
- guard duties (custodia), which had been asked of J e w s on ly fou r times per
year, were from then on to be the sam e for J e w s “ as fo r other Christian citi­
zens o f C o r f u ” .
- T h e right o f lapidatio, the stoning o f Jew ish houses and o f J e w s du ring H o l y
Week, was considered in the sam e context, since in the past, it w as said, this
practice had been su sp en de d on ly u p o n p ay m en t o f a m o n e y fee - actually
the extortion o f ran som m o n e y from potential victims - “ which is co ntrary
to hum anity ( qui est. contra omnem kum anitatem )” ', n ow it w as reduced and
circumscribed to what was called the m in im um necessary fo r the ritual tra­
ditions o f o r th o d o x C hristians (iuxta morem et / idem grecorum), namely
the throwing o f stones by public officials during recitation o f the litany as
the p rocessio n passed through the Jew ish quarter. When the O r t h o d o x
asked in 1406 for reinstatem ent o f the cu stom de iudeis lapidandis, the S en ­
ate confirm ed the p rohibition o f the practice but as a partial concession, in
contrast to the p rivileges confirm ed in 1387, J e w s w ould thenceforth be re­
quired to wear the yellow “ O ” 73.
Th e J e w s were perfectly willing, if necessary, even to p ay higher im po sition s the essential was that they be the sam e as those asked o f “ other citiz e n s” , i.e. the
orth o d o x and western Christians, the best w a y to define legal equality.
73 In r eco u n tin g the p luri- se cula r historical c o n te x t o f this C h r is t ia n ritual in E u r o p e , C e c il R oth
recalled als o this case o f Venetian C o r f u ; sec his T h e E as t e rt id e S to n in g o f the J e w s and its L i t u r g i ­
cal E c h o e s , in: T h e J e w i s h Q u a r t e r l y Re view , n .s . 35 (1944-4 5) 36 1 -7 0 (kin d ly b r o u g h t to m y at­
tention b y D a v id J a c o b y ) . R e p e a t e d a ccu sa tio n s o f ritual a ssassin a tio n lay be hin d these C h r is tia n
rites, w hich in C o r f u we re st re n gth en ed to include, in the eighteenth century, the “ old c u s t o m ” o f
b u rn in g on E aste r the eff ig y o f a then living J e w , st uff ed w ith fi r e w or k s, in the church o f the A n ­
nu nciation; an a tte m p t b y the au thorit ie s to se q u e s t e r the eff ig y in 1760 gav e the c r o w d occas ion
to s a c k the h o u se s o f the Je w s . T h e si tua ti on w a s ve ry similar in Za nte. See Ph. C a r r e r , I o u d a i s m o s
kai X r is t ia n is m o s ( Z a k in t h o s 1891) e special ly 111-119 ( kin d ly b r o u g h t to m y atten tion b y M a r i­
a nn a K o ly v a ).
88
R e in h o l d C . Muel ler
T h e question o f lending m o n e y at usury by J e w s in C o r f u was set aside fo r fur­
ther consideration 74. When it cam e up four m onths later, it was on the basis o f a
p ro p o sa l made by the three su p ervisors ( Provisores) of C o r f u in which there is
actually no mention at all o f J e w s 73. T h e p rop osal set m axim u m interest rates by
type o f contract:
- for a loan with personal p ro p erty as collateral: 12%
- for a loan on real p rop erty or on written bon d: 16%
- for loans on agricultural p rodu cts and futures: 2 0 %
- for current loans on old contracts and old p aw n s, 2 0 % could be asked, but
limits were set on ho w long existing contracts could still run.
T h e poin t to be made here is that m oneylendin g was not considered a sector of
the local ec o n o m y restricted only to the J e w s 76. In fact, C o rf io t e J e w s were heavily
involved in all aspects o f econ om ic endeavour: in com m ercial ventures, in the ex­
p ort trade and in productive activity both as craftsmen and as manual laborers;
on ly so m e lent money. In other w o rds, their situation differed sh arply from that of
their coreligionists then residing in Venice itself and those w h o w o u ld be active
later in the Terraferma. T h ese com m unities were headed b y moneylenders and
their right to reside was based on tem porally limited charters, while the Je w s of
C o r f u were citizens w h ose standing privileges were recognized and defended by
Venice. T h e Venetian Senate was continually forced to review blanket provisions
regarding Je w s, such as expulsions, special taxation, and prohibitions, for example
to engage in the legal profession, and to exempt C o rfio te J e w s on the basis o f their
priv ileges77.
S o m e o f the do u b ts left open du ring the negotiations between Venice and the
J e w s in 1387 were addressed in an em b assy o f 1406 which p ro d u c e d a “ golden
b u ll” for the Jew ish com m unity, with such clauses as the following: a) Since the
lapidatio was to remain illegal, substituted by the obligation o f J e w s to wear the
y ellow “ O ” , the Venetian C o lle g io offered the J e w s an alternative: for a fee o f 300
/ 'i AS V , S e n a to misti, reg. 40, f. 59v. T h e d ecis io n to s t u d y fu rt h er the re g u la tio n o f loans o n c o l­
lateral was p rec e d ed b y this st at em en t: Preterea cum in facto d andi a d usuram in civitate Corpboy
inter C hristianas et Iudeos Corphienses sint certa pacta et conventiones quibus ipsi lu d ei valde
grav an t ewes Corphoy in facto ipsarum usurarum , et utile sit super hoc provid ers de remedio oportuno. T h e d isc u ss io n d o e s not t o u c h the q u e s t io n o f J e w s be in g fo rced to act as exe cutio n er s, a task
bear in g the m a r k o f in fa m y ; that V en etia ns fo rced Jew's to d o this in C r e t e a n d in C o r f u is asserted
b y Bow m an, T h e Je w s o f B y z a n t i u m 340 -3 41; o n the contrary, see the p rec ed en t, re c o g n iz e d by
Venice, in the decree o f Philip II o f T a r a n t o in 1370 w hich fo r b a d e m a k in g J e w s in C o r f u act as
exe cutio n ers, in: K au fm ann, C o n t r i b u t i o n s vol. 33, 65.
73 AS V, S en at o misti, reg. 40, f. 59v, fol. 77 (29 M a y 1387).
,b A c c o r d i n g to C e cil R o th , the a b o v e step s we re tak en to p r o t ect the in ha bitan ts, in clu d in g the
J e w s , fr o m C h r is t ia n usur ers: Roth, H i s t o r y o f the J e w s in Venice 319. T h a t there w a s for m al m o n ­
e y le n d in g b y J e w s later is reflected in a p e ti tio n o f 1680 fa v o u r in g the 6 % interest o f the M o n te di
P icta aga in st the strabochevoli e pesantissim e usure di 17 p er cento del giudaism o: li. YotopoulouSicilianou (ed.), A m b a s c ia t e o f V en etia n -R ule d C o r f u ( l ö ^ ' - l S * centuries). S o u r c e for an outline
r eco n s tru ctio n o f the p e rio d [in G r e e k ] ( A t h e n s 2002) 633.
77 K au fm an n, C o n t r i b u t i o n s vol. 32, 22 9-3 0, 233.
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c Activ it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
89
ducats per year, the obligation could be suspended, b) L a n d e d p ro p e rty on the is­
land connected with seignorial rights over peasants had to be sold within tw o years
and real estate o w ned in the city was to be limited to that existing intra I udaycbam,
although these clauses were p ro b a b ly a dead letter from the start and R o th c o n sid ­
ered them easily circumvented, c) A committee that exacted taxes was to have one
J e w ish member, as had been cu stom a ry in the past, d) Je w s were to be free to buy
fruit, vegetables and bread on the local marketplace, and draw water fro m a well to the construction o f which they had contributed - just like Christians. Th e final
p etition o f the representatives o f the J e w s regarded threats made on their lives and
homes; the rectors were called upon to prosecute guilty parties fo r any “ violence,
injury or offen ce” 78. T w o years later the Jew s, p resum ab ly taken as a whole, were
perm itted to o w n rural land up to a value of 4 0 0 0 ducats, actually a very large
su m 79.
In the early fifteenth century the J e w s still lived on tw o streets in a iudaica - lo ­
cated between the old city and the fortress - k now n as the mons Iudeom m ; in 1414
it was ordered that the mons be included inside a new defensive wall80. A final c o n ­
sideration ab ou t the habitat o f the J e w s underscores once again their unique co nd i­
tion. When the Venetian Senate in 1423 - as w as m entioned above - forb ad e the
ow nership o f real p rop erty to all J e w s o f the do m in ion s o f both Terraferma and
Mar, the Je w s o f C o r f u appealed the decision regarding their o w n situation and
won. T h e Senate was forced in 1425 to amend the decision since the J e w s o f C o rfu
were “ citizens and residents o f o u r city o f C o r f u ( cives et habitatores civitatis nostre
Corphoy)” and as such could o w n their houses in the two iudaiche o f the city. This
final clause form ally protected their right o f ow nership but w as meant to limit
their freedom o f investment81. In the early sixteenth century the houses o f the J e w s
in the t w o iudaiche were razed in o rder to make ro o m fo r new defensive w o rk s and
their residences were per force dispersed throughout the city, a m o n g the C h r i s ­
tians. T h is brough t a petition by the o rth o d o x majo rity in 1516, asking that a quar­
ter be set aside so that the J e w s w o u ld live as before, separatim. H a r d ly fou r months
after Venice’s ow n decision to relegate J e w s to the G h etto (29 M a r c h - 1 April), the
C o lle g io granted the petition o f the C o rfio te O r t h o d o x C hristians and called for
relocation o f the J e w s to a quarter o f the city called C a t t o C a fe ro , where they
78 C o n sta n tin o * N . S a th a s (ed.) D o c u m e n t s ined its relatifs ä l’histoirc de la G rece au M o y e n A g e,
vol. II (Paris 1881) 152-54 (the d o c u m e n t s f r o m this s o u r c e we re k in dly b r o u g h t to m y attention
b y N i c h o l a s K a r a pida k is ).
79 Ja c o b y , Venice a n d the Venetian J e w s 53, note 26.
s0 S a th a s (ed.), D o c u m e n t s , vol. I l l (Paris 1882) 45-46.
81 T h e p r o h ib it io n (see a b o v e note 19) w a s p a s s e d not lo n g after B e r n a r d in o d a Sien a had be en in
Venice w here he ha d p e rh a p s p r ea c h e d d u r in g A d v e n t (14 22 ) and pr ea ch e d d u r in g L e n t in P ad o v a
(1423): A lfon so M. B e ren g o M o rte, O F M , San B e r n a r d in o d a Sien a nellc Ven ez ie (V e rona 1945) 32
and 231 -233 . T h e p r o h ib it io n w a s rei nfo rced the fo l lo w in g year, elim in ating lo o p h o l e s and per­
m itting o n ly annual rent c on tr a cts fo r the ho u se actu ally lived in: ASV, S e n a t o misti, reg. 55, fol. 77
(30 D e c e m b e r 1424). T h e exce p ti on fo r the J e w s o f C o r f u is in ibid., i ol. U 1 (3 M a y 1425), printed
in S a th a s , D o c u m e n t s inedits vol. I l l , 286-87.
90
R e in h o l d C . Muel ler
w o u ld be "un ited and sa fe ” - a rather softer form ulation than that used by the same
organ regarding the G h etto in Venice82. B u t m any J e w s su ccessfully resisted this
order and it was another century before a new attempt w as made; even when there
w o u ld be a Jew ish quarter, it was not exclusively Jew ish and there were no gates to
be closed during the night, as in the rigorous Italian ghettos8-’ .
In brief, the social status o f the J e w s o f C o r f u constituted a notable exception in
the p an oram a o f the Venetian dom inion s: Je w s were full citizens o f their city in the
M id dle A ges; they were represented in the council and could represent the city, as
did D avid Sem in Venice in 1386-87, despite the antagonism o f m any o f their C h r i s ­
tian fellow citizens84.
If this is the social situation, we can learn so m ething m ore a b ou t the economic
activities o f the Je w s o f C o r f u b y turning to the account b o o k o f a sm all Venetian
com m ercial partnership which had a base in C o r f u in the years 1440-14 4 2S;>. Th e
y o u n g Venetian noblem an, Zaccaria Giustinian, w h o ran the agency, had dealings
with twelve different Je w is h merchants over the tw o years. In businesses related to
the trade o f tanning hides, which however is not m entioned in the accounts, were
tw o w h o dealt in sheepskins and a third was identified as as a furrier (varoter ). O n e
o f them w as a descendant o f D a v id Sem o, the representative sent to Venice in 138687. T h e names o f these men are listeci in Table 2. F o u r are indicated as C orfiotes,
three as from Ioannina on the G r e e k m ainland86.
82 S a th a s, D o c u m e n t s inedits vol. V, 261 -6 2: ... che V s iip r o v isto de h a b ita tio n s a d essi H e b r e i in
un o loco dicto C a tto C a fe ro ehe e d a la b a n d a d e l Turrion d e l a rm ir a g lio o v e sta ra n o ben e u n iti et
securi.
83 R o th , H i s t o r y o f the J e w s in Venice 324 -3 25. It is in the c o n te x t o f a d isc u ss io n o f a tt e m p ts to
p r o h ib it J e w s fr o m o w n i n g real estate that M a r m o r a , in 1672, gives vent to his in grain ed anti­
s em it is m : “ A gran ra g io n e si p r iv a n o di stabili quei, ehe non han fe r m e z z a a lcun a di fede; e tr o p p o
g r a n d e s c o r n o sa re bbe , se negli edificii, nelle viile e n e’ c a m p i si v e d e s se r o a pe r tam e nte le loro
usure. N o n e co n v e n e v o l c ehe se p e rd e tt e r o le lo r o tcrre p e r havere u c c is o C r i s t o , terre a cqu is ti no
fr a ’ Cr is tian i; ed e s s e n d o m crit evoli di m orte , l o r o non c on vie n e di stabile ehe il s e p o l c r o ” : M a r ­
m o ra , D e ll a historia di C o r f u 25 5-2 56.
84 O n the o c c as io n o f their s u cce ss fu l app eal a ga in st the b la n ke t e x p u ls io n o r d e r that fo l lo w e d the
V enetian v ic tory at L e p a n t o , the J e w s o f C o r f u claim ed that they ha d a lw a y s been co n sid e re d p e r
m em b ro et u n a m ed e sim a cosa con essa [citta di C o r f u ] , that be fo r e the exi sten ce o f a con d otta o f
J e w s in Venice C o r f i o t e J e w s , a n tic h issim i sttoi su d d iti, had trad ed w it h Venice, and that they w o u ld
p refer to live in s ervit ud e u n d e r the p r o t e c tio n o f Venice tha n in fr e e d o m els ew h er e (essendone
sotto le sue a le p iu g r a tio sa la serv itu ehe a ltro v e la lib ertd). T h e Venetian rectors s u p p o r t e d their
cla im s and rem in de d the g o v e r n m e n t that the J e w s o f C o r f u non v iv o n o con a lt r a in d u stria ehe con
la m erc a n tia and that the y p aid th o u s a n d s o f d u c a ts in c u s t o m s d ut ie s in Venice: K a u fm a n n , C o n ­
sid e r atio n s vol. 33, 20-23.
85 R e in h o ld C. M u eller, A Ven etian C o m m e r c i a l E n t e r p rise in C o r f u , 1440- 14 42, in: M o n e y and
M a r k e t s in the P a la e o lo g a n E r a ( D ' M S ' 1' centurie s) (acts o f the c o n g r e s s, C h a lk is , G r ee ce , M a y
1998), ed. b y N ik o s M osch o n as, Institu te f o r B y z a n t in e Re se ar ch , N a t io n a l He ll e nic Re se ar ch
F o u n d a t i o n ( B y z a n t i u m T o d a y 4, A t h e n s 200 3) 81-95.
86 B y c o m p a r is o n , in the ve ry m u c h la rger a c c o u n t b o o k k e p t b y G i a c o m o B a d o e r in C o n s t a n ­
tin op le , 143 6-1440, o n ly a b o u t thirty J e w s are identifiable; cf. B o w m a n , J e w s o f B y z a n t i u m 175.
T h e S ta tus and E c o n o m i c Ac tiv it y o f J e w s in the Venetian D o m i n i o n s
91
T a b le 2 : J e w i s h m e r c h a n ts ( iu d ii, z u d i i) a n d c o m m e r c ia l p a r t n e r s h ip s a c t iv e in C o r fu ,
1 4 4 0 -4 2 .
Elia so n o f S a lo m o n o f lo a n n in a
Elia so n o f S am u e l o f loa n n in a
G u a r a n t o r s o f Elia so n o f S am uel:
S a m u e l C a s s a n , “ c u r r e n t l y his r a b b i ”
S a l o m o n di M u l i , h is u n c l e ( barba)
G n s o m S e n o , “ c u r r e n t l y li v in g in C o r f u ”
M o i x e C h a s t o r i a n o i u d i o , “ w h o li v e s in C o r f u ”
M o s c o o f O tr a n to and A b r a m s o n o f S a lo m o n S a z e r d o to ( A b r a m o p e ra ted also on
his o w n a c c o u n t )
S a l o m o n “ th e f u r r i e r ” (v a r o t e r )
S a m a r i a d e N a t a e l , “ w h o live s h e r e in C o r f u ”
S am u el o f loann ina
S am u e l P izinin o f C o r f u
T h e y dealt in low -co st merchandise. T h e y o u n g Venetian merchant sold four
G e rm a n panni di fontego, or blanket-material, fo r 32 perperi to the J e w Elia of
loannina, w ho, by barter, p ro m ise d in return eight schiavine - an article o f coarse
w o ol used b oth as a kind o f cape and as a blanket by seamen and pilgrims. When
Elia paid, the Venetian charged a slight difference (less than 2 perperi) because he
w as dissatisfied with so m e o f the merchandise ( algunc sciavinc el me d e ’ in p agamento ehe le non me piexeva). Since he did not p ay on the spot, Elia had to p rovide
sureties, once his rabbi, once his uncle S a lo m o n di Muli.
A noth er Jew, Samuel o f loannina, bou gh t nearly a metric ton o f iron from the
Venetian, at on ly 85 perperi per thousandw eight. In the sam e category, plow shares
or gomeri produ ced in bulk in the smithies o f Styria and Carinthia were sold largely
via barter for schiavine, m ostly to Je w s: Elia son of Salom on of loannina b ou gh t five
bales and M o ixe C h a sto ria n o four, while one bale each went to M o s c o d ’O tra n to e
A b ra m di S a lo m o n S azerd oto, partners, G r is o m Sem o, and Samaria di Natael. Th e
bales, each containing 20-22 plow sh ares, were valued, fo r p u rp o s e s o f barter, at
21-22 perperi per bale; from the city they p ro b a b ly were forw arded to markets
both on the island and on the G reek mainland.
E xchange co m m od ities were wax, sheepskins and schiavine. Elia o f loann ina im ­
ported only a small quantity o f 200 lbr. o f wax, which he bartered fo r iron, and the
partnership o f M o sc o o f O tra n to and A b ra m di S alom on delivered 13 lbr., which
p ro b a b ly served to balance a sm all debt left over after a barter agreement. Sheep­
skins were brou gh t to the market o f C o r f u especially b y merchants fro m K astoria,
but the Je w s M o sc o o f O t ra n t o and A b ra m S a z erd oto, partners, and Elia o f l o a n ­
nina p rovided a certain num ber valued at 14s each. T h e schiavine, finally, were
much sought after in Venice. O f the 170 that Zaccaria p urchased and loaded onto
eight different voyages, half were fro m Elia di Samuel o f loannina and a small
num ber from G r is o m Sem o. Even if the accounts kept by this apprentice merchant
involved J e w s in low -cost merchandise, they reflect a kind o f econ om ic freedom
and variety o f activity that J e w s in the Venetian Terraferma did not know.
92
R e in h o l d C . M u el le r
C on clu sion
It is in fact striking ho w different the position o f J e w s on the mainland was from
that o f Je w s in the maritime provinces, even though both were excluded from rights
o f citizenship - with the notable exception o f C o rfu . T h e com m unities o f the
form er revolved prim arily arou nd paw n banking, while com m erce in used go o d s
was secon dary and other trades and profession s were m ostly those necessary to
su p p o r t relatively large com m unities, such as those o f Padua and Treviso. Th e resi­
dence of Jew s in a given subje ct city o f the Terraferma was regulated by a t e m p o ­
rary charter that could as well be terminated as renewed; their protected status as
subditi lasted only the duration ot their condotta. O n the other hand, in Venice’s
Stato da M ar - especially in Crete and C o r f u , where there were Je w ish c o m m u n i­
ties ten times larger than those found in Terraferma cities - Je w s were consid ered
subditi without lim itations o f the kind found in Italian charters. T h e J e w s o f C o rfu ,
moreover, were recognized to be perm anent citizens o f their city. D esp ite the secu ­
lar persistence o f O r t h o d o x rituals such as the lapidatio, which open ly reflected
Christian contem pt o f the Jew ish minority, B y zan tine traditions generally favored
J e w s by keeping open to them m any branches of wholesale and retail com m erce
and the crafts. A s a result, m oneylendin g tout court and paw n banking in p articu­
lar, often a source o f friction in the Terraferma, were m inor activities that did not
characterize the large island c o m m u n it y as a whole. The Jew s o f C orfu never tired
o f repeating in the ensuing centuries, when protecting their ow n historic rights
against legal restrictions introduced elsewhere in the Venetian dom inion s, that their
status was different fro m that o f their coreligionists elsewhere; rather than being
restricted by tem p orary charters, they were favored by enduring privileges87.
S7 A s late as the late eighteenth ce n tu r y the Inqu is ito ri s o p r a I’unive rsita degli ebrei w r o t e that the
J e w s o f C o r f u w e re non com presi nelle co n d o le d e g l’E b re i d i q u e sta D o m in a n te , m a com e p n v ile g ia ti su d d iti nostri, m e m b ra u n ito e con gio n to con q u c lla a t t a , cosiccbe d rb b j.n o cssere m an ten u ti
n el loro esser in cui sono statt fin o d i p resen te, n'e m o le sta ti con tro la fo rm a d i d etti loro p riv ile g g i:
K a u fm a n n , C o n s i d e r a t i o n s vol. 34, 268.
Joseph Shatzmiller
Church Articles: Pawns in the H ands of
Jew ish M oneylenders
F o r the m ost part, the p aw ns that were to be found in m on e yle n d ers’ “ s h o p s ” in
the central and late M iddle A ges were cheap objects, alm ost worthless. P o o r b or­
ro wers had nothing better to offer. H ow ever, so m e rich institutions and opulent
individuals presented creditors with spectacular and precious obje cts of art. M o n e y ­
lenders dealing with church institutions accepted as sureties cult-articles c o n sid ­
ered sacred by Christians. T h e follow ing pages will confront jurispruden ce - reli­
gious and secular - on this aspect o f the com m erce of m o ney with the reality of
econ om ic life in which these sacred articles played an im portant role.
I.
N o t all Je w s were strangers to the interiors o f churches and to the beautiful eccle­
siastical ornaments they preserved when they entered cathedrals or monasteries of
the time. In E n glan d of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, so m e J ew s, perhaps
even the majority, w o uld leave their m o ney and valuables fo r safekeeping in these
churches. T h is w as the reason fo r their frequent visits to the institutions o f the rival
religion. Q u ite understandably, so m e clergymen com plained ab ou t this lively J e w ­
ish traffic in the Christian holy buildings. At a church council at O x f o r d in 1222,
Stephen L a n gton , the m ost p rom in en t ecclesiastical figure o f his time, p ro m o te d a
decree forb idd ing J e w s such entrance, liberum ingressum et egressum. T h e p ro h ib i­
tion was repeated in the diocesan statutes o f W orcester in 1240 and o f L o n d o n
from 1245-1259. In 1253, K in g H e n ry III issued royal legislation in this sp irit1.
The late P r o fe s so r S o lo m o n G ray ze l, master scholar of the relationship between
the C h u rch and the J e w s in the M iddle A ges, noticed the presence o f je w s in these
buildings o f Christianity. Lie was o f the opinion that the p h en om eno n was limited
to E n gla n d 2. H ow ever, so m e o f the H e b r e w exempla, assembled arou nd the year
1200 in the well-known “ Sefer H a s i d i m ” , implied that things were not different in
s Z cp b ira E n tin -R o k e a b , T h e J e w is h C h u r c h - R o b b c r s and H o s t D c s c c r a t o r s o f N o r w i c h (ca.
1285), in: R e v u e des etud es ju ivcs 141 (19 82) 33 1-3 62, in par ticular 333-334.
1 C f . S alo m o n G ra y z e l, The C h u r c h and the J e w s in the X I I I th C e n tu ry , revi sed edit io n ( N e w
Y o r k 1966) 35, n o te 75.
94
J o s e p h S hat zm il lc r
the Rhineland o f the time-’ . T h e piou s authors o f G e rm a n y hailed individuals who
abstained from the practice. T h e y gave the follow ing illustration, “ a Jew' entered
the court o f a church. H e heard a [Divine] voice (quotin g 1 K in gs 14:9), ‘A n d me,
you cast aw ay behind.’ ” T o m ake up for the transgression, the J e w mortified
himself fo r the rest o f his life (E x e m p lu m N ° 1357). A n o th er exem p lum involves
the case o f a man w h o entered the church and then regretted it. H e turned to a Sage
for instruction o f penance. T h e Sage suggested, “ every year on the day [on which
y o u com m itted the transgression], you sh ou ld mortify y o u rse lf.” A n d , so he did
( N ° 1358). T h e H asidim considered as realistic a situation in which a sh rew d cleric
indebted to a J e w t o o k refuge in the church k now ing that the creditor w o u ld not
follow him ( N ° 1362). T h e y told also o f a w onderful miracle that occurred during
the funeral o f a person w h o “ made a point never to enter a ch u rc h ” ( N ° 1356).
In twelf th century England, the relationship between J e w s and churches was not
limited sim p ly to visitations or to safekeeping. Prelates, u nder financial pressure,
w o u ld offer holy ornam ents as sureties to J e w s against loans they w ished to obtain.
B ish o p N ig e l o f E ly (E a st Anglia), in conflict with K in g Stephen, w as forced to
p aw n relics to J e w s o f C am b rid ge . T h is m u st have occurred arou nd the year 1140.
A hagiographic source reported that am o n g those relics was a golden crucifix b e ­
longing to K in g E d g a r 4. So m e thirty years later, tw o J e w s o f N o r w ic h , a father and
so n (Benedict and D e o d a tu s , respectively), were sentenced to a considerable fine of
twenty p o u n d s fo r obtaining church vessels illegally as p a w n s 3. O th e r English
prelates involved in such transactions were B ish op R o b ert de C h e sn a y o f Lincoln
and A b b o t William Waterville o f Peterbo rou gh (active arou nd 1155-1175). T h e a b ­
bot pledged, am o n g other sacred relics, the arm o f Saint O s w a ld 6.
Similar practices crossed the channel and t o o k place in the heart o f E u ro p e
as well. It is quite p ossible that sacred objects, belonging to none other than the
m onastery o f Cluny, fell into the hands o f Jew s. Peter the Venerable (1156-1192),
its m ost fam ou s abbot, expressed rage over the very fact o f having to deal with the
J e w s 7. A m uch calmer m o o d is detected in a letter he w rote to H e n ry o f Blois, who
became B ish o p o f Winchester; the great ecclesiastic thanked H e n r y for the finan­
cial su p p o r t that helped retrieve sacred objects in J ew ish p o ss e ss io n 8.
3 Je b u d a W istinetzki (ed.), D a s B u c h d er F r o m m e n (Sefer H a s i d i m , H e b r e w ) (F r a n k fu r t a .M .
2 1924). E a c h o f the e x e m p l a has a n u m b e r in this edition. T h e s e will be given in the text o f this
e ss a y be tw e en br acke ts .
4 C f . H. P. Stokes, S tu d ie s in A n g l o - J e w i s h H i s t o r y ( E d i n b u r g h 1913) 124.
3 Stokes, S tu d ie s ibid.
6 C i. Jo e H illaby, T h e L o n d o n J e w r y : William I to J o h n , in: T r a n s a ct io n s of the J e w i s h H is toric al
So ciety o f E n g l a n d 33 ( 1992-1 994) 1-44, in par ticular 9.
7 Je a n Pierre Torrell, L e s ju ifs d a n s 1’ceuvre d e Pierre le venerable, in: C a h ie r s de civilisation medievale 30 (1987) 331 -3 46.
8 Giles C onstable (ed.), T h e L ett e r s o f P eter the Venerable, vol. I ( C a m b r i d g e / M a s s . 1967) 327 330, in par ticular 329.
C h u r c h Article s: P a w n s in the H a n d s o f J e w i s h M o n e y le n d e r s
95
il
Christian sensitivity ab ou t sacred vessels goes back a long time. A s early as the end
o f the sixth century (A u gu st 591), Pope G r e g o r y the Great chastised tw o clerics of
Venafro in C a m p a n ia for having so ld to a “ certain H e b r e w ” sacred articles from
the treasure o f the local church. T h ese included “ tw o chalices o f silver, tw o crowns
with dolphins, the lilies of other crowns, as well as six palliums - great and sm a ll” .
T h e Je w s , orders the Pope, should restore all they got; penance should be im posed
on the clerics9. M o re than tw o hundred years later, in A u g u st 806, in a C arolin gian
capitulary, the clergy o f the highest level were urged to prevent that “ anything of
the gems or the vessels or other ecclesiastical treasures should be sold to J e w s ” . It
further stated, “ we have been told that Jew ish m erchants... boast that they are able
to b u y ... whatever they like” 10. A n oth er capitulary, this time o f su spected authen­
ticity, menaced such J e w s that “ their right hands shall be cut o f f ” 11.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when credit operations spread or intensi­
fied and became w idespread, the attention m oved from merchants and their acts o f
p urchasing to m oneylenders and the p aw ns and sureties they were holding. Pope
A lexander IV (1254-1261) was one o f m any w h o expressed ire abou t it in these
centuries. In a bull (“ B u lla ”) issued on A u g u st 23, 1258, he urged the clergy to show
reverence to “ the vestment o f their ministry, the sacred ornaments, the chalices and
the ecclesiastical vessels” . “ We heard, and we speak o f it not without bitterness of
heart, that so m e clergy make no distinction between the sacred ancf the profane, and
they dare leave such vestments, ornaments and vessels as loan pledges with the
J e w s .” Here, the P o p e ’s concern reached its highest point: “ A n d these very Jew s,
like ingrate enemies o f the cross and the Christian faith, treated these pledges with
irreverence to the disgrace o f the Christian religion. A n d [these Jew s] acted so
nefariously tow ards them as it is shameful to speak and horrible to hear.” 12
M o re than a hundred years earlier, Peter the Venerable had the follow ing to say
ab ou t the b lasp h em ous treatment to which sacred obje cts were subjected: “ Christ,
through the otherwise insensible vessels consecrated to him, suffers directly the
Jew ish insults since, as I have often heard from truthful m en... they direct such
wickedness against celestial vessels as is horrifying to think and detestable to say.”
T h e venerable a bb ot goes on, “ T h e sacred vessels held captive am o n g th e m ... as in
olden times a m o n g Chaldean s, suffer sham e even though they are inanimate. In­
deed, C h rist felt the Jew ish abuse in these insensate vessels sacred to h im .” 1’
Rigo rd, the b iograp her o f Philip A u g u stu s o f France, in his “ G e s t a ” , written and
rewritten in the years 1196 and 1207-1208, was a bit m ore open writing a b ou t these
9 C f . A n tn o n L in d e r , T h e J e w s in the L eg al S o u r c e s o f the E a r l y M id d le A g e s (D et r o it , J e r u sa le m
1997) 42 0-421.
10
11
12
|J
L in d e r, T h e J e w s 344.
L in d e r, T h e J e w s 345 and note 324 there.
C f . G r a y z e l, T h e C h u r c h (as in note 21 infra) 62-64.
C f . R o b e rt C b a z a n , M edieva l S te r e o ty p e s and M o d e r n A n t is e m it is m ( B er k e le y 1997) 51.
96
J o s e p h S h a t z miller
“ a b u s e s ” : the biographer tells us that Phillip expelled the J e w s in 1182 from his
do m ain because o f the “ culmination of their w ick e d n ess” . H is explanation: “ C e r ­
tain ecclesiastical vessels consecrated to G o d , the chalices and crosses o f gold and
silver bearing the image o f ou r L o r d J e s u s C h rist crucified had been pledged to the
J e w s by the way o f secu rity ... these they used so vilely m their impiety and scorn
o f the Christian religion that, from the cups in which the b o d y and b lood ol our
L o r d Je s u s C h rist was consecrated, they gave their children cakes so a k e d in
» |4
wine. 1
With such allegations circulating in society, there was little w o n d er that, for
som e, the alleged nefarious behavio r o f the J e w s am ou n ted to what P rofessor Ivan
M arcus labeled rightly “ latrine b la sp h e m y ” 13. T h e above-m en tion ed R ig o rd b e ­
lieved this was true. H e knew o f “ a certain J e w ” w h o held certain ecclesiastical
objects as pledges. “ H e had a gold cross marked with gems, a b o o k o f the G o sp e ls
decorated with gold and precious stones in an extraordinary manner, silver cups
and other vessels. H e placed them all in a sack and vilely threw it into the deep pit
which he used to relieve him self.” 16 A hagiographic treatise, “ Th e Miracles of
N o t r e D a m e ” , a collection o f miracle stories, accom panied in so m e m anuscripts by
illuminations, relates the terrible story o f the Je w o f C o n stan tin op olis w h o threw
the icon o f the virgin to the gutters. It had been saved, cleansed, and perform ed
miracles. C hristians could learn o f it not only from b o o k s but also fro m observing
church w i n d o w s 17.
Ecclesiastical jurispruden ce to o k seriously the account o f such horror stories. In
their assemblies, prelates made recourse to no uncertain prohibitive term inology
when trying to change the course o f events. T h u s, the decree o f a sy n o d held by
O d o o f Sully, bishop o f Paris (1197-1208), stated that “ no cleric... sh all... in any
manner pledge to a J e w the b o o k s or the ornam ents o f a ch u rc h ” 18. In Trier, in
1227, a so m ew hat m ore mitigated legislation was agreed upon : “ T h e clergy shall
never let out o f their possession any o f the church ornaments, nor shall they dare
to give up to J e w s any religious articles w ithout special perm ission from u s . ” 19 Two
years later, in England, a regulation o f the bishop o f Worcester forbade Je w s to re­
ceive ecclesiastical b ook s, vestments or other ornaments as pledges or for any other
reason. T h e b ishop threatened to cut such J e w s from any social intercourse with
C h ristian s20. O th e r thirteenth century assemblies em ploy e d similar rhetoric. In
1255, the diocesan sy n o d o f Valencia wanted things to be clear: “ N o cleric should
1-1 C f. Ja c o b R ad er M arcus, T h e J e w in the M e d ie val W or ld , A S o u r c e B o o k : 315 -1791 (revised
e dition b y M arc Saperstein, C in cin n at i 1999) 27-3 0, in p artic ular 29.
15 Iv an G. M arcus, A J e w i s h - C h r i s t i a n S y m b io s is : T h e C u l t u r e o f E a r ly A s h k e n a z , in: D av id
Biale (ed.), C u l t u r e s o f the J e w s : A New' H i s t o r y ( N e w Y o r k 200 2) 44 9-516 .
16 Iv an G. M arcus, A Je w i s h - C h r i s t i a n S y m b i o s i s 480.
w Alexandre Laborde, L e s miracles de N o t r e D a m e , c o m p ile s p a r Je h an Mielot (Paris 1929) 102
and pla te N ° x i . cf. also to Iv an G. M arcus, (as in note 16 a b o v e ) 481.
18 See G rayzel, (as in note 2 a b o v e ) 30 0-301.
19 G rayzel, T h e C h u r c h 31 8-319.
20 G rayzel, T h e C h u r c h 3 2 0 - 3 2 1 .
C h u r c h Articles: P a w n s in the H a n d s o f J e w is h M o n e y le n d e r s
97
pledge [to a Jew ) a chalice, vestments, covers o f altars or b o o k s . ” 21 T h e com m erce
in “ sacred o b je c t s” was a m ajo r concern o f assemblies like that ot M eaux in 1287 or
that co nvened the sam e year by J a c o b , A rch bish o p o f G n ie z n o 22.
III.
F o r their part, J e w s were aware o f the rage these transactions aroused in society they were also attentive to the danger which so m e o f these moneylenders m ay have
had to face. A rabbinic sy n od , co n vo ke d by R abb i J a c o b Tam (c. 1100-1175) around
the mid twelfth century, tried to amend this state o f affairs. In the decree issued by
that sy n od , J e w s were warned “ not to accept church vessels as security for d e b t ” .
“ N o t to buy the chalice or the cross or holy vestments or p ray er b o o k s o f a church
or its vessels.” A nd again, “ N o t to bu y a stolen chalice or a cross or holy vestments
or prayer b o o k s o f a church or any of its vessels” . T h e reason: “ Becau se o f the
peril.” T h e injunctions went further, warning the J e w s “ not to b u y stolen things
such as images or a chalice or priestly vestments and p ray er b o o k s or vessels o f
w o r s h ip ” and again: “ Because o f the d a n g e r” 23. A pupil o f R abb i Tam, Eliezer o f
M etz (c. 1115-1198), repeated his teacher’s interdiction in his ow n “ sefer y ere’i m ”
(“ B o o k o f the G o d fearin g” R e sp o n su m N ° 3 6 4 ) 24.
T h e moralists o f “ Sefer H a s i d i m ” writing at the sam e time also contributed to
this cam paign o f dissuasio n 23. Th eir exempla, to be sure, did not have the p o w e r o f
law, yet they h o ped to influence - even to frighten - their audience b y indicating
practices one sh ou ld avoid. A general observation is fo u n d in exem p lum N ° 1349
according to which “ M o st p eople w h o dealt with priests did not keep their wealth
d o w n to the end o f their lives” . Th e reason? “ Becau se they provided them [the
priests] with articles to [practice] their idolatry.” A n exem plary behavior was dis­
p layed on the other hand, in the case o f a Jew, “ w h o lent on pledges [like] crosses
and other o b je c t s” . U p o n his demise, one o f his coreligionists, w h o knew where
the obje cts were stored, refused to divulge the w h ereab outs to the heirs, “ If I shall
tell it... they shall g o ahead and sell them to priests and m o n k s .” Bein g c lo sed ­
lipped, thus the J e w avoided com m ittin g a sin ( N ° 1 3 4 9 ) . T h e authors related in
another story ( N ° 1359) an example o f a J e w w h o did not refrain from selling o rn a ­
21 Salom on G rayzel, T h e C h u r c h and the Je w s in the X I I I C e n t u ry , vol. II, cd. Kenneth R. Stow
( N e w Y ork, D e t ro i t 1989) 276.
22 G rayzel, T h e C h u r c h 28 0-28 1.
23 F o r the three first q u o t a t io n s , cf. Louis Finkelstein, J e w i s h S e l f - G o v e r n m e n t in the M id d le A g e s
( N e w Y o r k 2 1964). T h e first is to be fo u n d o n p a g e 201. F in k e ls t e in ’s ren der in g o f these p a r a g ra p h s
into E n g lis h has the cha ra cte r o f an in ter pret ation rather than a clo se translation. T h e Hebrewor ig inal e m p l o y s m u c h m o re co a rs e la ng uag e, ct. 178-195 and 2 U .
24 I have not seen the orig inal o f “ sefer y e r e ’ i m ” and c o u n t on in fo r m a t io n p r o v id e d in: Je w is h
texts on the visual arts, edited with c o m m e n t a r y b v Vivian B, M ann; R ab b in ic texts tr an slated by
E liezer D iam on d ( C a m b r i d g e / U . K . , N e w Y o r k 2000) 13 and 176 n ote 50.
23 C f . note 3 above.
98
J o s e p h Shat z m il lc r
ments to priests w h o em bellished with them their places o f worship. H e w as p u n ­
ished by H eaven on the day o f his death.
T h ese sy n od al decrees and moralistic w arnings might have had so m e impact in
the w orld o f business. Th e follow ing three exam ples m ay have lead to such a c o n ­
clusion. In thirteenth century England, tw o church robbers, who were unable to
dispose o f their booty, claimed that “ no j e w wants to receive them or to lend
m o ney against t h e m ” .26 A similar deadlock o ccurred in Zurich in 1272 or 1273: N o
J e w o f the city w o u ld touch a chalice w o rth no less than seventy m ark s27. A b st e n ­
tion from such deals was mentioned in a short, yet precious, H eb r ew docu m en t
kept tod ay in the Archives o f Bern, Switzerland. There, an u n k n o w n J e w wrote a
m e m o r an d u m to himself noting the issues he m ay raise when negotiating a charter
o f privileges for himself. H e should, a m o n g other benefits, be allowed to receive
all sorts o f pledges and paw ns, with the exception o f church vessels. H e adds,
“ Becau se o f the d a n g e r” . Clearly, we have here an echo o f the decrees and inju nc­
tions o f the 1150 rabbinic a ssem b ly 28.
T h e bark o f these decrees - Christian or Jew ish - seemed, however, to have been
m ore menacing than their bite. Je w s and C hristians fo u n d w ays to circumvent - or
ignore - them in the centuries that follow ed. A s far as the Je w s were concerned,
they could count on the fact that not all rabbis follow ed the teaching o f “ Sefer
H a s i d i m ” or shared the fears o f Ra b b i Tam and his followers. Th e authority o f the
legendary fou nd er o f rabbinic studies in Western E^urope, R. G e rsh o m o f Mainz,
“ T h e Light o f the D ia s p o r a ” (ca. 960-1028), w h o saw nothing w rong in dealing
with priestly vestments or any other ch urch articles, w ould lend them a free hand.
T h e great m a n ’s reasoning taught them “ Gentiles [of ou r time] are not idolaters” 29.
T h is axiom was em braced b y a plethora o f followers.
R. Eliezer ben N a t h a n o f M a in z (c. 1110-1190), k n o w n by the a cro n y m
“ R a v a n ” , a c o n te m p o r a ry o f J a c o b T am and a friend o f his, advocated also a more
perm issive way o f d o in g business. With the exception o f incense (“ lev o n a h ” in
H e b r e w ) that serves in the church, a lm ost any other articles sh ou ld be exem pted
fro m interdiction. T h e Gentiles o f his d a y - so goes his argum ent - w ere far from
being inveterate idolaters. A t times, they did not care a b ou t their holy d a y s and
went ahead with their w ork. So m e did not attend ch urch regularly. T o the extent
they did, it w as sim p ly due to the fact that they follow e d the w a y s o f their
ancestors, and because they enjoyed the su rro un din g s. A J e w was allow ed to sell
p rie sts’ clerical vestm ents and coats (“ D o s s a l s ” ), as they served their personal use
26 C f . Zefira Entin R okeab, C r i m e and J e w s in the L a te T h ir te e n th C e n t u r y E n g lan d: S o m e C a s e s
and C o m m e n t s , in: h le b r e w U n i o n C o ll e g e A n n u a l 55 (19 84 ) 135-136, note 132.
27 C f . G erd Mentgen, S tu d ie n z u r G e sc h ic h t e d e r lu d e n im mittelalterlichen Els aß ( H a n n o v e r
1995) 441.
2S T h i s sh o r t an d p r e c io u s d o c u m e n t w a s p u b lis h e d b y Ben-Zion D in u r in his m u lt i-v o lu m e Israel
in D i a s p o r a ( H e b r e w ) . T h e orig inal is p r es e rv e d at the archives o f the city o f Bern (Sw itzer la nd ).
C f . Dinur, op . cit., v o l . B (I) (Tel Aviv 1965) 278 -279 .
29 Sblom o Eidelberg (ed.). T h e R e s p o n s a o f R a b b e n u G e r s h o m M e o r H a g o l a h ( H e b r e w ) ( N e w
Y o r k 1955) 75- 77 R e s p o n s u m N ° 2 1 .
C h u r c h Articles: P a w n s in the H a n d s o f J e w is h M o n e y le n d e r s
99
on ly and did not cover any o f their sacred objects. “ T h e sam e w a y it is perm itted
to sell them [such objects], it is allow ed to extend loans on the security o f church
vessels and o f D o s sa ls, fo r the reasons I have m e n tio n e d .” T h e distinguished
Sage continued, “ A lso , one can extend loans on the security o f ch urch vessels b e ­
cause they are there [only] fo r the priest to drink fro m them w hen p r a y in g .”
A pparently, Eliezer ben N a th a n believed in these d istortions o f ecclesiastical
practices. H is tolerant attitude was not all en co m passing. “ It is forbidd en to ex­
tend loans on security o f their statues, icons and censer b ea rers” , insisted the
M a in z R a b b i 30.
T h e analysis, developed a generation later by Isaac b. Samuel o f D a m p ie rre fo l­
lowed essentially the sam e path. Isaac, k n o w n also as “ T h e R i ” , a nephew o f J a c o b
Tam, replaced his uncle as head o f the rabbinic acad em y o f C h am p ag n e . H e was
considered the su p rem e authority o f his time. A co n tem p ora ry o f the authors of
“ Sefer H a s i d i m ” and a sy m path izer o f their mystical teaching, Isaac did not follow
their lead in what concerned paw ns and pledges. A t the origin o f his thinking was
the distinction between what was essential fo r Christian w o rsh ip and w hat was
nothing m ore than paraphernalia fo r the personal use o f the priests. A ccordingly,
to qu ote so m e o f the exam ples he raised, J e w s m ay d o business with the rest o f wax
candles that were put aw ay by priests and also with w ax n ot intended to be used in
the church. L o av es o f bread were also legitimate objects o f co m m erce as the C h r i s ­
tian folk brough t them to their holy places not as sacrifice to their deity but rather
for the use o f the ch urch’s personnel. Priestly vestments had nothing sacred inher­
ent in them. T h e y served just as ornam ent (“ n o y ” in H ebrew , that is elegance) and
should not be considered in the context o f w o rsh ip p in g idolatry. T h e analysis a p ­
plied also to vessels he called “ chalice” . It was his understan din g that these vessels
did not m ake up part o f the Christian cult. A ttention should be paid, nevertheless,
regarding censer bearers o f incense. R. Eliezer ben N ath an , too, maintained that
they sh ou ld be out o f b o u n d s for Je w ish m oneylend ers31.
IV.
W hether such lenient rulings en co uraged J e w s to lend against church o bje cts or
ju st c o n d o n e d existing practices is not clear fr o m the H e b r e w sources. Archival
d o cu m en ts, on the other hand, sh o w that this kind o f exchange was in full v igor in
the high and late M id d le A ges, and that Christian s, no less than Je w s, lent a deaf
ear to restrictive legislation. In this respect, Italian data, revealed in recent years
30 C f . E lie z e r b a r N a t h a n , S efer R av a n w hich is the b o o k o f E v e n h a - E z e r ( H e b r e w ) ( Je r usa le m
1984) R e s p o n s a N os 28 8- 289 .
31 See I s a a c ’s c o m m e n t a r y to the tract “ I d o l a t r y ” ( “ A a v o d a h Z a r a h ” ) o f the B a b y l o n i a n T a lm u d ,
fol. 516. O n him see E. E. U rb a c h , T h e T o s a p h is ts : T h e ir H i s to r y , Writings, a n d M e t h o d s ( H e ­
b r e w ) (Je r usa le m 1980) 1:226-260, and J . E au er, T h e L eg al T h i n k i n g o f the T o s s a f o t , an H is t o r ic a l
A p p r o a c h , in: D in e Israel 6 (1975) X L I I I - L X I I , in particul ar L X V I I I .
100
J o s e p h S h at z m il le r
fro m the regions o f U m b r i a by P r o fe s so r Ariel Toaff, is very important. T h e f o l ­
low in g are ju st so m e o f the fin din gs32. T h e hum ble U m b ria n canons o f the C h u r ch
o f Santa M aria de la Pieve, so m e time in the year 1304, gave aw ay an em b ossed
silver chalice to J e w s C a scia (T oaff N ° 5 0 and N ° 120). A lm o s t one hundred years
later, in N o v e m b e r 1386, a gold frieze, em broide red with pictures o f saints, fo rm ed
a crucial part o f a m o netary transaction ( N ° 4 7 7 ) . In M arch 1385, a long list o f
articles was recorded l o r a com plicated transaction, with a significant am o u n t of
m o n e y was at stake. T h e bo rr o w e r w as the municipality o f A ssisi, the fa m ou s
U m b ria n tow n in central Italy. Its governing council a pp roached the Jew,
A n selm o, fo r a loan o f one thou san d tw o hundred gold Florins. T h e council
p ersuad ed the C h u r c h o f St. Francis to lend them a collection o f sacred articles
that they handed over to A n selm o. T h e list included tw enty-one items, m o st o f
them silver objects. T h e total weight o f the objects was over sixty p o u n d s. In ­
cluded as well was a chalice made o f gold that weighed close to fo u r p o u n d s and
tw o statues o f the virgin, one o f which weighed m ore than five p oun ds. A lso in­
cluded were tw o censers ( “ T h u r ib u l e s ” ) one large and one small, a pedestal fo r a
standing cross as well as fo u r candelabras o f silver. To the golden chalice m en ­
tio ned above, six others m ade o f silver were added. E m b ro id e ry was also present
in the inventory: one piece that served as a cover to M a r y ’s altar was decorated
with pearls. A n o th e r tw o tapestries used golden thread, one in the fo rm o f a
griffin. A p rie st’s go w n o f red cloth was ornated on both sides with pearls in the
form o f the cross. M o st astounding was an object that belonged to P ope N icho las IV
(1288-1292), a cape intended for wet weather that had been decorated with
p earls33. Given the value o f these treasures, the C h u r c h o f St. Francis insisted that
its loan be limited m time to tw o m o nths and no more. A similar, yet even more
com plicated, arrangem ent was co nclu ded in N o v e m b e r 1435 in B o lo gn a, the cap i­
tal o f the regio n o f Em ilia R o m a g n a. T h e Jew, H a b r a a m di D atilo, asked for se cu ­
rities for a loan o f one thousan d p o u n d s , an en o rm o u s su m o f money. T h e c o m ­
m u ne o f the city appealed to no less than thirty-one religious institutions fo r help.
T w en ty -on e o f these were churches, five were monasteries, two were hospitals,
and three m ay have been m onasteries as well. M o s t institutions gave one article,
although fou r churches and one m o n a ste ry contributed tw o each. T h e list o f the
thirty-eight objects that were assem b led this w a y included six chalices, fifteen
chasubles, tw o co pes, tw o covers o f altars, fo u r missals, seven antiphonaries and
three priestly garm en ts34. O th e r U m b r i a n co m m u n e s that used the services of
J ew ish m o neylend ers were those o f Todi and Spoleto. T h e first o f the two a p ­
peared in the d o cu m en ta tion in a different light than that o f A ssisi or B o lo gn a : on
3- A r ie l Toaff, T h e J e w s in U m b r i a , 3 vols. ( L e y d e n 19 93-1994). P r o f e s s o r T o a f f c ale n d ar ed m an y
o f his d o c u m e n t s and gave n u m b e rs to all of them. In wh at fo l lo w s I shall refer to these n um be rs .
33 A r ie l Toaff, T h e J e w s in M edieva l A s s is i 13 05 -1487: A S ocia l and E c o n o m i c H i s t o r y o f a Small
J e w i s h C o m m u n i t y in Italy ( F ir e n z e 1979) 139-141.
34 C f. L u d o v ic o F ra ti, L a vita priv at e di B o l o g n a dal s e c o l o X I I I al X V I I con a p p e n d ic e di d o c u ­
m e n t inediti ( B o l o g n a 1986) 240-24 1.
C h u r c h Articles: P a w n s in the H a n d s o f J e w i s h M o n e y le n d e rs
101
Ju n e 13, 1368 it p urchased a chalice (p ro b a b ly redeemed) from the Jew, Guillelm o.
Th e su m involved was just fou r florin and thirty-five shillings (ToafF, N ° 2 3 2 ) . In
the m idst o f war in 1414, Spo leto was pressed lo r financial liquidity. In A u gu st,
the rector o f the city could see no other w ay but to hand part o f his private silver­
ware to a Jew ish m o neylend er in order to secure a loan o f one hundred and fifty
F lo rins ( N ° 730).
H a v in g sacred Christian objects in their possession was a p hen om enon that, in
all probability, was not limited to central Italy where systematic research has been
carried out in recent years. A n oth er region that benefited from scholarly attention
was that o f C am p a n ia , or more precisely the A ra go n ese court o f N a p le s. Jew s,
a m o n g other creditors, had access to all kinds o f luxurious items. O n e o f them,
Isach di Salam da C a m p o b a s s o , was recorded in an inventory listed on Ja n u a r y 1,
1470 as p ossessin g a golden cross that had seven pearls, tw o d iam o nd s and eight
rubies attached to itJ\ In the city o f O berehn heim , in Alsace (another region
th oroug h ly studied), a J e w had in his possession a gilded cross, while a coreligion ­
ist, from Rosheim , received a chalice as surety. B o th were dealing with the A b b e y
of St. L e o n a r d 36. F o r the “ transit re gio n ” of Savoy -Piem ont, a d o cu m en t o f the
year 1404 stated that J o s s o n A aron, a J e w o f C ham bery, had in his possession a
gilded reliquary p rofusely adorned with sm all bells37.
V.
It w ould be w rong to conclude from the Italian evidence that Christian sensitivity
had been abolished altogether and that conciliar decrees were completely forsaken.
While many, perhaps most, Christians did not follow these injunctions; their a u ­
thority did not fade aw ay without leaving any trace. A letter by P o p e U rb a n V, sent
in D ec e m b e r 1370 to the A rch bish op o f R o ss a n o in Calabria, can testify to that
effect. It had to d o with the misbehavior o f a monastic superior (“ archim andrite” )
by the name o f D o rs io su s. Th e avalanche o f accusations listed b y the papal chan­
cery o f A vignon included the allegation that he p aw ned to “ a certain J e w ” , against
a u su rio us loan, chalices, silver crosses and other ecclesial ornaments that belonged
to the M o n aste ry o f St. M aria in Patire38. N otice sh ou ld be paid to the fact that
these lines were written close in time to the exchange that took place in Assisi, as
mentioned above. T h e Spoleto transaction o f 1414 saved the uninitiated fro m a n ­
other p ossible pitfall, namely fro m the illusion that J e w s got access to luxurious
-b C f . M e n a Patron i G riffi, Ba nc hieri et gioiclli alia corte a ra g o n e s e di N a p o l i ( N a p o l i 1992) 21.
36 C f . G erd M entgen, Elsaß (as in note 27 ab o v e ) 39.
37 C f . Thom as Bardelle, J u d e n in e inem Tra nsit- und Br ii cke nla n d. S tu dien z u r G e sc h ic h t e d er
J u d e n in S a v o y e n - P i e m o n t bis z u m E n d e d er H e r r s c h a ft A m a d e u s V II I . ( H a n n o v e r 1992) 185186.
' C f. Shlom o Simosohn, The A p o s t o lic See and the Je w s ; A d d e n d a , C o r r ig e n d a , B ib lio g r a p h y and
Ind exe s ( T o r o n t o 1991) 11-13, A p p e n d i x N ° 13.
102
J o s e p h S hatz m il le r
objccts solely when dealing with ecclesiastics. T h e R e ctor o f Spoleto was not the
on ly secular figure w h o exp osed Jew ish m oneylenders to the s u m p t u o u s and the
elegant. O t h e r individuals and institutions, n ot related to the church, made similar
transactions. Th eir history, however, m u st be dealt with in a separate co m m u n ic a ­
tion.
Annegret Holtmann
Medieval “ Pigeonholes” .
T he Jew ish A ccount B o o k s from V esoul and M edieval B o ok k eepin g
Practices
A m o n g s t the m o st exciting sources fo r Jew ish medieval b o o k k ee p in g practices are
the tw o business b o o k s o f a Je w ish m erch ants’ co m p a n y that had its headquarters
in Vesoul in the C o u n t y o f Burgundy, also k n o w n as the F ra n c h e-C o m te. Th e
b o o k s were introduced to historical research fo r the first time in the late 19th cen­
tury thanks to the efforts o f Isidore L o e b 1. L o e b p rovided a detailed descriptio n
and m uch inspiration for further research, such as m y doctoral thesis, in which I
attempted to give a detailed analysis o f the b o o k k e e p in g m ethods and the range of
econ om ic activities recorded in these b o o k s 2.
T h e tw o b o o k s are rem arkable in several respects. First, they are a m o n g the
earliest exam ples o f private account b o o k s that have been preserved north o f the
A lps. Secondly, alth ou gh both b o o k s are fragm ents today, the considerable
n u m b e r o f 96 and 120 pages respectively have been preserved. In addition, both
volum es offer entries on m any different branches o f business. T h e first account
b o o k , which covers the period fro m 1303 to a b ou t 1305, solely contains references
to sm all loan transactions with village p eop le in the im m ediate vicinity o f Vesoul.
Parts o f the secon d b o o k , which dates fr o m 1300 to 1318, record the sam e kind of
transactions. In addition, however, we also find loans on future wine harvests,
entries o n Je w is h participation in the cloth trade o f the local L o m b a r d merchants,
records o f the J e w s ’ m o n e y changing business and loans to the noblem en o f the
F ra n c h e-C o m te.
1 Isidore Loeb, D e u x livres d e c o m m e r c e du c o m m e n c e m e n t d u X I V e siecle, in: R e v u e d e s etud es
ju ives 8 (1884) 161-196, 9 (1884) 21-5 0, 187-213. I a m grateful to D e t le v M a r e s for the tran sl at ion
o f this article.
2 Annegret H oltm ann, J u d e n in d er G r a f s c h a ft B u r g u n d im M itt ela lte r ( F o r s c h u n g e n z u r G e ­
schichte d e r J u d e n A 12, H a n n o v e r 2003 ) esp. 153-289. See a ls o M eyer R. M alka, L e s pieces c o m p tables h e b r aiqu es de la b a n q u e d ’ H e l i o t de Veso ul. E s q u i s s e en vue d ’une etud e ge ne rale et de
l’ edition de ces p ieces, M ait ris e de lettres et civilisa tio ns etra ngeres (hebreu), U n iv e rs it c L y o n III
( L y o n 1984); Annegret H oltm ann, J e w i s h M o n e y le n d in g as R e fl e cted in M edieva l A c c o u n t B o o k s :
T h e E x a m p l e o f V esoul, in: Christoph Cluse (ed.), T h e J e w s o f E u r o p e in the M id d le A g e s (Tenth
to Fifte en th C e n t u rie s ). P ro c e e d in g s o f the Internation al S y m p o s i u m held at Speyer, 2 0-2 5 O c t o ­
be r 200 2 ( T o u r n h o u t 200 4) 305-315.
104
A n negret H o 11 111 a n n
T h e tw o b o o k s only represent a fraction o f a much more comprehensiv e b o o k ­
keeping sy stem o f the Vesoul Jew s. It is surprising that these fragments survived at
all. U su a lly the business records o f medieval merchants were destroyed when no
longer needed. We do not k n o w w hy the j e w s (or s o m e b o d y else?) chose to save
these particular b ook s. We also d o not positively k n o w how they ended up in the
“ Archives departementales cle la C o t e d ’ O r ” in D ijo n , where they are today-’ . We
may assum e that they were confiscated when the Je w s o f the C o u n t y of B u rg u n d y
were expelled du ring the reign o f the French K in g Philippe V le L o n g in 1321/22.
T h e account b o o k s ended up in the ducal archives in D ijo n when the duke o f B u r­
gu nd y to o k over the neighbouring coun ty o f the sam e name in 13304.
T h e tw o volu m es offer fascinating insights for historical research. T h e recorded
names o f Jew ish money-lenders, m em bers o f the co m p a n y and o f places o f origin
provide invaluable source material fo r the history o f Jew ish settlement and d e m o ­
graphy. T h e b o o k s also contain much inform ation on the branches of business
favoured by the Jew ish traders. I have analysed these aspects elsewhere3. In the
following pages, I w ould like to approach the account b o o k s from a different angle.
I will try to use the results gained from the Vesoul d o cu m en ts fo r a co m pa rison
with similar material from other regions in E u ro pe. First, I will give a su rvey o f the
m a jo r surviving records o f medieval book k eepin g. T h is will underline the almost
u nique position o f the Vesoul account b o o k s a m o n g the source material at our
disposal. Th en, I will describe the accounting practices o f the Vesoul merchants
and co m pare them to other exam ples fro m the sam e period. B y placing the Vesoul
accounts into the context o f b oth Jew ish and C hristian business records, I hope to
make a contribution to the gro w in g b o d y o f research on Jew ish econom ic activity
and medieval b o o k k e e p in g in general.
Jew ish and C hristian Sources on M edieval bookkeepin g
A n y attempt at inter-regional co m pa rison has to struggle with the rather sorry
state and uneven preservation o f source material. O n l y a small n um b er o f private
business records fro m the middle ages have survived at all. T h ey are m o stly ac­
count b o o k s that were confiscated after a c o m p a n y went ba n k ru p t6. In the case o f
3 A r ch iv e s d ep a rte m en tales de la C o t e d ’O r , B 10410 and B 10411.
4 Annegret H oltm an n , J e w is h Se ttle m en t and E c o n o m i c A ct iv it y in the M ed ie va l F r a n c h e - C o m t e :
T h e A c c o u n t B o o k s o f Helioc o f Veso ul, in: J e w is h S tu d ie s 40 (20 00 ) 6 9 *-8 2 *> 7 3 *. O n the e x p u l ­
si on o f the J e w s in 1321 111 sec H oltm an n , J u d e n 308 -3 17.
5 See H oltm an n , J e w is h Settle m en t 7 4 * - 8 1 H oltm an n , J u d e n , es p. 61-6 4, 119-120, 191-201, 2 0 6 226, 2 42 -262, 278 -2 85.
6 B asilS. Yamey , B o o k k e e p i n g and A c c o u n ts , 1200-1800, in: Sim onetta Cavaciocchi (ed.), L’ im presa
industrta c o m c r c io ba nc a, secc. X I I I —X V III- Atti della "V e n t id u e sim a Set tim an a di S t u d i” 30 aprile
- 4 m a g g io 1990 (Is tit uto in ternazion ale di sto ria e c o n o m ic a “ F. D a t in i” , P ra to, Serie II - Atti delie
“ Settim an e di S t u d i ” e a i m C o n v c g n i 22, F ire n ze 1991) 163-187, 164. See, fo r exam ple, the sur viving
rec ord s of the P eruz zi and Bardi, whi ch w e re co n fi sca ted at the financial co ll ap se o f the c o m p an ie s
Mediev al “ P ig e o n h o le s ”
105
Jew ish records, confiscation might have occurred in times o f persecutio n and ex­
pulsion, as in the Vesoul example. It we look for Je w ish business records in par­
ticular, we find remarks in C hristian title deeds or entries in loaned b ook s. A part
from such instances, only few items have survived7. C o m p a r is o n s are not made
easier by the fact that m ost surviving items are fragments which originated in very
different times and places. A sh ort su rvey m ay sh o w this.
'I'o m y know ledge, the oldest fragment stems from so uthern England. It consists
o f tw o pages o f credit entries and repaym ents o f loan, written by a Spanish j e w in
abou t 1200 in the A rabic language and in H e b r e w letters. T h e fragments survived
because they were used in the bindings o f a Jew ish prayer b o o k 8. F r o m the north
o f France, zarfat, only few records o f Je w is h m oneylenders are known. M o ise
S chw ab discovered so m e p a w n b r o k e rs’ entries in religious b o o k s which originated
in 1213 and from the turn o f the 13 th and 14th centuries9. If we follow a c h ro n o ­
logical order, the next items to mention are the fragments from Vesoul, dating from
the first two decades o f the 14th century. T hen there are 15 p ages from a H e b r e w
business b o o k from the C atalan tow n o f G e ro n a from 1333. T h ey were edited in
199010. A sizeable but unpublished fragment o f 96 pages has been preserved from
Marseille in southern France. There, the business man M ardochee Jo se p h , w h o was
active in the p rod u ction o f pine resin, recorded w o rk e rs’ wages, loans he offered
on these wages and loan repayments in 137411. T w o single-sheet fragm ents have
in 1343 and 1346: A rm an d o S a p o n , I libri di c o m m e r c io dei P eruz zi (P u b b li ca zio n i della d ir ezio nc
degli “ S tu di M e d ie v a li” 1, M il an o 1934); A rm a n d o S ap o ri, L a crisi dcllc c o m p a g n ie mercantili dei
B a rdi e dei P eruz zi (B ib li ote ca sto rica toscan a 3, F ir en ze 1926); A rm a n d o S a p o r i, Sto ria interna
della C o m p a g n i a mercantile dei Peruz zi , in: Arc hiv io s toric o icaliano 7c serie, 22 (1934) 3-65.
7 T h e r e are in dica tions fo r H e b r e w b u sin e ss b o o k s f r o m m a n y places in E u r o p e , su ch as the d i o ­
cese o f Trier, the N e t h e r la n d s, Sav oy , M ora via , S w it ze r la n d , Ba var ia ( R e g e n s b u r g ) and the Rhin e
(In gelh eim ); see H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 161, n ote 59 w ith literature.
8 M a la c h i B e it-A rie, T h e H c b r c w - A r a b i c D o c u m e n t in M s. O x f o r d , C o r p u s C h r is ti C o l l e g e 133,
in: M a la c h i B e it-A rie , T h e O n l y D a t e d M e d ie val H e b r e w M a n u s c r ip t Written in E n g l a n d (1189
C E ) and the P r o b le m o f P r e - E x p u ls io n A n g l o - H e b r e w M a n u sc r ip t s ( L o n d o n 1985) 33-35. See
a ls o Z e fira E n tin R o k e a h , A J e w i s h P a v m e n t - M e m o r a n d u m , in: M a la c h i B e it-A rie , T h e O n l y
D a t e d M ed ie va l H e b r e w M a n u s c r ip t Written in E n g l a n d (11 8 9 C E ) and the P r o b le m o f P r e - E x ­
p u ls io n A n g l o - H e b r e w M a n u sc r ip t s ( L o n d o n 1985) 36-56.
9 M oise S ch w ab , N o t e s de co m p ta b il it e juive du X I I I " et du X I V C siecle, in: R e v u e des e tu d es juive s 3 0 (18 95) 2 89-294; M o ise S ch w ab , N o t e s h c b r a iq u c s d e c o m p ta b il ite du X I I I C siecle, in: R e v u e
d e s etud es juives 41 (190 0) 149-153. J u d it h O l s z o w y - S c h la n g e r , d irecteur d ’etud cs at the E c o le
P ra tiq ue des H a u t e s E t u d e s in Paris, is curren tly p r e p a ri n g a colle ct ion o f c o m p a r a b le material.
10 J o r d i C a sa n o v a s M iro et al. (cds.), L i b r o d e cue n ta s d e un p r es tam is ta juch'o g e ru n d e n s e del siglo
X I V ( J u d e o le n g u a s m arg in ale s en Sefarad an tes d e 1492. T extos 1, B a r c e lo n a 1990). A t te n t io n w a s
directe d to this s o u r c e b y J o s e M a r ia M iltas I V al/icrosa, Petita lista d ’ un p r es tam is ta ju c u , in:
E s t u d i s U n ive rs ita ris C a t a la n s 12 (1927) 65-67.
11 M oise S ch w ab , L e livre de c o m p t e s de M a r d o c h e e J o s e p h , b a n q u ie r et n eg oc ia nt a M arse ille en
1374, in: A c a d e m i c d e s in sc rip tio n s et belles-lettres, c o m p t e s r en d us des seanc es (191 3) 105. M oise
S ch w ab , L iv r c dc c o m p t e s de M a r d o c h e e J o s e p h ( m a n u scr it h e bre o-p ro vc n ^a l) , in: N o t i c e s et extraits des m an uscr it s d e la B ib lio th e q u e N a t i o n a l e et autres bib lio t h e q u e s 39 (191 6) 46 9-5 02. D u e
to the ve ry c o m p le x p aleo g r a p h ic and struct ural p r o b le m s , S c h w a b o n ly an aly sed selected aspe cts,
suc h as p a s s a g e s with linguistic ch aracte ristics fr o m the P ro v e n ce reg io n , currencies, w e ig h ts and
m e a s u r e s as well as p al e o g r a p h ic particularities.
106
Annegret H oltm an n
been preserved in southern Germany. In the years from 1329 to 1332, a Jew ish
m oney lender from the Bavarian tow n o f Straubing registered 98 loans to clients in
the su rro un din g countryside. T h e second is a single sheet o f paper from the b u si­
ness b o o k o f a C o n stan ce p aw n b r o k er that can be dated to 1372. B o th fragments
were published and analysed by Michael Toch and W olfgang von S t ro m e r12. Th e
first preserved Jew ish fragments from Italy, the cradle o f b ook k eepin g, on ly date
from the 15th century and already reflect rather m odern accounting practices. Let
me just name the p a w n b r o k e r ’s register o f a J e w fro m M ontepu lcian o dating from
1409 to 14 10 13, and tw o b o o k s fro m Florence. T h e first is a p a w n b r o k e r’s register
from 1473 to 1475 which w as ascribed to Isaac o f San M in ia to 14, the secon d a p aw n
register o f the Florentin e B a n c o alia Vacca fro m 147 7 1:>.
In contrast to Je w ish so urces, there is no shortage o f surviving Christian mer­
ch ants’ accounts that might invite co m pa rison o f b o o k k e e p in g methods. H ow ever,
they originated in a wide variety o f places and sh o w considerable differences in
terms o f content. In this case, the oldest fragments originate from Italy and were
p ro d u ce d in the first half o f the 13th c e n tu ry 16. W hen Italian trade expanded north
12 M ichael Toch, G e l d un d K r e d it in einer spät m ittelalterlic he n L an d s c h a ft . Z u e inem u n b e a c h t e ­
ten he bräi sc he n S ch u ld en r e gis t e r aus N i e d e r b a y e r n ( 13 29-1 332), in: D e u t s c h e s A r c h iv fü r E r f o r ­
s c h u n g des Mitte la lte rs 38 (1982) 4 99-550; Wolfgang von Stromer, M ichael Toch, Z u r B u c h fü h r u n g
d er J u d e n im Spätm ittelalter, in: Jü rgen Schneider (ed.), W ir ts cha ft skrä ft e und W ir ts cha ft sw e g e.
F es tsch rif t fü r H e r m a n n K e lle n b e n z , v o l l : M it te lm ee r u n d K o n t in e n t ( B a m b e r g 1978) 38 7-41 2.
F o r the d at e see Toch, G e l d u n d K re d it 504, n ote 18.
13 D an iel C arpi, T h e A c c o u n t B o o k o f a J e w i s h M o n e y l e n d e r in M o n t e p u lc ia n o ( 1409-1 410), in:
J o u r n a l o f E u r o p e a n E c o n o m i c H i s t o r y 14 (1985) 5 01 -513; D an iel C arpi, O n the h is t o r y o f the
J e w i s h m o n e y l e n d e r s in M o n t e p u lc ia n o in the 14 th and at the b e g in n in g o f the 15th century , in:
J e w s in Italy. S tu d ie s D e d ic a t e d to the M e m o r y o f U . C a s s u t o o n the 100th A n n i v e r s a r y o f his
Bir th ( Jer u s a le m 1988) 23 1-2 74 ( Heb r.). Moi'se S c h w a b als o p u b lis h e d a H e b r e w fee she et f r o m the
first half o f the J 6 th century. It w a s d is c o v e r e d b y acci de nt a n d lists the o u t s t a n d in g fees an Italian
teacher w a s d u e to receive fr o m his p u p i l s ’ fathers: Moise Schw ab, U n e p a g e de co m p ta b il ite de
15 25 -1528, in: R e v u e des etud es juive s 12 (188 6) 116-117.
14 XJmberto C assuto, G li ebrei a F ire n z e nell’ eta del R in as cim e n t o (P u b b li ca zio n i del R. Isti tu to di
st ud i s u p e rio r ! pratici e di p e rf e z io n a m e n t o in F ir en ze , S e z io n e di fifosofia e filologia, F ire n z e 1918,
reprint F ire n z e 1965) 160-167; F lavia C areri, 11 b a n c o di p egn i di Is a c c o d a San M in ia to: F ir e n ze
1473-1475, Tesi di laure a in s toria medioevale , U n iv e rs it ä degli studi di F ir e n ze (Fir e nz e 1992).
15 U m berto C assuto, U n r eg is tro e braic o di p egn i del s e c o lo X V , in: Zeit sc h ri ft fü r hebr äi sc he B i ­
bli ogr a p h ie 15 (1911) 182-185, 16 (1913) 127-142; see a ls o C assuto, E b r e i a F ire n z e 168-171, and
C areri, B a n c o di p e gn i 59-62. J o s e p h S h at z m il le r alerted m e to a fu rt h er H e b r e w a c co u n t b o o k
fr o m Italy, w hich is p rese rv e d in a m o n a s te r y in ( o r a r o u n d ) C a v a d e ’ Tirreni.
16 See f o r e x a m p le A rm ando Sapori, L ib r i di c o m m e r c i o L X V I ; R aym ond de Roover, T h e D e v e l ­
o p m e n t o f A c c o u n t i n g P r i o r to L u c c a P a c io lo A c c o r d i n g to the A c c o u n t B o o k s o f M e d ie v a l M e r ­
cha nts, in: R aym ond de R oover (Julius Kirshner, ed.), B u sin e ss , B a n k in g and E c o n o m i c T h o u g h t
in L a t e M e d ie v a l a n d E a r ly M o d e r n E u r o p e ( C h i c a g o , L o n d o n 1974 [original ed itio n 1956]) 119180, 121-122. A l s o see R aym ond de Roover, A u x orig in e s d ’ un e te chniq u e intellectuelle: la f o r m a ­
tion et F e x p a n s io n d e la co m p ta b il ite ä partie d o u b le , in: A n n a le s d ’histoire e c o n o m i q u e et sociale
9 (193 7) 171-193, 2 70-2 98, 177; G eoffrey Lee, T h e O l d e s t E u r o p e a n A c c o u n t B o o k : A F lo ren tin e
B a n k L e d g e r o f 1211, in: N o t t i n g h a m M ed ie va l S tu d ie s 16 (19 72) 28- 60 ; Geoffrey Alan Lee, T h e
D e v e l o p m e n t o f Italian B o o k k e e p i n g 1211-1 30 0, in: A b a c u s , A J o u r n a l o f A c c o u n t in g and B u s i ­
n ess S tu d ie s 9 (19 73 ) 137-155.
M ed ie va l “ P ig eon h ole s
107
o f the A lp s, accounting practices started to d iv e rsify 17. T h e great Italian m erch ants’
com pan ies that were active at the C h a m p a g n e trade fairs, in Flanders and in E n g ­
land, used several interconnected b o o k s and adapted their accounting practices to
their specific needs. T h is applies to the b o o k s o f the U g o lin i co m p a n y (Siena) from
the m id-13 th c e n tu ry 18, the do cu m en ts from the L o n d o n branch o f the Galleranico m p a n y (Siena) from 1305-130819 as well as the b o o k s o f the Bardi and Peruzzi
from the first half o f the 14th century20. H ow ever, these items d o not really offer
themselves to co m p a riso n since in any case Italian b o o k k e e p in g practices were fur­
ther advanced than the m ethods used in other countries21.
M o re suited to com parison with the Vesoul b o o k s are accounting fragments from
G e rm a n y and France. In the case o f the earliest French item, a ledger of a Ly on cloth
trader, three sheets o f originally at least 227 have survived. T h ey carry dates from
the years 1320 to 132322. T h e business b o o k o f the versatile merchant and money
lender J o h a n Blasi from Marseille dates from 1329 to 133723. Th e fragment o f the
account b o o k o f U g o Teralh still consists o f 20 folio pages. It dates from 1330 to
1332 and records his trading in cloth in his hom e tow n o f Forcalquier (Provence)24.
A further cloth trader, Jea n Saval, lived in C arcasson n e and left parts o f an account
b o o k from 1340 to 134123. Tw o b o o k s have been preserved from the banking family
Bonis o f M ontauban: a ledger from 1345 to 1359 and an account b o o k kept between
1347 and 13 5 926. F r o m Avignon, we have the records from 1365 to 1371 o f the
w o o d trader G u ilh em Vial27. In addition there is Ja c m e O liv ier from N a rb o n n e. H e
17 D e Roover, D e v e l o p m e n t o f A c c o u n tin g 121.
18 De Roover, D e v e l o p m e n t o f A c c o u n t in g 126-127.
19 Georges Bigw ood, A rm an d G runzw eig (eds.), L e s livres des c o m p t e s des G alle ra ni, 2 vols.
( A c a d e m ie R o y a l e d e Belg iq ue, C o m m i s s i o n r o y a le d ’ histoire, K o n in k lij k e B e lg is che A c a d e m ic ,
K o n in k lij k e C o m m i s s i e v o o r G e sc h ie d e n is , B r u x elle s 1961, 1962); Christopher W. N obes, T h e
G all e ra n i A c c o u n t B o o k o f 13 05-1308, in: T h e A c c o u n t i n g R e v ie w 5 7 /2 (1982) 303 -310.
20 Sapori, L ib r i di c o m m e r c i o ; Sapori, C r is i; Sapori, S to r ia interna.
21 F o r m o r e details, see f o r e x a m p le de Roover, D e v e l o p m e n t o f A c c o u n t in g 120-164.
22 P a u l Meyer, G eorges G uigue, F r a g m e n ts d ’un g r an d livre d ’ un d ra p ie r de L y o n , in: R o m a n i a 35
(1906)428-444.
23 T h e a c co u n t b o o k still h o ld s 37 sheets: Dietrich H auck, D a s K a u f m a n n s b u c h des J o h a n Blasi
(1 32 9-1 337). A u s g a b e mit s p ra ch li c h e m un d w ir tsch aftsg e sc h ic h tli ch e m K o m m e n t a r , ( D is s . phil.
S a a r b r ü c k e n 1965); Pierre P aul , T r a n s c r ip t io n et t r ad u ct io n du L iv r e d e R a i s o n de J e a n Blaise. U n
m a n u s c r it en ancien P rove n cal d es Archiv e s C o m m u n a l e s de M arseille, 2 vols ., ty p e scr ip t ( A ix
1980).
24 P aul Meyer, L e liv re -jo urnal d e M a h r e U g o Teralh, notaire et d ra p ie r ä F o r c a lq u ie r (1 33 0-1 332),
in: N o t i c e s et extr aits d es m an u s c r it s d e la B ib lio t h e q u e N a t i o n a l e 36 (1899) 129-170.
2-’ Ch. Portal, L e livr e-jour na l de J e a n Sava l, m a r c h a n d - d r a p ie r ä C a r c a s s o n n e ( 1340-1 341), in:
Bulletin p h ilo l o g i q u e et his t o r iq u e d u C o m i t e des trav aux h is t o r iq u e s et s cientifiqu es (1901) 418449.
26 E d ou ard Forestie, L e s livres de c o m p t e s des freres B o n is , m a r c h a n d s m o n t a lb a n a is du X [\ A
siecle, 2 vo ls ., P re m ie re partie (A r ch iv e s h is tor iq u e s de la G a s c o g n e , fascicule 20, Paris, A u c h
1890), D e u x i e m e partie ( A r ch iv e s h is t o r iq u e s d e la G a s c o g n e , fa scicule 23, Paris, A u c h 1893). T h e
m ain b o o k c on ta in s data f r o m 1338 to 1369.
27 P. Pansier, G u il h e m Vial, fustier, f o u rn is se u r d u p a p e et de nos seig n e urs les ca rd in au x (1 3511388), in: M e m o i r e s de l’ A c a d e m ie de Vauc lu se, 2 C serie, 7 (1907) 33 1-363 .
108
A n n e g r e t H o 1 1m an n
was a cloth trader and money lender, but he also dealt in grain, honey and cattle. H e
left a sizeable account b o o k that lists personal accounts from 1381 to 13912f!.
Finally, a brief glance at the G e rm a n situation. T h e earliest surviving items origi­
nated in the H anseatic area and in U p p e r G e r m a n y 29. O n e o f the m ajo r exam ples is
the account b o o k o f the N u re m b e rg merchant family H olzschuher. It dates from
1304 to 1307 and lists cloth sales on credit and the su bsequ en t repay m ents30. O n e
might also mention the account b o o k o f tw o L ü b e c k merchants, H erm a n n Warendo rp and J o h a n n C lingenberg. Between 1330 and 1336, they kept accounts o f their
long-distance trading activities when one o f the co m p a n io n s was absent-’ 1. A noth er
exam ple o f trade in cloth is preserved in the account b o o k o f the H a m b u r g mer­
chant Vicko von Geldersen and his son Johan nes. It lists cloth sales on credit from
1367 to 139232. L a s t bu t not least, the ledger o f the R e g e n sb u rg m erchants’ family
R untinger claims special mention. It dates irom 1383 to 1407 and holds a p r o m i ­
nent place due to its advanced b o o k k ee p in g m ethods and its sheer size33. These
exam ples m ay suffice to sh ow that there is a whole list o f account b o o k s that allow
co m p a rison s with the Vesoul items although basically all o f them are on ly p r e ­
served as fragm ents and originate from different times and places.
The V esoul A ccount B o o k s in the C on text
o f E u ropean B o ok k eep in g Practices
F r o m the late 13th century, the Je w H eliot and his family lived in V e s o u l’4. H eliot
and his trading partners received incentives from the counts o f B u rg u n d y to settle
28 A lp h on se B la n c (ed.), L e livre de c o m p t e s d e J a c m e Olivier, m a r c h a n d n a r b o n n a is du X I V sie­
cle, vol. 2, part 1 (Paris 1899). T h e resul ts o f B l a n c ’s rese arch, p u b l ish e d in vol. 50 o f the Bu lle tin de
la c o m m i s s i o n a r c h e o lo g iq u e d e N a r b o n n c in 1896, we re not available to me.
29 F o r a s u r v e y see F ra n z B a stia n , D a s R u n t in g e r b u c h 13 83-1407 un d ve rw an d te s Mate ria l z u m
R e g e n s b u r g e r - s ü d o s t d e u t s c h e n H a n d e l und M ü n z w e s e n , 3 vols. ( D e u t s c h e H a n d e ls a k t e n des
Mittelalters u n d d e r N e u z e i t V I, I—III, R e g e n s b u r g 1944, 1935, 1943) vol. I, 2 0 1-254; W olfgang von
S tro m e r, D a s S ch rift w e se n d er N ü r n b e r g e r W ir tscha ft v o m 14. bis z u m 16.Ja h r h u n d e r t , in: B e i ­
träge z u r W ir ts c h a ft sg esc h ic h te N ü r n b e r g s , vol. 2 (B eitr ä g e z u r G e sc h ic h t e u n d K u lt u r d er Stadt
N ü r n b e r g 11/11, N u r e m b e r g 1967) 751 -799, esp. 75 3-7 57; W iltrud E ik e n b e rg , D a s H a n d e ls h a u s
d er R u n t in g e r zu R e g e n s b u r g . E in S pie gel s ü d d e u t s c h e n R e c h t s- , H a n d e l s - un d W ir ts chaft sle ben s
im a u s g e h e n d e n 14.Ja h r h u n d e r t (Veröff entlic hun gen des M a x - P la n c k - I n s t it u t s fü r G e sc h ic h t e 43,
G ö t t in g e n 1976) 1 1-18.
30 A n to n C h ro ust, H a n s P ro e sle r (eds.), D a s H a n d l u n g s b u c h d er H o l z s c h u h e r in N ü r n b e r g von
1304 -1307 (V e röff e ntlic hun g en d er G e se ll s ch a ft fü r fr ä n k is ch e G e sc h ic h t e X . Reihe: Q u e ll e n zu r
W ir ts cha ft sg eschic hte F ra n k e n s I, Erla n g en 1934).
31 F ritz R ö rig , D a s älteste erh altene d eu tsc he K a u fm a n n s b ü c h le in , in: id em , H a n s is c h e Beit räg e
z u r d eu tsc h e n W ir ts cha ft sg esc hic hte (V eröff entlic hun gen d e r S ch le sw i g - H o ls t e in is c h e n U n i v e r s i ­
tätsgesellscha ft 12, Br e slau 1928 [original edition 1925]) 174-216.
32 H a n s N irrn h e im , D a s H a n d l u n g s b u c h V ic k o s v o n G e ld e r s e n ( H a m b u r g , L e i p z i g 1895).
33 B a stia n , R u n t in g e r b u c h . See als o E ik e n b e rg , D a s H a n d e ls h a u s d er R u n t in g e r (no te 29).
-’4 H e l i o t ’s first tax p a y m e n t is reco r d ed fo r 1296: Je a n - P ie r r e R e d o u te y , L e c o m t e d e B o u r g o g n e
de 1295 ä 1314: p r o b l e m e s d ’ a dm in is tr a ti o n , in: M e m o i r c s de la so ci ete p o u r l’histoire d u d ro it et
M ed iev a! “ P ig e o n ho le s”
109
in the territory. T h e counts tried to encourage the econ om ic activities in their re­
gion by a variety o f means, such as cbart.es de franchises, tariffs, road building, and
settlement privileges for Je w s and L o m b a rd s . T h ese measures were su p p o s e d to
enhance the im portance o f the C o u n t y o f B u rg u n d y as a region o f transit tor the
international trade between the N o r t h and South o f E u r o p e 33.
D u r in g the first tw o decades o f the 14th century, the Jew ish co m p a n y in Vesoul
established a wide variety o f business activities. T h e above-n am ed H eliot o f Vesoul,
apparently the head o f the company, was p ro b a b ly assisted by his son Vivant. A
great num ber of business partners, am o n g them at least twelve m em bers o f Flelio t’s
family, were involved in the many branches o f the c o m p a n y ’s business. French
sources report that these compeignons som etim es acted in H e lio t ’s name (en son
nom). S o far, it has not been possible to establish the precise n um ber o f j e w s in­
volved in the company, but ab ou t 70 seem s to be a g o o d estimate. T h ey lived in
Vesoul and in so m e o f the nearby sm aller villages, in so m e cases also in m ore d is­
tant centres o f econ om ic im portance36. T h e J e w s in the C o u n t y o f B u rg u n d y were
spared the expulsion o f the French Je w s in 1306, even though the French king
Philippe IV le Bel had been ruling the northern part o f the F ra n c h e - C o m te since
129 5 37.
T h e Vesoul c o m p a n y was mainly active in the credit business. Small loans to the
popu lation o f the neighbouring villages p rovided the staple o f its activities, but we
also find close business relationships with m em bers o f the aristocracy f rom all over
the F ra n c h e-C o m te. A g o o d example for the scale o f activities are the c o m p a n y ’s
small loans to the p opu lation in the villages close to Vesoul. T h e n um b er o f loans
granted to p eop le from this area ran into hundreds in the first years o f the 14th cen­
tury. C lients came from all walks o f life, farmers, craftsmen and small traders as
well as officials, clerics and knights38. A lm o s t 7 0 % o f the loans were much lower
than one p ou n d, only 3 0 % ran higher. A s securities, the J e w s accepted the naming
d es in st itutio ns des anciens p a y s b o u r g u ig n o n s , c o m t o is et r o m a n d s 33 ( 1 975-1 976) 7-65, esp. 39;
H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 59.
j5 See for e xa m p le A le x a n d re Tuetey, E t u d e s u r le d ro it m unicip al au X 111 et X I V 1' siecle en Fra nc h e - C o m t e et en p articu lier ä M o n t b e li a rd , in: M e m o ir c s de la s o cie t e d ’em u la t io n de M o n t b e lia rd
( 1865-1 867) 109-429 ; R o la n d Vietier, L e s cha rtes d e fra nchises o c t r o y e e s p a r la famille d e C h a lo n ,
in: M e m o ir c s d e la so ciete p o u r l’ histoire du d ro it et des in st it utions des ancie ns p a y s b o u r g u i ­
g n o n s , c o m t o i s et r o m a n d s 26 (1965) 257-2 60; G iselc D a v id , L e s chartes de fra nc hises d an s le
C o m t e d e B o u r g o g n e au M o y c n A g e , in: D e l’ a u t o n o m ie des villes. B e s an n e n 1290-1990. A c te s du
c o llo q u e or g a n is e p a r l’A s s o c ia t io n du S e p tie m c C e n t e n a ir e d es F ra nch is e s de B e san yon , B e san ne n ,
s c p t e m b r c 1990 ( A n n a le s litteraires de l’ U n iv e rs it c de Be sane on 4 70 - C a h ie r s d ’ etud es c o m t o is c s
49, Paris, B e s a n y o n 1992) 47-53.
See L o e b , D e u x livres 167-170; H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 179-182.
37 F o r the 1306 e x p u ls io n see R o b e rt C b a z a n , M edieva l J e w r y in N o r t h e r n F ra nc e. A Political and
S ocia l H i s t o r y (T he J o h n s H o p k i n s U n iv e r s it y S tu d ie s in H is t o r ic a l and Political Science; N in e t y F ir st Series, 1973; 2, B a lt im o r e , L o n d o n 1973) 191-201; W illiam C h e ste r J o r d a n , T h e F re n ch M o n ­
a rc hy and the Je w s : F r o m Philip A u g u s t u s to the L a s t C a p e t i a n s ( M id d le A g e s Series, P hila de lphia
1989) 20 0-2 13. F o r p o s s ib l e rea son s w h y the J e w s were not expelle d fr o m the C o u n t y o f B u r g u n ­
d y see H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 293 -294.
■>s See the e x a m p le o f Villers-Ie-Sec in H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 21 3-216.
110
Annegret H oltm ann
o f guarantors. T h e records sh o w a close-knit c o m m u n ity where guarantor and
deb tor were often related to each other. T h e loans had to be repaid within a couple
o f weeks or several months. Extensions or partial repayments meant that in practice
m any loans where only p ay e d off after m ore than a year or even after a couple of
years39. Th e credit activities mentioned so far are reflected in the so-called “ A ccount
B o o k I ” that was exclusively reserved for small loan operations. Th e first entries
were made at the beginning o f the Jew ish year 5064, that is, in the autumn o f 1303,
while the last entries p ro b a b ly date from the autumn o f 130540. When the b o o k was
put in use, open loans were transferred into it from a so-called “ old b o o k ”41.
H o w did a business transaction find its w ay into the b o o k ? When H eliot, a fa m ­
ily m em b er or his c o m p a n io n s had granted a credit to debtors in Vesoul or other
places, the b o o k k e e p e r was notified abou t the operation either orally or b y written
statement. H e then entered the loan su m into the bo o k , arranging the proceedings
village b y village. Initially, a certain n u m b e r o f p ages had been reserved fo r each
village42. All loans to the inhabitants o f a particular place were entered into the re­
spective village accoun t in chronological order o f the deals. T h e b o o k k ee p e r took
care to leave a certain a m ou n t o f free space between the different entries. A t the
sam e time, the b o o k k e e p e r tried to arrange for personal accounts. If a client needed
a further loan in the future, the new deal was entered next to his prior loan. In this
way, the gaps between the entries w o u ld be gradually filled, although as a result,
the chronological order suffered43.
W hat did a single entry look like? Th e entries all fo llow e d a standard pattern (see
A pp en dix). B efore the b o o k had been p ut in use, the page had been divided into
separate co lu m n s by incision with a knife. O n the beginning o f a line at the right
side o f the page, the am ou n t o f the loan was entered in H e b r e w letters. In the left
column, first the d e b t o r ’s nam e w as recorded, then his place o f residence and s o m e ­
times family relationships. N e x t, the nam e and the place o f residence o f the gu aran ­
tor were given, as well as the date when repaym ent was due. Occasionally, there
were remarks on currencies or other issues connected with the deal44. If repayment
cam e on time, the am ou n t o w ed was crossed out. If there w as on ly partial re p a y ­
ment or if the loan had to be extended or increased, the original su m was crossed
out and the new a m ou n t was noted a bove or to the right o f the original sum. M o r e ­
over, the original due date was crossed out and a new one added. If all the business
transactions on a page were concluded or transferred to a new b ook , the whole
39 See H o ltm a n n , ju d c n 220 -2 23.
4° p Qr tjie ca lc ula tio n o f the dat es see H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 175-177.
41 E x a m p l e s fo r sim ila r transfers can be fo u n d in o t h e r a c co u n t b o o k s o f the p e ri od , fo r e x a m p le
on the first 28 p a g e s o f the third m ain b o o k ( „ L i v r e C “ ) k e p t b y the B o n i s br oth e r s f r o m M o n ta u ban o r in the r ecor d s b y the H o l z s c h u h e r f r o m N u r e m b e r g : F o re stie , L iv r es de C o m p t e s , P remiere
partie V I I I and E d it io n ; C h ro u st, E in le it u n g I, in: C h ro u st, P ro e sle r (eds.), H a n d l u n g s b u c h I X X X X V , X II, X V II-X V III.
42 See table 2 in the a p p e n d ix in H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 35 5-362.
43 H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 174-175.
44 H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 171-173.
M ed ie va l “ P ig e o n h o l e s ”
111
page was crossed out. T h is is the case with m o st o f the p ages that are preserved
from this account b o o k 43.
A co m parison ol the b o o k k ee p in g practices in the first account b o o k to other
exam ples fro m the sam e period sh ow s both similarities and so m e differences. Per­
sonal accounts can be fo u n d in the account b o o k o f the N u r e m b e r g H o lz sc h u h er
company, in the b o o k o f the Ly on cloth trader from 1320 to 1321 and in the socalled “ B o o k C o f the B o n is b ro th ers” from M o n ta u b a n 46. Yet the arrangements o f
the single elements o f an entry differed from each other. In terms o f convenience, it
was an ingenious idea o f the J e w s to enter the credit su m at the start o f the line in a
separate column. T h is m ade changes in the sum, which might be caused by belated
re payments or extensions o f the credit, very simple. In such cases, a new entry was
unnecessary. T h e Jew ish m oney lenders from Straubing and C on stan ce entered in
their lists o f o u tstand in g debts both the date o f the original credit operation and
the due date47. F o r the Vesoul Je w s, the due date w as sufficient. T h e sam e was the
case in the records o f the N u r e m b e r g H o lz sc h u h e r family w h o se account b o o k
dates fro m the sam e p eriod as the Vesoul exam ples48.
Lik e other J ew ish b ook k ee pe rs, the Vesoul J e w s used C hristian feasts as due
dates. T h is reflects the fact that their operations had to be adapted to the seasonal
routines o f their Christian environment. In one respect, however, the Vesoul ac­
count b o o k s differ not on ly from Christian, but also from other Jew ish examples.
T h e Vesoul J e w s often characterised their due dates with the week day o f the re­
spective p a r a s h a , that is the weekly Torah lecture. Unlike the Ge rm a n Jew ish money
lenders from Straubin g and C onstan ce, they did not use the Jew ish m onth system
nor did they denote their entries according to the Julian calendar, as Je w s in Italy,
Marseille and C atalon ia did. T h is peculiarity reflects the conventions k now n from
other business records as well as from gravestones in z a r f a t (N o rth e rn F rance)49
and can thus be explained by characteristic regional influences50.
A s mentioned above, the Vesoul J e w s did not on ly trade locally in small loans
bu t also dealt with noblem en fro m the northern part o f the C oun ty. T h e clients
were m em bers o f the sm all gentry as well as the high aristocracy. T h e J e w s also
maintained business contacts to family m em bers o f the form er counts o f B u r g u n ­
d y 31. T h e political situation at the beginning o f the 14th century w as favourable to
'b H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 173, 177.
46 H a n s P ro esler, E in le it u ng II, in: C h ro u st, P ro esler (eds.), H a n d l u n g s b u c h X X X V - L X X X I I I ,
L X ; M eyer, G u ig u e , F r a g m e n t s 429; F o restie, L ivr es de c o m p t e s , Pre m ie re partie. J a c m e O li vie r
fr o m N a r b o n n e also kept p ers on al a c co u nts in his b o o k in the 1380s: B la n c (ed.), L ivre d e com p te s.
47 vo n S tro m e r, B u c h f ü h r u n g 39 6-3 97; Toch, G e l d u n d K re d it 513.
4S C h ro u st, E in le it u n g I, in: C h ro u st, P ro e sle r (cds.)> H a n d l u n g s b u c h X V I , note 1; Toch, G e l d und
K re d it 513. L o e b e r r o n e o u s l y a s s u m e d that the small loan b o o k fr o m V es oul lists the d at e when
the credit w a s gran ted : L o e b , D e u x livres 162; see H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 171.
49 S ch w ab , N o t e s d e co m p ta b il it e 290 -292 . G e r a r d N a h o n , In s cr ip tio n s h e b r aiqu es et ju ives en
Fra n c e m edie va le ( Fr an eo-J ud a'ica 12, Par is 1986).
:’0 H o ltm a n n , } uden 173-174.
1,1 In detail H o ltm a n n , J u d e n 183-205.
112
Annegret H oltm ann
money lending activities. Many noblemen were heavily in debt after a war against
the French king, whose rule over parts of the province they resented32. The Jews
took great care to cultivate their aristocratic clientele. The resulting business con­
tacts often lasted for many years. Some deals with the aristocracy only involved
small sums of money, for instance when a couple of pence were needed for the
shoeing of a horse. In general, however, the business deals with noblemen were
much more complex than the small loans operations with the local rural popula­
tion. The noblemen often needed considerable sums of money. Such transactions
were usually properly authenticated with the nobleman’s seal or the Vesoul sei­
gniorial seal. The Jews also accepted securities such as jewellery, costly tableware
and expensive garments. Transactions with the aristocracy were challenging be­
cause they were often conducted in different places in the county and might in­
volve large sums of money, complicated repayment schemes and repeated exten­
sions of the credit. This meant that from time to time the bookkeepers had to
summarise prior transactions and calculate an interim balance of individual
accounts. Accordingly, one section of the second account b ook was arranged by
persona] accounts. Each transaction was recorded in a separate paragraph. These
personal accounts might refer to an individual or a family. The account of the
Rougemont family provides a good example (see Appendix). It takes up about two
thirds of folio 45v33. This family account records credits to the seigneur de
Rougemont, his wife and his son. Two entries show Humbert of Rougem ont’s seal
when he was acting as a guarantor for other people54.
The Rougem ont entries cover a period from 1305 to 1314, but the business rela­
tionship may have been older still. The account, compiled by Heliot of Vesoul and
the seigneur of Rougemont himself on 2 3 nl April 1306 (Saint George’s day), starts
with a summary of all previous open loans35. Apparently, there were disagreements
over the outstanding debt. While Fleliot’s calculation arrived at the sum of 431
pounds, the debtor only wanted to repay 411. Perhaps the conflict was solved by
Heliot granting a favourable interest rate on a large part of the loan sum. Humbert
had to pay 60 pounds in interest on 300 pounds of the sum he owed, which made
for a rather low interest rate of 2 0 % 36. The Rougem ont account also contains a
loan from 1305 that had to be recorded again since it had been forgotten in the
summary, and several transactions from 1307 to 131037. O n 2 3 rd November 1311
Humbert de Rougemont made a partial repayment of 300 pounds and a year later,
he made a repayment of all “what was written above”. B oth the company and the
nobleman mutually granted receipts of the payments and the bookkeeper crossed
out the whole entry. Interestingly, the Jews now explicitly noted that they had not
~2 F o r more detail sec H oltmann, Ju de n 33-36.
'3 Archives Departementales de la C ö te d ’Or , B 10410, fol. 45v. See the picture and transcription
of the account in the appendix to this paper. See also Holtmann, Ju den 195-197.
>f Sec appendix, fol. 45v (5) and (15).
Appendix, fol. 45v (8).
36 Appendix, fol. 45v (8).
-•7 Appendix, fol. 45v (9).
Medieval “ P ig e o n h o le s ”
113
charged any interest at all on R ou gem ont’s loans08. A farther credit of 400 pounds,
which had to be repaid in two equal parts in May and in September 1312, was re­
corded below the crossed out section39. The bookkeeper finally squeezed in two
further loans at the bottom of the page60. With these entries, the space reserved for
the Rougemont account was definitely exhausted. When altogether seven further
loans running to more than 400 pounds had to be registered in 1313 and 1314, the
bookkeeper was forced to move towards the top of the account and make his
entries above the original first entry61. This final group of entries is only partially
crossed out and there are no signs of a summary or balance62. Perhaps the account
was transferred to a new book and administered from there.
We can see from this example that personal accounts were structured equally
simple as the village accounts even though they covered more complicated transac­
tions. Apparently the Vesoul Jews did not reserve a full page in their account book
for each of their noble clients. As a result, they had to be very pragmatic in arrang­
ing their entries. We find the Jews tentatively summarising or balancing the ac­
count. However, this was only done when there seemed to be an immediate need to
do so. Stating regular balances was not yet the routine process it was to be in more
advanced accounting systems. Striking similarities to the personal accounts of the
Vesoul Jews can be found in the fragment of the cloth trader from Lyon. In his
book, the accounts were ordered alphabetically. Loans and repayments were listed
one below the other and summarised from time to time (introduced by the word
som df ,3. The Holzschuher company also proceeded in this way, as did Jacme
Olivier in Narbonne and the Runtinger family in Regensburg64.
Apart from personal accounts, the second account b ook also features another
kind of entry, a register of goods received. These accounts had their origin in mon­
ey lending activities. Many local farmers did not only till the soil, but also worked
one or several vineyards. They frequently borrowed money by pawning their fu­
ture wine harvests rather than by naming guarantors. The Jewish creditors received
their repayments in the form of must or wine. Some customers also offered the
vineyards themselves as security for the money they borrowed. In this case, half
the returns went to the Jews, the other half remained with the debtor (metayage).
Fifteen pages in the second account book were devoted to wine deliveries from
1315 to 1318fo. Each harvest year had its own account that was subdivided accord­
ing to the villages where the wine came from. Again, the entries followed a uniform
pattern: first, the name of the supplier, occasionally also the name of the vineyard,
,s Appendix, fol. 45v (17) and (18).
59 Appendix, fol. 45v (18).
,’° Appendix, fol. 45v (19) and (20).
<’1 Appendix, fol. 45v (l )- (7 ).
See also Holtmann, Ju de n 196-197.
6-’ Meyer, Guigue, Fragments.
64 Chroust, Einleitung I, in: Chroust, Proesler, Han dlungsbuch X V I I - X I X ; Blanc (ed.), Livre de
comptes; Bastian, Runtin ge rb uch, vol. 2.
6- Archives Departementales de la C ö t e d ’Or , B 10410, fol. 21r-29r.
114
Annegret H oltm ann
then the amount delivered and the type of wine, finally the sum by which the debt
was lessened by the wine delivery. B y the way, the Jews also owned their own vine­
yards which they cultivated for their own consumption. The yields from their own
vineyards were also registered in this account66. The wine accounts clearly demon­
strate the characteristics of single entry bookkeeping: incoming and outgoing pay­
ments were combined in a single account. This meant that expenses, for example
for harvest helpers or for the tithe, are registered among the deliveries the Jews re­
ceived. Let me just add briefly that further accounts recorded Jewish participation
in the local Lombards’ cloth trade. O ne account is a four-column register of outgo­
ing and incoming payments and contains a summary of the transactions67. Another
one takes the form of personal accounts that list payments of the Jews to the L o m ­
bard merchants as well as their profits lrom the trade deals in which they had in­
vested68.
I hope this survey is sufficient to give an impression of the varied and pragmatic
bookkeeping methods of the Vesoul company. As mentioned above, the two sur­
viving account books are fragments from a much larger bookkeeping system. We
frequently find references to other account b ooks69, but too often all we know is
the fact that there existed an “old b o o k ”70, a “red b o o k ”71, the “other b o o k ”72, or
the “other paper”73. There was also a special wine-paper74 and a “paper of my
father”, perhaps the personal account book of Heliot75. Llowever, these references
are too vague to allow the reconstruction of the complete bookkeeping system.
Results and Questions
May we speak oi fundamental differences between “Je w ish ” and “Christian” b ook ­
keeping practices? Th e answer should be “n o ”. The Vesoul accounts do show sim­
ilarities to other Jewish account books, for example in the use of the vocabulary for
“payment”, “repayment” and so on76. Yet the outline above also found instances of
marked differences between Jewish account books. Partly, these may be explained
66 j ; or more detail see Holtmann, Ju den 2 4 2 -2 62, 387 -3 90.
67 Archives Departementales de la C o t e d’Or , B 10410, fol. 4r. See the transcription and transla­
tion in M alka, Pieces cornptables 48-5 9.
6S Archives Departemen tales de la C o te d ’Or , B 10410, fol.
69 See Holtmann, Ju de n 170-171.
70 F o r example Archives Departementales de la C ö t e d ’Or,
71 F o r example Archives Departementales de la C ö t e d ’Or ,
72 p o r exam pie Archives Departementales de la C ö t e d ’Or ,
9v; Holtmann, Ju de n 28 1-2 83.
B 10411, fol. 9r (4), 36 r (1).
B 10411, fol. 9v (1), lOv (2) etc.
B 10411, fol. 9r (14), (15), 9v (10), (15)
etc. F o r the second account b o o k see Loeb, D eu x livrcs, R E J 9 41.
73 Archives Depart ementales de la C ö t e d’Or , B 10411, fol. 9v (2).
74 Archives Departementales cle la C o t e d ’Or , B 10410, tol. 41v, last entry; L oeb, D eu x livres 41.
/3 Loeb, D eu x livres 41.
' 6 T h e list of H eb r ew professional terms in Casanovas Miro et al. (eds.), Libro de cuentas 74-79,
mostly agrees with the terms applied by the Je w s from Vesoul.
Medieval “ P ig e o n h o le s ”
115
by the differences of the source material itself. F o r example, while the fragments
from Vesoul and Gerona may be termed “account b o o k s ”, the pages from South­
ern Germany are lists, which were produced during inheritance cases or confisca­
tions77. While there are differences between Jewish account books, there are strik­
ing similarities to instances of Christian bookkeeping, especially with the
Flolzschuher accounts from Nuremberg.
These results may be primarily grounded in the practice of single entry b o o k ­
keeping itself. In contrast to double entry bookkeeping, “ no simple description or
definition [of single entry bookkeeping] is possible”78. As Yamey pointed out, “socalled single entry ... was used in a variety of fo rm s”79. Each bookkeeper devel­
oped his own style according to the needs of his particular situation80. The Vesoul
account books illustrate this perfectly. At first sight, the pages look confusing, the
handwriting seems prohibitive, the arrangement of entries chaotic. However, a
closer look reveals a well-ordered system. The small loan book in particular dis­
plays a uniform pattern where entries were made in the form of village accounts in
combination with personal accounts. This system was perfectly adapted to the
requirements of merchants moving around the villages of the Franche-Comte to
do business there, for example on market days. The book also displays instances of
a balancing of accounts which was done when the b ook was full and active ac­
counts had to be transferred to a new book - a well-known feature of medieval
bookkeeping81.
The results are more complex in the case of the second account book. H ow can
we classify this collection of accounts that served different purposes, from per­
sonal debt accounts to accounts listing goods received? Are these primary records
or books of original entry that were collected into one book? O r do we have here
a ledger that covered different branches of business? At the moment, there is no
answer to this question. B u t we can say that the b ook seems to have been perfectly
adequate to allow control over the business transactions. Perhaps it is our wish to
classify the book that is inadequate, not the bookkeeping system the book dis­
plays. If we take a look at the account b ook of Johan Blasi of Marseille, we find a
similar picture of seemingly incongruous bookkeeping. There are entries on grain
purchases and grain sales, investments in a fishing company and trade in shipbuild-
77 D ur in g the M un ic h conference, this opinion was also supported by Michael T och , w ho ana­
lysed and edited both fragments.
7S Yamey, B oo k keep in g 170.
79 Yamey, B oo k keep in g 170.
80 Raymond de Roover, Characteristics o f Bo ok kee p in g before Pacioli, in: Ac cou ntin g Review 13
(1939) 144 -1 49, esp. 149. U g o Teralh from For calquier had his customers accept their debts by
making them enter the sums into his account b o o k (1 33 0 - 1 3 3 2 ) with their own hand. Jewish cus­
tomers used H eb rew : Meyer, Livre-journal 132; in detail Israel L evi , Le Liv re- Jour nal de Maitre
U g o Teralh, in: Rev ue des etudes juives 37 (1898) 25 9-2 65. T h e same procedure was used by Jean
Saval from Carcasson ne (debtors and/or guarantors wrote into the bo ok): Portal, Livre-journal
428.
81 De Roover, Characteristics 148.
116
Annegret H oltm ann
ing material, next to entries on the trade in oil, almonds, fur and leather, followed
by entries on money lending transactions. And this is not even to mention the in­
ventory of Blasi’s mobile and immobile possessions or his last will82.
In order to understand why single entry bookkeeping was sufficient for a long
period ol time, it is perhaps worthwhile to turn to the most basic question: W hy
did merchants such as the Vesoul Jews needed bookkeeping in the first place? R a y­
mond de Roover noted a close connection between the expansion of trade and the
progress in bookkeeping practices. It a company expands the geographical range
and scale of its trading activities, its accounting has to become more precise and
more differentiated. O n the other hand, profitable trading is not possible without a
certain routine in accounting practices that are suited to the specific needs of the
company83. De Roover singles out three crucial factors for the further develop­
ment of bookkeeping: the rising number of trade partnerships, the increasing sale
of goods on credit, which necessitated a permanent control of debts, and the nam­
ing of agents in the administration of a company’s capital84. If we apply this to the
Jewish company in Vesoul, we are reminded of its widespread activities in a Chris­
tian environment, in a region that had seen recent political turmoil, in an area where
the Jews had to deal with rural people as well as noblemen, but also with Lombard
merchants. In order to keep these widespread activities under control, a system of
bookkeeping was indispensable. The bookkeeping system had to be adapted to this
particular situation, and the single entry system the Vesoul Jews developed seems
to have been perfectly adequate for their needs. This applies to the village accounts
of “B o o k O n e ” as well as to the different accounts in “B o o k T w o ”. If compared to
other business records of their age, the Vesoul books display solutions which were
fully up to date, occasionally even more advanced than other examples.
Single entry bookkeeping has had a bad press since the arrival and dominance ol
double entry bookkeeping. The latter one established a standard that was much
more universally applicable than the single entry systems which always carried the
marks of their particular situation of origin. But whatever the advantages of double
entry bookkeeping - single entry bookkeeping was perfectly able to guarantee the
function that was most important to a medieval merchant: control over a com ­
pany’s business transactions. Raymond de Roover once pointed out the basic idea
behind both single and double entry bookkeeping: “Accounting is largely a means
of classifying entries into their proper pigeonholes, which are called accounts.”85
The single entry variant provided adequate pigeonholes for many merchants for a
considerable length of time.
82
Sj
'*
S3
See H auck , Kau fm an nsbuch; Paul, Transcription.
De Roover, Au x origines 171.
De Roover, D ev elopment o f Accou n ting 120-123.
De Roover, Characteristics 146; also quoted in Yamey, B oo k keep in g 166.
117
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A ppendix
T h e R o u g e m o n t-a c co u n t1
T h e first entry o f the transcrip t correspon d s to the third entry o f the page show n in the picture (fo l. 4 5 v .).
'7jy s ip ’i ’’30 ’7‘?,a’ 'pa in ia 17 -\o m oxa-”o
’n 'a
(I)
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(2)
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n an ’ D7 'nan on ana 'mn na>y X7 i r a x n m n 7K 1:15n s 'bis n b m ’a ona’sina nan 'iy
'n a n
m =©aj
(4)
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□mm o m 's n a nan 'mn 75? "71» a’pKsn raan'siaa xaiO’si m ia 'm a nan 'yi ora'nna r p n n a
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(5)
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nr bvi 1am 'in bv '7ry Nan?7i<'p7 o is ^ a aiaa xaipm aw 'r’ umaa a-xsix ’’irai m a 'in s nan
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(6)
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nr 'cm
(J)
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~a'7 'n a n 'mn bv 'n 'töpm lam m ’n a n 'mn bv '7 to N'smr? ’’ an 'o n 'oa m xa 'sn V? m n n ’ s 'iai
rn sw ai onaT's r a 1010a 'o n 'n'7 n p i "n o nnaa 'n 'r i 'o n 'nnn p 'vn '710 n'7 w p m s '- ’ a 'n 'x'7 pn p 'o n 'p 's
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'o n 'x’71 'ixa '7
(8 )
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(9)
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'iy
Annegret Holtmann
'7» n m ',7 'iapa ojia'sina nan m7in\nxmn 7ap7 inaba ?Kn'a’7 o n ? m e s
Archives Depart ementales de la C o t e d’Or , B 10410, fol. 45v.
j
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(10)
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(12)
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(14)
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(18)
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i n p p am 17 i: ’ a3w 's 'nA'm 'n ' id 17 a” n n n n 1:, m a i
nan 7 u w ' n n a x m K7i 'js & 'biv n’7 am
2 Word scratched out.
Medieval “P ig eo nho les”
maa'7 ir o im '7no ’’ ds® 'n in'» a m K ’a ’a r bv m ' s n s nan 'iy
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Markus J. Wenninger
Juden als Miinzmeister, Zollpächter und fürstliche
Finanzbeamte im mittelalterlichen Aschkenas
„Da es völlig widersinnig wäre, wenn ein Lästerer Christi über Christen Gewalt
ausübt, erneuern wir wegen des Übermuts der Frevler auf diesem Generalkonzil,
was darüber das Konzil von Toledo weise verordnet hat, und verbieten, daß Juden
an die Spitze von öffentlichen Ämtern gestellt werden, weil sie sich dabei den
Christen gegenüber höchst feindselig erweisen. Wer ihnen ein solches Amt anver­
traut, soll auf einem Provinzialkonzil ... nach vorangegangener Mahnung gebüh­
rend bestraft werden. Ein [jüdischer] Amtsinhaber soll aber so lange von den
Christen bei seinen Geschäftsangelegenheiten und sonst boykottiert werden, bis
zugunsten armer Christen ... das restituiert wird, was er von den Christen anläß­
lich seiner Amtsführung erworben hat. Das Amt, das er respektloserweise ange­
nommen hatte, soll er mit Schimpf und Schande wieder hergeben.“ 1
So lautete eine jener Bestimmungen, mit welchen im Jahr 1215 das 4. Lateran­
konzil den Standort und die Bedingungen jüdischen Lebens in der christlichen
Welt festsetzen wollte. Auch wenn als Vorlage nur ein Kanon des 3. Konzils von
Toledo, das im Jahr 589 zusammengetreten war und dessen Bestimmungen keines­
wegs für die gesamte katholische Welt, sondern nur für das damalige Westgoten­
reich galten, genannt wird2, steht hinter dieser Verordnung doch eine über ein gutes
Jahrtausend reichende Tradition der kirchlicherseits behaupteten und geforderten
1 4. Latcrankonz.il, c. 69; Latein. Text bei Antonio Garcia y Garcia, Con stitutiones Concilii quarti
Laterancnsis una cum commentariis glossatorum (R o m a 1981) 108, c. 69; Giovanni D. Mansi,
Sacrum co nciliorum nova et amplissima collcctio, B d . 22 (Paris 1903, Ndr. 1961) Sp. 1054ff.;/«//«s
Aronius, Regesten zu r Ge sch ichte der Ju de n im Fränkischen und Deu tschen Reiche bis zum Jahre
1273 (Berlin 1887-1902 , Ndr. Hildesheim, N e w Yo rk 1970) Nr. 395, S. 176; Übersetzungen bei
Aronius, 175f., und Raym ond Vorevdle, Lateran I—IV (Main z 1970) 4 4 3 f.
2 D er Text des hier angesprochenen c. 14 des 3. Konzils von Tole do bei Mansi, conci liorum coll c c ­
tio, Bd. 9, 996, und Amnon Linder, T h e Je ws in the legal sources o f the early Middle Ages (D etroit
1997) 484f. Das 3. Ko n zi l von To led o fällt in die Phase des Üb er tr it ts der bisher arianischen West­
goten zum Katholizismus. In Üb erein stim mung mit den Int en tio nen Kg. Rec carcds wurde auf
ihm das einheitliche katholische Be kenntnis aller Christen des Rei chs offiziell festgelegt, und be­
zeichnenderweise erließ man gleichzeitig erstmals für das gesamte Westgotische Reich Jude nge set­
ze, die sich an bisher nur für Katholike n gültigen Bestimmungen sowie spätrömischen Gesetzen
und Konzi lsbestim m un gen orientierten. Dazu Alexander Pierre Bronisch, Die Judenge setzgebung
im katholischen Westgotenreich von To ledo (F orschu ngen zur Ge sch ichte der Ju de n A 17, H a n ­
nover 2005) 23ff.
122
M arkus J. W enninger
Unterordnung der Juden unter die Christen. Diese beginnt mit theologischen
Schriften, in denen seit Tertullian (gest. 222) die Unterordnung der Juden unter die
Christen vertreten wurde, und führt über die von diesen Schriften und Ansichten
beeinflußte Gesetzgebung des christlich gewordenen spätrömischen Reichs3 und
frühmittelalterliche Konzilsbestimmungen4 zu den hochmittelalterlichen Lateran­
konzilien und weiter bis ins ausgehende Mittelalter. Die zahlreichen Wiederholun­
gen dieser Forderung durch kirchliche Personen und Institutionen - wenn auch in
unterschiedlichen Formulierungen und unterschiedlicher Schärfe3; es ist aber be­
merkenswert, daß gerade die Tätigkeit von Juden als Zöllner des öfteren ausdrück­
lich untersagt wird6 - zeigen, daß sie über weite Strecken nur unzureichend beach­
tet, vielleicht sogar völlig negiert wurde. Für das hier behandelte Thema ist dies
insofern von Bedeutung, als Juden in jeder der im Titel genannten Funktionen be­
stimmte Befugnisse über Christen ausüben konnten bzw. auszuüben hatten. Wie in
vielen anderen Zusammenhängen zeigt sich auch hier, daß kirchenrechtliche B e ­
stimmungen nur dann allgemein durchgesetzt werden konnten, wenn sie mit den
gesellschaftlichen Gegebenheiten der jeweiligen Zeit und des jeweiligen Raumes
einigermaßen übereinstimmten und auch die Unterstützung der weltlichen Macht­
haber fanden.
Genau das war aber im gegebenen Zusammenhang lange Zeit nicht der Fall. In
Einzelfällen wurden zwar entsprechende Bestimmungen in weltliche Privilegien
aufgenommen, aber das blieben Ausnahmen, deren konkreter Anlaß jeweils zu un­
tersuchen ist. So war es im Deutschen Reich gerade der in anderem Zusammen­
hang wegen seiner Unvoreingenommenheit und Toleranz gegenüber den Juden
bekannte Kaiser Friedrich II., der in einem 1237 für die Stadt Wien ausgestellten
3 D azu Karl Leo Noethlicbs, D as Ju de ntu m und der römisc he Staat. Mind erheitenpolitik im anti­
ken R o m (D arm stadt 1996), und ders., D ie Ju de n im christlichen Im perium R om anu m (4.-6. Ja h r­
hundert) (Berlin 200 1) ; zu den Vorläuferbestimmungen des Judenartikels von To ledo 58 9 s. Broniscb, (wie vorige A n m .) 25.
4 Als Beispiele seien hier genannt: 535 verbot das Ko nzil zu C lerm on t, Ju de n zu Rich tern über
Christen zu setzen (Aronius, Nr. 24, S. 10), 581 jenes zu M äc on , Ju den zu Richtern oder Zöllnern
zu bestellen, damit nicht die Christen ihnen untergeordnet erscheinen (Aronius , N r . 40, S. 15), und
614 bestimmte das 5. Ko n zi l von Paris, daß kein Ju de militärische oder Verwaltungsämter vom
K ön ig erbitten oder bekleiden solle. Eine W oche darauf verbot K ön ig Ch lota r II. den Juden, ö f ­
fentliche Ä m te r zu bekleiden (Aronius, N r.5 7 f., S.2 0f.); weitere Hinweise bei J. E. Scherer, Die
Rechtsverhältnisse der Ju de n in den deuts ch-österreichischen Lände rn (Leipzig 1901) 3 3 f ., 40f. u.
328f., sowie bei H einz Schreckenberg, D ie christlichen Adver sus-Judaeos-Text e und ihr literari­
sches und historisches U m feld , Bd. 3: 13.-20. Jh . (Idurop. H oc hs ch ulsc hriftcn X X I I I , 497, F r a n k ­
furt 1994) 365, 375t. und 398f.
5 Vgl. z. B. das Mai nz er Provinzialkonzil von 1259 (Aronius, N r . 646, S . 2 7 lt.). Au ch ein Schreiben
Papst Greg ors I X . an die hohe deutsche Geistlichkeit von 1233 M ärz 4 wegen diverser Mißstände,
die in Deutschland hinsichtlich der Ju de n bestünden, zeigt, daß die Tätigke it von Ju de n als fürst­
liche Am tleute offen bar weit verbreitet war ( Aronius, N r . 460, S . 202).
6 So z. B. auf den Provin zialkonzilien von Breslau und Wi en 1267. D ere n Judenartikel bei Aronius,
Nr. 724f., S. 3 0 1 -3 05; zu ihrem zeitgenössischen Hintergrund s. Klaus Lohrmann, Ju de nre cht und
Ju denpolitik im mittelalterlichen Ös te rr eich (H an d bu ch zur Ges ch ich te der Ju de n in Ös te rr eich B
1, Wien, K ö ln 1990) 94-1 0 2 , u. Markus J. Wenninger, G r en z en in der Stadt? Zu Lage und A b g r en ­
zung mittelalterlicher deutscher Judenviertel, in: Aschkenas 14 (2 004 ) 9-2 9 , hier 11—15.
J u d e n als M ü n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r un d f ü r s t l i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
123
Privileg dieser das Ämterverbot für Juden zugestand7. Auch König Andreas II. von
Ungarn, der in seiner Goldenen Bulle vom Jahr 1222 den Großen seines Reichs ein
ähnliches Zugeständnis machte8, ist sonst keineswegs durch irgendwelche antijüdi­
schen Maßnahmen aufgefallen. Das 1222 ausgesprochene Ämterverbot wurde denn
auch in weiterer Folge in Ungarn offenbar kaum oder gar nicht beachtet9. Die mit­
telalterlichen deutschen Rechtsbücher kennen dagegen mit Ausnahme des gerade
auch hinsichtlich seiner Judenartikel stark vom Kirchenrecht beeinflußten Schwa­
benspiegels keine Bestimmungen gegen jüdische Zöllner, Münzer oder sonstige
Amtsträger10.
Bei der Beschäftigung mit Urkunden über einschlägige Geschäfte ist dagegen zu
beachten, daß nicht jede Nennung eines Juden im Zusammenhang mit einem der
genannten Ämter bedeutet, daß er dieses Amt auch tatsächlich ausgeübt hat, denn
in manchen Fällen wurden Juden anscheinend nicht die Ämter selbst mit der dazu­
gehörenden Amtsgewalt übertragen, sondern sie erhielten nur die Nutzung der
Einkünfte aus diesen Ämtern. Das scheint z .B . bei der Verpfändung des öster7 Die Stadt Wien hatte sich in seinem Streit mit H e r z o g Friedrich II. von Ös te rr eich auf seine
Seite gestellt; das Privileg, das Wien kurzfristig zur Reichsstadt machte, enthielt an prominenter
Stelle (dritte Be stim m un g von neun) in An leh nung an die genannten kirchlichen Formulierungen
den Ausschluß der Ju d e n von Ämtern. Das gesamte Privileg gedr. bei Peter Csendes, D ie R ec h ts­
quellen der Stadt Wien ( F R A 111,9, Wien, Kö ln , G raz 1986) Nr. 5, S. 39-4 3 (deutsche Übersetzung
der 1. H . 14.Jh . ebd., Nr. 6, S. 43-47 ). Weitere D ru c k e und einschlägige Literatur bei Eveline Brugger, Birgit Wiedl, Regesten zur Geschich te der Ju de n in Öst er rei ch im Mittelalter, Bd. I: Von den
Anfängen bis 1338 (In ns br uc k, Wien, B o ze n 2 00 5) Nr. 17, S .2 8f . Ein angeblich gleichzeitig für
Wiener Neustadt ausgestelltes, weitgehend gleichlautendes Privileg ( Aronius, Nr. 509f., S.2 2 0 f.) ist
allerdings eine spätere Fälsch ung (dazu Brugger, Wiedl, Regesten, Nr. 18, S.2 9f.), ebenso das etwa
gleichzeitig gefälschte, angeblich auf H e r z o g Le opold V I., den Vater H er z o g Friedrichs II., zu ­
rückgehende Stadtrccht für Wiener Neustadt, in das diese Be st im m un g ebenfalls auf genommen
wurde ( Brugger, Wiedl, Nr. 9, S.22f. ). Zwei Jahre später erließ H er z o g Friedrich II. von Ö s t e r ­
reich, der die Gew al t übe r sein H er zo gtu m inzwischen wieder zurückcrlangt hatte, ein Privileg für
Wien er Neustadt, in dem er u.a. versprach, künftig den Ju de n dieser Stadt kein A m t zu geben,
mittels dessen sic die Bürger bedrücken könnten (1 239 Ju ni 5, Aronius, Nr. 522, S. 224; Brugger,
Wiedl, Regesten, Nr. 21, S.32f. ).
8 Die Äm te r der comites camerarii monetarum, salinarii et tributarii sollten den nobiles regni V or­
behalten bleiben; Ism aelite (Mosl ems) und Ju den sollten diese Fu nktion en ausdrücklich nicht ausüben können (M o n um en ta Hungariae Judaica, Bd. 1 [Budapest 1903], S . 4, N r . 8); s.a. Nora B e rend, At the Gat e of C h rist en dom . Je w s, Muslims and ‘ Pagans’ in Medieval Hungary, c. 1000-c. 1300
(Cam bridge 2001) 121 und 155.
9 Schon drei Jahre später (1225 Aug. 23) forderte Papst Hon ori us III. den zuständigen E rzb isc h of
Ugrinus von Kalocsa und seine Suffragane auf, von K ön ig Andreas zu verlangen, daß er künftighin
Ju de n und Heiden bei der Vergabe öff entlicher Äm te r nicht mehr bevorzuge: Shlomo Simonsohn
(ed.), T h e Apostolic See and the Je ws, 1: D ocu m ents 4 9 2 -1 4 0 4 (T o ron to 1988) Nr. 117, S. 120f.;
dazu ebd., 7: H isto ry (T oron to 1991) 150; zu weiteren Über tre tunge n s. weiter unten.
10 S. dazu Christine Magin, „Wie es umb der iuden recht stet“. D e r Status der Juden in spätmittel­
alterlichen deutschen Rec htsb üc her n (G öt tin ge n 1999) (da einschlägige Bestim mungen in keinem
der von Magin behandelten R ec htsb üch er V o r k o m m e n , äußert sie sieh nicht zu diesem Problem).
N a c h dem Schwabenspiegel, den Magin aus bestimmten Gr ün de n nicht in ihre Un tersu chun g mit
ein bezogen hat, dürfen Juden dagegen kein R ichte ram t bekleiden, s. H enri Schreckenbcrg , Die
christlichen Adversus-Judaeos-'Texte und ihr literarisches und historisches Umfeld, 3 (1 3 .-2 0 .Jh .)
(Europ . Hochschulschriften, R. 23, 497, Fr ank furt a. M. 1994) 2 7 4 -2 79 .
124
M arkus j . W enninger
reichischen Kammeramts an den Juden Lebmann von Wien im Jahr 1305 der Fall
gewesen zu sein11.
Auf den ersten Blick scheinen die im Titel genannten Tätigkeiten eines Münz­
meisters, eines Zollpächters und eines Finanzbeamten (letztere Bezeichnung meint
nicht - wie heute - den Angestellten einer Steuerbehörde, sondern eine Person in
leitender Funktion in der fürstlichen Finanzverwaltung!) wenig miteinander zu
tun zu haben. Im Mittelalter stellt sich die Situation jedoch grundlegend anders
dar. Einerseits war die Verwaltung der Einnahmen nicht von jener der Ausgaben
getrennt, so daß jene Personen, die Gelder für einen Fürsten einnahmen, regelmä­
ßig oder über konkrete Anweisung auch viele seiner Ausgaben zu tätigen hatten12
und nur die Differenz - die auch negativ sein konnte - bar ausgeglichen wurde;
andererseits gehörten die aus der Münzproduktion, dem damit verbundenen Geld­
wechsel und den Zöllen fließenden Abgaben zu den wichtigsten Einnahmen eines
Fürsten, so daß die in diesen Bereichen tätigen Personen oft eine wichtige Stellung
in der fürstlichen Finanzverwaltung einnahmen. Hinsichtlich der Zölle ist außer­
dem zu bemerken, daß die Einsetzung eines fürstlichen Bediensteten als angestcllter Zöllner und eine detaillierte Abrechnung erst gegen Ende des Mittelalters zur
Regel wurde. N och im 14. Jahrhundert war es dagegen über weite Strecken üblich,
daß ein Zoll an eine einzelne Person oder - vor allem bei ertragreichen und daher
in der Pacht teuren Zöllen - an ein Konsortium von Geldgebern verpachtet wur­
d e 13. D er Fürst erhielt dafür jährlich eine vereinbarte Summe im Voraus, die der
bzw. die Pächter aus den Erträgen des Zolls mit Gewinn wieder einzubringen
suchten. Als Zöllner fungierte in diesem Fall der Pächter selbst oder eine von ihm
bestellte Person. In ähnlicher Weise waren Personen, die eine Münzstätte gepachtet
hatten, selbst oder über einen von ihnen beauftragten m o n e ta r iu s (Münzmeister)
für den Betrieb dieser Münzstätte verantwortlich. Für den Fürsten hatte das den
Vorteil, mit gesicherten regelmäßigen Einnahmen rechnen zu können, ohne sich
um Details kümmern zu müssen, für die es ohnedies noch kein geschultes Personal
gab. Wesentliche Voraussetzung, ein solches Amt in der Finanzverwaltung wahr­
nehmen zu können, war natürlich, über beträchtliches Kapital zu verfügen.
G u t sichtbar werden diese Verhältnisse bei den in den Jahrzehnten um 1300 in
den Territorien G raf Meinhards IV. (II.) von G örz-Tirol und seiner Nachfolger, die
vom heutigen Tirol über Kärnten und Friaul bis Krain und Istrien reichten, tätigen
Juden. Meinhard intensivierte und rationalisierte die Verwaltung seiner Länder wie
kaum ein anderer zeitgenössischer Fürst, und zur Durchführung dieser Maßnah­
men holte er gezielt Finanzfachleute ins Land: Angehörige italienischer, vor allem
11 Bmgger, Wiedl, Regesten (wie Anm . 7) Nr. 134, S. 143f., dazu Eveline Bntgger, Adel und Ju de n
im mittelalterlichen Niederösterreich. D ie Beziehu ngen niederösterreichischer Adelsfamilien zur
jüdischen Fü hrungsschicht von den Anfängen bis zur Pulkauer Verfolgung 1338 (Studien und
Forschungen aus dem niederösterreiehischen Institut für Lande sku nde 38, St. Pölten 2004 ) 78-81.
12 Vgl. dazu etwa das unten ad Anm. 58f. zu Moses N ürnb erg er Gesagte.
13 ln der Literatur wie auch in edierten Regesten wird, ausgehend von der Art der betreffenden
Urk un de n, die in der Art von Pfandurkunden gestaltet sind, im allgemeinen von einer Verpfän­
dung dieser Zölle gesprochen. D e r Sache nach handelt es sich jedoc h um eine Pacht.
J u d e n als M ü n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r un d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
125
toskanischer Bankhäuser ebenso wie Juden, die nach Ausweis ihrer Namen eben­
falls überwiegend aus dem italienischen Raum gekommen sein dürften, und einzel­
ne Kaufleute aus oberdeutschen Städten. Hier sollen uns jedoch nur die Juden in­
teressieren14.
Uber fast zwei Jahrzehnte sind zu Beginn des 14.Jahrhunderts die Geschäfte
Isaks von Lienz, der zu dieser Zeit nicht nur der „Hausbankier“ der Grafen von
G örz war, sondern auch der bedeutendste jüdische Bankier des Ostalpenraums ge­
wesen zu sein scheint, zu verfolgen. Als Geldleiher, Münz-, Zoll- und Geleitspäch­
ter wird er in zahlreichen Urkunden genannt13. Seine Geschäftstätigkeit spielte sich
dabei zwischen Meran, Innsbruck, Villach, dem görzischen Besitz in Krain und
Latisana, dem Hafen der Grafen von Görz oberhalb der Mündung des Tagliamcnto in die Adria, ab, wo Isak zugleich mit den wichtigsten krainischen Mauten im
Juli 1308 die Hafenmaut pachtete16. Sie umfaßte damit den gesamten Görzer Besitz
mit Ausnahme Istriens. Die Geschäfte selbst sind nicht nur hinsichtlich ihrer räum­
lichen Ausdehnung und ihrer Größenordnung bemerkenswert, sondern vor allem
wegen der Gesellschaften, die für etliche von ihnen gegründet wurden. Denn im
Gegensatz zur allgemeinen Annahme, daß die berufsmäßigen jüdischen und christ­
lichen Geldleiher - letztere, die auch in Mitteleuropa überwiegend aus Italien und
Südfrankreich stammten, sind aufgrund ihrer Herkunft unter den Bezeichnungen
Lombarden und Kawerschen bekannt - in einem scharfen Konkurrenzverhältnis
gestanden seien, können wir aus diesen Gesellschaften eine intensive Zusammenar­
beit der jüdischen und lombardischen, teilweise auch einheimischen, Finanztachleute erschließen17. Und auch wenn sich die anderen Görzer Juden zur Abw ick­
lung größerer Finanzgeschäfte im allgemeinen untereinander zu Gesellschaften
zusammenschlossen, war es doch keineswegs nur Isak, der gemeinsam mit L o m ­
barden Geschäfte tätigte18.
Denn im ausgehenden 13. und der ersten Hälfte des 14.Jahrhunderts lebten in
den Territorien der Grafen von G örz mehrere sehr bedeutende jüdische Familien,
die umfangreiche Geldgeschäfte durchführten und eng in die Finanzverwaltung
der Grafen eingebunden waren. Die Grafen verpachteten diesen Juden nicht nur
14 Ausführlich dazu Markus J. Wenninger, Jude n im Herrschaftsbereich der Grafen von G ö r z und
G ö r z -T i r o l, in: Franz N ikolasch (Hrsg.), Sympo sium zur Ge sch ichte von Millstatt und Kärnten
2000 (Salzburg, Millstatt 200 0) 108-133.
13 .S’. Wenninger, ebd., ad Anm. 57, sowie Wilhelm Wadi, Ge sch ich te der Ju de n in Kärnten im
Mittclalter (Das Kä rntner Landesarchiv 9, K l a g e n f u rt21992) 229ff., u. Lohrmann, Ju den re ch t (wie
Anm. 6) 245. Die Regesten der einschlägigen Urk un de n jetzt bei Brugger, Wiedl, Regesten (wie
Anm. 7).
16 Die Maut in Portu Latisane. Dazu und zu den gleichzeitig gepachteten unterkrainischen M a u ­
ten an der H ü lben und der R up p (in Rup et Flulha) s. Christoph H aidacher, D ie älteren Tiroler
Rec hnungsbücher. Analyse und Ed ition, Bd. 1 (Tiroler Gc schichtsque llen 33, Innsbru ck 1993) 74,
und Jose) Riedmann, D ie Beziehu ngen der Gr afen und Landesfürsten von Tirol zu Italien bis zum
Jah re 1335 (SB Wien 307, Wi en 1977) 229.
17 Die Gesellschaftsgeschäfte Isaks sind näher ausgeführt bei Wenninger, G ö r z , ad Anm. 60-69.
Is Weitere Gesellschaften oder zumindest eine Zusammen arbeit von Ju de n und Lom barden ge­
nannt ebd., ad An m. 22 u. 112.
126
M a r k u s ) . W enninger
viele ihrer Zollstätten, darunter gerade die wichtigsten19, sondern auch Münzstät­
ten20 und Geleitsrechte21 und wickelten bedeutende Geldtransaktionen über sie ab.
Es wirft ein bezeichnendes Licht auf die gesellschaftliche Stellung und die Bedeu­
tung dieser Juden, daß Heinrich, Herzog von Kärnten und Graf von Tirol, von ei­
nem von ihnen, einem gewissen Bonaventura, der in der Generation nach Isak von
Lienz der wichtigste Görzer Finanzverwalter gewesen war22, anläßlich der E r­
wähnung eines mit ihm früher getätigten großen Geschäfts als „unserem getreuen
Ju den“ (Judaeo fid eli nostro) sprach23. Als „Getreuer“ bzw. „fidelis“ wurden im
allgemeinen nur adelige Gefolgsleute bezeichnet. Von wem in dieser Art gespro­
chen wurde - mir ist bisher nur ein weiteres Beispiel bekannt24; ähnlich zu werten
ist aber auch die Bezeichnung als „H err“23 - , der gehörte sicherlich nicht nur zur
19 Abgesehen von den sc ho n erwähnten Verpachtungen s. ebd., ad A nm . 45, 53, 56 u. 97.
20 Alle inneralpinen Mü nzstä tten der Grafen von G ö r z (Meran, Lienz, St. Veit, V ölker m arkt und
Obervellach) waren zeitweise an Ju de n verpachtet oder es waren jüdische Miinzmeister in ihnen
tätig, vgl. ebd. ad Anm. 60f., 64, 66, 86f.
21 Vgl. ebd., ad Anm. 74 u. 101.
22 Au sführlicher zu ihm ebd., ad An m. 89-104.
23 Urk un de ausgestellt am 9. Feb. 1335 auf Schloß Tirol. Regesten in: M onum en ta Historica
Ducatus Carinthiae, Bd. 9 (Klagenfurt 1965) Nr. 710, S . 215, sowie in Brugger, Wiedl, Regesten
(wie Anm. 7) Nr. 387.
24 13 64 beauftragte Pfalzgraf R up rec ht bis auf Wide rruf seinen getruwen Mose N ürnberger juden
ze H eidelberg mit wesentlichen Au fgaben seiner Finanzverwaltung (s. dazu weiter unten in die­
sem Aufsatz). Die betr. U rk u n d e auszugsweise gedr. bei Franz-Jose) Zi-zves, Studien zur G es ch ich ­
te der Jude n im mittleren R heingebiet während des hohen und späten Mittelalters (Forschungen
zur Geschich te der Ju den A 1, H an nov er 1995) 167, A nm . 334. In eine ähnliche Rich tu ng geht
auch jene U rk un de , mit der Kaiser Friedrich I. 1182 den Regensbu rger Ju de n ihre R ec hte bestätig­
te. In der Arcnga begründete er dies nämlich mit der Pflicht des Kaisers, R ec ht und Frieden aller
fidelium nostrorum zu wahren, nicht nur der christlichen, sondern auch jener, die sich von diesem
Glauben unterscheiden und nach den Überlieferungen ihrer Väte r leben (verum etiam a fid e nostra
discolis ritu p atem ae traditionis suae viventibus), s. D ie U rk un den Friedrichs I. 118 1-119 0, bearb.
v. Heinrich Appelt ( M G H D D X ,4 , H anno ver 1990) S.43 f. , Nr. 833; dazu A lfred H averkam p,
Judenvertreibungen in Mittelalter und Frühneuzeit - Erschein un gsfo rmen und Zusammenhänge,
Betrachtungsweisen und Erkenntnischancen. Zur Orientierung, in: Judenvertreibungen in Mitt el­
alter und früher Neu zeit, hrsg. v. Friedhelm Burgard, A lfred H averkam p , G erd Mentgen ( F o r­
schungen zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den A 9, Han nov er 1999) 1-21, hier 7; wenn Aronius (Regesten,
Nr. 314a) den Begr iff f idelium nostrorum einfach mit „U n te rta n en “ übersetzt, geht das an seiner
tatsächlichen Bede utu ng weit vorbei. Allerdings vermied es Barbarossa, die Ju de n ausdrücklich als
fideles zu bezeichnen, denn sie wurden zwar in diesen Begriff in umschreibende r F o r m miteinbezogen (vgl. den oben angeführten Textauszug), aber im folgenden ist bei ihrer konkrete n N en nun g
eben trotzdem nur von Iudaeis nostris bzw. Iudeorum in imperio nostro degentium - ohne entspre­
chenden Zusatz - die Rede. Ins ofern gehen die Fo rmulierungen H er z o g Hein ric hs und Pfalzgraf
Rupr echts mit ihrem konkr eten Flerausgreifen jeweils eines einzelnen „getreuen Ju d e n “ über die
allgemeine Formulierung des Barbarossa-Privilegs noch deutlich hinaus. Je ne des Pfalzgrafen ist da­
bei noch bemerkenswerter, denn im Gegensatz zu den G ö r z er Verhältnissen, wo man entsprechend
der H er ku nft der Mehrzahl der G ö r z e r Jude n aus dem oberitalienischen Raum mit dem Einfluß
dortiger Gep flogenheiten rechnen muß, wo diese Bezeichnun g nicht ungewöhnlich war (vgl. dazu
den Beitrag von Reinhold Mueller in diesem Band), ko m m t das für die Pfalz wohl nicht in Frage.
25 D a zu Markus J. Wenninger, Von jüdischen Rittern und anderen waffentragenden Ju den im m it­
telalterlichen Deut schland, in: Aschkenas 13 (2003) 35- 82, hier 45t.
J u d e n als M ü n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r un d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
127
jüdischen Oberschicht, sondern der durfte sich auch zur deutschen Hochfinanz
seiner Zeit zählen.
Wie wohl kaum eine andere Fürstenfamilie im mittelalterlichen Deutschen Reich
haben sich die Grafen von G örz zur Verwaltung ihrer Finanzen der Dienste
jüdischer Bankiers bedient. Ähnliche Ämter und Funktionen, wenn auch in gerin­
gerem Umfang, hatten Juden aber auch in vielen anderen Territorien inne. In
Savoyen z. B., das hinsichtlich Lage - beide Territorien waren den Alpenhauptkamm
übergreifende, hinsichtlich ihrer Bevölkerung mehrsprachige „Paßstaaten“ - , wirt­
schaftlichen Gegebenheiten und Territorialentwicklung (inklusive des Aufbaus
einer „modernen“, von italienischen Verhältnissen beeinflußten und weitgehend
schriftlich unterstützten Verwaltung in der zweiten Hälfte des 13.Jahrhunderts,
wodurch die Tätigkeit der Juden erst quellenmäßig nachvollziehbar wird!26) zahl­
reiche Parallelen zur Grafschaft Görz(-Tirol) aufweist27, sind Juden ebenfalls unge­
wöhnlich häufig als Zollpächter nachgewiesen28, allerdings nicht in anderen Verwal­
tungsfunktionen. Ein weiterer wesentlicher Unterschied zwischen den beiden
Ländern besteht darin, daß im Ostalpenraum Zölle fast ausschließlich im Rahmen
hoher Geschäftsabschlüsse an Gesellschaften, an denen die bedeutendsten F i ­
nanciers des Landes beteiligt waren, verpachtet wurden. Dagegen scheinen die in
Savoyen auftretenden Pächter weit überwiegend Einzelpersonen gewesen zu sein29.
In beiden Ländern übten jedoch Juden die Funktion eines Zollpächters anschei­
nend wesentlich häufiger aus, als das in anderen Territorien üblich war, in Savoyen
- wo der erste jüdische Zollpächter bereits 1274 erwähnt wird30 - vielleicht noch
etwas früher als in Tirol und Görz, doch liegt das eventuell auch nur an den hier
schon etwas früher einsetzenden einschlägigen Quellen. Allerdings stellt sich in
diesem Zusammenhang grundsätzlich die Frage, ob die im Vergleich zu anderen
Territorien in den genannten Alpenländern größere Intensität der Tätigkeit von
Juden in der Zoll- und Finanzverwaltung so der Realität entspricht, oder ob uns
das nur durch die hier bessere Quellenlage so erscheint. Mit anderen Worten: für
viele andere Länder gehen uns wahrscheinlich nur die Quellen ab, die eine ähnlich
intensive Tätigkeit von Juden belegen würden.
Denn die Tätigkeit der jüdischen Zollpächter, Münzmeister und Finanzbeauf­
tragten in Savoyen-Piemont und Görz-Tirol ist zwar vergleichsweise gut bezeugt,
aber sie waren weder die ersten, noch zu ihrer Zeit die einzigen Juden, die in diesen
Sparten tätig waren. Die eingangs erwähnten kirchenrechtlichen Bestimmungen
26 Zu Savoyen vgl. diesbezüglich Thomas Bardelle, Ju de n in einem Transit- und Brüc kenland. St u­
dien zur Geschich te der Ju den in Sav o yen -P iem ont bis zum Ende der Herrschaft Am adeus V III .
(F orschu ngen zur Ges ch ich tc der Ju den A 5, Han nov er 1998) 9f., zu G ö r z -T i r o l H aidacher, R e c h ­
nun gsbücher (wie An m. 16) 11-17, u. Jo sef Riedmann, Mittclalter, in: Jo s e f Fontana u. a., G es ch ich ­
tc des Landes Tirol, Bd. 1 (B ozen , Innsbruck, Wien 1985) 405.
2/ Zur Geschich te der Ju den in Savoyen s. insbesondere Bardelle, (wie vorige Anm.).
28 Bei Bardelle bes. 197-200.
29 Jedenfalls gehen aus den von Bardelle genannten Angaben nur sehr selten auf Zölle bezogene
Gesellschaftsgeschäfte hervor, so z. B. 177.
30 S. ebd. 197.
128
M a r k u s J. W e n n i n g e r
zeigen vielmehr, daß sie schon in der Zeit um 1200 und wahrscheinlich noch früher
eine nennenswerte Zahl von Vorläufern gehabt haben müssen. So war bezeichnen­
derweise der erste in Österreich nachgewiesene Jude, ein gewisser Schlom, ein
Münzmeister, den Herzog Leopold V. 1194 offenbar zu dem Zweck ins Land holte,
daß er die Ausprägung seines Anteils am Lösegeld für den englischen König Richard
Löwenherz, einer Summe von vermutlich mehreren zehntausend Mark Silber, in
Münzen in der dafür neu gegründeten Münzstätte Wien in die Wege leite31.
Einige Jahre später (zwischen 1207 und 1223) wird auf einer Münze Bischof
O ttos von Würzburg der Jude Jechiel als Münzmeister erwähnt32. Wesentlich um­
fangreicher war die gleichzeitige Tätigkeit jüdischer Münzmeister in Polen, wo aus
dem Hochmittelalter zahlreiche Münzen mit hebräischen Inschriften und M ünz­
bildern mit jüdischen Inhalten (Judenhut, am Judenhut kenntlicher K opf eines
Juden - man geht davon aus, daß es sich um ein Porträt des [vermuteten] jüdischen
Münzmeisters handelt - usw.) erhalten sind33. Offenbar von solchen Vorbildern in
der östlichen Nachbarschaft beeinflußt ist eine Münze Herzog Bernhards von
Sachsen (1180—1212), die verschiedene eine Umschrift andeutende Zeichen enthält,
die teilweise Ähnlichkeit mit hebräischen Buchstaben haben, als solche aber keinen
Sinn ergeben. Unklar bleibt, ob diese Münze von einem jüdischen Münzmeister
mit mangelhaften Kenntnissen, oder von einem christlichen, der das Bild einer von
einem jüdischen Meister angefertigten Münze nachzuahmen versuchte, hergestellt
wurde34.
Daß hebräische Buchstaben auf Münzen zwar auf eine Mitwirkung von Juden
an deren Herstellung hindeuten, aber noch nicht eo ipso Belege für einen jüdischen
Miinzmeister sind, zeigt sich auch an zahlreichen erhaltenen ungarischen Stücken
des 13. Jahrhunderts, die sich abgesehen von einzelnen darauf abgebildeten hebrä­
ischen Buchstaben nicht von den sonstigen Erzeugnissen der königlich-ungari­
schen Münzstätten dieser Zeit unterscheiden. Denn diese Buchstaben sind wahr­
scheinlich nicht als Zeichen eines Münzmeisters (als der für den unmittelbaren
Betrieb der Münzstätte und die dortige Münzproduktion verantwortlichen Person;
auf die Existenz solcher jüdischer Münzmeister gibt es in Ungarn im 13.Jahrhun­
dert keinen über die Münzen hinausgehenden Hinweis) zu sehen, sondern eher als
Zeichen des diesem übergeordneten zuständigen „Kammergrafen“ (comes camere )3s.
Allerdings ist die Funktion dieser Kammergrafen im wesentlichen ein ungarisches
Spezifikum, das nur gelegentlich auch in benachbarten Ländern übernommen wurde.
In anderen Ländern waren, wie sich das besonders gut an den oben genannten
Görzer Beispielen zeigen läßt, die Funktionen der fürstlichen Finanzbeamten und
der Miinzmeister häufig miteinander verschmolzen. Und neben den eingangs gc' 1 Zu ihm s. Lohrmann, Ju de nre ch t (wie Anm. 6) 47f., dort auch die weiterführende Literatur.
-’2 Aronius, Nr. 425, S. 188f.
D azu ausführlich Marian Gumowski, Hebräische Mün ze n im mittelalterlichen Polen (Graz
1975).
34 Vgl. Aronius, N r . 389, S. 173.
■
” So jedenfalls die Interp retation von Berend, At the Gat e (wie Anm. 8) 124ff.; zu den Ka m m er ­
grafen s.o. Anm. 8 und weiter unten.
J u d e n als M ü n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r un d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
129
nannten indirekten Hinweisen aus dem Kirchenrecht gibt es zahlreiche Quellen,
welche gerade im Hochmittelalter die Tätigkeit von Juden an bedeutenden Positio­
nen vor allem der Finanzverwaltung, aber teilweise auch in weit darüber hinaus
gehenden Funktionen, in einer Reihe von Ländern klar belegen.
Schon für das Jahr 1124 schildert Cosmas von Prag den Fall des Juden Jakob
Apella, der bei Herzog Wladislaw I. von Böhmen das Amt eines Vicedominus be­
kleidete, was - zumindest in den Augen des geistlichen Chronisten - erat magnum
cahos christiano popttlo. Cosmas, ein Zeitgenosse der Ereignisse und als D o m ­
dechant in Prag gut über sie informiert, berichtet darüber allerdings nur, weil
Jakob, den er deshalb auch als „Sohn Satans“ bezeichnet, nachdem er getauft wor­
den war36 wieder vom Christentum abfiel37, ln vergleichbarer Weise scheint er den
einige Generationen älteren Juden Podiva, der um die Mitte des 11. Jahrhunderts
gelebt haben dürfte, als Gründer der Burg Podivin in Mähren nur wegen seiner
späteren Konversion für der Erwähnung wert befunden zu haben. Da sich in Podi­
vin eine der bedeutendsten Zollstationen Mährens und die wahrscheinlich älteste
Münzstätte des Landes befand, liegt die Vermutung nahe, daß Podiva auch Zollund Münzpächter gewesen war38. Insgesamt müssen wir daher davon ausgehen,
daß es in Böhmen und Mähren vom 11. zumindest bis zum 13.Jahrhundert noch
eine Reihe weiterer Juden in ähnlicher Stellung gab, die aber - da sie weder durch
einen Religionswechsel noch in anderer Weise, jedenfalls nicht durch ihre offenbar
keineswegs ungewöhnliche Position oder Tätigkeit, auffielen - den Chronisten
nicht als erwähnenswert erschienen.
Urkundliche Nachrichten haben wir jedoch über einige Juden aus dem 13. Jahr­
hundert, die als sogenannte Kammergrafen, also in hohen Positionen der Finanz­
verwaltung, teilweise grenzübergreifend im ungarisch-österreichisch-böhmischen
Raum tätig waren und in dasselbe Umfeld einzureihen sind39. An den eben ge­
36 Die Darstellung bei Gottlieb Bondy, Franz Diuorsky (Hrsg.), Z ur Ge sch ichte der Ju den in B ö h ­
men, Mähren und Schlesien von 906 -1 6 2 0 , Bd. 1: 90 6 -1 5 7 6 ; Bd. 2; 157 7-1 620 und Nachträge (Prag
1906) Bd. 1, Nr. 13, S. 7, daß sich J a k o b taufen ließ, um dieses A m t zu erlangen (Aronius vermutet
S. 102 dasselbe), läßt sich aus der C h ro n i k des Cosm as, die den Z eitpunkt der Taufe völlig offen
läßt, nicht herauslesen, und die sonst hier genannten Beispiele zeigen, daß es keineswegs nötig war
zu konvertieren, um ein hohes A m t zu erlangen. D ie Bemerku ng, daß seine Installation als Vicedo m „dem christlichen V o lk“ - realiter wahrscheinlich vor allem einem Teil des Klerus - ein gr o­
ßes Ärgernis war, belegt vielmehr, daß er damals noch Ju de war.
37 Cosmas von Prag, Ch ro n ica B o c m o ru m III 57, gedr. M G I T SS 9, 128f., und M G P I SS N S 2,
231 f.; Aronius Nr. 220, S. 101f., mit Dis kussion unterschiedlicher Interpretationen übe r das G e ­
schehen. Bei Bondy, Dworsky (wie vorige Anm .) vermischen sich Regest und Interpretation. Zu
C osm as von Prag s. L e x M A I I I, Sp. 300f. Z ur Fu nktion des Vizedoms (Vicedominus) - ein meist
vor allem mit wirtschaftlichen Angelegenheiten betrauter Vertreter geistlicher oder weltlicher
H er re n in unterschiedlich hoher Position - s. L e x M A V I I I , Sp. 1621 f.
38 S. dazu Germania Judaica, Bd. 1 (Tü bin gen 1964) [weiterhin: G J I] 147f. (Artikel Kostl).
y> In Ungarn waren die Kammergrafen für die dem K ön ig zustehenden G eb ie te des Münzwesens,
Salzhandels und Zollwescns zuständig, Berend, At the Gate (wie A n m . 8) 1 2 Iff., in Österreich
wohl in einem allgemeineren Sinn - Details sind nicht faßbar - für verschiedene Bereiche der her­
zoglichen Finanzverwaltung (dazu vor allem Lohrmann, Ju de nre cht [wie Anm. 6] passim [s. im
Register unter Teka, Lublin und N e k e lo j; dor t auch die weitere Literatur).
130
M arkus J. W enninger
nannten Podiva erinnern diese Juden auch insofern, als sie offenbar in jeder H in ­
sicht ein rittermäßiges Leben führten40. Zu diesen Nachrichten paßt gut der B e ­
richt des Bischofs Bruno von Olm ütz aus dem Jahr 1273 an Papst Gregor X . über
den Zustand der Kirche in Böhmen, Mähren und Österreich unter dem bezeich­
nenden Titel Quoniam dies m ali sunt, in dem er unter anderem die mangelnde E in ­
haltung der Konzilsbestimmungen41 bezüglich der Juden beklagt: Denn diese hät­
ten christliche Ammen, würden offen Zinsen nehmen und damit die Bedürftigen
über das Maß hinaus belasten, indem sie innerhalb eines Jahres daraus die Höhe
des entliehenen Kapitals einziehen würden. Sie würden öffentliche Ämter beklei­
den und als Zolleinnehmer und Münzmeister eingesetzt werden42.
Ähnliche Positionen haben Juden noch einige Jahrzehnte später auch in Schlesien
eingenommen, wie eine aus unbekanntem Anlaß gestartete Initiative des Bischofs
Heinrich von Breslau (1302-1319) zeigt. Dieser bemühte sich um 1315, den H ofund Küchenmeister Herzog Heinrichs VI., einen Juden namens Salmon, zum
Rücktritt von diesen seinen Funktionen zu veranlassen. Tatsächlich gab Salmon
zunächst sein Am t auf, kehrte aber nach kurzer Zeit - jedenfalls auf Wunsch des
Herzogs - wieder in dessen Dienst zurück, worauf der Bischof unter Androhung
der Exkommunikation allen Christen verbot, Salmon gehorsam zu sein. O b er da­
mit Erfolg hatte, ist unbekannt43. Als Hofmeister war Salmon für die Gesamtorga­
nisation der herzoglichen Hofhaltung verantwortlich, und auch die Funktion des
Küchenmeisters beschränkte sich keineswegs auf die herzogliche Küche und Tafel,
sondern hatte vor allem mit seiner Finanzverwaltung zu tun, so daß sich auch hier
wieder das nun schon bekannte Bild zeigt.
Diverse weitere Beispiele aus anderen Regionen des Deutschen Reichs zeigen,
daß Juden - auch wenn ihre konkrete Position und ihr Aufgabenbereich häufig
nicht eindeutig zu definieren sind; von einem Zusammenhang mit Zöllen, Münzen
und/oder Finanzen ist jedoch in jedem Fall auszugehen - im 13.Jahrhundert als
fürstliche Amtleute in der Finanz- und Domänenverwaltung weit verbreitet, viel­
leicht sogar annähernd flächendeckend tätig waren44. An dieser Situation änderte
40 D az u Wenninger, Von jüdischen Rittern (wie Anm. 25) 39ff.
41 G em eint ist das Wiener K on zil von 1267 (dazu s.o. A n m . 6).
42 Publica exercent officia, telonearii, m onetariifiunt, gedr. bei Bondy, Dworsky, (wie Anm. 36) 37,
Nr. 30; in den Abhandlungen der baier. Akad. d. Wiss., Hist. Kl. (1 846 ) 28; sowie in B oczek, Co dex
diplomaticus Moraviae, Bd. 6, 369. D ie beiden letzteren zit. n. Piermann Baerwald, D ie Beschlüsse
des Wiener Con cilium s über die Ju den aus dem Ja h re 1267, in: Ja h rb u ch für Israeliten 6 (1859/60)
181-2 08 , hier 2 0 2 f. Weitere Vorwürfe beziehen sich auf den Handel mit gestohlenen Kelchen,
Meßgewändern und -büchern.
43 S. Germania Judaica, Bd. 2: Von 1238 bis zur Mi tte des 14.Jahrhunde rts , 2 Teile, hrsg. v. Zvi
Avneri (Tübingen 1968) [weiterhin: G J II] 129.
44 1266 April 14 verlieh Fü rst He in ric h von Mecklenburg der Stadt Wismar ein Privileg, das u.a.
die Bestim m un g enthält, daß, wenn sich fürstliche Amtst räger wie Vögt e, Münzmeister, Zöllner,
Müller, auch Ju de n und H ofb eam te, in Ausübung ihrer Äm te r etwas zu Schulden ko m m en lassen,
sie nicht von den städtischen Richtern, sondern vom Fürsten bestraft werden sollen (Aronius,
N r .7 1 3 , S . 296). 1267 Juli 24 verliehen die Gr afen Gu nzelin und Hel m old von Schwerin der Stadt
B oitzen bu rg das lübische R ec ht mit dem Zusatz, daß sich keiner ihrer Amtleute in der Stadt, er sei
Münzer, Zöllner oder Ju de, vor dem Rich te r des lübischen Rec hts verantworten solle, sondern nur
J u d e n als M i i n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r u n d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
131
sich auch im 14.Jahrhundert vorerst wenig. Höchst bemerkenswert ist z .B . die
Rolle, welche bedeutende jüdische Finanzleute, von denen sich einer mehrfach als
receptor et distributor domini m ei Treverensis (also als Einnehmer und Ausgeber
[der Gelder] meines Herrn von Trier) bezeichnete, zur Zeit Erzbischof Balduins
von Luxemburg (1307-1354) im Erzstift Trier einnahmen, auch wenn die ältere E in­
schätzung einiger von ihnen als „Finanzminister“ des Erzbischots nicht haltbar
ist43. Eher könnte man von einer Vorform des Hofjudentums sprechen, doch letzt­
lich handelt es sich um den üblichen Aufgabenbereich mittelalterlicher fürstlicher
Finanzverwalter, wie wir ihn schon bei den Görzer Juden kennengelernt haben:
Vorstreckung größerer Summen gegen Verpachtung bzw. Verpfändung von Zöllen
- vor allem mehrere der überaus ertragreichen Rhein- und Moselzölle - und ande­
ren herrschaftlichen Einnahmerechten, Abwicklung größerer finanzieller Transak­
tionen und verschiedentlich Empfang und Ausgabe weiterer Gelder. Für diesen
Zweck führten diese Juden ein - nicht erhaltenes - hebräisches Rechnungsbuch, das
für die abschließende Entlastung ins Lateinische übertragen wurde46. Als Balduin
1328 auch Provisor des Erzstiftes Mainz geworden war (er übte diese Funktion bis
1337 aus), dehnten seine Juden ihre Geschäfte auch auf dieses Gebiet aus, indem sie
Balduins Unternehmungen finanzierten und dafür die Mainzer Rheinzölle von
Lahnstein und Ehrenfels erhielten47. Die herausragende Stellung von Juden in der
trierischen Finanzverwaltung endet jedoch mit dem Jahr 1347. Offenbar waren sie
nicht in der Lage, den durch die Thronkandidatur seines Großneffen Karl stark ge­
stiegenen Geldbedarf Erzbischof Balduins ausreichend zu befriedigen, zumal dieser
gleichzeitig seinen Druck auf die Juden kräftig erhöhte, so daß er von nun an mehr
mit christlichen Bankiers, vor allem aus Köln und Metz, zusammenarbeitete48.
vo r den Gr afen ( Aronius, Nr. 729, S. 308). Relativ umfangreich war auch die Tätigkeit von Ju de n in
der Fin anzverwaltung der Grafe n von Bu rgu nd in der zweiten Hälfte des 13. und der ersten des
14.Jahrhunde rts, s. Annegret H oltm ann, Ju den in der Grafschaft Bu rgu nd im Mittelalter ( F o r­
schungen zu r Geschich te der Ju den A 12, Han nov er 2 004 ) 262f. und öfter.
4, D az u ausführlich Alfred H averkam p, E r z b isch o f Balduin und die Ju de n, in: Fran z-Josef Heyen
(Hrsg.), Balduin von Lu xem bur g. Er zb isch o f von Trier - Kurfürst des Reiches 12 85 -1 354 ( Q u e l ­
len und Abhand lungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte 53, Mainz 1985) 4 3 7 -4 83, hier vor
allem 4 6 9 -4 7 5 ; dort auch die weitere einschlägige Literatur. Vgl. dazu auch die Einschätzung in
G J II, 828. Zu erzstiftisch-trierischen Ju den in der Finanzverwaltung s.a. Friedhelm Burgard, D ie
Wi ttlicher Ju de n im Mittelalter, in: „Das Wichtigste ist der M en sc h “ . FS für Klaus Gerteis zum
60. Geburtstag, hrsg. v. Angela G iebm eyer u. H elga Schnabel-Schüle (Trierer Historis ch e F o r ­
schungen 41, Mainz 200 0) 3 0 9 -3 3 1 , hier 314f.
46 Näheres bei Karl Lam precht, Deutsches Wirtschaftsleben im Mittelalter. Un tersuchun ge n über
die Entw icklung der materiellen Ku ltu r des Plattenlandes aufgrund der Q u ellen zunächst des M o ­
sellandes, B d . I , 2 (Leipzig 1886; Ndr. Aalen 1969) 1472ff., u. Bd. III, N r. 291 (Rec h nu ng für die
Periode 1. O k t . 1336 bis 1. O k t . 1341) S . 4 1 9 -4 3 5 ; auf S . 423 Hinweis auf die hebräischen R e c h ­
nungsbücher; auf 429 zu Mussem ludeus als Inhaber des Moselzolls zu K o b len z 1339/40; s.a. ebd.
Nr. 292, S. 437.
47 Ziwes, Studien (wie Anm. 24) 119 ff.; H averkam p , Balduin (wie A nm . 45) 473.
48 H averkam p, ebd., 467ff.; s. a. ders., D ie Ju den im Er zstift Trier während des Mittelalters, in: Die
Ju de n in ihrer mittelalterlichen U m welt, hrsg. v. Alfred E benbauer u. Klaus Zatloukal (Wien,
Köln , Weim ar 1991) 6 7-8 9, hier 75f.
132
M arkus J. W enninger
Im Erzstift Mainz hatten jedoch auch schon vor Balduins Einflußnahme einige
Juden wichtige Positionen in der erzbischöflichen Finanzverwaltung eingenom­
men, und auch unter Erzbischof Heinrich III. von Virneburg (1328/37-1346/53)49
war dies der Fall. Insbesondere in den vierziger Jahren des 14. Jahrhunderts erlang­
ten einige dieser Juden eine ähnliche Stellung wie wir sie eben von jenen im Erzstift
Trier kennengelernt haben. Heinrich verpachtete ihnen nicht nur mehrere wichtige
Rheinzölle, sondern 1343 wurden Abraham von Kreuznach, der zu dieser Zeit
auch bedeutende Zölle innehatte, nachdem ihm der Erzbischof bei einer Abrech­
nung 458 Pfund Heller schuldig geblieben war, sogar die erzbischöflichen Einnah­
men von den Juden zu Bingen und an anderen Orten in Art einer Pacht oder Ver­
pfändung übertragen30.
Aber auch in der Finanzverwaltung der anderen deutschen Erzbistümer (mit
Ausnahme Hamburg-Bremens) und auch einiger Bistümer spielten Juden zumin­
dest zeitweise wichtige Rollen. So geht aus Notizen, welche vom päpstlichen Kol­
lektor 1283 anläßlich einer Revision des neun Jahre zuvor vom Zweiten Konzil
von Lyon beschlossenen Kreuzzugszehents in Salzburg angefertigt wurden, her­
vor, daß bei der Aufbringung dieses Geldes und wohl auch bei seiner Transferie­
rung aus entfernteren Teilen des Erzstifts in die Stadt Salzburg wie bei der erzbi­
schöflichen Finanzverwaltung in Kärnten der Friesacher Jude Isak eine wesentliche
Rolle spielte51. Einige Jahre früher hatte der Villacher Jude Troyanus zusammen
mit mehreren Dienstleuten des Bischofs Berthold von Bamberg die Bürgschaft für
die Bezahlung einer anläßlich der Beilegung einer Fehde vereinbarten Entschädi­
gungssumme übernommen32; Voraussetzung dafür war wohl, daß er in die Finanz­
verwaltung der bambergischen Gebiete in Kärnten, zu denen Villach gehörte, ein­
gebunden war. Daß solche Tätigkeiten von Juden in den bambergisch-Kärntner
Gebieten üblich waren, zeigt sich trotz der hier spärlichen Quellenlage daran, daß
in Villach noch 1363 ein Jude namens Friedei als mauter genannt wird33.
Ein früher Hofjude - der aber offensichtlich nicht nur an die Person eines ein­
zelnen Fürsten gebunden, sondern in breiteren Kreisen anerkannt war - war
Samuel (laut dem folgend erwähnten Schreiben des Papstes genannt Smol) von
Derenburg, der von 1347 bis zu seinem Tod kurz vor 1383 mehreren Magdeburger
49 Aufgrund seiner Parteinahmen im Streit Kaiser Ludwigs des Bayern mit den Päpsten ko nnte er
die Her rschaft im Erzstift nur in den Jah ren 1337-1346 ohne Gegenkandidaten ausüben (s. Le xM A ,
Bd. 3, Sp. 2084).
50 S. G J II, 82f. (Art. Bingen), u. H ermann Kellenbenz, Die Ju de n in der Wirtschaftsgeschichte des
rheinischen Raumes. Von der Spätantike bis zum Jah re 1648, in: M onum en ta Judaica. 2000 Jahre
Ge sch ichte und Kultur der Ju den am Rhein. Han db uch, hrsg. v. K onrad Schilling (K ö ln 1963)
199-241 , hier 21 5, sowie Ziwes, Studien (wie An m. 24) 120ff.
51 Vgl. die Belege bei Wadi, Kärnten (wie A n m . 15) 182f.
32 S. ebd., 164f.
53 Zu ihm und anderen Ju den an der Villacher Maut s. ebd. 45f., 110, 215 u. 212, sowie Germania
Judaica, Bd. 3: 1350-15 19 , hrsg. v. Arye Maimon, M ordechai Breuer u. Yacov Guggenheim, T. 1-3
(Tübingen 1987 -2003 ) [weiterhin: G J III] 1534. Im Sinn des ob en in Anm . 13 Gesagten wird man
auch in diesem Fall nicht von einer Verpfändung (so an den genannten Stellen), sondern von einer
Verpachtung der Maut ausgehen müssen.
J u d e n als M i m z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r un d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
133
Erzbischöfen in führender Stellung diente, und das nicht nur in der Finanzverwal­
tung, sondern auch als Ratgeber und Diplomat. Zusammen mit anderen Juden
pachtete er verschiedene Zölle und Geleitsrechte. Schon von Erzbischof Dietrich v.
Portitz (1361-67) hatte er Einkünfte in Groß-Salze erworben, wo er auch mit nicht
näher genannten Verwaltungsaufgaben betraut wurde und anscheinend auch sei­
nen Hauptwohnsitz hatte oder in der Folge hinverlegte. Denn Erzbischof Peter
(1371-81) erlaubte ihm in einer dort gelegenen, vermutlich nicht mehr in Gebrauch
stehenden Kapelle die Einrichtung einer Synagoge, womit er sich den Tadel des
Papstes zuzog54. Auch der folgende Erzbischof Albrecht IV. von Querfurt ver­
pfändete (wohl besser: verpachtete) 1388 Geleit und Zoll in Groß-Salze an einen
Magdeburger Juden, um an Bargeld zu kommen, das er u.a. für die Bezahlung von
Schulden bei verschiedenen christlichen Gläubigern benötigte33.
Etwa gleichzeitig hatte ein Jude namens Marquard, vielleicht ein Bruder des ge­
nannten Samuel/Smol, eine bedeutende Stellung am H o f des Naumburger Bischofs
Gerhard von Schwarzburg (1359-72) inne. Nach einem Schreiben Papst Gregors
X I . vom selben Tag wie das eben genannte hätte Gerhard diesen Marquard in sein
Hofgesinde aufgenommen (in tu um fam iliarem teneas); dieser würde oft christ­
lichen Gerichten vorstehen und für den Bischof von Christen Gelder einziehen
(iqui sepius Christianorum preest iudiciis, et pecunias nomine tuo immaniter
extorquet ab eis). D er Bischof möge, falls dies wahr sei, diesen Zustand schleunigst
korrigieren36. Und in derselben Zeit (1375/76) engagierte mit Friedrich III, v. Saar­
werden auch ein Kölner Erzbischof einen jüdischen scheffener (Finanzmanager),
zu dem er auch vorher schon intensive Beziehungen gehabt haben dürfte. N och im
Jahr vorher ist dieser, Isaak von Monschau, als Kölner „Judenbischof“ (Gemeinde­
vorsteher) bezeugt, war also einer der bedeutendsten Juden der Stadt Köln, die er
aber gerade in einer kritischen Situation (während des zwischen der Stadt und dem
Erzbischof ausgebrochenen „Schöffenkrieges“) verließ, worauf die Stadt ein ihr
früher von Isaak gewährtes Darlehen nun als „Feindesgut“ einbehielt57.
In weltlichen Territorien sind Juden in der Finanzverwaltung in der zweiten
Hälfte des 14.Jahrhunderts zwar seltener nachgewiesen, kommen aber auch noch
vor. Eine bedeutende Position nahm hier vor allem Moses Nürnberger in Heidel54 S. G J II1/2, 777, mit den dortigen Literaturangaben. Die Verwaltungsaufgaben ( regimen ) und
die Erric htun g der Synagoge gehen aus einem Schreib en Papst Gr egors X I . vom 15. Ju ni 1372 (Si­
monsohn, D ocuments, wie Anm. 9, Nr. 425, S. 451) hervor, mit welchem er den E r z b isch o f deshalb
tadelte und, falls die Sache wahr sei, rascheste Änder ung befahl. Dafür, daß die Kapelle als solche
nicht mehr in Ge brauc h war, spricht die Aussage des Papstes, daß der Ju de die Synagoge in einer
Kapelle errichtet hätte, uhi erat altare consecratum. D e r Altar scheint also zum Z eitpunkt der E r ­
richtung der Synagoge nicht mehr bestanden zu haben; trotzdem sah der Papst diesen Tatbestand
als ein fidelium scandalum et Catholice fid ei detrimentum.
55 G J III/3, 1953f.
56 Simonsohn, D ocu m ents (wie Anm. 9), Nr. 426, S . 451 f. Offensichtlich hatte damals jemand aus
der U m ge bung der sächsischen Bisc höfe beim Papst wegen der Ju den interveniert. Zu Marquard
s.a. G J III, 931 f., 1964, mit der dort angegebenen Literatur.
' G J I I I, 1903, und Matthias Schmandt, Judei, cives et incole. Studien zur jüdischen Geschichte
Kölns im Mittclalter (Forschu ng en zur Ge sch ichte der Ju de n A 11, Hanno ver 2002) bes. 11 Bf.
134
M arkus J. W enninger
berg ein38, der 1364 von Pfalzgraf Ruprecht I. bis auf Widerruf beauftragt wurde,
das Ungeld in der Stadt Heidelberg, die zu Martini (11. Nov.) fällige Judensteuer
(Juden bede), alle zu diesem Termin zu Heidelberg und in der m arke daselbist fälli­
gen Zinse sowie die Jahreszinse von den Krambuden zu Heidelberg einzuneh­
men39. Von diesen Einnahmen sollte er die Weingärten des Pfalzgrafen zu Heidel­
berg buwen (also für ihre Instandhaltung und Pflege sorgen) und die Wächter auf
den beiden Burgen und in der Stadt zu Heidelberg bezahlen. Mit dem dann jährlich
noch übrigen Betrag sollte Moses die jeweiligen Baumaßnahmen des Pfalzgrafen in
Heidelberg - zu denken ist wohl vor allem an den Ausbau des Schlosses - unter­
stützen (an unsern buwe zu H eidelberg ... legin, wa wir buwen). Moses hatte da­
mit über wesentliche Teile des pfalzgräflichen Einkommens zu verfügen. Die damit
verbundene Vertrauensstellung drückt sich auch in seiner Verantwortung für die
Entlohnung der Wächter gerade in der Residenz des Pfalzgrafen aus.
Als letztes Beispiel - sowohl in der Auflistung hier wie auch vom Zeitpunkt
seiner Erwähnung her - sei Joselin von Mühlhausen genannt, der 1398 von M ark­
graf Balthasar von Meißen, Landgraf v. Thüringen, mit der Abwicklung des Wech­
sels in seiner Münzstätte zu Sangerhausen beauftragt wurde60. Dieser Wechsel er­
folgte zu Zwangskursen und kam einer Art Kapitalbesteuerung gleich; damit
verbundene Aufgaben berührten also ebenfalls die hoheitliche Finanzverwaltung.
Wenn ich nichts übersehen habe, habe ich damit alle im dritten Band der „Ger­
mania Judaica", der die Zeit des ausgehenden Mittelalters ab der Mitte des 14.Ja hr­
hunderts behandelt, enthaltenen einschlägig tätigen Juden erfaßt, denn mit dem
Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts reißen entsprechende Nachrichten völlig ab61.
3S Zu ihm s.a. oben A n m . 24.
59 S. G J III, 523f., und vor allem Ziwes, Studien (wie A n m . 24) 167; formal wurde Moses nicht ein­
fach mit der Einhebun g dieser Geld er beauftragt, sondern es wurden ihm die betreffenden Steuern
und Abgaben verschaft. Darin drückt sich noch das alte System der Pacht dieser oder anderer E i n ­
nahmerechte (Münze, Zölle) aus, was aber bei M oses offenbar nicht mehr so der Fall war, da er ja
Gelder, die nicht anderweitig verbraucht wurden, in die Bauten des Pfalzgrafen investieren sollte.
Es versteht sich aber von selbst, daß Moses - auch wenn das in der Urk un de nicht gesagt wird - mit
den Einnahm en auch seine U n ko sten decken und auf irgend einem Weg G ew inn machen konnte.
60 Er hatte dem wechsil vorczustende an silber, groschin und an andere w ere ( G J III, 458). D aß J o ­
selin den Wechsel (also den Tausch von ungemünztem Silber und fremder Währung in Sangerhausener Münze) organisieren sollte, bedeutet nicht, daß er der M ün ze des Landgrafen vorstehen sollte
(so Michael Toch , Die wirtschaftliche Tätigkeit, in: G J III, 2146), also Miinzmeister gewesen wäre.
61 Nicht berücksichtigt habe ich hier aus mehreren Gründen die in G J III, 1119 mit Anm. 120, und
dem folgend in G J III, 2146 in denselben Zusammenhang gestellten, für das frühe 16. Jh. in Prag angeb­
lich noch belegten jüdischen „Münzarbeiter“: 1. bezieht sich die in der angegebenen Literatur als Beleg
angeführte Quelle („Ramschacksche Ch ro n ik“) tatsächlich auf das frühe 15. Jh.; 2. scheint diese Quelle
- die mir im Original nicht zugänglich war - insgesamt fragwürdig zu sein. Nach dem nur inhaltlich
wiedergegebenen Text bei Bondy, Dworsky, wie A n m .36, B d . 2, Nr. 1147, S. 911, wurden in der könig­
lichen Münze zu Prag „die jüdischen Arbeiter erst aus Anlass des allgemeinen JudenausweisungsEdiktes entlassen (zwischen 1419-1 430 )“; ein solches Edikt ist aber sonst nicht bekannt und es gibt
auch durch keine anderen Hinweise darauf (vgl. G J III, 1 134f.); 3. ist hier ausdrücklich von Münzarbei­
tern die Rede, also von untergeordnetem Personal, nicht von Münzmeistern (die allein für die vorlie­
gende Untersuchung von Bedeutung wären). Die Quellenstelle wird deshalb auch von Bondy, Dworsky
zusammen mit anderen als Argument „gegen den Vorwurf der Arbeitsscheu der Ju de n“ angeführt.
J u d e n als M ü n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p ä c h t e r u n d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
135
Versuchen wir damit zu einer Gesamteinschätzung der Entwicklung zu kom ­
men. Auch wenn die Beraubungen und Plünderungen während der Pestpogrome
einen beträchtlichen Aderlaß für das jüdische Kapital bedeutet hatten, der in E in­
zelfällen auch zum Ausscheiden von Juden aus der fürstlichen Finanzverwaltung
geführt haben mag, so wurden doch auch nach der Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts noch
Juden in vielen über das ganze Reich verstreuten Territorien mit bedeutenden ein­
schlägigen Aufgaben betraut62. Voraussetzung dafür wrar, daß sie auch zu dieser
Zeit noch im Besitz von Kapitalien waren, die ihnen die Wahrnehmung solcher
Funktionen ermöglichten63.
Mit dem Ende des 14,Jahrhunderts war jedoch auch das Ende von in der fürstli­
chen Finanzverwaltung tätigen Juden gekommen. Diese Entwicklung, die trotz der
nur vereinzelten Beispiele im gesamten Reich klar gegeben ist, läßt sich durch die
dichtere Quellenlage in den Görzer Ländern sowie in Savoyen und in der Dauphine
detaillierter nachvollziehen. Nach Ausweis der Quellen war hier das Engagement
von Juden in Zollpachten in den Jahrzehnten um 1300 am stärksten und nahm
während des 14. Jahrhunderts, in dessen zweiter Hälfte hier wie dort nur mehr we­
nige Zollverpachtungen an Juden erwähnt werden (zumindest in Tirol allerdings
bei schlechter werdender Quellenlage), mehr oder weniger kontinuierlich ab, d. h.
die Entwicklung in den beiden Ländern zeigt deutliche Parallelen sowohl unterein­
ander wie auch zur allgemeinen Entwicklung. Auf eine dieser Regionen allein be­
zogene Erklärungsversuche, die hinter der geschilderten Entwicklung „eine be­
stimmte Absicht“ einzelner Fürsten oder ein geschwundenes Interesse der Juden,
für die die Pacht nicht mehr lukrativ gewesen sei, da die Verlagerung von Handels­
wegen die Einnahmen habe zurückgehen lassen, vermuten64, greifen daher nicht.
Auch eventuelle Langzeitwirkungen der Pestpogrome sind als Ursache auszu­
schließen, weil es solche Pogrome in den görzischen Ländern, aber auch in
Böhmen und anderswo, nicht gab, und weil außerdem die genannte E ntw ick ­
lung schon vor der Pest einsetzt63. Allenfalls mögen sie an einzelnen O rten den
Anlaß gegeben haben, eine schon vorher begonnene Entwicklung zu beschleu­
nigen.
Vielmehr müssen zwei andere Ursachen ausschlaggebend gewesen sein, die sich
wahrscheinlich ergänzt haben, von denen aber auch jede für sich genommen genü­
gend Potential gehabt haben dürfte, die Juden aus der fürstlichen Finanzvenvaltung zu drängen. Zum einen ist dies die zunehmende Erschöpfung der jüdischen
62 D ie von G eorg Caro, Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Ju den im Mittelalter und der N e u ­
zeit, Bd . 1: D as frühere und ho he Mittelalter (Leipzig 1908) 443, nicht nur für diese Spätzeit, so n ­
dern auch für die vorangegangenen Jahrhun de rte getroffene Feststellung, daß sich im D eutschen
R eich außer in Österreich nirgends eine unmittelbare Beteiligung von Ju den an der fürstlichen
Finanzverwaltung nachweisen lasse, ist daher heute nicht mehr haltbar.
63 Vgl. dazu ob en ad A nm . 12f.
64 So die Erklärungsansätze von B ardelle , } u d e n (wie A n m . 26) 200.
Zum indest im rheinischen R aum machen sich erste Kapitaleinbußen bei den Ju den scho n vor
1350 bemerkbar, vgl. A lfred H averkam p, Die Ju den im mittelalterlichen Trier, in: Kurtrierischcs
J a h rb u ch 19 (1 97 9) 5-5 7, hier 26f.; vgl. a. ob en zu Trier.
136
M arkus j . W enninger
Kapitalien durch weitgreifende Schuldentilgungen, die in den habsburgischen Län­
dern bereits 1370, im Reich 1385 einsetzten und in mehreren Wellen den Großteil
der deutschen Juden betrafen, von denen daraufhin viele abwanderten, vor allem
nach Italien. Daß den jüdischen Bankiers seit dieser Zeit wesentlich weniger Kapi­
tal zur Verfügung stand, zeigt sich auch am Wandel der Schuldnerkreise und der
sinkenden Durchschnittshöhe der entliehenen Kapitalien66. Überhöhte Steuerfor­
derungen - Stichwort: Dritter Pfennig - verhinderten in der Folge nicht nur eine
sonst eventuell mögliche Erholung des jüdischen Kapitals, sondern trugen im G e ­
genteil zu seinem weiteren Niedergang bei67.
Von mindestens eben so großer Bedeutung scheint aber ein anderer Umstand
gewesen zu sein: Offenbar wurden seit der Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts die am B e ­
ginn dieses Aufsatzes besprochenen kirchlichen Forderungen nach Ausschluß der
Juden von allen Ämtern, in denen sie Gewalt über Christen ausüben konnten,
allmählich stärker beachtet. Jedenfalls fällt auf, daß dieses Problem in den kirchen­
rechtlichen Bestimmungen und Konzilsbeschlüssen des 15. Jahrhunderts kaum mehr
thematisiert wurde. Das Konzil von Basel etwa gab 1434 die meisten auf die Juden
bezogenen älteren Konzilsbestimmungen, so auch das Ämterverbot, nur ganz kurz
wieder, während es sich den zu seiner Zeit noch nicht allgemein durchgesetzten
Fragen der Kennzeichnung und der Einrichtung gesonderter Wohnbezirke für J u ­
den erheblich ausführlicher widmete68, so daß man davon ausgehen kann, daß die
Besetzung von Ämtern mit Juden in dieser Zeit keine Frage von Bedeutung mehr
war. In jenem Judendekret, mit welchem Kardinal Nikolaus von Kues auf seiner
Legationsreise im gesamten Reich 1450/51 den kirchlichen Judenbestimmungen
Geltung verschaffen wollte, wurde die Ämterfrage nicht einmal mehr erwähnt, und
auch vom bekannt judenfeindlichen Johannes von Capestrano, der 1453 predigend
durch Deutschland zog, ist keine Äußerung in dieser Richtung überliefert69.
Daneben könnten auch noch einige andere Aspekte eine gewisse Rolle gespielt
haben, wenn auch keine entscheidende. So wurde gegen Ende des Mittelalters eine
zunehmende Zahl von Mauten und Münzstätten überhaupt nicht mehr verpachtet,
sondern von Beauftragten des betreffenden Fürsten unmittelbar verwaltet; diese
Frage ist aber meines Wissens noch nicht näher untersucht70. N icht zu vernachläs-
66 D az u ausführlich M ichael Toch, D ie wirtschaftliche Tätigkeit, in: G J III, 2 1 3 9 -2 1 6 4 , hier 2 1 3 0 2163.
67 Vgl. Markus ]. Wenninger, Man bedarf keiner Jude n mehr. Ursac hen und Hinter gründe ihrer
Vertreibung aus den deutschen Reichsstädten im 15.Jahrhun de rt (Beih. zum Arch iv für Kulturge­
sc hichte 14, Wien, Köln , G r a z 1981) 240ff.
68 Lat. Text und dt. Über se tzung bei Jo s e f Wohlmuth (Hrsg.), D ekrete der ök umenischen K o n z i ­
lien, B d . 2: Konzilien des Mittelalters vom ersten Lat erankonzil (1 123 ) bis zum fünften La te ran­
konzil (1 512-1517 ) (P aderborn u.a. 20 00) 483f.; s.a. Kirche und Synagoge, H an db u ch zur G e ­
schichte von Christen und Ju de n. Darstellung mit Quellen, hrsg. v. Karl Heinrich Rengstorf u.
Siegfried von Kortzfleisch, Bd. 1 (Stuttgart 1968; M ün che n 21988) 248f.
69 Vgl. Kirch e und Synagoge (wie vorige Anm .) 224f.
70 Fü r dieses Argum en t spricht möglicherweise auch, daß etwa gleichzeitig mit dem Ausscheiden
der Ju de n aus den Münzstätten Deutschlands auch die lombardischen Mün zm eiste r aus diesen
verschwanden (Hinweis von Rcin hold Mueller in der Diskussion).
J u d e n als M i i n z m e i s t e r , Z o l l p a c h t e r un d f ü r s tl i c h e F i n a n z b e a m t e
137
sigcn war vielleicht auch der allmählich sinkende soziale Status der Juden, der es
möglicherweise weniger als früher geraten sein ließ, sie mit solchen Ämtern zu
betrauen. Denn gerade im Zusammenhang mit Zöllen und Mauten fällt dieser
Statuswandel insofern besonders ins Auge, als die Juden, die in der ersten Hälfte
des 14. Jahrhunderts noch einen erheblichen Teil der Zolleinnehmer gestellt hatten,
im 15.Jahrhundert an einer zunehmenden Zahl von Mautstellen Leibzoll entrich­
ten mußten und damit vom Subjekt zum O bjek t der Mauteinhebung geworden
waren71. Es ist nur naheliegend, daß an einer Mautstelle, an der von Juden Leibzoll
verlangt wurde, nicht gleichzeitig ein Jude als Zöllner agieren konnte.
F ü r e i n e n Z u s a m m e n h a n g d e r j ü d i s c h e n Z ö l l n e r u n d M ü n z m e i s t e r des M i t t e l ­
a lters zu j e n e n j ü d i s c h e n Z o l l - u n d M ü n z p ä c h t e r n , die in L i t a u e n seit d e m s p ä t e r e n
15. Jahrhundert72, in Polen, den habsburgischen und anderen Ländern im 16. und
17. Jahrhundert wieder verstärkt auftreten, gibt es keinerlei Hinweis73, weshalb ich
an dieser Stelle auch nicht naher auf sie eingehe. Vielmehr sind diese neuen jüdi71 Erste konkrete Belege für im Rah m en des Transports jüdischer Leichen eingehobene Zölle
stammen aus dem 14. Jahrhunde rt: 1332 in Prag (Bondy, Dworsky, wie Anm. 36, 48f., Nr. 67), 1366
in R os heim im Elsaß ( G J III, 1249). D o c h zeigt die im ber ühmten Privileg H e r z o g Friedrichs II.
von Österreich von 1244 für Leichnam e garantierte Zollfreiheit {B rugger. Wiedl, Regesten, wie
Anm. 7, N r . 25, S.34f., § 13), daß sc ho n in der ersten Hälft e des 13.Jahrhun derts für Lciche n von
Ju den verschiedentlich Zoll verlangt wurde. D ie ältesten konkr eten Belege für von lebenden Juden
eingehobenen Leihzoll stammen aus dem beginnenden 15.Jahrhun de rt, decken in dieser Zeit aber
sc ho n den gesamten süddeutschen Rau m ab: 1400 in Kaisten (einer Vorstadt von Rheinfeldcn in
der Schweiz, s. G J III, 1241), 1406 in Erlang en ( G J III, 343f. [Art. Forch heim , Anm . 38]), 1416 in
Weiden in der O ber pfa lz (G J III, 1559), 1417 in F rib ou rg (Freiburg im Ü ech tland, G J III, 400), vor
1425 an der Mautstelle von Werfen südlich von Salzburg, und um die Mitte des 15.Jahrhunderts
(vor 1453) an jene r von Arnoldstein am Weg von Villach nach Italien , s. H erbert Hassinger, G e ­
sc hichte des Zollwesens, Handels und Verkehrs in den östlichen Alpenländern vom Spätmittelalter
bis in die zweite Hälfte des 18.Jahrhunde rts. Bd . 1: Westkärnten - Salzburg (Stuttgart 1987) 509ff.
bzw. 254f. Altere Befreiungen vom Leibzoll, teilweise gegen En trichtu ng einer Pauschalsumme
(Thüringen 1368, Bay er n 1380, Bistum W ü r z b u rg 1403, s. G J I I I, 2266), zeigen jedo ch, daß er auch
im 14. Jah rhun de rt schon ein gcho bcn wurde. K u rz nach der Mitte des 15. Jah rhun de rts werden die
Belege wesentlich zahlreicher und erstrecken sich nun auch über norddeutsche Gebiete; aufgelistet
bei Peter Rauscher, D e n Christen gleich sein. Diskriminierung und Ver dienstmöglichkeiten von
Ju den an österreichischen Mautstellen in der Früh en Neu ze it (16./17. Jah rhun de rt), in: Sabine
H ödl, Peter Rauscher, Barbara Staudinger (Hrsg.), H o fj ud en und Landjuden. Jüdische s Leben in
der Früh en Neu ze it (Berlin, Wi en 200 4 ) 2 8 3 -3 3 2 , hier 289ff. u. A n m .3 3 ff . (S .3 15L ); dor t auch
weiterführende Literatur.
71 Ja cek Wijaczka, D ie Einwanderung der Ju den und antijüdische Exzesse in Pole n im späten M it­
telalter, in: Judenve rtreibungen in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit, hrsg. von Friedhelm Burgard,
A lfred H averkam p u. G erd Mentgen, 2 1 4 -2 5 6 , hier 245f.
73 F ü r den österreichischen R a u m s. insbesondere Rauscher, D e n Christe n gleich sein (wie
A nm . 71), für Polen- Litauen Jürgen H eyde, Jüdi sche Eliten in Polen und Litauen zu Beginn der
Früh en Neuzeit, in: Aschkenas 13 (2003) 117-1 65, nach dem dor t erst unter K ön ig Alexander
( 1 5 0 1 - 1 5 0 6 ) „die jüdischen Wirtschaftseliten erstmals auch in den westlichen Landesteilen ver­
stärkt Zugang zur Pacht königlicher E in k ü n f te “ erhielten (ebd., 118). Fü r Niedersachsen vermerkt
Rotraud Ries in ihrer umfangreichen Un tersu chun g Jüdisches Leben in Niedersachsen im 15. und
16.Jahrhun de rt (Veröff. d. Flist. K o m m . f. Niedersachsen u. Br em en X X X V , 13, Han nov er 1994)
382f. gerade einmal einen einzigen jüdischen Münzpächter, der 1565 die M ün ze von Wun storf
pachtete, damit aber schon nach wenigen Jah ren Schiffbruch erlitt.
138
M ark us J. W enninger
sehen Zollpächter im Zusammenhang mit dem neuen Element des Hofjudentums
zu sehen, in dem Juden ja auch in der Finanzverwaltung mancher Fürsten wieder
eine große Rolle spielten - wobei es aber ebenfalls keinerlei direkte Traditionslinie
zu während des Mittelalters in der fürstlichen Finanzverwaltung tätigen Juden zu
geben scheint. Das reichsrechtliche Schriftgut, das sich aufgrund dieser neuerlichen
Aktualität seit dem 17. Jahrhundert gelegentlich der Funktion von Juden als Zöll­
nern widmete74, blieb inhaltlich den einschlägigen kirchenrechtlichen Bestimmun­
gen des Mittelalters verhaftet, hatte damit aber genau so wenig Erfolg wie diese im
Hochmittelalter.
/'1 D az u Rauscher, ebd. 301.
Rainer Barzen
„Was der Arme benötigt, bist Du verpflichtet zu geben“1.
Forschungsansätze zur Arm enfürsorge in Aschkenas
im hohen und späten Mittelalter
Die „Zedaka“ als jüdische Form der „Caritas“ gehört seit der Antike zu den wich­
tigsten Säulen des jüdischen Gemeindelebens. Dennoch ist die Geschichte der jüdi­
schen Armenfürsorge nach wie vor schlecht erforscht. Dies gilt insbesondere für
das Judentum in Aschkenas während des hohen und späten Mittelalters. Keine
monographische oder ähnlich umfangreiche Studie ist bisher zur jüdischen Armen­
fürsorge in Aschkenas im Mittelalter verfaßt worden. Die wenigen vorhandenen
Untersuchungen waren in der Vergangenheit zunächst Teil von Gesamtdarstellun­
gen, die die jüdische Armenfürsorge durch die Jahrhunderte behandelten2. Das
Hauptaugenmerk war dabei mehrheitlich auf die Entwicklungen der Neuzeit ge­
richtet, so daß Armenfürsorge der Juden während des Mittelalters nur in verkürz­
ter Form ihre Darstellung fand. Symptomatisch hierfür ist ein Satz von Rudolf
Glanz in seinem in den dreißiger Jahren begonnenen, aber erst 1968 erschienenen
Werk „Geschichte des niederen jüdischen Volkes in Deutschland“3. D o rt heißt es
nach allgemeinen Bemerkungen zur Armenkasse: „Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit über
das jüdische Bettlertum muß leider auf umfassende Behandlung der jüdischen Ar­
menordnungen, wie sie sich von 1200-1500 herauskristallisiert haben, verzichtet
werden.“4
1 H ilchot Matanot Aniim, Kap. 1-10, in: Mishneh Tora h by Moses M aimonides, Bd. V I , B o o k of
Zcraim (hebr.), edited by Sbabtai Frankel (Jerusalem, Benei Brak 1990) 74 -1 3 4 , hier Kap. 7.3; im
folgenden zitiert: Frankel, Mishneh Torah, Zcraim, H ilc h o t M ata n ot Aniim.
2 Jeh u d ah Bergman, P oo r Relief (HaZ ed aka h) in Israel (hebr.) (Jerusalem 1943); im folgenden zi­
tiert: Bergman, HaZ ed ak ah; Ja co b R, Marcus, Com m un al S ic k -C a re in the G er m an G het to
(C incinnati 1947); im folgenden zitiert: Marcus, C om m un al Sick-C are ; Salo W. Baron, T h e Jewish
C o m m u n ity I—III, hier II (Philadelphia 1942) 3 1 9 -3 50; im folgenden zitiert: Baron, Je wis h C o m ­
munity; Yom Tov Assis, Les Institutions sociales: les logiques de la charite collective et de l’association, in: La societe juivc ä travers l ’histoire I-IV, hier II (Les liens de l’alliance), hrsg. von Sbmuel
Trigano (Paris 1992) 181-217.
Rudolf Glanz, G es ch ichte des niederen jüdischen Volkes in Deutschland. Eine Studie über histo­
risches Gau nertum, Bettelwesen und Vagantentum (N e w Y o rk 1968), im folgenden zitiert: Glanz,
Geschichte.
4 Ebd . 9.
140
Rainer Barzen
An dieser Situation hat sieh bis heute wenig geändert. Neben Versuchen, den
theologisch-halachischen Hintergrund jüdischer Armenfürsorge zu analysieren3,
entstanden lediglich aktuellere Darstellungen in Enzyklopädien6 oder theologi­
schen Lexika7. Diese versuchten, sich erneut der historischen jüdischen Armenfür­
sorge anzunähern, wobei auch mittelalterliche Gepflogenheiten am Rande gestreift
wurden. Größere, in Form von Aufsätzen erschienene Studien konzentrierten sich
dabei vor allem auf das späte Mittelalter8. Hier wären zunächst die beiden Abhand­
lungen Israel Yuvals zu den Anfängen des jüdischen Hospitals9 und den Almosen
der Gemeinde Nürnberg zur Finanzierung sowohl der Juden im Lande Israel wie
auch eigener Gemeindeeinrichtungen zu nennen10. Andere kleinere Abhandlungen
nehmen für das 15.Jahrhundert lokale Verhältnisse der Armenfürsorge in den
B lic k 11 oder widmen sich den umherziehenden jüdischen Bettlern zwischen Spät­
mittelalter und Früher N euzeit12. Ebenso an der Schwelle zur Frühen Neuzeit be­
wegt sich Elliot H o r o w itz 13 mit seinen Untersuchungen zur „Zedaka“ unter den
5 Birgit Klein, Idealisieren, neutralisieren, bekämpfen? Ansichten zur Ar m u t im rabbinischen
Ju den tu m , in: Jude n und Armut in Mitt el- und Ost europa, hrsg. von Steji Jersch-W enzel (Köln,
Weimar, Wien 20 00) 15-30.
6 Raphael Posner, H aim H illel Ben Sasson, Isaac Levitats, Charity, in: En cyc lopaedia Judaica V
(1 99 6) 33 8-3 53; Louis Isaac Rabinowitz, Isaac Levitats, G em iiut Hassadim, in: Encyclopaedia
Judaica V I I (1996) 3 7 4 -3 77 ; M enachem Elon, Isaac Levitats, Hek des h, in: En cyc lopaedia Judaica
V I I I (1 99 6) 279 -2 87.
? M ichael Brocke, A rm enfürsorge I. Ju de ntu m , in: T heologis ch e Realenzyklopäd ie IV (1979)
1 0-1 4 \Johann Maier, Armut. IV. Ju de ntu m , in: Theologische Realen zyklopäd ic IV (1979) 80-85.
8 Z ur Arme nfürsorge im späten Mittelalter siehe: Germania Judaica I I I ( 1 3 5 0 - 1 5 1 9 ) 3. Teilband:
Gebietsartikcl, Einleitungsartikel und Indices, hrsg. von Arye Mairnon S .A ., M ordechai Breuer
und Yacov Guggenheim (Tübingen 2003) 2 0 9 3 -2 0 9 4 , im folgenden zitiert: G J I I I . 3.
9 Israel Ja co b Yuval, Hosp ic es and their Guests in Jewish Medieval G erm any (hebr.), in: P roceed­
ings o f the Tenth World Congress of Je wish Studies (Jerusalem, August 16-24, 1989), hrsg. von
D avid Assaf, Bd. I: T h e H is to ry o f the Je wish People (Jerusalem 1990) 125-129; im folgenden ziti­
ert: Yuval, Hospices.
10 Israel Ja co b Yuval, Alms from N urem b erg to Jerusalem (1 3 75 - 1 3 9 2 ) (hebr.), in: Zion 46 (1981)
182-1 97 ; im folgenden zitiert: Yuval, Alms.
11 Fritz Backhaus, „Im H ec klu iß die Lahm en, Blinden und Hungerleider
D ie sozialen Insti­
tutionen in der Fr ank furter Judengasse, in: Ju de n und A n n u t in Mitt el- und Osteur opa , hrsg. von
StefiJersch-W enzel (K öln, Weimar, W ien 200 0) 31-54.
12 Yacov Guggenheim, Meeting on the Roa d. En coun ters between G er m an Je w s and Christians
on the Margins o f Society, in: In and O u t o f the Gh etto . Je w i s h -G e n ti l e Relations in Late M e ­
dieval and Early M odern Germany, hrsg. von Ronnie Po-chia Llsia und H artmut Lehm ann (N e w
Y o rk 1995) 12 5-136; ders., Von den Schalantjudcn zu den Betteljuden. Jü dis che Ar m u t in M ittel­
europa in der Früh en N eu zeit, in: Ju den und Ar m u t in Mitt el- und O st eu ropa, hrsg. von Stefi
Jersch-W enzel (K öln , Weimar, Wien 200 0 ) 5 5 -6 9 ; im folgenden zitert: Guggenheim, Schalantjuden.
13 Elliot H orowitz, Processions, Piety, and Je w ish Confraternities, in: T h e Je w s o f Early Mode rn
Venice, hrsg. von Robert Charles Davis und Benjamin R avid (Baltimore, L o n d o n 20 01) 23 1-3 0 1;
ders.: „(Deserving) P oo r Shall B e M em ber s of Y ou r H o u se h o ld “: Charity, the P o o r and Social
C o n tr o l in the Jewish Com m un iti es o f Europe between the Middle Ages and the Beginning of
Mode rn Times (hebr.), in: Religion and Econ omy. Con nect io ns and Interactions, edited by Mena-
hem Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem 1995) 20 9-2 31.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m e n f ü r s o r g e in A s c h k e n a s
14 1
Juden der asehkenasischen Gemeinden in Norditalien für den Zeitraum vom 15.
bis zum 17.Jahrhundert14.
Besonders defizitär ist die Forschung zur Armentürsorge in den aschkenasischen
Gemeinden der Jahrhunderte des Hochmittelalters bis zur Zäsur der Pestverfolgun­
gen um die Mitte des 14.Jahrhunderts. Hierzu haben sich verschiedene Autoren des
frühen 20. Jahrhunderts im Kontext umfassenderer Fragestellungen zum Thema „Ze­
daka“/Armenfürsorge geäußert13. Die Rolle der Zedaka hinsichtlich der Gemeindebildung und der weiteren Gemeindestruktur fand dabei keine Berücksichtigung.
Wenig mehr Aufmerksamkeit sollten die theologischen Voraussetzungen und ihre
innerjüdischen Diskussionen erfahren, wobei dann auch mittelalterliche gemeind­
liche Formen der Armenfürsorge am Rande Erwähnung fanden16. Schließlich wurde
von anderer Seite versucht, die Motivation zur jüdischen Armenfürsorge vor dem
Hintergrund einer vermeintlich völligen Ausgrenzung der Juden gegenüber der
christlichen Mehrheitsgesellschaft zu erklären17, ohne dabei allerdings die jüdische
Tradition einer organisierten Armenfürsorge aus vorchristlicher Zeit wie auch deren
jüdische Praxis in nichtchristlichen (z.B . islamischen Kontexten) zu diskutieren.
Erst in letzter Zeit widmeten sich wenige junge Forscher erneut dem weiten
Themenbereich von Krankheit18, Armut und Armenfürsorge19 und gelangten da­
bei zu neuen Einsichten zur Rollen des „Hospitals“ im innerjüdischen Kontext20,
sowie hinsichtlich des Vergleichs mit der Armenfürsorge innerhalb der lateinischen
Christenheit21.
1,1 Dieser Forschungsbe reich ko nnte vor kurzem durch Ergebnisse einer Trierer Dissertation b e ­
reichert werden: Angela M öschter,]udcn im venezianischen Treviso 1389-15 09 (Dissertation, T yp o­
skript, Universität Trier 200 4) K ap .l V .3 , 119-120, Anm. 71 und 72. Siehe hierzu auch Responsa
Ju da Minz (K rakau 1887) Nr. 7.
'' Hfirscb] J la k o b J Zimmels, Beiträge zur Geschich te der Ju de n in Deutschland im 13.J a h rh u n ­
dert insbesondere aufgrund der Gutachten des R. Meir von R oth en b urg (Wien 1926) 2 8 -3 0, 91; im
folgenden zitiert: Zimmels, Beiträge; Baron, Je wish C o m m u n ity (wie Anm. 2) II 319, 327-329 .
16 Mayer A. H alevy, Die Idee der Caritas in der jüdischen Religion, in: Historia Hospitalium.
Mitteilu ngen der deutschen Ges ellschaft für Krankenhausgeschichte (Sonderheft 1970) 10-19;
Tzvi Marx, Priorities in Zedakah and their Implications, in: Judaism 29.1 (1 97 9) 80-89.
17 Aryeh Grabois, D er Ju de als »der Frem de1 der mittelalterlichen Gesellschaft und die Wohltätig ­
keitspraxis, in: Zedaka. Jü dische Sozialarbeit im Wandel der Zeit. 75 Jahre Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle
der Ju de n in Deutschland 1917-1 99 2, hrsg. von Georg H euberger (Frankfurt a .M . 1992) 30-3 9,
hier 38-39.
18 Ephraim N. Shoham-Steiner , Eu rop ean Jewish Madmen in the High Middle Ages (hebr.), in:
Z ion 69 (2004) 299- 327 .
!<; Ju d a b D. Galim ky, „ F o r the greater glory that his name shall be remembere d“. O n the C u st om
to Establish a „H eq d es h “ in Christian Spain and on the C o m m em orati on o f the D ec eased’s M e m ­
ory (hebr.), in: Masechet 2 (2 00 4) 113-131.
20 Ju dah D. Galinsky , C o m m e m o ra tio n and Heqd esh in the Jewish Co m m un iti es of Ge rm any
and Spain during the 13th Century, in: Stiftungen in Christentum, Ju den tu m und Islam vor der
Mode rne. A u f der Suche nach ihren Gem ein sam keiten und Unterschieden in religiösen G r u n d ­
lagen, praktischen Zw ec ke n und historischen Transformationen, hrsg. von M ichael Borgolie (Stif­
tungsgeschichten 4, Berlin 200 5) 191-204 ; im folgenden zitiert: Galinsky , Com m em ora ti o n .
21 Rainer Barzen, Monika Escber-Apsner, Dirk Multrus, Religiös motivierte Bar m he rz igke it und
karitatives Handeln von Gem ein schaften im hohen und späten Mittelalter, in: Inklusion/Exklu-
142
R ainer Barzen
Jüdische A rm e n fü rs o rg e in A schkenas im Spiegel d er Q u e llen
Man könnte vermuten, daß die Vernachlässigung selbst einer nur oberflächlichen
Betrachtung des Armenwesens im 11., 12. und 13.Jahrhundert in Aschkenas auf
eine überaus schlechte, wenn nicht sogar völlig disparate Quellensituation hindeu­
tet. Dies ist jedoch so nicht richtig. Formen der Armenfürsorge sind bereits anhand
des „Kassenwarts“ („Gabai“) der Gemeinden in Mainz und Trier zur Zeit des E r­
sten Kreuzzuges nachgewiesen22. Zwar ist ein ausführlicher, programmatischer
Text, der dem des Maimonides23 zum Themenfeld „Zedaka“ für den sephardischen
Kulturkreis vergleichbar wäre und einen Entwurf für ein „aschkenasisches Fürsorge­
wesen“ liefern würde, noch nicht bekannt. D o ch hat es offensichtlich solche grund­
sätzlichen Überlegungen zu einer theologisch-halachischen Begründung, wie auch
zur Praxis einer für alle verpflichtenden Fürsorge auch im aschkenasischen Bereich
gegeben, wie die „Hilchot Zedaka“, die „Rechtsbestimmungen zum Fürsorgewe­
sen“ des Isaak O r Sarua aus der ersten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts nahelegen24. Die
in 30 Abschnitte gegliederte Sammlung leitet das halachische Kompendium „Sefer
O r Sarua“ dieses Gelehrten ein, was die Bedeutung des Textes noch hervorhebt. Es
bleibt darum höchst verwunderlich, daß dieser Text bis heute, obwohl er in der
Forschung zur Kenntnis genommen wurde23, keine nähere Untersuchung erfahren
hat.
Auch Takkanot, also Rechtssatzungen von Gemeinden, aus dem 12. und 13. Jahr­
hundert harren noch einer systematischen Auswertung. Diejenigen der rheinischen
Gemeinden von Mainz, Worms und Speyer („Takkanot Schum“) bieten dabei eine
Reihe von Quellen zum gemeindlichen Fürsorgewesen26. Damit böten sich auch
Vergleichsmöglichkeiten zu ähnlichen Regelungen in christlichem Kontext.
sion. Studien zu Fr emdh eit und Arm u t von der An tik e bis zur Gegenwart, hrsg. von Andreas
Gestrick und Lutz Raphael (F ra nkf u rt a. M., Berlin u. a. 20 04) 39 7-4 22.
22 Eva H averkam p, He brä ische Be ric hte über die Judenve rfolgungen während des Ersten K r eu z­
zugs ( M G H , Hebr äische Texte aus dem mittelalterlichen Deutschland I, M ün chen 2005) 368,
A nm . 1 (Mainz); 476, An m. 47 (Trier).
23 Frankel, Mish neh Torah, Zeraim, H ilc h o t Ma tanot Aniim (wie An m. 1) Kap. 1-10. Siehe auch:
Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Tora h (Yad Hazak ah) (hebr./engl.), edited from rare manuscripts and
early texts, vocalized, annotated and provided with an introduction by Philip Birnbaum (N e w
Y o r k 1944/1967) 153-160.
24 Sefer O r Sarua des Isaak von Wien (hebr.), Teil I, hrsg. von Akiha Lehren (Z h it o m ir 1862) 1218, Nr. 1-30 (H ilchot Zedakah).
25 /. Kahan, O r Sarua als Geschichtsquelle, in: Ja h rb u ch der Ges ellschaft für Ges ch ichte der Juden
in der Cech osl ovakischen Rep u b lik 9 (1 93 8) 4 3-9 9, hier 80;/. Wellesz, Isaak b. M o se O r Sarua, in:
Monatsschrift für die Geschich te und Wissenschaft des Ju denthum s 48 (1904) 129-144 , 20 9-2 13,
3 6 1 -3 7 1 , 44 0-4 56, 71 0-7 12, hier 3 6 3 -3 6 4 ; ders., Ü b e r R . Isaak b. M o s e ’s „ O r Sarua“, in: Jah rb uch
der Jü disch-Lite rarischen Gesellschaft I V (1906) 75-1 2 4 , hier 88; Uziel Fuks, Studies on Sefer O r
Sarua of R. Isaak ben M ose of Vienna (hebr.) (Master Thesis, H eb r ew University, Jerusalem 1993)
37; Galinsky, C o m m em o ra ti o n (wie A n m . 20) 197.
26 Louis Finkeistein, Je wish Se lf -G ov ern m en t in the Middle Ages (N e w Y o rk 1924, Ne udruck
G reen w ood 1972) 230, Nr. 24/25; im folgenden zitiert: Finkeistein, Je wish Se lf-Governm en t.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m e n f ü r s o r g e in A s c h k e n a s
143
Innerhalb der Überlieferung des Sefer Chassidim hat sich des weiteren eine nicht
unerhebliche Anzahl von Exempla erhalten, die im alltäglichen Blick - selbstver­
ständlich aus der Perspektive der „Frommen von Aschkenas“ - Fragen von Armut
und N o t thematisieren. In ihnen werden u. a. die Folgen einer falschen Almosen­
praxis als Ursache persönlicher N o t angesprochen27. Auch gelten karitative Hand­
lungen als Sühne für zurückliegende Vergehen28. Angesichts von Hunger und N ot
treten auch die Vorbehalte gegenüber Apostaten in den Hintergrund: Ihre A lm o ­
sen dürfen angenommen werden29.
Die Mehrzahl an Überlieferungen zum Fragenkomplex von Vorsorge und Für­
sorge für die Armen hat sich, wie zu erwarten war, in der Responsenliteratur (juristi­
schen Anfragen, die von Gemeinden und Einzelpersonen an die Rechtsgelehrten
ihrer Zeit gerichtet wurden) erhalten30. Hier erfahren wir anhand des täglichen
Rechtsstreits viel von der N orm und Praxis der Fürsorge, wie sie in der örtlichen
Gemeinde, aber auch im Rahmen der Familie wie auch in unterschiedlichen B e ­
reichen der jüdischen Gesellschaft üblich und rechtens war. Dabei zeigen die ver­
schiedenen Streitfälle, daß ein an die Quellen herangetragenes Verständnis von
Fürsorge als einer Versorgung von wirtschaftlich Gescheiterten nur einen Teil des
zeitgenössischen Verständnisses zu erfassen vermag. Es ist vielmehr ebenso im
Spannungsfeld von „potens et pauper“ nach weiteren Formen von „Armut“ und
Bedürftigkeit zu fragen, gesellschaftlicher Machtlosigkeit, einer Verletzlichkeit
wegen des Fehlens eines Beziehungsnetzes, was die Zeitgenossen wie selbstver­
ständlich im Blick hatten. Diese erweiterte Perspektive schließt letztlich auch das
Verhältnis zu den nichtjüdischen Armen ein. Hier wäre nach den Motiven und
Motivationen von Handlungsweisen zu fragen, die - wenn auch nur in wenigen
Beispielen nachgewiesen - auch dem nichtjüdischen Armen Almosen zukommen
ließen31.
D e r Aktionsrahm en jüdischer Armenfürsorge
Innerhalb der jüdischen Gesellschaft des Hochmittelalters verfestigten sich in ver­
schiedensten Bereichen bereits „Solidaritätsphänomene“ bzw. „Solidaritätsstrate­
gien“, die in ihren unterschiedlichen Ausformungen vorgestellt werden sollen.
17 Sefer Chassidim (hebr.), hrsg. von Jeh u d a Wistinetzky (F rankfurt a .M . 1924, Jerusalem 1969)
Nr. 1232, 1681; im folgenden zitiert: Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim; Sefer Chassidim (hebr.), hrsg.
von Reuven Margaliot (Jerusalem 1993) Nr. 1030, 1074; im folgenden zitiert: Margaliot, Sefer
Chassidim.
28 Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim (wie An m. 27) N r . 35, 273; Margaliot, Sefer Chassidim (wie
An m. 27) Nr. 32.
29 Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim (wie Anm. 27) Nr. 1701 f.
' ' Wobei neue Texttunde in unveröffentlichten Handschri ften unsere Kenntnisse gerade für das
12. und 13.Jahrh un de rt erweitern: Simcha Emmanuel, Rcsponsa o f the Sages of Ashkenaz
c oncerni ng P o o r Relief (Zedakah), in: Maayan 41.2 (2001) 15-21 (hebr.), im folgenden zitiert:
Emmanuel, Zedakah.
31 Frankel, Mishneh Torah, Zeraim, H ilc h o t Ma tanot Aniim (wie Anm. 1) 7.7.
144
Rainer Barzen
Vorsorge und Fürsorge für sich und die engsten Angehörigen lassen sich vor al­
lem anhand von Stiftungen im Rahmen von Erbschaften nachweisen. Dabei steht
zunächst die eigene Vorsorge, d. h. die nach dem eigenen Tod zu sichernde M e m o­
ria im Vordergrund32. Als wichtigstes Element einer familiären Zedaka auch über
die Kernfamilie hinaus wären die privaten Armenkassen zu nennen-” . Solche priva­
ten Kassen konnten freilich nur von besonders wohlhabenden Einzelpersonen
bzw. deren Familien eingerichtet werden, wobei es oft umstritten blieb, welche
Personen, auch innerhalb der Familie bzw. des Hauses, als Nutznießer solcher
Kassen zugelassen wurden. Die Untersuchungen solcher Rechtsstreitigkeiten in
den Responsen lassen Aufschlüsse über verschiedene Formen inneriamiliärer A b ­
sicherung erwarten.
Vorsorge- und Fürsorgeeinrichtungen in Form von Bruderschaften, wie sie unter
den Christen weit verbreitet waren, konnten bei den Juden des lateinischen Europa
für das hohe und späte Mittelalter bisher lediglich in den Ländern der iberischen
Halbinsel34 und im Süden Frankreichs ’5 nachgewiesen werden. Hatten solche „G e­
sellschaften“ („Chevrot“) innerhalb der jüdischen Gemeinschaft schon während
der Antike bestanden36, so begegnet uns in Aschkenas, genauer in Prag, erst an der
Schwelle zur Frühen Neuzeit eine solche Vereinigung37. Vor diesem Datum konnte
in der aschkenasischen Überlieferung kein eindeutiger Beleg für eine „Chevra“,
eine „Bruderschaft“, gefunden werden38. Waren also bruderschaftliche Vereinigun­
gen bei den aschkenasischen Juden des hohen und späten Mittelalters nicht ge­
bräuchlich? Zumindest im Kontext von Zedaka, von Vorsorge und Fürsorge lassen
sich durchaus Organisationsformen von Gruppen erkennen, die an bruderschaftli­
che Organisationsformen erinnern. Hierzu gehören nach Haverkamp am Beispiel
des christlichen Kontextes „alle auf Dauer zielenden Vereinigungen von prinzipiell
32 Galinsky, C o m m em orati on (wie Anm. 20) 197; Emmanuel, Zedakah (wie Anm. 30) 6.
J} M eirvon Rothenburg, Rechtsgu tachten (hebr.), hrsg. von Moshe Arie Bloch (Berlin 1891/1892)
5, Nr. 13, im folgenden zitiert: M R B ; Zimmcls, Beiträge (wie An m. 15) 28, Anm. 88. F ü r das Spät­
mittelalter siehe Ja cob Weil, Rc spon sa I. (hebr.), hrsg. von Yonathan Shraga D om b (Jerusalem
20 01) Nr. 133; G J III. 3 2094, Anm. 94.
34 Fritz Baer, D e r Ursprun g der Ch ew ra, in: Zeitschrift für jüdische Wohlfahrtspflege 1 (1929)
2 4 1 -2 47, hier 2 4 3 -2 4 4 ; ders., D ie Ju den im christlichen Spanien, Bd. 1 (Berlin 1929-19 36) 229,
Nr. 179; Marcus, Com m un al S ic k-C are (wie Anm. 2) 61; R esponsa Ascher ben Jechiel (hebr.), hrsg.
von Itzchak Shlomo Yudloiv (Jerusalem 1994) Kap. 13. 12.
33 Fü r das Ja h r 1380 sind in Perpignan fünf jüdische Bruderschaften bekannt, darunter eine B e ­
gräbnisbruderschaft und eine Bruderschaft zum Be su ch von Kranken: Marcus, Co m m un al SickCare (wie Anm . 2) 6 2 f.
36 Bergman, HaZed akah (wie Anm. 2) 151, An m. 36; Marcus, Com m un al S ic k-C are (wie An m. 2)
57-60.
37 Erstmals für das Ja h r 1564 in der G em einde Prag nachgewiesen: Heinrich Flesch , Z ur G es ch ich ­
te der mährischen „heiligen Vereine" (C h ew ra Kadischa), in: Ja h rb u ch der Jü disch-Literarischen
Gesellschaft 21 (1930) 2 1 7 -2 5 8 , hier 217. Zu jüdischen Bruderschaften auch für andere A ufgaben ­
bereiche im aschkenasischen R aum der Frühen N eu ze it siehe Baer, Ursprung (wie Anm. 34), und
Marcus, Co m m un al S ic k-C are (wie Anm. 2) passim.
38 Marcus, Com m un al S ic k-C are (wie Anm. 2) 64, Anm. 92, nach Wistinctzky, Sefer Chassidim
(wie A n m . 27) 13t, N r. 453.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m c n t ü r s o r g c in A s c h k e n a s
145
gleichberechtigt partizipierenden Männern und/oder Frauen, die sich selbst Sat­
zungen gaben . . . " Dabei „verpflichteten [sie] sich zu gemeinsamen religiös-kultischen Handlungen in Versammlungen, die in der Regel mit Messen (dh. Gottes­
diensten] und Mahlen verknüpft waren ... Sie intendierten auf diese Weise, aber
auch ... die Förderung des irdischen Wohlergehens und des Seelenheils ihrer leben­
den und verstorbenen Mitglieder.“39
Bereits in den Takkanot Schum erfahren wir vor der Mitte des 13.Jahrhunderts
von der expliziten Zugehörigkeit des Einzelnen zur „Synagoge, wo er zu beten
pflegt“40, wenn mehrere Synagogen am O rt anzutreffen sind. Diese eindeutige Z u ­
ordnung wird dann wichtig, wenn, wie ebenfalls in den Takkanot gefordert, Strafzahlungcn des Einzelnen der Synagoge zugute kommen sollen, wo der Delinquent
betet41. Hierbei muß bemerkt werden, daß Geldstrafen in der Regel der Armen­
kasse zuflossen. Diese Vorgehensweise wird dann völlig einsichtig, wenn wir da­
von ausgehen, wie uns Meir von Rothenburg mitteilt, daß den einzelnen Synago­
gen Spenden zur Armenversorgung nach der Anzahl der Armen zugeteilt wurden,
die zur jeweiligen Synagoge gerechnet wurden42. Die Armen wurden in diesem
Fall offenkundig von einer Armenkasse der einzelnen Synagoge und nicht von ei­
ner zentralen Armenkasse der Gemeinde versorgt.
Weitere aus Nordfrankreich stammende bruderschaftliche Rituale, im Kontext
christlicher gemeinschaftlicher Memoria, finden dort im 12.Jahrhundert zunächst
Eingang ins jüdische Brauchtum, um schließlich, wie überliefert in den Takkanot
Schum, auch in den Gemeinden am Rhein Verbreitung zu erlangen. Die Rede ist
von der Pflicht der einzelnen Juden aus kleineren Niederlassungen im Umkreis
einer größeren Gemeinde, bei ihren Besuchen an den Hochfesten wie Neujahr und
Versöhnungstag eine Wachskerze mitzubringen, die dann vor O rt, also in der
Synagoge in der Stadt, bleiben muß. Kann sich der Einzelne zwei Kerzen leisten, so
muß die eine in der Synagoge der großen Gemeinde verbleiben, die zweite soll
zurück ins D o rf an den O rt genommen werden, wo gemeinsam gebetet wird43.
Wie schon von christlichen Bruderschaften (z.B. der Matthias-Bruderschaft in
Trier) bekannt44, drückt auch im jüdischen Kontext die Kerze die Verbundenheit
39 A lfred H averkam p, Bruderschaften und Gem einde im 12. und 13.Jahrhundert, in: O r d n u n g s­
kon figurationen im hohen Mittelalter, hrsg. von Bernd Schneidmüller und Stefan Weinfurther
(Vorträge und For schungen 64, Stuttgart 2006) 153-192, hier 163-164.
40 Meir ben Baruch von Rothenburg, Rechtsgu tachten (hebr.) (Edit. Princ., Prag 1610), neu hrsg.
von Moshe Arie Bloch (Budapest 1895) Nr. 1022, fol. 159a; im folgenden zitiert: MRP.
41 Ebd . Nr. 1002, fol. 159b.
42 M R B (wie Anm. 33) 237. Nr. 231; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 29, A nm . 100.
43 Rainer B an en , Bcnci haKefarim - die Leute aus den Dörfe rn . Z ur jüdischen Siedlung auf dem
Lande in Aschkenas und Zarfat im hohen und späteren Mittelalter, in: Cam pan a pulsante conv ocati. Festschrift anläßlich der Emeritierung von Prof. Dr. Alfred Haverkamp, hrsg. von Frank G.
Flirschrnann und Gerd Mentgen (Trier 20 05) 21-3 7, hier 34-3 5; Finkelstein, Jewish S e lf -G o v e rn ­
ment (wie A n m . 26) 123.
44 Zu Kerzen bei Bruderschaften, auch als Eigenbe zeichnung, siehe Benjamin Laqua, Z usa m m en ­
hänge zwischen Bruderschalten und Hospitälern in Kö ln während des 12. und 13.Jahrh underts
(Examensarbeit F B I I I, Universität Trier 20 0 5) 79. Als Teil des Totenkults siehe Peter Löffler,
146
R ainer Barzen
der außerhalb der Stadt lebenden Mitglieder mit der dortigen Gemeinde aus. Gleich­
zeitig wird das Anzünden dieser Kerze an Neujahr wie auch am Versöhnungstag
zum Momentum der gemeinsamen Memoria der Verstorbenen der Gemeinschaft.
N och zur jahrtausendwende befand sich das jüdische Leben in den deutschen
Landen in einer ausgeprägten Pioniersituation. D och läßt sich beobachten, daß
Fragen zur Armenfürsorge schon von Anfang an die Siedlungsgeschichte im späte­
ren aschkenasischen Raum begleiteten. D urch die Definition der Almosenabgabe
als göttliches Gebot und ihre Bindung an die einzelne Person kommt ihr im R ah­
men der jüdischen Selbstorganisation eine entscheidende Bedeutung zu. Sie ist
nicht eine Gemeindeinstitution, die aus der konstituierten Gemeinschaft hervor­
geht. Vielmehr schafft sie Gemeinschaft und Selbstorganisation durch die Armen­
kasse, die zum gemeinsamen Erfüllungsort eines für jeden Einzelnen geltenden
Gebotes wird. Die Armenkasse steht somit am Anfang aller jüdischen Gemein­
schaft in jeder neu entstehenden und sich entfaltenden Niederlassung. Am Ende
des 11.Jahrhunderts war in den großen jüdischen Zentren des Rheinlandes eine
organisierte Form der Armenfürsorge bereits selbstverständlich43. Mit der Armen­
kasse für die ganze Gemeinde entstanden bald verschiedene Aufgabenbereiche, die
von der Gemeinde beaufsichtigt wurden. D ie hebräischen Titel der Aufgabenträger
wie auch die Organisation ihrer Aufgabenbereiche wurden in der Regel aus der
vorhandenen Terminologie des rabbinischen Schrifttums entlehnt.
Weitere Einzelheiten der Armenfürsorge jüdischer Gemeinden, vor allem des
13.Jahrhunderts, begegnen uns in den Responsen. Aus den überlieferten Auseinan­
dersetzungen geht hervor, daß neben einer verbreiteten allgemeinen Almosenwesenpraxis jede Gemeinde ihre besonderen Eigenheiten als lokalen Brauch ent­
wickeln konnte, der in jedem Falle jeder Regelung von außen vorzuziehen war.
Die Abgabe des Zehnten stellte in den jüdischen Gemeinden die finanzielle
Grundlage für die verschiedenen Bereiche der Armenfürsorge dar. Diese Regelung
hatte sich bereits in den Gemeinden des Nahen Ostens als praktikabel erwiesen.
Dabei war in Gegensatz zu Entwicklungen im christlichen Kontext, wo der Zehnte
als Abgabe an die Kirche sich spätestes ab 1200 mehrheitlich von der Pfarrkirche
und damit von der Kirchengemeinde gelöst hatte46, die Verbindung des jüdischen
Zehnten zur jüciischen Gemeinde erhalten geblieben. Die Gelder waren dabei den
Armen Vorbehalten. So schrieb Meir von Rothenburg (gest. 1293), der wichtigste
und angesehenste jüdische Rechtsgelehrte des 13.Jahrhunderts: „Aber auf die Gel­
der der Zehnten haben die Armen einen Anspruch auf Grund des Brauches, der in
der ganzen Diaspora üblich ist. Man darf daher nicht dieselben für andere wohl­
tätige Zwecke verwenden.“47 Dennoch setzten sich auch andere Bräuche durch. In
Studien zum Toten brauch tu m in den Gilden, Brudersch aften und Nachbarschaft en Westfalens
vom En de des 15.Jahrh underts bis zum Ende des 19.Jahrhun derts (F orschu ng en zur Volkskunde
47, Münster/Westfalen 1975) 187, 223.
45 Eva H averkam p, He brä ische Be ric hte 368, Anm. 1 (Mainz); 476, Anm. 47 (Trier).
46 R. Puza, Zehnt , in: L e xikon des Mittelalters I X (1998) 49 9-5 01.
47 M R P (wie An m. 40) Nr. 74; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 28, Anm. 84.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m e n f ü r s o r g e in A s c h k e n a s
147
einigen Gemeinden war es üblich, nur die Hälfte des Zehnten in die gemeinsame
Armenkasse abzuliefern. Die andere Hälfte stand dem Einzelnen zur freien Verfü­
gung, um sie für weitere Projekte im Sinne der Zedaka einzusetzen48. Allerdings
waren solche Regelungen an die von den „Tovei halr“, den „Viri B o n i“ der G e ­
meinde im Mehrheitsbeschluß geschaffenen Rechtssatzungen gebunden49. Niemand
durfte sich solchen Takkanot entziehen oder ihre Aufhebung durch ein Gericht
fordern30. Diese von der Gemeinde geschaffene Organisation einer Armenver­
sorgung war zunächst den Bedürftigen der Gemeinde verpflichtet. Dies wurde in
Situationen deutlich, in denen eine Gemeinde zu Hilfszahlungen für die Armen­
fürsorge einer anderen Gemeinde aufgefordert wurde, dieser Aufforderung aber
nur dann nachkam, wenn es nicht zum Nachteil der „eigenen Armen“ gereichte.
Die Privilegierung der Gemeindearmen trat aber in den Hintergrund, wenn aus­
wärtige Arme persönlich in einer anderen Gemeinde vorstellig wurden. D o rt wur­
den sie aus der Armenkasse der Gemeinde nach Möglichkeit versorgt, wobei die
einheimischen Armen ihnen nicht per se vorgezogen werden durften31.
D ie beschriebene Armenkasse der Gemeinde finanzierte sich nicht ausschließ­
lich aus den regelmäßigen Abgaben der Gemeindemitglieder. Neben einmaligen
Spenden32, den Erträgen aus Gelübden53 oder Hinterlassenschaften für das eigene
Totengedächtnis54, waren es - wie schon erwähnt - vor allem Geldstrafen, mittels
derer die Armenkasse auf eine breitere finanzielle Basis gestellt wurde. Hierzu ge­
hörten solche aufgrund einer Übertretung der gültigen Rechtssatzungen (Takka-
48 M R B (wie A nm . 33) 5, Nr. 13; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 28, Anm. 88. D abei konnte die
Frage nach der W ürde des einzelnen Arm en bei der Verteilung der Alm osen eine R olle spielen.
49 Au ch gab es für den R ab b iner der G em einde die Mögli chk eit, Tak ka not im Rah m en der A rm e n ­
fürsorge einzusetzen, wenn er genügend Au torität besaß. M ose M inz regelte 1469 in Bam b erg die
Modalitäten der Abgabe für die Armenkas se neu: Mose Minz, Responsa I/II (hebr.), hrsg. von
Yonathan Shraga D om b (Jerusalem 1991) I 2 4 4 -2 4 5 , Nr. 60; G J I I I . 3 2094.
50 M R B (wie Anm. 33) 20 9, Nr. 140; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 22, A n m . 6.
51 M R B (wie Anm . 33) 66, Nr. 512; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie An m. 15) 29, Anm. 102f.
52 Hierzu gehörten auch Summen, die ohne einen genannten Z w ec k für die Wohltätigkeit gelobt
wurden: M R B (wie An m. 33) 50, Nr. 316; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 28, Anm. 91; M R P (wie
A n m . 40) Nr. 884, Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm . 15) 28, Anm. 89. Au ch war es möglich, bei finan­
ziellen Engpässen der Gemein de, bei Flochze iten und am Purimfest Spenden einzusammeln, um die
Gemein de zu entlasten: Meir von Rothenburg, Rechtsgutachten (hebr.), hrsg. von M. Rabinowitz
(L em b er g 1860) N r 112; im folgenden zitiert: M R L ; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 21, An m. 86.
33 H ierzu zählen auch Gelü bde zur Selbstdisziplinierung, wie etwa das Versprechen, eine be­
stimmte Su mm e der Arm enkas se zu überlassen, wenn man sich erneut einer bestimm ten Verhal­
tensweise schuldig macht. A u ch in diesem Fall bleibt der G elob en d e an seine G em einde gebunden.
Sein Bußgeld wird nicht der G em einde zufallen, w o sich der D elinque nt gerade zufällig aufhält,
sondern dessen Heim atg emein de zugute kom m en : M R P (wie An m. 40) Nr. 500; Zimmels, Beiträge
(wie Anm . 15) 29, Anm. 98.
54 Im Falle einer schweren Krankheit wurden häufig Vorkehrungen getroffen, den im Falle des
Todes zurückbleibenden Besitz den Armen zugute k o m m en zu lassen: M R B (wie Anm . 33) 157,
Nr. 33; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 28, 91, Anm. 92. Wurde in diesem Zusam men hang schon
vor dem Eintr itt des Todes mit der Verteilung der G ü te r unter die Arm en begonnen, kon nte dies
erfolgreich von den Er b en angefochten werden: M R B (wie Anm. 33) 158, Nr. 34; Zimmels, Be i ­
träge (wie Anm. 15) 28, Anm . 92.
148
Rainer Barzen
not) der Gemeinden55, aber auch Bußgelder, die bei Übertretungen verschiedenster
Art verhängt wurden56.
Das große finanzielle Aufkommen so mancher Armenkasse führte in vielen Fäl­
len dazu, daß Teile des Kapitals an Privatpersonen verliehen wurde. Meir von R o ­
thenburg berichtete von Krediten, die einzelne Personen aus der Armenkasse er­
hielten, wenn sie derselben Kasse in regelmäßigen Abständen feste Summen
zugunsten der Armenfürsorge zukommen ließen37. Dies wiederum führte zu einer
Vergrößerung der regelmäßigen Zuwendungen der jeweiligen Armenkasse, was ih­
ren breiten Aufgabenfeldern zugute kam.
Die Versorgung der Armen der Gemeinde schloß auch die armen Toten mit ein,
die auf Kosten dieser Kasse bestattet wurden38. Hierbei konnte es sich um Verstor­
bene handeln, die nach der Auszahlung der im Ehevertrag festgesetzten Summe an
die Witwe und nach der Begleichung aller Forderungen eventueller Gläubiger über
keine weiteren Mittel mehr verfügten39.
Das jüdische Hospital seit dem 13. Jahrhundert
Im Laufe des 13.Jahrhunderts zeichnete sich in Aschkenas eine Veränderung der
Versorgung der jüdischen Armen ab, die sich auch auf eine wandelnde Lebensweise
der Bedürftigen zurückführen ließ. Bezeichnend dabei ist, daß sich die aschkenasische Literatur zeitgleich eines neuen Begriffes, nämlich dem des „Gastes“, bedien­
te60. N o ch zu Beginn des 13.Jahrhunderts wurden im Sefer Chassidim (Buch der
Frommen) unter diesem Begriff Arme, Händler und Reisende subsumiert61. Aller­
dings stand weiterhin den Armen unter den Gästen die Solidarität der jüdischen
Gemeinschaft zu. Es scheint sogar für die jüdischen Armen dieser Zeit charakte­
ristisch geworden zu sein, zumindest für eine begrenzte Periode von Gemeinde zu
Gemeinde zu ziehen, um durch die vor O rt gewährte Armenfürsorge den Lebens­
unterhalt der eigenen Familie zu sichern, die in der Heimatgemeinde wohnhaft
geblieben war62.
55 M R B (wie A n m . 33) 237, Nr. 231; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm . 15) 29, Anm. 95.
56 M R P (wie A n m . 40) Nr. 132; Meir von Rothenburg, Rechtsgutachten (hebr.) (C r em o n a 1557)
Nr. 242, 285; im folgenden zitiert: M R C ; M R L (wie Anm. 52) Nr. 492; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie
A nm . 15) 29, Anm. 96, 97.
57 M R B (wie A n m . 33) 58, Nr. 477; M R L (wie An m. 52) N r . 426; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm . 15)
29, 30, Anm. 108; M R C (wie Anm . 56) Nr. 253; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 30, Anm. 110.
M eir von Roth en b urg lehnte diese Praxis ab, war sich aber auch bew ußt, daß er gegen sie nichts
ausrichten konnte: M R P (wie A n m . 40) Nr. 73; M R L (wie Anm . 52) Nr. 478; Zimmels, Beiträge
(wie Anm . 15) 29, Anm. 105.
58 M R P (wie Anm. 40) Nr. 149, 176; M R C (wie A n m . 56) Nr. 184, 24 3; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie
Anm. 15) 26, A nm . 64.
59 M R P (wie A n m . 40) Nr. 176; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie Anm. 15) 71, A n m 539.
60 Yuval, Hospices (wie An m. 9) 125.
61 Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim (wie A n m . 27) Nr. 845; Yuval, Hospices (wie Anm. 9) 125.
62 Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim (wie Anm. 27) Nr. 903; 1248; Yuval, Hospices (wie Anm. 9) 125-126.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m e n f ü r s o r g e in A s c h k e n a s
149
Die Versorgung dieser umherziehenden Armen als „Gäste“ blieb zunächst indi­
viduell und nicht institutionell. Dennoch scheint die ständige Zunahme an umher­
ziehenden jüdischen Armen die Entstehung von durch die Gemeinde getragenen
Häusern, ähnlich den christlichen Hospitälern, beschleunigt zu haben63. Unter den
Bezeichnungen „Bait leAniim“64 (Armenhäuser) bzw. „Beit Ospisanchiah“65 sind
solche Einrichtungen zum ersten Mal in einer hebräischen Quelle, dem Sefer Chas­
sidim, erwähnt66. Die begriffliche Nähe zum christlichen Hospital muß dabei kei­
neswegs überraschen, wobei die Multifunktionalität der jüdischen Einrichtungen
denen der christlichen Xenodochien und Hospitäler entsprach.
Etwa zeitgleich zur Erwähnung im Sefer Chassidim ist innerhalb eines städti­
schen Kontextes als frühestes Beispiel im Jahre 1210 in Regensburg das Gebäude
eines jüdischen Hospitals erwähnt67. Weitere Einrichtungen dieser Art begegnen
uns 1247 bzw. 1253 in der jüdischen Gemeinde zu K öln6S, 1290 in Augsburg69 und
1322 in Würzburg70. Auch die jüdischen Gemeinden von Koblenz71 und N ü rn ­
berg72 besaßen bereits in der ersten Hälfte des 14.Jahrhunderts ein Hospital. Die
Überlieferung solcher Einrichtungen ist jedoch weitgehend zufällig und mitunter
von Nachrichten über Gebäude abhängig, die unter der Bezeichnung „Hospital
der Juden“ nach der Pestverfolgung zunächst leer standen und dann veräußert
wurden. Es muß darum vielmehr davon ausgegangen werden, daß schon im
13.Jahrhundert jede größere städtische jüdische Gemeinde, die auch als Mittel­
punkt eines Friedhofsbezirkes fungierte, eine solche Einrichtung unterhielt.
63 So Yuval, Flospiees (wie Anm. 9) 125.
64 Wistinetzky, Sefer Chassidim (wie A n m . 27) Nr. 1529;
Anm . 26.
Yuval, Aims (wie A nm . 10) 187,
65 Yuval, Hospices (wie A nm . 9) 125. Derselbe Terminus findet sich auch bei Ja co b Weil, Responsa I 66, Nr. 41.
66 Yuval, Hos pices (wie A nm . 9) 125.
67 Julius Aronius, Regesten zur Geschich te der Ju den im fränkischen und deutschen R ei che bis
zum Ja h re 1273 (Berlin 1902, N eu dr uck Hilde sheim, N e w Y o rk 1970) 168-170, Nr. 381: „hospitale
Ju d e o r u m “ .
68 Ge sch ichte der Ju de n im Mittelalter von der N ord se e bis zu den Südalpen, hrsg. von A lfred
H averkam p, Teil 1: K om m en tarba nd (F orschu ng en zur Ge sch ichte der Ju de n A 14, 1-3, H a n n o ­
ver 2 0 02) 183; im folgenden zitiert: H averkam p, N ord see I; Robert H oeniger, Moritz Stern, Das
Ju de nschreinsbuch der Laurenzpfarre zu K öln (Quellen zu r Ge sch ichte der Ju den in Deutschland
1, Be rlin 1888) 6, Nr. 3 5-3 7; Germania Judaica, hrsg. von Zvi Avneri (Tübingen 1968) Bd. II. 1, 426,
im folgenden zitiert: G J II.
69 H averkam p, No rd see II 27; G J II. 1 33.
70 „Hospitium Ju d aic u m “, H averkam p, No rd see II 394; G J II.2 931.
71 Das Gebäude ist 1355 ( H averkam p, N ord see II 182) vor der erneuten Ansiedlung von Ju de n
nach der Pestverfolung - freilich als ungenutzt - nachgewiesen, was auf eine N u t z u n g durch die
jüdische G em einde vor ihrer Auslös chung schließen läßt.
72 H averkam p, No rd se e II 260; G J II .2 602. Siehe auch Moritz Stern, Die israelitische B e v ö l k e ­
rung der deutschen Städte. Teil III: N ü rnb e rg im Mittelalter (Kiel 1894 -1896 ) 131; im folgenden
zitiert: Stern, Nür nb erg; Siegmund Salfeld, D as Martyrolo gium des N ür nb erg er M em orb u ch es
(Q uellen zur Ge sch ichte der Jude n in Deut schland 3, Berlin 1898) 91, 300; im folgenden zitiert:
Salfeld, M arty rolo gium; K. Baas, Jüdische Hospitäler im Mittelalter, in: Monatsschrift für die G e ­
schichte und Wissenschaft des Ju denthum s 57 (1913) 455.
150
R ainer Barzen
Die disparate Überlieferung mag auch erklären, warum sich gerade für die jüdi­
schen Zentren des mittleren Rheingebietes in Mainz, Worms und Speyer, die in
vielen Schlüsselbereichen zu den führenden Gemeinden des Reiches zählten, für
die Zeit vor den großen Pestverfolgungen keine jüdischen Hospitäler nachweisen
lassen. Zumindest aber ist in einem Gedicht des Israel ben Joel Susslin aus der Zeit
der Pestverfolgung für die Gemeinde Speyer ein Gemeindebeauftragter erwähnt,
der sich um die Kranken zu kümmern hatte73. Erst für das Spätmittelalter ver­
dichten sich zumindest für Mainz und Speyer die Hinweise74 auf die Existenz von
jüdischen Hospitälern. Diese waren Teil eines größeren Netzes solcher jüdischen
Einrichtungen, die sich nun ab dem späten 14. Jahrhundert in einigen Gemeinden
des Reiches - wie Worms, Trier, Frankfurt am Main, Nürnberg, Ulm, Rothenburg
ob der Tauber, Wien, Wiener Neustadt, Eger, Znaim und Marchegg sowie Rappoltsweiler - nachweisen lassen75.
N eben den in den städtischen Gemeinden lokalisierten jüdischen Flospitälern
sind auch einige jüdische Eeprosorien bekannt. Auch in ihrem Falle ist, vergleich­
bar mit den christlichen Leprosenhäusern76, von einem wenn auch „großmaschi­
gen“ N etz von Einrichtungen auszugehen, die vor allem außerhalb der urbanen
Zentren zu suchen sind. Bislang kennt die Forschung nur wenige Beispiele: Aus
dem französischen Raum ist für das 13.Jahrhundert für die Stadt Provins, wohl
außerhalb der Mauern gelegen, ein jüdisches Refugium für Leprakranke bezeugt77.
Im frühen 14. Jahrhundert ist eine solche Institution auch für die deutschen Lande,
genauer für die Stadt Germersheim, nachgewiesen78. Daß in dieser Einrichtung mit
73 H averkam p, N ord se e II 332; Simon Bernfeld, Sefer haD e m aot II: Von der Rintfleischverfolgung bis zur Verbrennu ng der Marranen in A n co n a (hebr.) (Berlin 1924) 126.
74 M ai nz 1473 ( H averkam p, No rd see II 21 5; Germania Judaica III 786); Worm s 1500 ( H aver­
kam p, N ord see II 392; G J III 16 71); Speyer 15. Jahrhundert, belegt durch archäologische Funde:
H averkam p, N or d se e II 332; Günther Stein, D e r mittelalterliche Ju d en h o f und seine Bauten, in:
Ge sch ichte der Ju den in Speyer (Beiträge zur Speyerer St adtgeschichte 6, Speyer 1981) 4 8-6 4, hier
63.
75 Trier 1422: „hospitale Iud eoru m “ (H averkam p, N ord se e II 350; G J III 1470); W orm s um 1430
(H averkam p, N or d se e II 392; G J I I I 1671, A n m . 23); Fra nk furt a .M . 1474 ( H averkam p , No rd see
II 121, G J III 346); N ü rnb e rg nach 1373 (H averkam p, N ord se e II 260; G J I I . 2 602) 1499 ( G J III
1001, An m. 19, 1002, 1006, Anm . 91); U lm 1499/1500 (H averkam p, No rd se e I I 356; G J III 1498,
Anm . 17/26, 1507); R oth en b u rg 1509 „selhaus“ baufällig (H averkam p, N ord se e II 297; G J III
1253, Anm. 15); Wien vor 1387/1424 ( G J III.2 1606, A n m .2 1 2 ; 1596, A n m . 9; 1597, A n m .2 1 ) ; W ie­
ner Neu stadt 1453 ( G J III 1619, Anm. 13); E g e r 1430/1469 ( G J III 267, Anm. 8/9, berichtigt G J III
1264, Anm. 15); Znaim 1401 ( G J II 1721, Anm . 9); March egg 1489/99 ( G J III 848, Anm. 6); Rappoltsweiler 1425 (H averkam p, Nord see I I 284; Gerd Mentgen, Studien zur Geschich te der Ju de n
im mittelalterlichen Elsaß (F orschu ngen zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den A2, Han nov er 1995) 56.
Martin Uhrmacher , Eeprosorie n in Mittelalter und früher N eu ze it (G eschichtlicher Atlas der
Rheinlande, Beiheft VIII/ 5, K öln 2000).
77 Frangois-Olivier Touti, D om u s jude orum leprosorum: une leproserie po ur les Ju ifs ä Provins au
X H I e siecle, in: Fonda tions et oeuvres charitables au M o y en Ages, sous la direction de Jean Dufour
et H enri Platelle (Paris 1999) 97-106.
78 H averkam p, N ord se e II 131; G J I I . 1 277; Franz-Josef Zhves, Studien zur Geschich te der Juden
im mittleren Rheingebiet während des hohen und späten Mittelalters (F orschu ng en zur G es ch ich ­
te der Ju den A 1, H an nov er 1995) 91-93.
F o r s c h u n g s a n s ä t z e z u r A r m e n t ü r s o r g e in A s c h k e n a s
151
den Kranken auch Gesunde zusammenlebten, legt eine Äußerung aus dem N ü rn ­
berger Memorbuch nahe79. Die innere Organisation solcher Einrichtungen bleibt
beim jetzigen Stand der Forschung noch im Dunkeln.
Die Finanzierung solcher öffentlichen Stätten der Fürsorge war auf unterschied­
lichste Weise gesichert. Zunächst waren es die privaten, freiwilligen Gaben Einzel­
ner, die beispielsweise dem Flospital von Lebenden wie auch testamentarisch von
bereits Verstorbenen zugedacht waren. Letztere spendeten zum Wohle des eigenen
Seelengedächtnisses. Zu diesem Zwecke wurden die Namen der Spender und die
Summe der Spende im Memorbuch der Gemeinde verzeichnet und zu festen Zeiten
des liturgischen Jahres während des Gottesdienstes vorgetragen80. Seit dem Ende
des 13. und während des 14.Jahrhunderts scheint die allgemeine Abgabe der G e ­
meindemitglieder zur Zedaka ausschließlich den jüdischen Hospitälern zugeflossen
zu sein. Die Konzentration der gemeindlichen Armenfürsorge allein auf die Stif­
tung des Flospitals scheint eng mit der Veränderung des Rechtsstatus der jüdischen
Gemeinden zusammenzuhängen, wie sie sich im Laufe des 14. Jahrhunderts inner­
halb der jüdischen Gemeinden in Aschkenas vollzog. Bei den weiterhin als „Gäste“
bezeichneten Bewohnern des örtlichen jüdischen Hospitals handelte es sich nicht
mehr vordergründig um Personen, die aus verschiedenen Gründen umherzogen,
sondern fast ausschließlich um Arme, die wegen ihres Aufenthalts im Hospital als
Fremde angesehen wurden81. Diese Betrachtungsweise hing eng mit dem Wandel
des jüdischen Rechtsstatus der Juden in Bezug auf die sie beherbergenden Städte
zusammen. Spätestens seit der Wiederansiedlung von Juden innerhalb der Städte
des Reiches, unmittelbar nach den Pestverfolgungen, wurde klar, daß Aufnahme­
privilegien zukünftig nur noch Einzelpersonen verliehen wurden, und nicht mehr
ganzen Gemeinden. Dies führte dazu, daß deren Aufnahme von der Fähigkeit der
betreffenden Juden abhing, Geldgeschäfte zu betreiben. Es bedeutete aber auch,
daß die Stadt armen Juden kein Bürgerrecht verlieh82. In dieser Situation konnte
die jüdische Gemeinde armen Juden nur den Status von „Gästen“ zubilligen, für
deren Unterhalt die Gemeinde durch die Stiftung des „Flekdesch“, eines Flospitals,
aufkam. Gleichzeitig konnte ein wohlhabendes Gemeindemitglied die Steuerzah­
lungen armer Juden gegenüber der Stadt übernehmen und so das Aufenthaltsrecht
der Armen gegenüber dem Stadtherrn sichern helfen83. Meir von Rothenburg for­
mulierte hierzu treffend: „Wenn dem Fürst bekannt würde, daß die Armen keine
Steuern zahlten, dann wären sie vertrieben worden.“84 Die Armen der Stadt wurden
79 Saljeld , Martyrologiu m (wie Anm. 72) 60.
80 Stern, Nürnb erg (wie Anm. 72) 19 1-205; M R P (wie Anm. 40) Nr. 998; Zimmels, Beiträge (wie
Anm. 15) 26, Anm. 59.
81 Yuval, Hospices (wie Anm. 9) 126.
S2 Ebd. 127.
83 So geschehen in Breslau im Jahre 1354, als Isaak Smoglin die Steuer für acht arme Ju den mit
übernahm: Ludwig Oelsner, Schlesische Urkun de n zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den im Mittelalter, in:
Archiv für Kunde österreichischer G es ch ich ts- Q u el le n 31 (1864) 59 -1 44, hier 112, Nr. 12; G J UI
164, Anm . 64; Yuval, Flospices (wie An m. 9) 128.
84 M R L (wie An m. 52) Nr. 130. Yuval, Hospices (wie Anm . 9) 128.
152
R ainer Barzen
im selben Moment, in dem sie von der Gemeinde in die Verantwortung des H o s ­
pitals übergeben wurden, von regulären Gemeindemitgliedern zu „Fremden“ . In
diesem Sinne muß auch der Begriff „Gäste“ verstanden werden, der uns in den
Opferlisten der Rintfleischverfolgung von 1298 begegnet. Es handelte sich dabei
eben nicht in ihrer Mehrheit um durchziehende Fremde, sondern um ortsansässige
Arm e83.
Die hier aufgeführten unterschiedlichen Formen von Vorsorge und Fürsorge
stellen selbstverständlich nur einen Teil der Ausdrucksformen von Zedaka dar, wie
sie bei einer Vertiefung der hier aufgezeigten Ansätze erwartet werden könnten.
Fast völlig unberücksichtigt mußte in dieser Phase die Untersuchung der realen
Armut unter den Juden bleiben, die zweifelsohne vorhanden war und deren Ver­
breitung sich an der Wandlung der Funktion des Hekdesch, des jüdischen H ospi­
tals, zumindest ansatzweise ablesen läßt. Auch konnte bereits eine große Affinität
zwischen jüdischen und christlichen Fürsorgeformen aufgezeigt werden. Diese
wahrgenommene „N ähe“ muß jedoch mit gebotener Vorsicht betrachtet und darf
keinesfalls als eine wie auch immer geartete „Assimilation“ verstanden werden.
Vielmehr ist sie als analoge Entwicklung innerhalb der jüdischen wie der christli­
chen Gesellschaft anzusehen, wo ähnliche (oder gleiche) Probleme zu ähnlichen
(oder gleichen) Lösungsansätzen geführt haben.
Wie durch die beschriebene Situation der jüdischen Hospitäler in Aschkenas
deutlich wurde, konnte die Etablierung von Anstalten der Armenversorgung auch
zu Ausgrenzungen innerhalb der jüdischen Gesellschaft führen. Die Übertragung
der Verantwortung des einzelnen Juden auf die Stiftung des jüdischen Flospitals
nahm als soziale Trennung die räumlich-geographische Separierung von wohl­
habenden und armen Juden vorweg, wie sie dann durch das Umherziehen der
armen Juden seit dem 15.Jahrhundert in vielen Fällen nachvollzogen und gelebt
wurde86. Trotz dieser Trennung blieben arme und reiche Juden durch die gebotene
Barmherzigkeit des Einzelnen wie auch durch die gemeindliche institutionalisierte
Armenfürsorge aufeinander bezogen. Die Existenz der armen, weiterhin in die jü ­
dische Gemeinschaft eingeschlossenen Juden wurde durch die Einrichtungen der
jüdischen Gemeinde garantiert. So blieben die jüdischen Armen Teil der fortbe­
stehenden jüdischen Gemeinschaft. Erst als die großen Gemeinden am Ende des
Mittelalters durch Vertreibungen zu existieren aufhörten, hatten auch die jüdischen
Armen ihren Zufluchtsort verloren.
85 Yuval, Hospices (wie Anm. 9) 129.
86 Guggenheim, Schalantjuden (wie Anm. 12).
M artha K eil
M obilität und Sittsamkeit:
Jüdische Frauen im W irtschaftsleben des
spätmittelalterlichen Aschkenas
Dieser Beitrag widmet sieh einem Aspekt der jüdischen Wirtschaftsgeschichte des
spätmittelalterlichen Aschkenas, der in den bisherigen Forschungen noch kaum
Erwähnung fand: der Mobilität von jüdischen Frauen allgemein und im speziellen
der Geschäftsfrauen und ihrem tatsächlichen oder scheinbaren Widerspruch zur
von Frauen geforderten Häuslichkeit und Sittsamkeit. „Mobilität“ meint hier nicht
die freiwillige oder erzwungene Migration oder das Umherziehen der nicht seßhaf­
ten Unterschichten, welche selbstverständlich beide, so gut wie nie explizit er­
wähnt, auch die Frauen betrafen1, sondern das wörtlich zu nehmende „sieh von
einem O rt zum anderen Bewegen“ aus beruflichen, privaten und religiös-kultischen
Gründen. Knut Schulz wählte für eine Sektion der 35. Versammlung deutscher
Historiker im Jahr 1984 zum Thema „Mobilität im Spätmittelalter“ den Begriff
„Unterwegssein“, welcher „im Unterschied zu den vieldeutigen anderen Bezeich­
nungen im stärkeren Maß die Bewegung selbst“ erfaßt2.
Zwei wesentliche Beweggründe für das „Unterwegssein“, nämlich das Studium
an einer Jeschiwa außerhalb des Wohnortes und die Abenteuer- oder Bildungsreise
1 Siehe dazu M ichael Toch, Jewish Migrations to, within and from Medieval Ger many, in: ders.,
Peasants and Je w s in Medieval Germany. Studies in Cu ltural, Social, and E c o n o m ic H isto ry ( L o n ­
don 2 0 03) X , 6 3 9 -6 52; Karten zu jüdischen Siedlungsorten und den Wanderungen des Menchin
von Trier 6 4 9 -6 52, und ders., Die Verfolgungen des Spätmittelalters (1 350-1550), in: Germania
Judaica III/3, hrsg. von Arye Maimon, M ordechai Breuer, Yaco-v Guggenheim (T üb in ge n 2003)
2 2 9 8 -2 3 2 7 ; im folgenden zitiert: G J III/3. Zum Westen des Reiches mit einer Migrationsanalyse zu
Menchin von Trier siehe Friedhelm ßurgard, Z u r Migration der Ju den im westlichen Reichsgebiet
im Spätmittelalter, in: Ju de n in der christlichen U m w e lt während des späten Mittelalter, hrsg. v.
A lfred H averkam p und Franz-Josef Ziwes, Zeitschrift für Historische Fo rschung, Beiheft 13
(1992) 4 1-5 7, bes. 4 7 -4 9 , mit Karten 56f.; im folgenden zitiert: Burgard, Zur Migration. Zu den
fahrenden und seßhaften Arm en siehe Yacov Guggenheim, Social Stratification o f Central E u r o ­
pean J e w r y at the En d o f the Middle Ages: T h e P o o r (hebr.), in: Tenth World Congress o f Jewish
Studies, Div. B, Vol. 1 (Jerusalem 1990) 130 -136 und ders., Von den Schalantjuden zu den Bc ttc lju den. Jüdische Arm ut in Mitteleuropa in der Früh en Neu zeit, in: Ju den und A rm u t in M ittel- und
O st eu ropa , hrsg. von Stefi Jersch-W enzel (K öln, Weimar, Wien 20 0 0) 55-69.
2 Knut Schulz, Un terwegssein im Spätmittelalter. Einleitende Be merkungen, in: Peter Moratv
(Hrsg.), Unter wegssein im Spätmittelalter ( Z H F Beiheft 1, Berlin 1998) 9 -1 5, hier 10; im folgenden
zitiert: Schulz, Un terwegssein. Au ch Burgard, Z ur Migration 42t. griff diese Be zeichnun g auf.
154
M a r t h a Keil
kamen für jüdische Frauen im Mittelalter nicht in Frage3. Über die anzunehmende
häufige Motivation der Berufsmigration, nämlich den Antritt als Dienstbote im
Haus eines Verwandten oder anderen Arbeitgebers, unterrichten uns die Quellen
kaum4. Neben kurzen Erwähnungen von Reisen aus privaten Gründen wie B e ­
suchen, Hochzeiten oder Pilgerreisen soll hier also in erster Linie von Geschäfts­
reisen die Rede sein, denn aus dem maßgeblichen Anteil der Frauen am Darlehens­
geschäft ist, wie ich annehme, auch auf ihre erhöhte Reisetätigkeit zu schließen.
In seinem für die jüdische Frauengeschichte des Spätmittelalters bahnbrechen­
den Artikel „Die jüdische Frau im Erwerbsleben des Spätmittelalters“3 berechnete
Michael Toch den Anteil von Frauen am jüdischen Darlehensgeschäft in D eutsch­
land mit einem Viertel. Dieser hohe Prozentsatz zeigt sich sowohl aus dem gesam­
ten für das Projekt Germania Judaica III gesammelten Quellenmaterial als auch in
Mikrostudien einzelner jüdischer Wohnorte. Toch begründete diese überraschend
intensive Geschäftstätigkeit außer mit der erzwungenen Monopolstellung der
Geldleihe auch mit „weiteren Grundtatsachen jüdischen Lebens im Spätmittelalter.
Die Geldleihe spielte sich (hauptsächlich) im heimischen Bereich ab; sie ließ sich
mit der Führung des Haushalts kombinieren; es bestand kaum Bedrohung der
weiblichen Ehre durch die Bewegung in der Fremde; , . . “6
D er genaueren Untersuchung dieser Aspekte ist dieser Beitrag gewidmet: Wenn
Geldleihe im Spätmittelalter im Gegensatz zur Fernhandelstätigkeit im Frühmittel­
alter und den häufigen Messebesuchen in Handelsmetropolen in der Frühen N e u ­
zeit kaum Mobilität verlangte, müßte diese Tatsache in gleichem Maße für Männer
gelten7. In der Forschungsliteratur zur jüdischen Geldleihe wurde der praktischen
3 Z ur Mobilität der Bach ur im siehe allgemein M ordechai Breuer, Yacov Guggenheim, D ie jü di­
sche Gem einde , Ges ellschaft und Kultur, in: G J III/3, 2 0 7 9 -2 1 3 8 , hier 211 Of. und An m. 190; sowie
Israel J. Yuval, A Ger m an-Je w ish Auto b iogra ph y o f the Fou rte enth Century, in: Jewis h Intellec­
tual H isto r y in the Middie Ages, hrsg. von Joseph Dan, Binah 3 (Westport C o n n ., Lo n do n 1994)
7 9- 99, bes. 86-9 0. Zu den Reisen zur „ Horizo n te rw eiter un g“ siehe M ichael H arbsm eier, Reisen in
der Diaspora. Eigenes in der Frem de in der jüdischen Reiseliteratur des Mittelalters, in: Fernreisen
im Mittelalter, hrsg. von Folker Reichert, Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer For schung,
Zeitschrift des Mediävistenverbandes 3/2 (1998) 6 3 -8 0 mit älterer Literatur S. 66, Anm. 4; im fol­
genden zitiert: H arbsm eier, Reisen.
4 Z ur großen Anzahl der D ienst bote n in der jüdischen Be völker ung siehe M ichael Toch, D ie jü di­
sche Frau im Er wer bsl eb en des Spätmittelalters, in: Julius Carlebach (Hrsg.), Z ur Ge sch ichte der
jüdischen Frau in Deutschland (Berlin 1993) 3 7 -4 8, hier 40; im folgenden zitiert: Toch, Die jü d i­
sche Frau. Einige Einblic ke in das Alltagsleben von D ie ns tboten gibt Elliott H orow itz, Jüdi sche
Jugend in Europa: 130 0-1 800, in: Geschich te der Jugen d, Bd. 1: Von der Antike bis zum A bso lutis­
mus, hrsg. von G iovanni Levi, Jean -C lau de Schmitt (F rankfurt a. M. 1996) 113-165 , bes. 143-150.
5 7'och, D ie jüdische Frau 40. Zu den Verhältnissen in Ös te rr eich siehe Martha Keil, Geschäftser­
folg und Steuerschulden. Jü dische Frauen in österreichischen Städten des Spätmittelalters, in:
Frauen in der Stadt, hrsg. von Günther H ödl, Fritz M ayrhofer, Ferdinand Opll (L inz 20 03) 37-6 2,
hier 3 8-4 2; im folgenden zitiert: Keil, Geschäftserfolg.
6 Toch, D ie jüdische Frau 44.
7 Siehe dazu künftig Wolfgang Treue, ln di c jeschiw e und auf den Jahrmark t: Jüdi sche Mobilität in
Aschkenas in der Früh en Neuzeit, in: Räume und Wege. Jüdi sche Geschich te im Alten Reich
1300-18 00, hrsg. von R o lf Kießling, Peter Rauscher, Stefan Rohrbacher, Barbara Staudinger
(Augsburg 200 7) 191-205.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
155
Durchführung von Geschäftsreisen bislang keine Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt, und
in den allgemeinen Untersuchungen zum Reisen im Mittelalter stellten Motivation,
Transportmittel, Zustand der Straßen und die Gefahren die Hauptthemen dar8.
Daher kann eine Untersuchung des „Unterwegsseins“ von Geldleiherinnen auch
Erkenntnisse zum Berufsalltag von Männern bieten.
Die Anwendung des kulturell zugeschriebenen Geschlechts, Gender, als metho­
dische Kategorie bringt im christlichen wie im jüdischen Bereich die Zuordnung
von Mobilität zum Mann und von Stabilität zur Frau ins Wanken. Bei der Darstel­
lung der Migration ganzer Familien ist der einseitige Fokus auf die meist männlichen
Haushaltsvorstände für die Unsichtbarkeit der Frauen - und Kinder! - verant­
wortlich. Für die offensichtlichen Migrationsbewegungen alleinstehender Frauen,
vor allem Witwen, in größere Städte, die höhere Chancen für berufliche Betätigung
boten, bestanden vor der Entwicklung der Gender-Methode kein Interesse und
keine Erklärungswerkzeuge, da die historische Forschung bis in die 1980er Jahre
Frauenarbeit, so offensichtlich sie in den Quellen auch aufschien, kaum wahr­
nahm9. D ie Verbindung von weiblicher Erwerbstätigkeit und damit verbundener
Mobilität ist also auch in der Erforschung der christlichen Mehrheitsgesellschaft
ein relativ neues T h e m a 10. Katalin Szende untersuchte beispielsweise die Handels­
aktivitäten in Sopron/Odenburg (Westungarn), das nur eine Tagesreise von Wiener
Neustadt entfernt - mit der zweitgrößten jüdischen Gemeinde Österreichs vor
und der größten nach 1420 - an einem wichtigen Verkehrsknotenpunkt liegt. Die
Soproner Kaufleute gehörten zur oberen Bürgerschicht, waren in der „Kramer­
zech“ organisiert und hatten signifikanten Einfluß auf die Verwaltung der Stadt.
Ihre Ehefrauen führten eigene Geschäfte durch und übernahmen als Witwen den
Betrieb. Auch die weniger wohlhabenden Fragnerinnen und Hökerinnen genossen
Eigenständigkeit und reisten zu Handelszwecken häufig alleine nach Wiener N e u ­
stadt11.
Über die Tatsache, daß wie für andere Kaufmannsberufe auch für den Geldhan­
del ein gewisses Maß an Mobilität erforderlich war, scheint Konsens zu herrschen.
Da sich, wie die zahlreichen erhaltenen Geschäftsurkunden und Einträge eindeutig
zeigen, weibliche Geldleihe in keinem Merkmal von der männlichen unterschied,
haben wir auch bei Frauen von einer erhöhten Reisetätigkeit auszugehen, welche
* Siche zum Beispiel N orbert Ohler, Reisen im Mittelalter (Münc hen 42004 ); H olger Th. Graf,
R a lf Pröve, Wege ins Ungewisse. Reisen in der Früh en Neuzeit. 150 0-1 800 (F rankfurt a. M. 1997)
und Rainer Babel, Werner Paravicini (Hrsg.), Gran d l'our. Adeliges Reisen und europäische K u l­
tur vom 14. bis zum 18.Jahrhun de rt (Beihefte der Francia 60, Stuttgart 2005).
9 D orothee Rippmann, Katharina Simon-Muscheid, Weibliche Leben sfo rm en und Arbeitszu sam ­
menhänge im Spätmittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit. Met hoden, Ansätze und Postulate, in:
Mireille Othenin-Girard, Anna Gossenreiter, Sabine Trautweiler (Hrsg.), Frauen und Ö ff e n tl i c h ­
keit (Beiträge der 6. Schweizer Hi storikerinnentagung, Zürich 1991) 63-98.
10 G rethe Jacobsen, Female Migration and the Late Medieval T o w n , in: G erhard Jaritz, Albert:
Müller (Hrsg.), Migration in der Feudalgeselischaft (Studien zur Histor ischen Sozialwissenschaft
8, Fr ank furt a. M. 1988) 4 3-5 5; im folgenden zitiert: Jacobsen, Female Migration.
11 Katalin G. Szende, Sop ro n (Oden burg): A West-Hung arian Merchant T o w n on the Crossroad
between Ea st and West, in: Scripta Mercaturae 31/2 (1997) 2 9-4 9, hier 43.
156
M arth a Keil
sie über kürzere oder längere Zeit von ihren Pflichten im Haushalt fernhielt. Hier
verstellt eventuell ein spätromantisch-bürgerlicher Blick die Beurteilung mittelal­
terlicher Lebensformen: O b Frauen im Mittelalter zur Führung ihres Haushalts
tatsächlich unabkömmlich waren, läßt sich schwer einschätzen, denn über ihren
Arbeitsalltag ist, abgesehen von halachischen Problemen bezüglich Kaschrut und
Pessach, nicht allzu viel in den Quellen zu finden. Vermutlich erleichterte in M it­
tel- und Oberschichthaushalten die Aufnahme von - nicht nur - weiblichen Ver­
wandten und vor allem von Dienstpersonal, welches auch in Privilegien für Jü d in ­
nen eingeschlossen war, die Haushaltsführung wesentlich12. Weitere Hinweise auf
die Abwesenheit von Frauen geben die Warnungen von Raschi und anderen A u to ­
ritäten, Säuglinge nicht im Haus der Amme, sondern diese im eigenen Wohnhaus
schlafen zu lassen oder zumindest bei Abwesenheit der Eltern das Haus der Amme
regelmäßig durch andere Juden zu kontrollieren. Die Tosafisten zu Avoda Sara 26a
sagen explizit, daß im Fall einer Jüdin, die „aus der Stadt hinausgeht“ und ihr Kind
bei einer nichtjüdischen Amme läßt, andere jüdische Frauen im Haus „ein- und
ausgehen“ sollten, um das Kind zu beaufsichtigen. Auch in der Nacht sollte es
nicht mit der Amme alleine gelassen werden. Die in diesem Zusammenhang von
Elisheva Carlebaeh zitierten Quellen behandeln die Sicherheit des Säuglings vor
der Bedrohung durch eine christliche Amme und seine Bewahrung vor einer späte­
ren Neigung zur Abtrünnigkeit. Es interessierte dabei nicht, daß hier eine jüdische
Frau ihre „Mutterpflichten“ versäumte und auch nicht der Grund für ihre sogar
nächtliche Abwesenheit13.
Informationen über mobile Frauen sind wie die obige oft in einem völlig ande­
ren K o n t e x t überliefert, und daher um so verläßlicher. Daß Frauen nicht nur zu
Fuß unterwegs waren, sondern sehr wohl auch reiten konnten, belegt ein D in
(Rechtsspruch) des Rabbiners Menachem Merseburg (letztes Drittel des 14.Jahr­
hunderts), welches die zur Steuerzahlung verpflichtende Mindestaufenthaltsdauer
von 30 Tagen an einem W ohnort behandelt. Die Parnassim (Vorsteher) konnten
einen fremden Juden, dessen Anwesenheit die Gemeinde vergrößerte und dadurch
eventuell ihre Steuersumme erhöhte, zwingen, „... in dreißig Tagen wenigstens
einmal mit allen seinen Hausgenossen für eine Übernachtung die Stadt zu verlas­
sen, und auch wenn er nur für sich allein ist, soll er nicht dreißig aufeinanderfol­
gende Tage d o rt sein, s on dern auch er soll manchmal Weggehen und zu seinem
Wohnsitz an den O r t seiner Hausgenossen kommen. Und wenn er behauptet, daß
die Schwangerschaft seiner Frau ihn zwingt, ist das kein Argument, denn einige
Frauen reiten noch im siebenten und achten Monat, und noch dazu nur für eine
Übernachtung außerhalb der Stadtgrenzen, aber wenn die Vorsteher ihm erlauben,
12 Zum Beispiel das Privileg für Scharlat von G ö r z , siehe Martha Keil, „Maistr in“ und G es ch äf ts­
frau. Jü dis che Ober sc hichtfrau en im spätmittelalterlichen Österreich, in: D ie jüdische Familie in
Ge sch ichte und Gegenwart, hrsg. von Sabine Hödl, Martha Keil (Berlin, Boden he im bei Mainz
1999) 2 7 -5 0 , hier 33f.; im folgenden zitiert: Keil, Maistrin.
13 Elisheva Baumgarten, M oth er s and Children. Jewis h Family Life in Medieval Eu ro pe (P rince­
ton, O x f o r d 2004) 139-144 , hier 140; im folgenden zitiert: Baumgarten, Mothers and Children.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t c l a l t e r l i c h c n A s c h k e n a s
157
seine Frau dort zu lassen, bis sie gebiert, dann wiegt kein Wille schwerer als dieser,
denn wenn sie mit ihrer (der Vorsteher) Erlaubnis dort bleibt, ist das, als wäre sie
hinausgegangen
Frauen benützten natürlich auch Reisewagen, unterlagen allerdings den Vor­
schriften der Nida (Separation) während der Zeiten kultischer Unreinheit: „Ein
Mann darf mit seiner Frau auf einem Wagen fahren. Und so sagte mir ein Schüler in
seinem (Israel Isserleins, Anm.) Namen, daß der Fürst Jakob Molin, das Andenken
des Gerechten zum Segen, so gesagt hatte. Und umso mehr auf einem B oot mit ihr,
aber sie dürfen einander nicht berühren. ... Und er (Israel Isserlein) schrieb in sei­
nem Buch: N ur wenn ein Mann mit seiner Frau, die Nida ist, gemeinsam auf einem
Wagen sitzt, der von Stadt zu Stadt fährt, ist es erlaubt, aber als „Liebesreise“ (oder:
als Art des Vergnügens) auf einem Wagen, der sie zum Beispiel zu einem Garten
bringt, um darin zu spazieren, nicht.“ 13 D ie Fahrt „von Stadt zu Stadt“ geschah
also nicht zu Vergnügungszwecken, sondern aus geschäftlichen oder anderen
Gründen.
Weibliche Geschäftstätigkeit
Im Laufe des Mittelalters erweiterten die rabbinischen Gelehrten das jüdische
Recht in für Frauen günstige Ehe- und Erbrechtsbestimmungen. Sie konnten über
Mitgift, Geschenke während der Ehe, Erbe und im Fall von unschuldiger Schei­
dung und Verwitwung in noch größerem Maße über die Eheverschreibungssumme
(Ketubba) und das Geschäftskapital verfügen16. Dieses Maßnahmenbündel sicher­
te das Vermögen für die Kernfamilie und ermöglichte den Weiterbestand des Fam i­
lienbetriebs, auch wenn die halbverwaisten Kinder noch minderjährig waren.
Die in den Quellen oft zu beobachtende bruchlose Geschäftsübernahme durch
die Ehefrau nach dem Tod des Mannes läßt auf ihre intensive Mitarbeit im Betrieb
14 N im uke i More nu h a-R aw Menachem, in: J a k o b Weil, Sc h e’elot u-Te schuw ot, hrsg. von Izchak
Sela (Venedig 1549, Nachd ru ck Jerusalem 1988) 167-1 76 , hier 170, äußere Spalte 3. D in (eigene
Zählung); im folgenden zitiert: J a k o b Weil, Sc h e’elot u-Teschuwot. Die nur bruchstückh aft erhal­
tenen R echtsspr üche dienten als Gr undlage für die ausführlichen Steuergutachten R ab bi Israel
Isserleins: Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Sefer Terumat ha-D es che n ha-schalem. I. Teil: S c h e ’elot
u-Tesch uw ot, 2. Teil: Pesakim u-Khetaw im , 3. Teil: Teschu wo t Chadaschot, hrsg. von Schmuel
Abitan (Jerusalem 1991), 'Terumat ha-D es che n 3 4 2 -3 4 6 ; im folgenden zitiert: Israel Isserlein bar
Petachja , Terumat h a-D esche n. Zu Menachem siehe G J III/2, 867 und Eric Zimmer , R . Men achem
Mer seburg w c -N im u k av (hebr.), Sinai 78 (1976) 75-88 .
13 Jo sefJossel bar Mosche, Le ket Josch er, hrsg. von J a k o b Freimann (Berlin 1903, Nachd ru ck J e r u ­
salem 1964) II, 23; im folgenden zitiert: Leke t Josch er. Israel Isserlein bar Petachja , Terumat haD es che n Nr. 231.
16 M ichael Toch , D ie Ju de n im mittelalterlichen Reich (E nz yklopä die deutscher Ge sch ichte 44,
M ün chen 220 03) 14-16; Keil, Maistrin 2 8-3 0; Birgit Klein , „D er Man n - ein Fe hlk au f“ . E n t w i c k ­
lungen im Eheg üterrccht und die Folgen für das Ges chlechterverhältnis im spätmittelalterlichen
Aschkenas, in: D er D ifferenz auf der Spur. Frauen unci Gen d er in Aschkenas, hrsg. von Christiane
E. Müller , Andrea Schatz (Berlin 200 4 ) 73-76.
158
M a r t h a Ke il
schon zu seinen Lebzeiten schließen, obwohl sich diese selten in den Geschäftsur­
kunden niederschlägt. Ein seltenes Zeugnis für eine solche „unsichtbare“ Mitarbeit
ist die hebräische Quittung von Röslein, Frau des Häslein von Friesach. Sie bestä­
tigte formelhaft, daß ihr Schwager „Schemarja, Sohn des geehrten Mordechai“ sein Rufname war Freudmann - ihr zwei Urkunden zur Aufbewahrung übergeben
hatte:
„Ich, die unten Unterzeichnende, tue kund, daß Herr Schemarja, Sohn des ge­
ehrten Herrn Mordechai mir aus eigener Vollmacht zwei nichtjüdische (wörtlich:
kultisch untaugliche) Schriftstücke vom Grafen von Ortenburg gegeben hat. Ein
Schriftstück sagt 600 Gulden und ein Schriftstück sagt 100 Mark Agleier. Und das
war am Sonntag, am 12. des Monats Tewet 128 nach der kleinen Zeitrechnung
(5.1 2.13 67 ). Rosa, Tochter des geehrten Herrn Izchak, seine Seele lebe im Paradies.
Schalom, Sohn des Märtyrers Rabbi Jehuda, das Andenken des gerechten M ärty­
rers sei zum Segen.“
Rosa, sie war die Frau des prominenten Geldleihers Häslein von Friesach, trat,
soweit bis jetzt bekannt, nicht mit eigenen Darlehensgeschäften hervor. Die Bitte
ihres Schwagers, für ihn zwei Schuldurkunden aufzubewahren, läßt auf die B u ch ­
haltung und Verwaltung des Geschäftsarchivs vielleicht der gesamten großen B a n ­
kiersfamilie - zwei weitere Brüder Häsleins gehörten zum Konsortium - schließen.
Sichtlich konnte sie die deutsche Urkunde lesen und verstehen, und ihre vermut­
lich eigenhändig ausgestellte Bestätigung18 zeigt ausreichende Kenntnisse der he­
bräischen Sprache und Schrift. Wie auch andere Frauen beherrschte sie also eine
Art „Geschäftshebräisch“, welches vermutlich zu ihrer Grundausbildung durch
Vater, Brüder, Ehemann oder vielleicht sogar Mutter gehörte19.
Die meisten Frauen traten erst nach dem Tod ihres Mannes wahrnehmbar in das
Geschäftsleben ein. Manche gehörten sogar zu den Spitzenbankiers ihrer Zeit und
verliehen an Stadträte, Adelige und Herrscher Summen zwischen tausend und
17 Diese Bestätigung hängt laut Shelom o Spitzer an einer Urk un de von Schemarja Freudmann im
Ha u s- , H o f - und Staatsarchiv W ien (künftig: H H S t A ) Allgemeine Urk un de nreihe (künftig: A U R )
1368 Ju li 15. D ie richtige D atierung ist 16. Juli 1368, und leider ist der Zettel laut Dir. Le op ol d
Au er vom H H S t A nicht auffindbar. Ma schinenschriftlich transkribiert und übersetzt in Shelomo
Spitzer, He brä ische U rk un de n des 14.Jah rhun de rts aus Kärnten, in: Car inthia I, 174. Jg . (1984)
141-154, hier 146ff., Nr. 3, Transkription 153, sowie ders., H eb rew D o cu m e n ts fr om Austria from
the 14th C en tu ry (hebr.), in: Yearb o ok o f the B ar Han University. Je w ish Studies and Humanities
20-21 (1 983) 19 2-213 mit denselben Angaben wie in der Carinthia. Schemarja, genannt F reud­
mann, ließ sich kurz darauf auf den N a m en Paul taufen, siehe Martha Keil, „Petachja, genannt
Z ec he rl ”: N am en und Beinamen von Ju de n im deutschen Sprachraum des Spätmittelalters, in: Per­
sonennam en und Identität, hrsg. von Reinhard H ärtel (G raz er grundwissenschaftliche F o r s c h u n ­
gen 3, Schriftenreihe der Akademie Friesach 2, G r a z 1997) 119-1 46 , hier 144f.; im folgenden zitiert:
Keil, Petachja, genannt Zecherl. Sein Vater M ord echai war wahrscheinlich der ab 1329 nachwe is­
bare Mer chel von Murau. Siehe Wilhelm Wadi, Ges ch ich te der J u den in Kärnten im Mittelalter.
M it einem Ausblick bis zum Jahre 1867 (Das Kär nt ne r Landesarchiv 9, Klagenfurt 1981) 193-2 09,
dort die U rk u n d e mit richtiger Datierung, oh ne Erwäh nun g des hebräischen Zettels; im folgenden
zitiert: Wadi, Ju de n in Kärnten.
18 Ein Handschriftenvergleich ist derzeit wegen der Unauffindb arkeit des Zettels nicht möglich.
19 Siehe auch Keil, Gesch äft serfolg 4 3-47.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
159
zwölftausend Gulden. Aschkenasische Frauen eroberten sich im Laufe der Jahr­
hunderte ihrer Geschäftstätigkeit einen festen Platz in der Wirtschaft ihrer Lebens­
orte und Gesellschaften und nahmen diese Position auch an neue Wohnorte mit.
Miriam Davide beobachtete für die jüdischen Gemeinden von Padua, Treviso, Triest
und Friaul, daß die zugewanderten aschkenasischen Frauen weitaus aktiver und
mobiler im Geschäftsleben waren als ihre italienischen Glaubensgenossinnen20.
U m die Bedeutung dieser Frauen für ihre Gemeinden ein wenig zu veranschau­
lichen, seien die wichtigsten aschkenasischen Geldleiherinnen des 13. bis 15.Jahr­
hunderts kurz vorgestellt.
Mit wenigen Ausnahmen - die erste urkundlich erwähnte Jüdin in Österreich,
Dreslina, lieh 1257100 Pfund an den Propst von Klosterneuburg21 - treten im
13.Jahrhundert im deutschen und österreichischen Raum noch kaum Geldleihe­
rinnen namentlich in Erscheinung, was auch an der Uberlieferungsgeschichte der
Quellen liegt. In England war unter den 38 namentlich bekannten Geldleiherinnen
neben Chera und Belia vor allem Licoricia von Winchester die herausragende Per­
sönlichkeit. Für den Wiederaufbau der Westminster Abbey trug sie alleine 4 0 0 0
Mark (2 791 englische Pfund) bei, während die gesamte Judenschaft von England
17 0300 Pfund leistete22. Aktenkundig wurde sie nicht nur durch ihre hohen Darle­
hens- und Steuersummen und ihr geschäftliches Naheverhältnis zu König H ein­
rich III., sondern auch durch ihre Prozesse mit der Obrigkeit und ihr tragisches
Ende durch Raubmord in ihrem Haus23.
Im 14. Jahrhundert mehren sich die Urkunden von weiblichen Geldleiherinnen
signifikant: Plume von Klosterneuburg kam um 1320 vermutlich aus Regensburg
nach Klosterneuburg. Bereits ein Jahr später gewährte sie O tto , Abt von Zwettl,
ein Darlehen von 100 Pfund24. In den folgenden Jahren versorgte sie die Wiener
20 Miriam D avide, II ruolo delle donne nelle comu nita ebraiche dell’Italia nord-orientale (Padova,
Treviso, Trieste e Friuli), in: Ebrei nella Terraferma veneta del Qu attroce nto, hrsg. von Gian Maria
Varanini, Reinhold C. Mueller (Quadcrni di Reti Medievali 2, Flore nz 20 05) 31-4 3, hier 32 und
dies., II ruolo eco nomic o delle donn e nelle comu nita ebraiche di Trieste e di Treviso nei secoli X I V
e XV, in: Zakhor. Rivista di storia degli ebrei d ’Italia V I I (2004) Ebrei: demografia e storia 193-212.
21 Keil, Maistrin 27.
22 Suzanne Bartlet, T h r ee Je wish Businesswomen in T h ir te en th -C en tu r y Winchester, in: Jewish
Cult ure and H isto ry 3/2 (2 000 ) 3 1-5 4, hier 46; im folgenden zitiert: Bartlet, T h r ee Je wis h Busine ss­
wom en. Zu Licoricia siehe auch Cheryl Tallan, T h e E c o n o m i c Productivity of Medieval Jewish
Widows, in: Proceedings o f the Eleventh World Con gress of Jewish Studies, Div. B, Vol. 1 (Jerusa­
lem 1993) 151-1 58 , hier 154. Zu den bedeutenden Geldleiherinnen von York siehe kurz Barrie
Dobson, T h e Medieval Y o rk J e w ry Reconsidered, in: Je wis h Cu ltu re and H isto ry 3,2 (2000) 7-20,
hier 15f. und 20, Anm. 39 und 40; im folgenden zitiert: Dobson, T h e Medieval York Jewry.
23 Cheryl Tallan, Structures o f P ow er Available to T wo Je wish W om en in 13lh C en tu ry England,
in: Proceedings o f the 12th World Co ngress of Jewish Studies, Div. B , H isto ry of the Je wish People
(Jerusalem 1997) 85-9 0, hier 87f. Siehe auch Bartlet, T h r ee Jewish Busine ssw om en 4 If., 4 5-5 0, und
dies., W o m en in the Medieval Anglo-Je wis h Co m m un ity , in: T h e Je w s in Medieval Britain: H i s ­
torical, Literary, and Archaeological Perspectives, hrsg. von Patricia Skinner (W oodbridge 200 3)
113-127, Literatur S. 114, A n m .5 .
24 Stiftsarchiv Zwettl, C o d e x 7 ( 1 4 .Jh.), fol. 6r. Zu Plume und ihrer berühmten Familie siehe Klaus
Lohrmann, Gem einde - Haushalt - F'amilie. D ie Bedeutung der Familie in der jüdischen G e m e in ­
de des Mittelalters, in: Sabine Hödl, Martha Keil (Hrsg.), Die jüdische Familie in Ge sch ichte und
160
M arth a Keil
und Klosterneuburger Bürgerschaft mit Krediten und erarbeitete sich einen adeli­
gen Kundenkreis. Im August 1335 versprachen die österreichischen Herzöge
Albrecht II. und O tto dem Jans Turs von Rauheneck, statt der Bezahlung von 300
Pfund für Kriegsdienste seine Schulden bei Plume zu übernehmen2*. Von hohen
Darlehen an Eberhard und Heinrich von Walsee-Drosendorf erfahren wir indirekt
aus einer Schuldentilgung durch Albrecht II. Plume mußte sich mit einer - sicher
nur teilweisen - Rückzahlung von 800 Pfund zufrieden geben26. Ihr Sohn A b ra­
ham, genannt Hendlein, war Rabbiner und ging Geschäften mit nur geringen Sum­
men nach. Plume baute ihr Unternehmen weiter aus und übergab es in den 1340er
Jahren ihrem Enkel David Steuss, der zum bedeutendsten Finanzier des Hauses
Habsburg werden sollte27.
Reynette von Koblenz war nach dem Tod ihres ersten Mannes Leo von Münstermaileld beinahe 30 Jahre, zwischen 1365 und 1394, die führende Geldleiherin
zwischen Bonn und Bingen am Rhein. 1373 schuldete ihr die Stadt Andernach
8 000 Gulden, ein Teil der Rückzahlung erfolgte in Wein28. Auch Erzbischof Adolf I.
von Nassau, dem Reynette mit ihren Krediten seine Machtkämpfe finanzierte, war
bei ihr hoch verschuldet. Für einen Kredit von mehreren tausend Gulden erhielt
sie Einkünfte aus dem Zoll von Oberlahnstein als Pfand. Ihre zweite Ehe mit dem
Gelehrten Moses ben Jak o b Bonenfant minderte ihre Geschäftstätigkeit keines­
wegs, er nannte sich sogar bisweilen „Ich Moisse, Reynetten man“ . Zwar über­
nahm er den Koblenzer Moselzoll für jährlich 2 2 0 0 Gulden, doch vermutlich nur
pro form a, weil die Verpfandung derartiger Hoheitsrechte an eine Frau doch die
Möglichkeiten der Zeit überstieg29. Reynette benützte, eher selten bei Juden und
noch mehr bei Jüdinnen, ein Siegel, jedoch kein eigenes, sondern das ihrer beiden
Ehemänner30.
Gegenwart (Berlin u.a. 1999) 9-2 6, hier 15 f f. und ders., D ie Ju de n im mittelalterlichen Klo st er neu ­
burg, in: Flondus Röhrig (Hrsg.), Klost erneuburg. Ges ch ichte und Ku ltu r Bd. 1: Die Stadt (K loster­
neuburg, Wi en 1992) 2 0 9 -2 2 3 , hier 216. Zu Plumes Hauptschuldnern, den Gr afen von WalseeD ro se ndo rf, siehe auch ders., Ju den re ch t und Ju de npo litik im mittelalterlichen Ös te rr eich (Wien,
K öln 1990)2 75 1. ; im folgenden zitiert: Lohrm am i, ]udenrccht.
25 H H S t A A U R 1335 August 24. Regest: Meir Wiener (Bcarb.), Regesten zur Ge sch ichte der
Ju de n in Deutschland während des Mittelalters Bd. 1 (H annov er 1862) 221, N r . 28; im folgenden
zitiert: Wiener, Regesten.
26 H H S t A A U R 1339 D e z e m b e r 24. Regest: Wiener, Regesten I, 222, Nr. 36; Lohrmann, J u d e n ­
recht 136 und 275.
27 Siehe zu ihm G J III/3, 1985; Lohrmann, Ju den re ch t 2 1 1 -2 16, und ders., D ie Wiener Ju de n im
Mittelalter (Berlin, Wien 200 0 ) 186 (Register).
2S Franz-Josef Xiwes, R ey n et te - eine jüdische Geldhändlerin im spätmittelalterlichen K oblen z,
in: K o b len zer Beiträge zur G es ch ichte und Ku ltu r 4 (1994) 25-4 0, hier 32.
29 Ebd . 36. G J III/ 1, 627, Nr. 6. Siehe auch Toch, D ie jüdische Frau 41. Zu ihrer T och te r aus erster
Ehe, Mede, siehe Franz-Josef Ziwes, D ie jüdische Gemein de im mittelalterlichen K ob len z - „Yre
gude ingesessen bürgere“, in: Ge sch ichte der Stadt K oblen z. Von den Anfängen bis zum En de der
kurfürstlichen Zeit (Stuttgart 1992) 2 4 7 -2 5 7 und 508, hier 256. Z um Zoll s. den Beitrag von Wen­
ninger in diesem Band.
50 D aniel Friedenberg, Medieval Jewish Seals from Eu ro pe (D et ro it 1987) 224; im folgenden z i ­
tiert: Friedenberg, Je wish Seals.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä tm i t t e l a l t e r l i c h e n A s c h k e n a s
161
Jentlin oder Gendin von Konstanz, Tochter des Lazarus, war 1413 gemeinsam
mit anderen Juden von König Sigmund privilegiert worden und besaß ein Haus in
Konstanz. Ihre Hauptgeschäftstätigkeit fiel zwischen ca. 1420-1430. Als sie 1428 in
zweiter Ehe den ebenfalls bedeutenden Geldleiher und Rabbiner Seligmann ehe­
lichte, zog dieser an ihren Wohnort, und nicht etwa umgekehrt. Von den im
Konstanzer Amman-Gerichtsbuch verzeichneten 31 jüdischen Geldleihenden
waren immerhin neun Frauen, also beinahe ein Drittel, unter denen Gentlin - hier
„Jentli“ geschrieben - die führende war. 1425 leistete sie von der Gesamtsumme
der Judensteuer von 253 Gulden alleine 60 Gulden31.
D ie große und bedeutende Kehilla von Frankfurt bot mehreren Frauen die
Chance zu einer überdurchschnittlichen Geschäftstätigkeit. Zorline von Frankfurt,
etwa zwischen 1380 und 1395 aktiv, war auch als Ehefrau von Fifelin von Dieburg
und danach Süßkind von Weinburg die reichste und aktivste Geldleiherin der Stadt.
Auch zu ihren Schuldnern gehörte Erzbischof Adolf I. von Nassau, 1388 mit einer
Summe von 1 000 Gulden. 1391 betrugen ihre ausständigen Darlehen sechzig P ro­
zent aller Außenstände von 31 Frankfurter Geldleihern32.
Eva (Hebe oder Liefe), nach ihrem Hauszeichen „zum Buchsbaum“ genannt,
lebte mit kurzer Unterbrechung von 1401 bis zu ihrem Tod 1452 in der Stadt. Als
Mutter der Rabbiner Natan ha-Lewi und Semel war sie Stammutter der Gelehrten­
dynastie „von Eppstein“33. O bw ohl verheiratet, agierte sie als selbständige G e ­
schäftsfrau und trug 1430 zur Hussitensteuer der Frankfurter Juden in der Höhe
von 300 Gulden zusätzliche 150 bei34. Wie andere jüdische Geschäftsfrauen, denen
ihre hohe Steuerleistung Ansehen und Macht in der Gemeinde verschaffte, vertrat
sie, bereits Witwe, gemeinsam mit dem Schwiegervater ihres Sohnes Natan, Smohel
von Augsburg (auch: von Emmerich), ihre Gemeinde in Verhandlungen mit König
Albrecht II. über den Dritten Pfennig anläßlich seiner Krönung. Während die
Juden wegen der über sie verhängten Reichsacht die Stadt verlassen mußten und
sich in der Grafschaft Hanau niederließen, konnten sich Eva und Smohel zwischen
1. Mai und 3. Dezember 1439 als Unterhändler in Frankfurt aufhalten und die Ver­
handlungen unter Vorauszahlung der geforderten Summe zu Ende führen33. A n­
31 G J III/l, 668 mit A n m . 95- 98. Privileg König Sigmunds in Heymann Chone, Z ur Gesch ichte
der Ju de n in Konstanz, in: Zeitschrift für die Ge sch ichte der Ju de n in Deutschland ( Z G J D ) 6
(1 93 6) Nr. 1, 3-1 6, hier 13; zu den Geldleihern und Steuern siehe 3 und 7, Anm . 13. Allerdings
rechnet er die Darlehen des Ehepaares bereits ab 1423 zusammen, ob w oh l Seligmann erst ab 1428
im A m tm an n-G eric h ts bu ch erscheint ( G J III/l, 672, An m. 98). D ie Gesch äfte der Ja h re davor b e­
stritt Gentil also alleine; siehe ebd. 4.
32 G J II I/ l, 34 9 mit Anm. 160 und 367, N r . 60; Toch, Die jüdische Frau 40.
33 G J I II/ l, 360, Nr. 10 und 363f., N r . 39.
34 Dietrich Andernacht, Regesten zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den in der Reichsstadt Fra nk furt am Main
von 14 0 1-1 519 (F orschu ngen zur Geschich te der Jude n, Abt. B: Quellen, Band 1, 1. Teil, H a n n o ­
ver 1996) 103, Nr. 359 (1 430 August 26); im folgenden zitiert: Andernacht, Regesten.
35 G J I I I / l , 367. Andernacht, Regesten 1/1,152,' Nr. 544; 155f., Nr. 558; 157f., Nr. 565; 158f., Nr. 570
(Unte rhändlerin); 159t., N r . 57 3-5 75 . In ebda. 2 3 8 f., N r . 9 1 5 (1 450 Juli 14) wird Susse, die Witwe
des Sm oh el E m m eric h als Schwiege rmutter Natans von Eppstein bezeichnet; siehe auch 239,
N r . 9 1 6 und G J III/l, 366, N r . 55.
162
M a r t h a Ke il
läßlich der von den Juden geforderten Ablösung verschiedener Dienste beim E m p ­
fang von König Friedrich IV. im Sommer 1442 führten wiederum Eva zum
Buchsbaum und Smohel von Augsburg die Verhandlungen mit dem Rat und dem
königlichen Gesandten36.
Ricke, die kurz nach Evas Ableben in Erscheinung trat, ist von 1457 bis zu ihrem
Tod zwischen 1471 und 1473 mit einer zweijährigen Unterbrechung in Frankfurt
nachweisbar. In der ersten Erwähnung besiegelte sie gemeinsam mit einem Juden
namens Saul ihren Verzicht auf alle Ansprüche an Erzbischof Dietrich von Mainz,
nachdem sie wegen Zollvergehens in Haft gesessen hatte. Daß der Bürgermeister
von Frankfurt, Heinrich Katzmann, für sie bürgte, weist auf eine bereits früher
bestehende Ansiedlung in Frankfurt mit entsprechenden Leistungen hin ’7. Im Jahr
1464, bereits Witwe, bezahlte sie den höchsten Einzelzins einer Stättigkeit, nämlich
75 Gulden, knapp gefolgt von Evas zum Buchsbaum Enkel Jak o b Eppstein, ge­
nannt „der fette Ja k o b “, mit 72 Gulden38. Von ihr ist ein für Juden allgemein und
vor allem für Frauen überaus seltenes D okument erhalten, nämlich ein deutsch­
sprachiges Testament, verfaßt am 9. Novem ber 1470. Es wurde, da nur von drei
Ratsherren mit dem „kleinen“ Stadtsiegel beglaubigt, in den sogenannten „MinorWährschaftsbüchern“ aufbewahrt, die auch Testamente von Christen und alle Ar­
ten von Besitzverfügungen enthalten. Daß Rickes Testament als einziges jüdisches
aufgenommen wurde, spricht für ihre starke Stellung auch innerhalb der christ­
lichen Gemeinde. Leider enthält es kein Inventar, doch sind Gold, Silber, Kleinode
und auch Bücher in ihrem Besitz erwähnt. Zweck der Verfügung war die Versor­
gung ihres Enkels Isak, welcher als Vollwaise vermutlich bei ihr im Haus gelebt
hatte. Sie bestellte außer dessen zweiter Großmutter Fromet auch den Gelehrten
Simon Katz von Mainz zum Vormund, welcher zunächst Assistent an der Jeschiwa
des Mosche Minz war und Ende der 1450er Jahre eine eigene Jeschiwa unterhielt.
F ür ihre Pflichten erhielten die tm w enhendere freie Kost und Logis und zehn bzw.
fünfzig Gulden jährliche Unterstützung39.
Im Herzogtum Steiermark übernahm Sara, genannt Gutlein, Isserleins Witwe
von Wiener Neustadt, die hochkarätigen Darlehensgeschäfte von ihrem Mann -
j6 Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 188, Nr. 685 und 686; 189, Nr. 690; 190, N r . 6 9 3 -6 95. Reichstagsakten
(R T A ) Bd. 16: Un te r Friedrich III. 2. Abt., 1. Hälft e 1441 -1442 , hrsg. von H erm ann H erre (G ot h a
1921) 367f., Nr. 194, Anm. 1 (1 442 Ju ni 21): D e r R a t von Fra nk furt schr ieb an Walter von Schwar­
zenberg dem Alteren, daß bei ihnen „Smohel und Hcffe , unsere Ju den b urgere“, wegen der Z ah ­
lung von 800 Gu lden gewesen seien. Siehe auch ebda. 665, Nr. 289 (1 442 Juli 21).
37 Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 285, Nr. 1120 (1457 Juli 3); die U rk un de ist nur in Abschrift im
Mainzer Ingrossaturbuch vorhanden.
3S G J III/ l, 364, N r . 41; Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 262, Nr. 1422 (1 464 Juli 28).
39 Isidor Kracauer, Ein jüdisches Testament aus dem Jah re 1470, in: Monatsschrift für Geschich te
und Wissenschaft des Ju dentu ms ( M G W J ) 60, H eft 4 (1 916 ) 2 9 5 -3 01, die Abschri ft des Testaments
298 -3 01. Zu Schimon von Mainz siehe G J III/2, 804f., Nr. 50 und G J III/ 1, 365f., Nr. 51. Einen
Beleg der dor t erwähnten Angabe, Sch imon sei Rick es Schwiegersoh n gewesen, habe ich nicht
gefunden. Zu seiner Gelehrtentätigkeit siehe auch L e k et Joschcr, Einleitung LI, Nr. 132. R ick e er­
nannte allerdings Isak, So h n des Lazarus von Geh in gen , zum Vermögensverwalter, Kracauer, ebd.
299.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
163
nicht mit dem gleichnamigen Rabbiner verwandt - , der aus der weitverzweigten
Dynastie des Werach von Wiener Neustadt stammte40. Im Februar 1479 kämpfte
sie an der Spitze ihrer Schwiegersöhne mit Graf Jö rg von Pottendorf um die R ück ­
zahlung von insgesamt 6 812 Gulden. Pfand für diese gewaltige Summe war Herr­
schaft und Markt Kirchschlag im südlichen Niederösterreich (ca. 30 km von Wiener
Neustadt entfernt), welche bereits eineinhalb Jahre zuvor, im September 1477, für
1 100 Gulden an ihren Mann versetzt worden war. Vermutlich waren zu diesen al­
ten Ausständen neue hinzugekommen. O b und auf welche Weise Sara tatsächlich
Herrschaftsrechte in Kirchschlag ausübte, ist nicht bekannt und aufgrund des J u ­
denrechts auch kaum wahrscheinlich41.
Maßgebliche Wirtschaftstätigkeit führte zwangsläufig zu einem signifikanten
Steuerbeitrag, der auch Frauen, die ansonsten von den Machtpositionen in der
jüdischen Gemeindeverwaltung ausgeschlossen waren, Positionen von einigem
politischen Einfluß verschaffte. Selbstverständlich waren solche Erscheinungen die
Ausnahme, und sie änderten das grundsätzliche Machtgefälle zwischen den G e ­
schlechtern nicht, doch diese Beispiele zeigen, daß die ökonomische Tätigkeit die
herkömmlichen Gender-Zuschreibungen aufheben konnte. Auf dem Gebiet des
heutigen Österreich läßt sich nur ein solcher Beleg finden, nämlich Seid von
Radkersburg, welche 1338 für die inneren Steuern ihrer Gemeinde verantwortlich
war42. Ab 1336 war Nenneke von Dortmund gemeinsam mit ihrem Gatten Johel
für die Anordnung der Gräber auf dem dortigen jüdischen Friedhof zuständig, im
Falle des Ablebens eines Ehepartners sollte der bzw. die andere diese Aufgabe allei­
ne weiterführen43.
Wie schon bei Eva zum Buchsbaum in Frankfurt am Main festgestellt, prädesti­
nierte eine führende wirtschaftliche Stellung Frauen zur Vertretung ihrer Gemein­
den bei finanziellen Verhandlungen: 1480 führte Gutrat, die Schwester von Mayr
Schalmann und nach ihm auch die „Schalmannin“ genannt, dem reichsten Geld­
händler von Regensburg, mit einer weiteren Frau namens Bela und einem gewissen
Wolffel die Verhandlungen mit Kaiser Friedrich III. zur Freilassung der 17 von der
40 Zum St ammbaum der Familie siehe Martha Keil, D e r Lib er Ju d eor u m von Wr. Neustad t (1 4 5 3 1500) - Ed ition, in: Studien zur Geschich te der Ju den in Österreich, hrsg. von Martha Keil, Klaus
Lohrmann (Wien, Köln , Weimar 1994) 4 1-9 9 , hier 97.
4t H F I S t A A U R 1477 Se ptember 15 und 1479 Febr uar 12.
42 Eveline Brugger, Birgit Wiedl, Regesten zur Geschich te der Ju de n in Ös te rr eich im Mittclaltcr.
Bd. 1: Von den Anfängen bis 1338 (In ns bruck, Wien, B o z e n 20 05) hier 3 4 2 f., Nr. 446; Keil, G e ­
schäftserfolg 61 f.; dies., N am ha ft im Geschäft - unsichtbar in der Synagoge: die jüdische Frau im
spätmittelalterlichen Aschkenas, in: Europas Ju den im Mittelalter. Beiträge des internationalen
Sy mposiums in Speyer, 2 0. -25. O k t o b e r 2002, hrsg. v. Christoph Cluse (Trier 200 4) 3 4 4 -3 54, hier
347; im folgenden zitiert: Keil, N am ha ft im Geschäft. Erwäh nt, aber den K o n te xt nicht erkannt bei
Herm ann Kurahs, Z ur Geschich te der J u den in Radkersburg, in: Jüdisches Le ben in der Steier­
mark. Marginalisierung, Auslöschung, Annäherung, hrsg. von G erald Lamprecht (Inns bruck,
Wien, Münche n, B o z e n 2004) 59-9 1, hier 59; Germania Judaica II: Von 1238 bis zur Mitte des
14. Jahrhunderts, hrsg. von Zvi Avneri (Tü bin gen 1968) 672.
45 Bernhard Brilling, Helmut Richtering (Hrsg.), Westfalia Judaica 1 (S tu ttg art2 1992) 109, Nr. 102—
103 (beide 1336 Ja n uar 26). Keil, N am ha ft im Geschäft 347.
164
M a r t h a Ke il
Stadt Regensburg im Zuge des Ritualmordprozesses 1476-1480 in Gefangenschaft
genommenen Juden; darunter befand sich auch ihr Bruder. Zu diesem Zweck reiste
sie mit kaiserlichem Geleit mehrmals nach Wien, ein prominenter Anlaß für die
Mobilität von jüdischen Frauen44. Regensburg ist die einzige Stadt, in der, sogar
zweimal, eine Frau im Kreis der Vorsteher genannt ist: 1354 wurde Kacndlein,
Witwe des Mosche aus Grez (südlich von Regensburg) vom Stadtrat beauftragt,
den Steueranteil der hinzugezogenen fremden Juden festzusetzen. Sie war selbst
erst drei Jahre in der Stadt und hatte sich sehr rasch eine führende Position ver­
schafft, was sich in ihrer Steuerleistung von 60 Pfund jährlich gegenüber 23 Pfund
Durchschnittsleistung der anderen Juden niederschlug. Ein Jahr später nahm
Kaendlein im Namen der Gemeinde von Regensburg als Erstgenannte mit fünf
weiteren Judenvorstehern eine Anzahl von neuen Mitgliedern auf. Kaendlein fiel
spätestens 1365 im eigenen Haus einem Mordanschlag zum O p fe r43.
Zwanzig Jahre nach Kaendleins erster Nennung als Steuerverwalterin verspra­
chen am 3. März 1374 die zwölf Vorsteher der Judengemeinde, von ihren Auswan­
derungsplänen Abstand zu nehmen und die Stadt in den nächsten zwölf Jahren
nicht zu verlassen. Alle hatten darüber einen schweren Eid auf die Tora geschwo­
ren und mit ungewöhnlichen Selbstverfluchungen, wie nicht mehr Juden sein,
Schweinefleisch essen und Christenwein trinken zu wollen, bekräftigt. An vor­
letzter Stelle der zwölf ist „ich Joseppine“ gereiht, in eindeutiger Funktion einer
Parnesset (Vorsteherin) - in weiblicher Form existiert das Wort allerdings nicht46.
Die Frage, warum ausgerechnet in Regensburg Frauen derart gehäuft in Macht­
positionen anzutreffen sind und ob dabei der auf mehrere christliche Obrigkeiten
verteilte Judenschutz eine Rolle spielt, ist noch nicht geklärt und wurde in der
Forschungsliteratur auch noch nicht gestellt. Nach bisheriger Durchsicht der U r­
kundenbücher sind unter den Mitgliedern des christlichen Rates, der Genannten
und den städtischen Zeugen jedenfalls keine Frauen zu finden.
44 Ihr Geleitbrief vom 26. Ju ni 1480 „für ein ganzes J a h r “ in Wiener, Regesten 173, Nr. 511 (1480
Ju ni 26). Zu ihren Konflikt en mit der G em einde siehe Keil, Nam haft im Geschäft 348. Z um Ritual mordprozess siehe G J III/ 2, 1200.
45 Franz Bastian, J o s e f Widemann (Bearb.), Rege nsburger U rk un de nb uc h Bd. 2: U rk un de n der
Stadt 1351-1 378 (M on um en ta Boic a 54, M ün che n 1956) 45, Nr. 1 17 (1 354 Se ptember 6: Festset­
zung der Steuern); 63, Nr. 160 (1355 August 15-24: Zuständigkeit Kaendleins bei der Steuereinnah­
me); 66, Nr. 166 (1 355 Se ptember 16: Au fnahm e von David von Her zo gen b urg und anderen); 83,
Nr. 196 (1 356 Ju ni 8: Au fnah me von A ro n von Prag); 134, Nr. 310 (1 358 O k t o b e r 8: Steuerleistun­
gen); 27 5, Nr. 628 (1 365 August 18: Erwäh nun g von Kaendleins Er m or du ng ); im folgenden zitiert:
Regensburger U rkun de nb uc h. G J I I 1/2, 1191, Nr. 13 (Ha nna) erwähnt nur ihre Fu nktion bei der
Steuereinnahme.
46 Regensburger Urk un denb uch 2, 411, Nr. 1038: Die Selbstverfluchung lautet: „Un d sol auch
dann unser dheiner nym m er ein jud sein noch heizz.cn, wir noch alle unser erben noch gcslachtt.
Und was wir dann fleyschs ym m er verzirn, wir, unsere chint und n ac h ko m m cn, daz daz sweynein
fleischs sey, und allen den wein, den wir trinchen, dieweil wir leben, unserew chind und nachkomen, daz daz sey christenwein, gezogen auz einem zapfen uns und chr isten men sch cn .“ In G J
III/2, 1171, ist Josepp ine nicht erwähnt.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä tm i t t e l a l t e r l i c h e n A s c h k e n a s
1 65
Als Beispiel für die Tatsache, daß manche jüdische Geschäftsfrauen wie weib­
liche Angehörige des christlichen Adels und Patrizierstandes Siegel führten, wurde
bereits Reynette von Koblenz genannt, welche allerdings dasjenige ihrer beiden
Ehemänner benutzte. Dislub oder Dislaba bat Mosche - ihr Name läßt auf eine
böhmisch-mährische Herkunft schließen - besaß zwei hebräische Siegel, die sie
1391 alleine und 1398 gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann Saadja bar Morenu ha-Raw
Elieser benutzte47. Wie Andrea Stieldorf feststellte, führten auch in der christlichen
Gesellschaft weitaus weniger Frauen als Männer ein Siegel, und es bestanden loka­
le Unterschiede und Rechtsbräuche48. D er Anteil von Juden war ohnehin gering,
und der entsprechende weibliche Prozentsatz noch marginaler. Im jüdischen U r ­
kundenwesen diente allerdings ein Siegel mehr der Repräsentation als der recht­
lichen Absicherung, diese geschah durch die eigenhändige hebräische Unterschrift,
deren Bezeichnung Chatima den Rechtsvorgang des Siegeins, Chatam, beinhaltet.
Allerdings schien auch dies vom örtlichen Minhag abzuhängen: Aus Territorien,
wo hebräische Beglaubigungen an deutschen Urkunden relativ häufig anzutreffen
sind, wie zum Beispiel im Herzogtum Steiermark, sind einige von Frauen unter­
schriebene Urkunden erhalten. Auch Henna, Witwe des Aron von Y ork (um 1270)
unterschrieb Hebräisch, ihre Zeit- und Ortsgenossin Belassez besaß sogar die
Kenntnisse, Urkunden und Siegel zu fälschen, oder sie wurden ihr zumindest zu­
getraut49.
Wie ihre männlichen Berufskollegen blieben auch die Geldleiherinnen nicht
von Gewalttaten verschont, waren sie nun obrigkeitlich „gerechtfertigt“ oder
ungesetzliche Verbrechen. Wie erwähnt preßten die „Schutzherren“ Licoricia von
Winchester und Ricke von Frankfurt für deren Freilassung aus dem Gefängnis
hohe Summen ab. Letztere saß wegen angeblichen Zollvergehens in H öch st in
Haft und verzichtete als Gegenleistung auf alle Ansprüche an E rzbischof Dietrich
von Mainz30. Auch Plume von Klosterneuburg mußte sich eine Schuldentilgung
in nicht überlieferter Höhe gefallen lassen - ihr blieben 800 Pfund, die ursprüng­
liche Summe war also garantiert um ein Vielfaches höher - , und Eva zum Buchs­
baum zahlte im Februar 1439 für die Freilassung ihrer Söhne aus der Haft - an­
geblich hatten sie Hehlerei mit Kirchengut begangen - die enorme Summe von
1 100 Pfund. Ihre Schwiegersöhne wurden des Geschlechtsverkehrs mit „Christen­
47 Friedenberg, Je wish Seals 198f., N rn . 95 und 96, mit A bb. Siegelbild sind Blu me und Roset te
bzw. Mond und Stern, siehe auch Martha Keil, Ein Regensburge r Judensiegel des 13. Jahrhunderts.
Zur Interpretation des Siegels des Peter bar Mosc he haLevi, in: Aschkenas, Zeitschrift für G e ­
schichte und Kultur der J u den 1 (1 991 ) 135-150 , hier 143, Anm. 41. A u ch Dislubs Mann Saadja
besaß neben einem deutschen zwei hebräische Siegel, siehe Friedenberg, ebda. 196f., Nrn. 92-94.
Z um N am en Dislub siehe Alexander Beider, A D ictio n ary of Ash ken azic Given Names. The ir
Orig ins, Structure, Pronunciation, and Migrations (Bergcnfield, N ew Je rs ey 20 01) 581 (Tislave).
48 Andrea Stieldorf, Rheinische Frauensiegel. Zur rechtlichen und sozialen Stellung weltlicher
Frauen im 13. und 14.Jahrhun de rt (Rh einisches Archiv 142, Wien, Kö ln 1999) 67, 140f.
49 Siehe Keil, Petachja, genannt Zecherl 138-141 und dies., Geschäftserfolg 43-4 7. Zu Yo rk siehe
Dobson, T h e Medieval York Je w r y 16.
30 Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 285, Nr. 1120, 1457 Juli 3. N ic h t erwähnt in G J I I I/ 1, 364, Nr.41.
166
M a r t h a Ke il
weibern“ bezichtigt51. Licoricia von Winchester und Kaendlein von Regensburg
fielen, wie bereits erwähnt, einem Raubmord im eigenen Haus zum Opfer. Auch
in Friedberg wurde eine nicht genannte Jüdin in ihrem Haus ermordet aufgefun­
den. D er Rat von Friedberg fahndete nach einer Frau, die bei dem O pfer Pfänder
stehen und bei ihr übernachtet hatte52.
Reisen und Gefahren
Reisen zu Geschäftspartnern, seien sie zu Vorverhandlungen, zum Geschäftsab­
schluß, zur Schuldeintreibung oder Neuverhandlung bei Nichtzahlung, wurden
von Männern wie von Frauen ebenso unternommen wie zum Aufsuchen des G e ­
richtsstandortes oder des Hoftags. Studienreisen lagen, wie erwähnt, nicht in der
Möglichkeit von Frauen, doch ist nicht auszuschließen, daß auch Mädchen zum
Zweck der Ausbildung etwa als Ärztin, Hebamme oder Geschäftsfrau zu Ver­
wandten oder Bekannten reisten. Die Flucht vor einem unerträglichen Ehemann
und die Rückkehr in das Elternhaus nach Verstoßung oder Scheidung konnte zu­
weilen ebenfalls ein Motiv weiblicher Mobilität sein53.
Die größte Motivation zu reisen stellten für Christinnen die regionalen und
überregionalen Wallfahrten, hauptsächlich zur Einlösung von Gelübden nach K ri­
sensituationen, dar. Die relativ kurzen Wege, vor allem zu nahe der Städte gelege­
nen Marienheiligtümern, waren in einem Tag zu bewältigen und brachten eine
willkommene Abwechslung und anregende Gesellschaft in den Alltag von Städte­
rinnen. Dorfbewohnerinnen blieb die Möglichkeit dieser akzeptierten Vergnügun­
gen jedoch verwehrt34. Auch Jüdinnen leisteten in Krisenzeiten Gelübde und
pilgerten zu den Gräbern von Vorfahren und „Heiligen“ oder „Gerechten“, also
Märtyrern oder berühmten Rabbinern. Das folgende Responsum Maharils an
Elchanan Katz erwähnt zwei Anlässe für das Unterwegssein einer jüdischen Frau,
eine Wallfahrt nach Gelübde und eine Geschäftsreise: „Es geschah einer Frau, die
gelobt hatte, zu den Gräbern der Gerechten ( Zadikim ) nach Regensburg zu reisen,
und sie war viele Tage verhindert, und dann geschah es, daß sie ohnehin dorthin
51 Zu Plume siehe A n m . 24; zu Eva siehe Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 138, N r . 488; 145, N r . 5 1 4 und
Nr. 534; 168, Nr. 607.
52 Andernacht, Regesten l / l , 119, N r . 4 1 5 (1433 Mai 25).
53 Jacobsen, Female Migration 48; A vraham Grossman, Medieval Rab binic Views on Wife B e at­
ing, 8 0 0-1 300 , in: Je wish H isto r y 5 (1 99 1) 53-62.
54 G abriela Signori, Ländliche Zwänge - Städtische Freiheiten? Weibliche Mobilität und Gesellig­
keit im Spiegel spätmittelalterlicher Marienwallfahrten, in: Mireille Othenin-Girard, Anna Gos­
senreiter, Sabine Trautweiler (Hrsg.), Frauen und Öffen tlich ke it (Beiträge der 6. Sc hweizer Flistorikerinnentagung, Zürich 1991) 2 9-4 5. D ie Wallfahrten standen in engem Zusam menhang mit dem
weiblichen Le ben szyklus, vor allem mit Schwangerschaft und G eb urt , hier 33, 37, 43f. Zur we ib­
lichen „Wallfahrtsgeselligkeit“ siehe 42f. Tagesreisen umfaß ten eine En tf er nun g von etwa 30 km,
siehe Christian Krötzl, Wallfahrt und „Fe rn e“, in: Wallfahrt und Alltag in Mittelalter und Früher
Neuzeit. Internationales R oun d-Tab le-G esp räch Krem s an der D onau 8 . 1 0 . 1 9 9 0 (Wien 1992)
2 2 1 -2 35, hier 232. Seine Q u ellen stammen hauptsächlich aus dem N o rd e n Europas.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä tm i t t e l a l t e r l i c h e n A s c h k e n a s
167
reisen mußte, und Maharil wurde gefragt, ob ihr Gelübde durch diese Reise erfüllt
sei.“55 Israel Isserlein gelobte ebenfalls, zu den „Gräbern der Väter“ nach Regens­
burg zu reisen. Man schloß daraus die Herkunft seiner Familie aus Regensburg,
was auch der dort belegte, ansonsten seltene Name Petachja nahelegt, doch ist es
auch gut möglich, daß er, wie Elchanans Frau, die Gräber der von ihm verehrten
und rezipierten „Chasside Aschkenas“ besuchen wollte. Aufgrund einer zweiten
Erkrankung mußte er sich von seinem Gelübde lösen lassen und zahlte dafür die
hohe Summe von 100 Pfund Wiener für die Armen56.
Wie die männlichen Pilger unternahmen auch die Frauen beider Religionen die
strapaziöse Reise nach Jerusalem. Die Motivation lag im Glauben an die Heiligkeit
des Landes und seine besondere Kraft zur Erfüllung von Bitten sowie im vergange­
nen oder zukünftigen Erscheinen des Messias. Die Präsenz der Stadt Jerusalem in
Architektur, Literatur, Frömmigkeitsriten, Andachtsorten wie dem Kalvarienberg
und Symbolik war vor allem seit den Kreuzzügen in einer mittelalterlichen Stadt
allgegenwärtig, in Kirchen wie in Synagogen. Auch Frauen trugen zu dieser Verge­
genwärtigung tatkräftig bei, wie die Görlitzer Witwe George Fingerlin, welche im
Gefolge des Herzogs von Sachsen eine Pilgerreise unternahm und die Heiligen
Stätten vermessen ließ57. Jerusalem war der Sehnsuchtsort männlicher und weibli­
cher Spiritualität und die Pilgerfahrt dorthin höchster Ausdruck von Frömmigkeit.
Berühmte Mystikerinnen wie Birgitta von Schweden (1302-1373) und Margaret
Kempe (1373-1438) waren unter den Wallfahrerinnen und nahmen ihre Eindrücke
in ihren Büchern auf. Sie verstießen damit allerdings gegen das Ideal der castitas,
das Pendant zur jüdischen Zniut, welches für fromme Frauen und vor allem N o n ­
nen ein Leben in häuslicher Abgeschiedenheit bzw. hinter Klostermauern vorsah.
Tatsächlich gingen, soweit bekannt, keine N onnen auf Jerusalemfahrt, doch die
Anzahl der Asketinnen und auch Ehefrauen, die ihre Männer auf den Kreuzzug
begleiteten, nahm im Laufe des Mittelalters zu. 1353 wurde am Zionsberg sogar ein
Hospiz mit Raum für 200 Frauen gegründet58.
53 J a k o b Molin (Maharil), Sc h e’elot u-Te schuw ot, hrsg. von Izchak Satz (Jerusalem 1979) Nr. 118
(alte Nr. 126); im folgenden zitiert: Maharil, Sc he’elot u-Teschuwot. Er wähnt bei Israel J. Yuval,
Scholars in their Time. T h e Religious Leadership of Ger m an Je w r y in the Late Middle Ages (hebr.)
(Jerusalem 1988) 3 1 7 f., Anm. 18. Maharil erkannte die Geschäftsreise nicht als Erfüllung des G e ­
lübdes an. D e r W o h n o r t von Elchanan Katz und seiner Frau ist leider nicht bekannt.
36 Leke t Jo s c h e r II, 24.
37 Wilfried Ehbrecht, Überall ist Jerusalem, in: D ie Stadt als Ko m m un ikatio nsra um . Beiträge zur
Stadtgeschichte vom Mittelalter bis ins 2 0 . Jahrhundert. Festschri ft für Karl C z o k zum 75. G e ­
burtstag, hrsg. von H elm ut Brauer, E lke Schlenkrich (Leipzig 20 01) 129-185, hier 168; im folge n­
den zitiert: Ehbrecht, Überall ist Jerusalem. Zu Sophie von Benthe im , die 1176 auf ihrer dritten
Jerusalemreise verstarb, siehe 150f. Zu jüdischen Jerusalemfahrern siehe H arbsm eier, Reisen 69f.
38 Sylvia Schein, Bridget of Sweden, Mar ger y Kempe and W o m e n ’s Jerusal em Pilgrimages in the
Middle Ages, in: Mediterranean Historical Review 14/1 (1 99 9) 44-5 8, hier 4 6-4 9; zu Brigitta und
Marg ery siehe 5 0- 52. D e r A ufsatz von Kristine Utterback, T h e Vision B eco m es Reality; Medieval
W om en Pilgrims to the H o l y Land, in: Bryan E Le Beau, M enachem Mor (Hrsg.), Pilgrims &
Travelers to the H o l y Land (Jewish Civilization Studies 7, O m a h a 1996) 159-168, stand mir leider
nicht zur Verfügung.
168
M a r t h a Ke il
Konkreter Anlaß konnte auch hier ein Gelübde sein, das in Notzeiten geleistet
wurde, um bei Erfüllung der an G o tt gerichteten Bitte eingelöst zu werden, wie im
Fall des italienischen Pilgers Meschullam ben Menachem, der sich aus diesem
Grund im Jahr 1481 auf seinen, wie er selbst errechnete, insgesamt 8748 Meilen
langen Weg machte. Er lag wie alle seine Reisegefährten in Jerusalem mehrere W o­
chen schwer krank danieder und bezeichnete es als Wunder, daß es trotz allem
Pilger gab, die diese Strapazen überlebten. Einige Jahre nach seiner Rückkehr nach
Volterra verfaßte er einen hebräischen, mit italienischen Ausdrücken durchsetzten
Reisebericht39. Von Frauen stehen, soweit bekannt, Berichte dieser Art nicht zur
Verfügung, Meschullam erwähnt allerdings, daß auch Frauen von aggressiven Zolleinhebern, welche vor Alexandria die Reisenden auf verstecktes Bargeld unter­
suchten, nicht verschont blieben60. Auch die Gelübde von Frauen wurden norma­
lerweise nur in von Männern verfaßten Texten quellenkundig, nämlich wenn sie
nicht eingehalten werden konnten und die Gebundene, wie die erwähnte Frau von
Elchanan Katz, eine Lösung durch ein rabbinisches Gericht benötigte61. Dadurch
erfahren wir indirekt von der Pilgerfahrt einer jüdischen Frau:
Josman Katz, um die Mitte des 15.Jahrhunderts der Gemeinderabbiner von
Wiener Neustadt, teilte seinem Kollegen Juda - möglicherweise der Sohn von Rabbi
Schalom von Neustadt - mit, daß er in Angelegenheit des Gelübdes einer Frau
seinen Lehrer - vermutlich Israel Isserlein - um seine Rechtsmeinung gefragt habe:
„... In der Angelegenheit einer Frau, die gelobt hatte, in die Heilige Stadt zu reisen,
und nun wurde sie beraubt und vergewaltigt und sie strebt nicht mehr danach,
dorthin zu gehen und kam, um wegen (der Lösung) ihres Gelübdes zu fragen. Und
so tat ich und fragte meinen Lehrer, sein Eingang und Ausgang sei behütet, und er
antwortete mir, daß es eine klare Sache ist, ihr das Gelübde zu lösen , . . “62
Wie in diesem zitierten Fall einer auf ihrer Reise überfallenen und vergewaltigten
Frau anklingt, bestand in den Gefahren, die auf den Straßen außerhalb der befestig­
ten und mehr oder weniger gesicherten Stadt lauern konnten, ein guter Grund, von
Fahrten über Land tunlich Abstand zu nehmen. Auch wenn es die Quellenlage
zum Spätmittelalter nicht erlaubt, eine Kriminalstatistik zu den auf der Straße ver­
übten Raubüberfällen und anderen Verbrechen zu erstellen und, worauf Timothy
Reuter hinwies, die Unsicherheit auf den Straßen durch die „bösen R äuber“ in den
59 H arbsm eier, Reisen 77-8 0. D er hebräische Text ist ediert von A. M. Luncz, Jerusalem. Ja h rb u ch
zur Be förderung einer wissenschaftlich genauen Kenntniss des jetzigen und des alten Palästina
(Wien 1882). In englischer Üb er se tzung bei Elkan N athan Adler (Hrsg.), Je wis h Travellers. A
Treasury o f Travelogues from N in e Centuries. W ith a Preface by Cecil Roth ( N e w Y ork , NY'
21966, N achd ru ck N e w Delhi 1995) 156-2 08; im folgenden zitiert: Adler, Je wis h Travellers. Zum
G elübde siehe 174, zur Weglänge 208, zur Strapaze 195.
60 Adler, Jewish Travellers 158.
61 Zu unbedachten und nicht einhaltbaren Gelü bden aus Z o rn oder Ver zweiflung siehe Martha
Keil, Rituals o f R epentance and Testimonies at Rabbinical C o u rts in the 15th Century, in: G erhard
Jaritz, M ichael Richter (Hrsg.), O ral H isto r y o f the Middle Ages. T h e Spok en Word in C o n te x t
(M edium Aev um Q u oti dian um X I I , C E U Medievalia 3, Krems, Budapest 2001) 164-176, hier
175f.; im folgenden zitiert: Keil, Rituals.
62 Leket Jo sc h er II, 24f. Zu Jo sm a n Katz siehe G J III/2, 1627.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p a t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
169
„wilden Wäldern“ als Topos und Gegenbild zur Friedenswahrung des guten Herr­
schers auf den sicheren Königsstraßen herhalten mußte, ist doch die Gefährlichkeit
einer Reise, bei der wertvolle Güter und Geld mitgetührt wurden, gut nachvoll­
ziehbar. D er Übergang zwischen der Gewalttat eines Kriminellen und dem gewalt­
tätigen Konflikt zwischen Adeligen war allerdings fließend: Räuberei konnte auch
eine Fehdeansage an einen Gegner sein, die auf dem Rücken von Reisenden ausge­
tragen wurde63. D er Begriff vom „Raubritter“ stammt zwar erst aus der ersten
Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts und diente dem Bildungsbürgertum zur kontrastvollen
Selbstdarstellung. D och finden sich in den zeitgenössischen Quellen des Spätmittel­
alters zahlreiche Berichte von Raub und Brand durch Adelige, seien sie nun aus
Armut oder Machtpolitik begangen worden. Die Kontroverse über die Grenzen
zwischen rechtmäßiger Fehde und Willkür beschäftigt die Fachwelt bis heute, und
„die Chronik des Fehdewesens wäre bestimmt noch anklagender ausgefallen, wenn
sie von den Bauern, den Hauptleidtragenden der Fehde, geschrieben worden
wäre“64. Zu letzteren wären auch die Reisenden zu zählen, welche zusätzlich von
verarmten Adeligen bedroht wurden, welche sich als Soldritter verdingten und nach
ihrer Entlassung aus dem Kriegsdienst als Wegelagerer ihr Unwesen trieben65.
Ein ständiges Bedrohungspotential bildeten selbstverständlich auch die fahren­
den Unterschichten, die die wirtschaftliche N o t zum Stehlen zwang. Aus dem
Spätmittelalter sind nur relativ wenige Verhörprotokolle und Geständnisse erhal­
ten, welche näheren Einblick in ihre Lebensumstände geben; die meist zum Thema
„Kriminalität“ herangezogenen Gerichts- und Stadtbücher, Achtbücher, Gerichts­
rechnungen und Urfehden enthalten diese Informationen nicht66. U m einen E in ­
druck zu gewinnen, welches Ungemach Juden und Jüdinnen während ihres Unter­
wegsseins erwarten konnte, interessieren uns aus den von Arnold Esch bearbeiteten
Dokumenten aus dem Berner Umland zwischen 1499 und 1510 eher die Beschaf­
fenheit der Tatorte, der Tathergang und die Auswahl der Opfer als die Täterper­
sönlichkeiten. O ft lagen die Männer zu zweit oder in Banden von mindestens fünf,
in diesem Fall verarmte Handwerker, wochenlang im Wald auf der Lauer, ehe sich
ein Beraubungsobjekt zeigte. Zwar bestand die Beute meist nur aus Eßwaren, Klei-
63 Timothy Reuter, Die Un si ch er he it auf den Straßen im europäischen F rüh - und Ho chmittelalter:
Täter, O p f e r und ihre mittelalterlichen und modernen Betrachter, in: Träger und Instrumentarien
des Friedens im hohen und späten Mittelalter, hrsg. von Johannes Fried (Vorträge und F o r sch u n ­
gen 43, Sigmaringen 1993) 169 -201, bes. 172-177, 186-189 ; im folgenden zitiert: Reuter, Unsicher­
heit, Z um „literarischen Un si ch er heitst op os“ siehe auch H erta M andl-Neumann, Über legungen
zu Kriminalität und Mobilität im späten Mittelalter, in: G erhard Jaritz, Albert Müller (Hrsg.),
Migration in der Feudalgesellschaft (Studien zur Histor ischen Sozialwissenschaft 8, Frankfurt
a. M. 1988) 5 7-6 3 , hier 58; im folgenden zitiert: M andl-Neumann, Überlegungen.
64 Werner Rösener, Z ur P roblem atik des spätmittelalterlichen Raubrit ter tums, in: Fe stschrift für
Be ren t Schwineköper. Zu seinem siebzigsten Gebu rtstag, hrsg. von Helmut Maurer und Hans
Patze (Sigmaringen 1982) 4 6 9 -4 8 8, hier 488, siehe auch 469f., 472f. und 481 f.; im folgenden zitiert:
Rösener, Raubritter ; dazu Reuter, Un sicherheit 187, Anm . 72.
63 Rösener, Raubritter 486f., Schulz, Un terwegssein 12f. mit Literatur in An m. 6. Siehe auch Fran-
tisek Graus, Die Randständigen, in: Mora-w (Hrsg.), Unter wegssein 93-1 04 , hier 102.
66 Mandl-Neumann, Über legungen 5 8 -6 0 sowie 63, Anm. 9.
170
M a r t h a Ke il
dung und einem kleinen Geldbetrag, doch kostete der Überfall die Opfer trotzdem
das Leben. Straßenverengungen und Furten waren besonders günstige, weil für die
Auflauernden gut einsehbare O rte für Angriffe. In diesen Protokollen scheinen
keine jüdischen Opfer auf, doch waren Wirte ein bevorzugtes Raubobjekt, denn
bei ihnen war, wie die Verhafteten angaben, Bargeld zu vermuten, was sich auch
von reisenden Geldleihern erwarten ließ. Auch Gemeindebeamte, Pfarrer und rei­
che Bauern gehörten in dieser ländlichen Gegend zum lukrativen Opferkreis67.
Fmie deutsche Bande, deren Steckbrief an den Rat von Bern gelangt war, hatte im
Thüringer Wald 16 Kaufleute ermordet und beraubt, auch eine süddeutsche rott
von 12 Männern trieb bei Basel ihr Unwesen. Eine Räuberbande hatte zwischen
Freiburg und Bern fünf Morde begangen, zwei ihrer O pfer hatte sie, bei kläglicher
Beute, „gebunden und in das wasser geworffen, ein weiteres ermuerdt unnd nebent
sich in die studen gezogen“ . Eine ermordete Frau trug vier Gulden bei sich68.
In Niederösterreich, dem mittelalterlichen Flerzogtum unter der Enns, unter­
nahm der 1462 in Spitz an der Donau hingerichtete Dieb Hans Swarzenperger sei­
ne Beutezüge. E r gestand 48 Diebstähle in einem regional begrenzten Raum rund
um die oberösterreichische Stadt Wels. D ie vor allem von Bauern und Handwer­
kern erbeuteten Güter, meist Vieh, Kleidung und Gegenstände aller Art, verkaufte
er an vom Tatort entfernteren O rte n 69. 1516, in einer Zeit als in der Steiermark
keine Juden mehr geduldet waren, wurde in Aussee der Räuber Hois Gryl hinge­
richtet, dessen Bande auch 31 Morde begangen hatte. Unter der Folter - diese be­
gleitete und relativierte meist die Geständnisse - gab er die Namen von 34 weiteren
Mitgliedern an/0. Auch Übernachtungen in Fierbergen und Tavernen waren nicht
ungefährlich, wie beispielsweise Londoner Gerichtsakten aus dem späten 13. und
frühen 14. Jahrhundert bezeugen: Mindestens 30 Kaufleute wurden von ihren Wir­
ten oder Mitgästen nachts in ihren Quartieren ausgeraubt und ermordet. Wie die
offene Straße boten auch Flospize und Wirtshäuser gute Möglichkeiten für unkon­
trolliertes Auftauchen und unerkanntes Verschwinden71.
Die selten überlieferten Details von Mord und Tathergang werden von einer
Quellengattung ganz anderer Art bestätigt, nämlich von rabbinischen Rechtsgut­
67 Arnold. Esch, Räuber, Diebe, Wegelagerer. Reviere, Beute, Schicksale in Berner Verhörprotokollen
des frühen 16.Jahrhunderts, in: Hochf inanz, Wirtschaftsräume, Innovationen. Festschrift für W ol f­
gang von Stromer, hrsg. von Uwe Bestmann, Franz Irsigler, Jürgen Schneider, Bd. 2 (Trier 1987)
741-7 64 , Literatur 756, Anm. 3 und 4. D ie von ihm herangezogenen Stücke sind im Bern er Staatsar­
chiv bezeichnenderweise unter dem Titel „Unnütze Papiere“ registriert, ebd. 742, Edition 744-747.
68 Esch, ebd. 751 f. mit Besch reib un g der Bandenmitglieder. D ie Reviere dieser „lokalen“ Diebe
waren klein, hier 2 6 Tatort e eines einzelnen auf einem Geb ie t von 20 mal 25 Kilometern; ebd. 752
und 754.
69 G erhardJaritz, P ro blem e um ein Diebsgeständnis des 15. Jah rhunde rts , in: Ja h rb u ch des Museal­
vereines Wels 21 (1977/78) 77- 86 . D ie Edition des Pro tokolls hier 8 1 -8 3 und 86, Karten der Tat­
räume 84f.
70 M andl-Neumann, Über legungen 62. Sie erwähnt auch das Geständn is eines Die bes im steiri­
schen Aussee von 1519, dessen „Einzug sgebiet“ von der Steiermark bis in den süddeutschen Raum
reichte.
71 Reuter, Unsicherheit 171, Anm . 5, und 194.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
171
achten zu einem für Frauen besonders einschneidenden Problem: der Aguna, der
„gebundenen“ und verlassenen Frau. Hier geht es nicht um Männer, die ihre Frauen
im Stich ließen, um an einem fernen O rt ein neues Leben zu beginnen - auch das
mag vorgekommen sein
sondern um Opfer von Raubüberfällen, die für eine
Todeserklärung durch das Bet Din eindeutig und ohne die Absicht, im Interesse
der Frau auszusagen, identifiziert werden mußten: „Wir liegen allhie in einem
Geleit, die haben ein Judn der mort, nun hot men in drei schock gelobt, daß sie
soln weisen, wo er is dermort worden.“ Dies ist die protokollierte und Rabbi
Israel Isserlein übersandte Aussage einer Christin, welche die zwei jüdischen In ­
formanten Jona und Jechiel mit eigenen O hren gehört hatten72. Die unglückliche
Aguna hieß Gelein, Tochter der Peslan und Gattin des Susslein von Tachau. Ein
weiterer Christ kannte zwar nähere Einzelheiten über den Täter, wollte ihn aber
nicht bei den Behörden anzeigen. Die am Rechtsentscheid beteiligten Nürnberger
Rabbiner David Sprinz, David Frank und Salman Segal sowie Israel Isserlein dis­
kutierten alle Erkennungszeichen des Susslein wie Kleidung, Gepäck und Aus­
sehen sowie die Tauglichkeit der - in Zlgwmi-Prozessen zugelassenen - christlichen
Zeugenaussagen und kamen zu dem Schluß, Gelein die Wiederverheiratung zu
erlauben und den für den Gerichtsbezirk zuständigen Rabbiner Elia von Prag zu
informieren.
Ein weiterer ausführlich diskutierter Fall betraf Ester bat Abraham, deren Ehe­
mann David bar Ja kob, genannt Kuntel, unter ungeklärten Umständen ums Leben
kam. Es bestand der Verdacht, daß er von seinen jüdischen Reisegenossen - nicht
nur von christlichen Gaunern drohte Gefahr - , einem gewissen Sanwil Schranz
sowie dessen Frau, ermordet worden war. Mit dem Fall waren die führenden zeit­
genössischen Rabbiner befaßt: Elia von Prag, Jakob Weil, Israel Bruna, Mosche
von Tarvis, Jako b von Padua, Simlin von Triest und ein bisher nicht identifizierter
Josef bar Izchak73.
D er ältere Sohn Michael Schranz gab unter Eid die Aussage seiner Mutter wie­
der, welche das Unterwegssein einer ganzen Familie beschreibt: „David ritt auf
dem Pferd, sie und ihr Mann Sanwil Schranz und ihr kleiner Sohn und ihre kleine
Tochter gingen mit ihm von der Stadt Neuhausen nach Prag. Und der kleine Sohn
führte das Pferd, auf dem dieser David ritt, am Zaum. Sie und ihr Mann gingen in
kurzem Abstand hinterher. Und da fiel David vom Pferd auf den Boden und sie
und ihr Mann eilten herbei, um ihm zu helfen und ihn auf das Pferd zu heben, und
sie dachten, daß er ohnmächtig geworden war. Und sie sprachen ihn an und sahen,
daß er tot war.“74 Da die Zeugenaussagen in Verteidigungsabsicht erfolgt waren,
72 Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Pesakim u-Kh et aw im Nr. 161. D ie in hebräischen Bu chs ta ben w ie­
dergegebenen deutschen bzw. jiddischen Zeugenaussagen sind gesammelt bei Sehneur Salman
Sehasar, O r e D o ro t. M ec hakrim w e - H a ’arot le-Toldot Israel b e - D o r o t ha-achronim (Jerusalem
1971) 2 3 9 -3 1 , hier 253, Nr. 16.
73 Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Pesakim u- Kh eta wim Nr. 2 1 8 -2 21; Israel m e-B nm a, Sefer Sc h e’elot
u-Tesehuwot, hrsg. von M. H erschier (Jerusalem 1959/60) Nr. 28 und 29; Ja k o b Weil, Sc h e’elot
u-Tesch uw ot Nr. 164.
74 Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Pesakim u-Khetaw im N r, 2 1 8 .
172
M a r t h a Ke il
waren die gutachtenden Rabbiner kontroverser Meinung, bis Ester schließlich zur
Witwe erklärt und ihr eine Wiederverheiratung erlaubt wurde75.
Abgesehen vom hakchischen Inhalt und von den realienkundlichen Einblicken
in Reisebedingungen, Kleidung, Aussehen und Gepäckstücken, welche solche
Responsen geben können, sind die darin bewahrten protokollierten Aussagen sel­
tene Überlieferungen von gesprochener Sprache, an deren korrekter Wiedergabe
aufgrund des Charakters der Quelle kaum zu zweifeln ist76.
Eine andere Kategorie von Gefahren auf Reisen bestand im Abpressen von
Zöllen, gleichsam einem „Lösegeld für Güter“, deren Grenze zwischen „legaler“
Abgabe und Straßenraub fließend war. Zwar wurde im Mainzer Landfrieden 1235
verfügt, daß der Einheber unrechtmäßiger Zölle „wie ein gemeiner Räuber und
Wegelagerer“ bestraft werden sollte, ob die Bestimmung jedoch praktische A n­
wendung fand, darf in Frage gestellt werden77. Eine Parallele bestand in der U nter­
scheidung zwischen ordentlichen und außerordentlichen Steuern, die in den jüdi­
schen Quellen in polemischer Paraphrase des talmudischen Grundsatzes „Dina
de-Malkhuta D in a“ (bBaba Kama 13a) - Das Gesetz des Königreiches ist gültiges
Gesetz - „Gesela de Malkhuta“ , Beutegut des Königreichs, genannt wurden. Die
Wahrnehmung als „unrechtmäßig“ bewahrte jedoch keineswegs vor der Zahlungs­
verpflichtung, außerdem konnten die Gemeinden durch die Einordnung als Zölle
oder Sondersteuern auf einen geregelten Vorgang zur Aufbringung zurückgrei­
fen78.
Diese erpreßten Zahlungen betrafen selbstverständlich auch Pilger und aus ande­
ren Gründen Reisende sämtlicher Religionen. Ein anonymisiertes Responsum von
Israel Isserlein überliefert folgenden Fall: „Gruppen von Männern und Frauen, viele
Menschen, reisten von Stadt zu Stadt zu einer Hochzeitsfeier, und sie zogen durch
eine Stadt eines bösen Herrschers, und alle seine Diener waren böse. Und sie erho­
ben über die Juden eine Blutbeschuldigung und töteten sie und setzten alle gefangen
und teilten sie auf die Häuser der Bürger in der ganzen Stadt auf, jeden Mann und
jede Frau für sich. Und sie folterten sie und setzten sie ständig unter Druck, ihren
Glauben zu wechseln. ... Ein Großteil der Gruppe, Männer und Frauen, wider­
stand der Versuchung und wurde zur Heiligung des Namens getötet . . . “79
75 D ie halachische Dis kussion um die Glaubwürdigkeit von Zeugen in ebda. N r . 220.
76 Siehe dazu K eil, Rituals 172-175.
77 Reuter, Unsicherheit 177-180, Qu elle Anm. 39, und 188.
/S Fü r „Gesela d e -M alkh uta“ siche z . B . bereits Meir bar Baruch von Rothenburg, Sc h e’elot
u-Tesch uw ot 1/1 (D ru c k C r em on a, Nachd ru ck Jerusalem 1986) Nr. 222 und Maharil, Sc h e’elot
u-Tesch uw ot Nr. 71 (alte N u m m e r 75), w o es um die Separierung eines Einzeln en von einer außer­
ordentlichen Steuer geht. E r mußte sich beteiligen, auch wenn sie als „Gesela de-M alkh uta“ einge­
stuft wurde. Zu den außeror dentliche n Steuern siehe E berhard Isenmann, Steuern und Abgaben,
in: G J III/3, 2 2 0 8 -2 2 8 1 , hier 2 2 1 4 -2 2 1 6 ; Eric 'Ummer, H a r m o n y and Discord: An Analysis of the
D eclin e of Jewish Self Go v ern m en t in 15'1' C en tu ry Eu rope (N e w Y o r k 1970) bes. 3 7 -3 9 , 139-141,
149-153.
79 Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Terumat h a-D es che n Nr. 241. Das halachische Problem ist hier die
R ü c kk ehr der gefangenen Frauen zu ihren Eh emän ne rn, o b w o h l sie längere Zeit unter Nichtjud en
inhaftiert waren und die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Vergewaltigung bestand.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
173
Eine Hochzeitsfeier war vermutlich der häufigste private Anlaß, sich auf die
Straße zu begeben. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, das Ziel sicher zu erreichen, hing auch
von der aktuellen politischen Situation im Territorium ab. Am 20. April 1450 teilte
Susse, die Witwe des bedeutenden Geldhändlers Smohel von Augsburg, dem Rat
der Stadt Frankfurt am Main mit, daß sie sich mit ihren Kindern in den Schutz des
Pfalzgrafen bei Rhein begeben habe. Als Begründung führte sie an, daß einer ihrer
Söhne „in fremden landen“ Hochzeit halte und sie auch für die Eintreibung von
Außenständen auf Reisen gehen müsse. Sie und ihre Söhne bedürften des besonde­
ren Schutzes, da sie durch Länder von Herren reisen müßten, die zu dieser Zeit mit
der Stadt Frankfurt in Fehde lägen80.
Schutzmaßnahmen
Schutzmaßnahmen vor den Gefahren auf den Reiserouten bestanden auf territori­
aler Basis in den verschiedenen Landfrieden, in die auch Juden auf genommen wur­
den, und auf individueller Ebene in Geleitbriefen, welche zwar keinen Präventiv­
schutz darstellten, doch die Sicherheit einer „Versicherungspolizze“ boten, sich im
Falle eines Übergriffs an das Gericht des Schutzherrn wenden und ihn für Schäden
haftbar machen zu können81.
Auch jüdische Frauen erhielten Geleitbriefe für einen kürzeren oder weiteren
Bewegungsradius, häufig, um Außenstände in einem früheren Wohnort einzutrei­
ben, wie im Februar 1414 Mergard (Miriam) von Fritzlar. Nach sechzehnjährigem
Wohnsitz in Frankfurt am Main war sie Bürgerin in Oppenheim geworden, und
der dortige Rat suchte für sie um Geleit an, um ihre finanziellen Angelegenheiten
zu ordnen, das allerdings wegen der unklaren Rechtsverhältnisse erst im O ktober
erteilt wurde82. Oppenheim liegt 20 km südlich von Mainz, also 45 km von Frank­
furt entfernt, etwa eineinhalb Tagesreisen. Auch Sara von Eppstein, Eva zum
Buchsbaum und Susse, Witwe des Smohel, erhielten städtisches Geleit für ihre G e ­
schäftsbesuche. Andererseits bot die Ablehnung eines Geleitgesuchs ein probates
Druckmittel, um Forderungen durchzusetzen83.
Aktive Geldleiherinnen ließen sich in ihrem Privileg ihre Bewegungsfreiheit mit
dem nötigen Geleitbrief garantieren, wie Scharlat von G örz, Witwe des Schalom,
von Graf Meinhard VII. von Görz. Das Original und die Datierung sind nicht
überliefert, ein ähnlich lautendes Privileg für Pascul von Triest vom Februar 1364
legt jedoch ein Datum kurz vor diesem Zeitraum nahe. Falls Scharlat die Herrso Andernacht, Regesten l/\, 235, N r . 896. Siehe auch die Bitte um Geleit für ihren Soh n, ebda.
234f., Nr. 895.
81 Zu den Landfrieden siehe Rösener, Raubr ittertum 4 76-4 81 und zu m Geleit: L exi ko n des M ittel­
alters 4 (München 200 2) 1204f.; auch Reuter, Un sicherheit 19 5f.
82 Andernacht, Regesten 1/1, 34f,, Nr. 114-1 17; 44, Nr. 150 (1 414 O k t o b e r 3).
Sj Andernacht, Regesten I/I, 45, Nr. 154 (1 414 N o v e m b e r 14), 138, N r . 488 (1 438 Mä rz 13),
237, N r . 9 1 0 (1 450 Juli 9); Beispiele von Ablehnungen: 236, N r . 901 (1450 Mai 26, Eva zum
Bu chsbaum), 238, N r . 9 1 5 (1 450 Juli 14, Susse, Witw e des Smohel).
174
M a r t h a Ke il
schaft der G örzer verlassen wollte, erhielt sie für die Städte Laibach/Ljubjana,
Triest und Cividale freies G eleit, und der G raf übernahm für zwei M onate den
Schutz für ihren Besitz - für Pascul übernahm er ihn über ein Jahr. Im Fall einer
Nichtverlängerung des Privilegs, was einer Vertreibung gleichkam, sicherte M ein­
hard Scharlat und ihrer M utter M inz Geleit bis zu den drei Städten zu. Für diese
und andere R echte zahlten die Frauen jährlich 4 M ark Schillinge84.
Beliebte Schutzm aßnahm en bei Juden wie bei C hristen waren neben dem Z u­
sammenschluß zu größeren Gruppen mit bew affneter Begleitung vor allem Ver­
kleidungen. Gew öhnliche Reisende verkleideten sich als Pilger, Frauen als Männer
und Juden als C hristen, doch „ ... nicht nur mangelnde Sprachkenntnisse konnten
eine erfolgreiche D urchführung vereiteln, sondern auch oft genug die Unfähigkeit,
die eigene standesspezifische Körperhaltung und G estik zu unterdrücken“83. Zu
ergänzen wäre die Beachtung der Gender-determ inierten Haltungen, G esten und
Stimmfärbungen. D er Jerusalem pilger M eschullam ben M enachem beschrieb sehr
eindrücklich die Angst, als mit weißem Turban als m uslim ischer Türke verkleide­
ter Jude von Räuberbanden erkannt zu werden. D ie kleinste verräterische Geste
konnte den Tod bedeuten86.
Israel Isserlein erlaubte die Verkleidung als C hrist, jed och nur in Lebensgefahr
und aus Angst vor Zwangstaufe, nicht jed och, um etwa einer Zollzahlung zu
entgehen87. D aß Ju d en sichtlich als C hristen „durchgehen“ konnten, läßt auf
relative N icht-U nterscheid barkeit in Aussehen, Sprache und H abitus schließen.
D ie von Isserlein angeführten M erkm ale christlicher Kleidung bestanden in bun­
ten Farben und m odischen Zipfeln, eine M ode, an der auch konservative Christen
K ritik übten. D ie Verfasser des Sefer Chassidim führten an, daß sich jüdische
Frauen zum Schutz vor Gefahren auf Reisen entgegen des biblischen Verbots als
M änner und sogar als N onnen verkleiden durften: „O bw ohl die Tora sagt:
M ännertracht sei nicht an einer Frau, und ein M ann soll nicht ein Frauenkleid
anziehen (D eut. 22, 5), gilt: Wenn Feinde die Stadt belagern oder wenn man unter­
wegs ist und wenn sie [die N ichtjuden] wissen, daß es Frauen sind, werden sie mit
ihnen liegen. D ie Frauen sollen daher in M ännerkleidung gehen und auch mit
84 „Wann auch oder zu welher zeit die egenanten juden under uns nicht peleiben wollten, so sullen
wir ir leib und ir gut gclaiten haizzen gen La ubach (Laibach), gen Triest oder gen Sibdat (Cividale),
an welher stat der dreyer sie das vordernt; und do wir ez hin getun mugen an geverde. U n d was sie
hab under uns liezzen, das sol in unserm scherm und Sicherung sein von dem tag und sie sich von
uns gezogen haben zway gancz manod, die darnach nächst nochein ander ch om en t an geverd.“
H H S t A Wien, Hands chrift „weiß“ 594, fol. 62v-63r. Das Privileg ist nur in Ab schrift vorhanden.
Siche dazu Keil, Maistrin 33f. Z u r Ju de npo litik der Grafen von G ö r z siehe Lohrmann, Ju de nre cht
239f. und Markus J. Wenninger, Ju de n im Herrschaftsbereich der Gr afen von G ö r z und G ö r z Tirol, in: Sympo sium zur Ges ch ich te von Millstatt und Kärnten, hrsg. von Franz N ikolasch (Mill­
statt 20 0 0) 108-133. Be ide Privilegien ohne N a m en sn enn un g oder Erwähnun g, daß eines davon für
eine Frau best immt war, bei Wadi, Ju de n in Kärnten 118.
83 Reuter, Un sicherheit 196 mit Beispielen in Anm. 133. Eine Botin aus Trier verkleidete sich als
Mann.
86 Adler, Jewish Travellers 182f.
8/ Israel Isserlein har Petachja, Terumat ha- D es chen Nr. 197.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä tm i t t e l a l t e r l i c h e n A s c h k e n a s
175
Schw ert, sodass die Feinde meinen, sie seien M änner.“88 Es war also sogar erlaubt,
sich als N onne zu verkleiden, wie auch R abbi Isserlein von W iener N eustadt 150
Jahre später gestattete: „D ie Frau, die unterwegs war und gehört hat, daß N ich t­
juden ihr begegnen werden, und fürchtet, daß sie mit ihr liegen werden, kann sich
als N onne verkleiden, damit sie meinen, sie sei eine N onn e, und nicht mit ihr
liegen.“89
M o bilität und Sittsam keit
Aus den U rkunden, Einträgen in Stadtbüchern und anderen Geschäftsquellen läßt
sich nicht eindeutig schließen, ob und in welchem Ausmaß jüdische Frauen zur
Erfüllung ihrer G eschäftspflichten unterwegs sein mußten. D och daß eine N o t­
wendigkeit bestand, sich über G efahren auf Reisen, die Ü bernachtung in christ­
lichen Fierbergen oder gar in christlichen Privathäusern Gedanken zu machen,
geht aus einigen Q uellen sehr wohl hervor. Es stellt sich nun die Frage, in welcher
Weise sich die M obilität von Jüdinnen auf ihr religiöses, kulturelles oder gesell­
schaftliches Leben auswirkte. H atte sie halachische Im plikationen und waren die
für die Männerehre bedeutsame Zucht und Sittsam keit wichtiger als der Beitrag
ihrer Frauen zum Fam ilien- und Gem eindewohl?
Ein Pendant zur halachischen Situation der Aguna, welche sich nicht wieder ver­
heiraten kann, solange ihr Ehem ann nicht für tot erklärt wurde, existiert zwar auf
der männlichen Seite nicht, doch befindet sich ein Mann, vor allem ein Kohen,
dessen Frau eventuell vergewaltigt wurde, ebenfalls in einer Zwangslage: Wenn die
Vergewaltigung eindeutig erwiesen ist, ist er gezwungen, ihr den Scheidebrief Get
zu geben, auch wenn dies seinen Gefühlen von Zuneigung und Verantwortung zu­
wider laufen sollte90. So lautet die strenge Halacha, die zwar Ermessensspielraum
in den G erichtsurteilen läßt, aber doch unveränderbar in biblischen und talmudischen Gesetzen wurzelt. „W eich“ waren die K onstruktionen von Ehre, Zucht und
Sittsam keit in Zusammenhang mit relativ großer geschäftlicher Freizügigkeit der
Frauen91.
ss Sefer Chassidim, Ed. Parma N r . 2 0 6 und Ed. Bolo gn a Nr. 200. Zitiert in: Susanne Borebers, J ü ­
disches Frauenleben im Mittelalter. D ie Texte des Sefer Chasidim, hrsg. von Johan n M aier (Juden­
tum und U m w e lt 68, Fr ank fu rt a. M., Berlin u. a. ) 998) 156. Zu waffentragenden Ju de n siehe Mar­
kus J. Wenninger, Von jüdischen Rittern und anderen waffentragenden Juden im mittelalterlichen
D eutschland, in: Aschkenas. Zeitschrift für Ge sch ichte und Ku ltu r der Ju de n 13/1 (2 00 3) 35-8 2
und die weiteren Beiträge in dieser Nummer.
89 Sefer Chassidim, Ed. Parma N r . 261 und Ed. Bologn a Nr. 702. Zitiert in Borehers, ebd. 159.
Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Terumat ha-D es chen Nr. 196. Siehe dazu Keil, Geschäftserfolg 53f.
90 Siehe den Artikel „Agu na “ in der En cyclopaedia Judaica 1 (Jerusalem 1970) col. 430 -4 33.
91 M artinäJinges, D ie Eh re als T he m a der historischen Anth ropologie. Bemerkung en zur Wissen­
schaftsgeschichte und zur Konzeptualisicrung, in: Verletzte Ehre. Eh rkonflik te in Gesellschaften
des Mittelalters und der Fr üh en Neuzeit, hrsg. von Klaus Schreiner und G erd Schwerhof} (K öln,
Weimar, Wien 1995) 2 9 -6 2 , bes. 30 und 48. Siehe auch Robert Jütte, Eh re und Ehrverlust im spätmittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Ju de ntu m , in: Schreiner, Schwerhoff, ebd. 144-165.
176
M a r t h a Ke il
In seinem Standardwerk zur jüdischen Frauengeschichte des 10. bis 12. Jahrhun­
derts „Pious and Rebellious. Jew ish W om en in the Middle Ages“ konstatierte
Avraham Grossm an die im Vergleich zur m uslimisch-sefardischen Gesellschaft
ungehinderte M obilität von aschkenasischen Frauen, die vor allem aus ihren G e ­
schäftsaktivitäten resultierte und keinerlei A nstoß bei Ehem ännern und Rabbinern
erregte: „There is not the slightest hint in any o f these sources that these things
(Geschäftsreisen, Verhandlungen mit Christen etc., Anm .) were seen as entailing
any immodesty.“92 D ie von ihm herangezogenen rabbinischen Q uellen stammen
allerdings aus einer Zeit, als die weibliche Geldleihe ein ziemlich neues und sich
rasch ausbreitendes Phänomen in der aschkenasischen G eschichte war. Sie behan­
deln auch nicht die Zniut, was w ortw örtlich die sittsame Zurückgezogenheit im
Haus bezeichnet93, sondern das halachisch verbotene Alleinsein Jichud mit einem
Mann außerhalb der Familie, und, erschwerend, mit einem N ichtjuden. D ie Tosafot zu Avoda Sara 23a konstatieren jedoch in überraschender D eutlichkeit, daß es
„unmöglich für eine jüdische Frau ist, nicht von Zeit zu Zeit mit einem N ichtjuden
alleine zu sein“. D ie Tosafot argumentierten, daß eine jüdische Frau bei einem all­
täglichen Zusam m entreffen mit einem Christen bei Bedrohung um Flilfe rufen und
gerettet werden würde, und daß der C hrist dies auch wüßte. N ur bei einer Einker­
kerung durch einen M achthaber bestünde die G efahr einer Vergewaltigung mit
halachischen Folgen. Sicher spielte in diesen Argum enten die Tatsache eine Rolle,
daß die Geschäftsfrauen im H ochm ittelalter großteils Angehörige von Familien
der jüdischen O berschichten waren94.
Für das Spätm ittelalter sprechen einige Rabbiner eine schärfere Sprache, wenn
auch ciie Aussagen zu diesem Them a, verglichen mit dem hohen Prozentsatz von
Frauen im Darlehensgeschäft, erstaunlich selten sind. D eutlich zeigt sich diese E n t­
wicklung zur größeren Strenge an zwei rabbinischen Statements zum selben P ro­
blem, zwischen denen etwa 250 Jahre liegen. Elieser ben Jo el ha-Levi (1140-1225)
und sein Kollege Simcha ben Schmuel von Speyer waren mit dem Fall einer verhei­
rateten Frau konfrontiert, welche sich, nachdem keine Reisegruppe verfügbar war,
mit einem einzelnen Juden auf den Weg machte. Ein Zw eiter kam hinzu und die
beiden M änner vergewaltigten sie während der Rast in einem Wald. Im Responsum
wird ausdrücklich angemerkt, daß die Frau „weinte und schrie“ . Entgegen der H alacha, wie Grossm an betont, wurde sie ihrem Ehemann erlaubt, denn „täglich ge­
hen die Frauen mit zwei oder drei Männern und sie sehen, daß die G elehrten das
nicht verhindern und kein V erbot aussprechen.“93 M osche M inz (gestorben vor
n Avraham Grossman, Pious and Rebellious. Je wis h W om en in Medieval Eu ro pe (Hanover, L o n ­
don 200 4 ) 117; im folgenden zitiert: Grossman, Pious (engl.). Z ur Be nu tzung der Qu ellen em p ­
fiehlt sich die hebräische Originalausgabe gleichen Titels (Jerusalem 2001); im folgenden zitiert:
Grossmart, Pious (hebr.).
9j Judith R. Baskin, Midrashic Wom en. Formations o f the Fe minine in R ab binic Literature
(Hanover, Lo n don 200 2) 113 zu bGitt in 90a-b.
<M Grossman, Pious (engl.) 117-121 und ders., Pious (hebr.) 201.
95 Sefer R a ’via §920, zitiert in Grossman, Pious (hebr.) 202. Die Vergewaltiger wurden verhaltet,
flohen aber nach einer Bestechung. D e n Fall bespricht auch der Schüler dieser beiden Rabbiner,
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä tm i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
177
1469)% äußerte sieh zum selben Problem in einer Mischung aus Schärte und Resigna­
tion. O b von einem aktuellen Fall die Rede ist, wird nicht klar, denn es handelt sich
um einen N achsatz zu einem langen Rechtsgutachten mit anderem Them a an sei­
nen Verwandten Seligman Bing: „Und was du über die Angelegenheit des Jichud
geschrieben hast, daß Frauen mit einem einzelnen Mann von Stadt zu Stadt gehen
und ähnliches, so ist das die W ahrheit. Und weil sie es heutzutage wegen unserer
vielen Sünden so tun, geschehen daraus weitere Verderben, denn diese G eneration
ist völlig verkommen. Und es ist nicht in meiner M acht, das oder was daraus her­
vorgeht zu verhindern. D er Ewige erbarme sich über uns in der Güte Seiner grund­
losen L iebe.“97 D ie Grundbedeutung des von ihm verwendeten A djektivs par uz ist
„durchbrechen, schrankenlos sein“, im Talmud wird der Ausdruck für Männer,
Frauen und Handlungen verwendet, die die R abbiner als triebhaft und obszön ver­
urteilten98. Som it konnotiert das W ort mit Prostitution, und eine „ehrbare“ Frau
als Pruza, Flure, zu bezeichnen zog einen Ehrenbeleidigungsprozeß mit V ersöh­
nungsritual Mechila und einer Geldstrafe nach sich99.
Eine Verschärfung ihrer Brisanz erfuhren die mit der M obilität verbundenen
Fragen durch die Tatsache, daß Frauen im Zuge ihrer G eschäftstätigkeit bei
Christen übernachteten. Aus heutiger Sicht der m ittelalterlichen castitas wäre zu
erwarten, daß dies eine G renze des Tolerierbaren bedeutete und daher nicht vor­
kam. Eines der wenigen Rechtsgutachten, die sich mit diesem Problem beschäfti­
gen, stellt jedoch nicht in erster Linie das Übernachten bei Christen zur halachischen D iskussion, sondern die nachfolgende Gefangenschaft der betreffenden
Frau:
„Frage: Eine mit einem gewöhnlichen Juden ( Israel ) verheiratete Frau ist regel­
mäßig in den Häusern von Christen allein, manchmal in der N acht wie am Tag,
aufgrund von Pfandleihe (oder: Im m obiliengeschäfte) und Handel. Und sie geht
üblicher Weise in die D örfer und sehr oft übernachtet sie auch unter den Christen,
etwa acht Tage oder mehr. Und sie verkaufte üblicher Weise auf Kredit von den
C hristen, was sie nicht einlösen durfte, und deshalb wurde sie viele Male verhaftet
und für Tage und W ochen allein unter den Christen gefangen gehalten. Ist sie ihrem
Izchak bar Mosche Or Santa: Sefer O r Sarua Bd. 1 (Schltom ir 1862, N ac hd ru ck Tel Aviv 1976)
H ileh ot Jab am we -Kid du schin 166, Nr. 615; im folgenden zitiert: Sefer O r Sarua.
96 Zu ihm siehe G J III/2, 1197 und 1628.
97 Mosche Minz, Sche’elot u-Tesch uw ot, hrsg. von Jonathan Schraga D um aw , 2 Bände (Jerusalem
1991) B d . 2, N r.8 7 , § 8; im folgenden zitiert: Mosche Minz, Sche’elot u-Teschuwot.
98 Maharil bezeichnete es als Prizut, wenn „eine Frau unter die Män ner ge ht“ und das Kin d, wie es
noch Ende des 13.Jahrh underts verbreiteter Minhag war, als Patin (Sandakit ode r B a ’alat Berit)
während der Bcsch ne idun g auf ihrem Sc h oß hielt. Sefer Maharil: Mi nhagim, hrsg. von Shelomo
Spitzer (Jerusalem 1989) Beri t Mila 487, Nr. 22. Siehe dazu Keil, N am haft im Geschäft 351 und
Lawrence A. H offm an, T h e R ole of W om en at Rituals of T he ir Infant Children, in: Judaism in
Practice. Fr om the Middle Ages through the Early Mo de rn Period, hrsg. von Lawrence Fine (P rin­
c eton 2001) 9 9-1 1 4 , sowie Grossman, Pious (hebr.) 321 -3 24.
99 Menachem Merseburg, D in e Boschet, in: Ja k o b Weil, Sc h e’elot u- Te sc huw ot 1 7 6 -1 7 8 , hier 177,
äußere Spalte, 3. Din. Das zweite W ort für Hu re ist Sona, siehe ebd., innere Spalte, 5. D m (eigene
Zählung).
178
M arth a Keil
Mann erlaubt oder verboten, oder wird sie wenigstens ,Ü bertreterin des G esetzes“
genannt oder nicht?“ 100
Welches konkrete Vergehen dieser Frau vorgew orfen wurde, läßt sich aus
den knappen Andeutungen schwer rekonstruieren. Entw eder sie verkaufte verfal­
lene Pfänder vor der vereinbarten Frist oder ohne sie vorher entsprechend dem
Fridericianum dem Jud en richter zu zeigen, oder sie verkaufte unerlaubte Pfän­
der wie K irchen- oder D iebesgut oder, wie in manchen Privilegien verboten,
Grund und Boden, wie das hebräische W ort Sarsarut nahelegen k ön n te101. M ögli­
cherweise erging es ihr wie der Frankfurter G eldleiherin Selkeit, von der das
G erichtsbuch verm erkt, „daz Selkeit die jydinne eyne missetad verbuszen musze
von dez frabels wegin, daz sie die phande gewert hat“ 102. Das ihr zur Last gelegte
Vergehen ist für unsere Fragestellung allerdings nicht relevant. W ichtig ist, daß sie
die Frau eines Israel und nicht eines Koben war, also die priesterlichen R einheits­
gesetze für sie nicht zur Anwendung kamen. D es weiteren schien nicht die simple
Tatsache ihrer Ü bernachtung bei C h risten das Problem darzustellen, sondern
deren lange D auer von einer W oche und mehr. Außerdem ist nicht klar, ob ihre
oftm alige G efangenschaft im Jich ad mit C h risten ein halachisches V erbot für
ihren Ehem ann ergab oder sie in einen Status als G esetzesübertreterin ( O veret al
Dat) versetzte, dem zufolge sie eine Scheidung mit Verlust ihrer K etubba zu er­
warten hatte. In jedem Fall hatte ihr guter R u f Schaden gelitten, denn eine Overet
al Dat wird im Talmud (bK et. 72b) mit sittenwidrigem Verhalten in Verbindung
gebracht103.
Israel Isserleins A ntw ort ist ausführlich und stützt sich vor allem auf eine Teschuwa des A scher ben Jechiel vom Beginn des 14. Jahrhunderts. N ach ihm ist eine
solche Frau ihrem Ehem ann, sogar einem Kohen, erlaubt, gleichgültig, ob ihr A uf­
enthalt bei den C hristen wegen Pfandleihe (oder Im m obiliengeschäften) oder we­
100 Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Teru mat ha-D es che n Nr. 242.
101 Zu den Pfandbestimmungen im Fridericianum siehe Lohrm ann, Ju de nre ch t 57, 62; zum Ver­
bot, Im mo bilien als Pfand zu nehmen, siehe ebd. 78f., 161 f ., 242.
Isidor Kracauer (Hrsg.), U rk un de nb uch zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den in Fr ankfurt am Main von
1150 -1 400, Bd. 1: U rkun de n, Rechenbüch er, Be de nbüc her (F rankfurt a .M . 1914) 835, G erich ts ­
bücher 1396, fol. 69a. Selkeit ist häufig erwähnt, siehe ebd. Register 1037. Einen ähnlichen Fall
überliefert Israel Bruna, Sc h e ’elot u- Te sc huw ot Nr. 57: D ie Bürge r von B r ün n nahmen eine Frau
namens Schafra gefangen, der sie mobile Pfänder zum Verkauf gegeben hatten und die diese an
einen gewissen Ab raham Je kel und andere Ju de n weiterverliehen hatte, worauf „nach ihren Geset­
zen die Todesstrafe steh t“. D as Problem war hier aber die Bürgs chaft für Anteile des Lösegelds.
103 Z ur „Gesetzesübertreterin“ siehe Mischna K e tu b b o t V I I , 6: „Folgende sind oh ne Morgengabe
zu entlassen: Die das G es et z des Moses (Dat Mosche; die Halacha, Anm .) und die jüdische (Sitte)
(Dat jehudit) Übertritt“ . Das Ge se tz des Mose s übertreten heißt: dem Eh em ann etwas nicht Verzehntes zum Essen geben, als Menstruierende Verkehr erlauben, auf der Straße spinnen, keine
Teighebe absondern, G elübde nicht halten. D ie jüdische Sitte übertreten heißt: barhäuptig auf der
Straße gehen, sich mit jedem Menschen unterhalten, den Erze ug er in Gegen wart seiner N a c h k o m ­
men zu schmäh en und ungebührlich laut zu sprechen. D ie Disku ssion dazu in b K e tu b b o t 72b,
worin das Spinnen auf der Straße mit ob sz önen Gesten und das Un terhalten mit „Scherzen mit
jungen Le uten“ assoziiert wird.
J ü d i s c h e F r a u e n im W i r t s c h a f t s l e b e n des s p ä t m i t t e l a l t e r l ic h e n A s c h k e n a s
179
gen Heilkunde (oder: Handel mit Arzneiwaren) erfolgt ist104. Auch nahm Isserlein
das zitierte Argument der Tosafisten auf, daß es für eine jüdische Frau unmöglich
ist, nicht hin und wieder mit N ichtjuden alleine zu sein. D ie K ontroverse zwischen
Raschi, den Tosafisten und anderen A utoritäten die „G esetzesübertreterin“ be­
treffend entschied Isserlein folgendermaßen: Ein freiwilliger/«c7;«(/, noch dazu mit
Christen, die als schitufe sima, überaus obszön, bekannt sind (bSchabb. 152a),
macht die Frau zur Overet al Dat, und wenn sich ihr Ehemann nicht scheiden läßt,
wird er Rescha, Bösew icht, genannt103. Zum Absprechen der K etubba ist allerdings
eine offizielle Verwarnung vor zwei Zeugen (H atra’a) nötig, welche in diesem Fall
aufgrund der Um stände nicht erfolgen kon n te106. Halachisch bestand also keine
eindeutige Handhabe, eine solche Frau von ihren Geschäftsgew ohnheiten oder
-erfordernissen abzuhalten. Wenn der Ehem ann damit einverstanden war, hatte sie
außer dem mißbilligenden B lick mancher R abbiner nichts zu befürchten. Anders
lag der Fall bei einer Gefangennahme mit D rohung von Erm ordung und Zwangs­
taufe. D ie grausamen Ereignisse der W iener Gesera von 1420/21 und anderer Ver­
folgungen gaben zur D iskussion der halachischen Konsequenzen reichlich Anlaß,
sind aber in diesem Zusammenhang nicht von Bedeutung107.
Zusam m enfassung
D ie zitierten Entscheide und resignierten Kom m entare zeigen, daß Rabbiner, wel­
che weibliche G eschäftstätigkeit oder zum indest deren konsequente D urchfüh­
rung mit beruflich bedingten Ü bernachtungen bei Christen als in höchstem Maße
sittenwidrig und ehrenrührig empfanden, keine ITandhabe gegen die Frauen hat­
ten. D ie wirtschaftliche Pragm atik überwog sichtlich die m oralischen Bedenken,
anders wäre der hohe Prozentsatz von Frauen in der Geldleihe nicht erklärbar.
D och ob nun der in Terum at ha-D eschen 241 behandelte Fall einen, wie ich anneh­
me, konkreten Anlaß hatte oder nur halachische D iskussion ist, er zeigt, daß die
längere Aufenthaltsdauer bei C hristen in D örfern, wo keine jüdische Fam ilie eine
Übernachtungsm öglichkeit bot, eine verheiratete Frau in Verruf und in die Nähe
von Prizut , H urerei, bringen konnte. Auch die G efahr der Vergewaltigung und
104 Zu jüdischen Ärztinnen siehe Wolfgang Treue, Verehrt und angespien: Zur Ges ch ich te jü di­
scher Ä rz te in Aschkenas von den Anfängen bis zur Akademisierung. W ürzb urg er medizinhisto­
rische Mitteilungen 21 (2002) 139-204 , hier 173 und 1 8 4 -1 8 7; Joseph Shatzmiller, Jews, Medicine
and Medieval Society (Berkeley, L os Angeles 1994) 10 8-112, Toch, D ie jü dische Fr au 38.
105 Ebenfalls ein die Eh re beleidigender Ausdruck , siehe Merseburg, D in e B ösc h et (Schan dp rozes­
se), in: Weil, S c h e’elot u- Teseh uw ot 179, äußere Spalte, 3. D in (eigene Zählung).
106 Z um leichtfertigen Aussprechen einer H atra 'a vor zwei Zeugen siehe Sefer O r Sarua 1, H ilc hot
Jab am we -Kid du schin Nr. 616.
107 Das T h e m a der bei der Gesera gefangenen Frauen bei Israel Isserlein bar Petachja, Terumat
ha-D es che n Nr. 241, Maharil, S c h e’elot u-Te sc huw ot Nr. 72, Mosche Min?., Sc h e’elot u-Teschuw ot
Nr. 103. Siehe Mordechai Breuer, W o m en in Je wis h M art yr olo gy (hebr.), in: Facing the Cross. T h e
Persecutions o f 1096 in H isto ry and Historiography, hrsg. von Yom Tov Assis,Jerem y Cohen u.a.
(Jerusalem 2000).
180
M a rth a Keil
Gefangennahme auf Reisen mit ihren halachischen Im plikationen der Zwangs­
scheidung m ochte Ehefrauen von berufsbedingtem längerem Unterwegssein abge­
halten haben. Dies ist nicht der einzige Grund, warum sich vor allem unter den
führenden Geschäftsfrauen größtenteils W itwen befanden, denn das jüdische Eheund Verm ögensrecht begünstigt diesen Faktor ebenfalls in hohem M aße108. D och
die geforderte Zniut einer Tochter Israels, deren „H errlichkeit im Inneren“ liegt109,
mag zum Ausschluß der Frauen von bedeutenden G eschäften, die höhere M obili­
tät erforderten, maßgeblich beigetragen haben.
10s Siehe An m. 16.
109 Susan Grossman, R ivka H aut (Hrsg.), Daughters o f the King. W o m en and the Synagogue
(Philadelphia, Jerusalem 1992) Einleitung X X I I - X X I V , zu Psalm 45, 14: „D ie K ö nigst oc hte r ist
herrlich im Inn er en “.
M ichael Toch
Econom ic Activities of German Jews
in the Middle Ages"
I. Jew ish Trade in the 10 th—11th C enturies
The Jew s first attracted to German lands were primarily m erchants, as succinctly
stated by Gershom ben Jehudah “ Light of the E xile” o f M ainz, the forem ost
religious authority of his time (ca. 960-1028): Because their (the Je w s’) livelihood
This essay is the fruit of long years of research in the history o f G er m an Je ws as well as in the
econom ic history o f European Je ws, bo th topics for which a b o o k each is in preparation. See also
my collection o f articles: M ichael Toch, Peasants and Je ws in Medieval G er m any : Studies in C u lt u ­
ral, Social and E c o n o m ic H isto r y (Aldershot 2003). All translations fr om the H eb r ew sources,
except where otherwise noted, are mine. T h e following abbreviations are used for wor ks quoted a
num ber of times: Agus - Irving Agus (ed.), U rb an Civilization in Pr e-C ru sa de Eu rop e, 2 vols.
(Leiden 1965); Andernacht - Dietrich Andernacht (ed.), Regesten zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den in der
Rei chsstadt Fr ankfurt am Main von 140 1- 151 9, 3 vols. (H an n o ver 1996); Aronius = Julius Aronius
(ed.), Regesten zur Geschich te der Ju de n im Fränkischen und Deu tschen Reich bis zum Ja h re 1273
(Berlin 1902, Hildesheim 1970); Caro - Georg Caro, Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Ju de n
im Mittelalter und der Neuzeit, 2 vols. (Leipzig 1908-20 , Hildesheim 1964); Dinur = Ben-Zion
Dinur (ed.), Israel in the Diaspora, vol. II (Tel Aviv ^ 1959, Hebrew) ; Ge rm ania Judaica I—III =
Germ ania Judaica, v o l l : Von den ältesten Zeiten bis 1238, ed. by M. Brann, I. Elbogen , A. Frei­
mann, FI. Tykocinski (Breslau 1917-34, T übin gen ^ 1963); vol. II: Von 1238 bis zur Mitt e des
14.Jahrhunderts, ed. by Z. Avneri, 2 parts (Tüb in gen 1968); vol. III: 13 50-1 519, 3 parts, ed. by A.
Maimon, M. Breuer, Y. Guggenheim (Tüb in gen 19 87 -2003 ); Gershom = T h e R esponsa of R ab b enu G ersh om M e o r ha-G olah, ed. by Shlomo Eidelberg (N e w York 1955, H eb rew ); H offm ann =
Moses H offm ann (ed.), D er Geldhandel der deutschen Ju den während des Mittelalters bis zum
Ja h re 1350 (Leipzig 1910); Kisch = Guido Kisch, T h e j e w s in Medieval Germany. A Study o f T he ir
Legal and Social Status (C hic ag o 1949, N e w Y o r k 1970); Linder = Amnon Linder (ed.), T h e Je ws
in the Legal Sources o f the Ea rly Middle Ages (Detroit, Jerusalem 1998); M aharam = Responsa
Meir ben B arukh o f R o then bur g, ed. M.-A. Bloch, part 4, print Prague (Budapest 1891); Mentgen
= G erd Mentgen, Studien zur Ge sch ichte der Ju den im mittelalterlichen Elsaß (H an n over 1995);
Mutius = Flans-Georg von Mutius (ed.), Rechtsentsch eide rheinischer Rab b inen vor dem ersten
Kreuzzug, 2 vols. (F rankfurt a . M . 1984-85); Neubauer, Stern = A d o lf N eubauer, Moritz Stern
(eds.), Hebr äische Berichte üb er die Judenve rfolgungen während der Kreu zz üge (Berlin 1892);
Schmandt = Matthias Schmandt, Judei, cives et incole: Studien zur jüdischen Geschich te Köln s im
Mittelalter (H annove r 2002); Shatzmiller = Joseph Shatzmiller, Shylock Reconsidered. Je ws, M o n e y ­
lending and Medieval Society (Berkeley, L os Angeles, O x f o rd 1990); Soloveitchik, Paw nbroking
= H aim Soloveitchik , P awnbrokin g. A Study in the Inter-Relation ship between Halakhah, E c o n o ­
mic Activity and C om m un al Self-Image (Jerusalem 1985, He bre w) ; Soloveitchik, Principles =
H aim Soloveitchik, Principles and Pressures: Je wish Trade in Gentile W ine in the Middle Ages (Tel
182
Michael T och
depends on their com m erce1. W hat was its nature, which were its custom ers, what
functions and needs did it fulfill in the econom y of the period? T he few extant
Latin sources cannot answer such questions, even though scholars have used them
for a long time to construct sweeping theories (see below). We are better served by
the Llebrew texts, the earliest of w hich were penned by the before-m entioned
G ershom in the late 10th and early 11th century. F o r the first part o f the 11th cen­
tury there are also the legal decisions collected in the Sefer ba-Dinim of Jehudah
ha-C ohen (M ainz, to ca. 1055). F o r the second part of the century we have Responsa and legal decisions by a number o f scholars active in M ainz and W orm s2.
W hat was the merchandise bought and sold? O ne com m odity regularly m en­
tioned - slaves - should be struck from the list. In all probability, Germ an and
other European Jew s o f the Early Middle Ages m ost did not practice the slave
trade to any significant degree. T h ey certainly did not dom inate this trade3. O f
other glittering treasures o f inter-continental com m erce too very little is found in
the sources. Rather, this was a blend o f staple goods such as wine, grains, salted
fish, horses and cattle, dyed hides, raw w ool, cloth, ready-made garments, metal
vessels. In addition, there were more valuable goods such as spices, medicines, pre­
cious textiles and metals, and gilded vessels. M ost of the merchandise was pur­
chased on inland markets from Jew ish and non-Jew ish business partners, with the
fair o f C ologne the m ajor venue and the Rhine River betw een Cologne, M ainz, and
Worms the main artery o f transport. Secondary routes were opened in the early
12th century towards the N etherlands to the west and central G erm any to the east.
A long these conduits over time schedules of shipping and hauling, lodging, part­
nerships, and accounting were established. Business trips to foreign parts were
undertaken too - to Poland via Prague and Krakow, to H ungary and southern
Aviv 200 3, Hebrew) ; Toch, Geld und Kredit = M ichael Toch , Geld und Kredit in einer spatmittel­
alterlichen Landschaft. Zu einem unbeachteten hebräischen Schuldenregister aus Nied erbaye rn
1329-13 32) , in: Deut sches Arch iv 38 (1 982) 4 9 9 -5 5 0 ; Toch, Geldhandel = M ichael Toch, D e r jü di­
sche Geldhandel in der Wirtschaft des deutschen Spätmittelalters: N ü r n b e rg 135 0-1 499, in: Blätter
für deutsche Landesgeschichte 117 (1981 ) 2 8 3 -3 1 0 ; Toch, Tätigkeit = M ichael Toch, D ie wirtsc haf t­
liche Tä tig ke it, in: Germania Judaica III/3 (Tü bin gen 200 3) 2 1 3 9 -2 1 6 4 ; Toch, Wirtschaft = M ichael
Toch , Wi rtschaft und Geldwesen der Ju den Frankfurts in Spätmittelalter und Frühneuzeit, in: K.
Grözinger (ed.), Jü dische Ku ltu r in Fr ank furt am Main von den Anfän gen bis zur Gegenwart
(F rankfurt a. M. 1997) 25-4 6.
1 Gershom, no.2 1. T h e last word - Sehorah - means both c om m erce and merchandise.
2 T h e greater part of the texts o f the 1 0 * and l l ' 1' centuries is available in English and Ger m an
translation: H offm ann, Agus, Mutius.
3 F o r detailed arguments and source quot ations on this hotly debated question see M ichael Toch,
Je w s and Com m erc e: M od ern Fancies and Medieval Realities, in: S. Cavaciocchi (ed.), Il ruolo
ec on om ic o delle minor anze in Europa. Secc. X I I I - X V I I I (Atti della X X X I Settimana di Studi,
Istit uto Fran ces co Datini, P ra to) (Fire nze 200 0) 43-5 8. Michael M c C o r m i c k has recently reaf­
firmed, also contra my arguments, the involvement o f Je w s in the slave trade. How ever, “ C on tr ary
to the c o m m o n assertion that Je w s dominated the slave trade, systematic scrutiny of the sources
shows that early medieval... Christians, as well as Slavs and Muslims, all traded in slaves”: Michacl
M cCormick, N ew Light on the ‘D a rk A ge s’: H o w the Slave Trade Fuelled the Carolin gian E c o n ­
omy, in: Past & Present 177 (2002) 5 2-5 3, note 88.
E c o n o m i c A c t i v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
183
Russia via Regensburg and the D anube River, possibly also towards Venice along
the mountain routes of southeastern Austria. However, com pared to the frequency
of visits to inland markets, travel in foreign lands was clearly not the rule4. M er­
chandise was packed in sachets, bags, and boxes and transported in saddlebags,
carts, and boats. Som etimes it was considered so valuable as to warrant months of
delay in order to regain lost or stolen goods. To be on the move was the normal
condition fo r these merchants, one of whom explained in a legal argument: I wished
to take to the road, like all other men J
Early medieval Jew s were thus deeply involved in com m erce. D oes this mean
that they were the guardians and tutors o f the Germans in trade, the cornerstone o f
German urban culture6? D id they indeed wield a mercantile hegemony, even a m o­
nopoly, as has been claimed by m ost historians fo r a long time now 7? Leaving aside
the general tendency to overstate the significance of the Jew ish presence in Europe
and especially in econom ics, fo r a number of concrete considerations the answer
must be no. Scholars have frequently been led astray by the Latin phrase Iudei et
ceteri mercatores (Jews and other merchants ), which turns up w ith m inor variations
in five sources from 10th century G erm any as well as in a further one o f the 11th
century8. T h ey understood this to mean that Jew s were perceived as the proverbial
merchants, non-Jew s but as an insignificant afterthought. This idea should be
dropped as it stems from a mistaken reading. T h e texts designate Jew ish and nonJew ish merchants by their m ost remarkable characteristic: Christian merchants
differed from the rest o f the population by their trade activities, their Jew ish co l­
leagues by religious identity. T h e only thing these texts do say is that there were
both Jew ish and non-Jew ish merchants. This obvious conclusion is fully borne out
by H ebrew sources that frequently mention not only Christian custom ers but also
business associates. The existence of non-Jew ish merchants is o f course indepen­
dently documented in a large number of Latin documents and has long been known
to econom ic historians. Repeated misunderstanding has also been the lot o f the
H ebrew phrase medinot ha~yam and medinat ha-yam , literally the lands/land o f
4 O n travelers to Russia, the enthusiastic reading o f J. Brutzkus, D e r Han del der westeuropä­
ischen Ju den mit dem alten Kiev, in: Zeitschrift für die Geschich te der Ju den in Deut schland n. S. 3
(1931) 97 -1 1 0 , as well as of other scholars to o numerous to be quoted needs to be balanced by the
sober appreciation o f Shmuel Ettinger, Kievan Russia, in: Cecil Roth (ed.), T h e World H isto r y of
the Je wis h People, 2nd series, vol. II: T h e D ark Ages (Tel Aviv 1966) 31 9-3 24.
3 Jeh u d ah ha-C ohen, Sefer ha-D in im , in: Maharam, no. 880; transl. Agus, 112.
6 Raphael Straus, D ie Ju de n in Wirt schaft und Gesellschaft (Frankfu rt a. M. 1964) 29, my transla­
tion. F o r an almost identical phrasing some years earlier see Kiscb, 318.
7 F o r the currents o f historiography see loci), Je w s and C o m m erc e (above, note 3). L o n ely voices
o f dissent were Caro, I, 198, Adriaan Verbulst, D e r Han del im Merowingerreich: Gesamtd arstel­
lung nach schriftlichen Qu ellen (G en t 1970) 17-18, and lately J.-R D evroey, La participation des
Juifs au c om m erce dans le m ond c franc (V I c- X e siecles), in: A. Dierkens, J.-M . Sansterre (eds.),
Voyages et voyageurs ä By zance et en O c c id en t du V I Cau X I Csiecle (G enev a 2001) 3 3 9 -3 74. F o r
the sources and detailed arguments fo r the following see my “E c o n o m i c H isto ry o f Medieval
Eu ro pe an J e w s ”, vol. I, in preparation.
s Linder, 349, 378, 380, 382, 38 9; Aronius, no. 132.
184
M ichael T och
the sea, which appears in a significant number of Responsa in the context o f Jews
going about their business9. Bringing to mind the medieval outremer, this has been
taken to suggest Jew ish merchant adventurers sailing the seven seas. However,
medinot ha-yam is nothing more than a Talmudic expression meaning initially any
place outside the Land o f Israel, and later sim ply abroad, outside o n e’s country of
residence. Rom antic as it might sound, this phrase tells nothing about overseas
travel or sea-faring ventures.
H ebrew sources do m ention frequent exchanges between scholars, sages and
students in different parts of Europe, but almost no com m ercial contacts between
Jew s o f Ashkenaz and Sepharad, let alone between those of Europe and of the
M uslim world in the east. T he decisive test is provided by the C airo Genizah, the
huge repository for trade inform ation o f O riental Jew s, w ritten from the late 10th
century onwards by merchants intim ately informed o f the affairs of their business
partners10. T heir com m ercial contacts were extrem ely intricate and frequent. They
were conducted with fellow O riental Jew s ranging from M uslim Spain all along the
N orth-A frican coast to Egypt and the eastern M editerranean seaboard; with local
M uslim merchants; as well as with Christian traders com ing to Egypt and Muslim
Sicily from Italy and Byzantium . European Jew s as trade partners o f O riental Jew s
do not appear in the record 11. Consequently, if an inter-continental Jew ish trade
system existed, Jew s of E urope and o f the M uslim world did not operate it in tan­
dem, Considering all these factors, the supposed lead o f Jew s is reduced to much
hum bler proportions. Such proportions agree with population numbers, which
were yet slight. W hen numbers began to grow in the later 11th century, a force
much more significant than the Jew s came to dominate the long-distance trade of
Europe, namely the Italians.
Yet another and slightly conflicting notion was eagerly embraced by 19th century
historians and remains current today: that money lending as a m ajor occupation of
Jew s dates back if not to times immemorial, then at least to the Early Middle Ages.
M ost advocates of this view adduce no evidence besides an inborn Jew ish inclina­
tion fo r such vocation, and there is no need to take issue with them. T h ey were
probably just follow ing the stereotype of the eternal Jew ish moneylender, on which
G iacom o Todeschini expands in this volume. M ore conscientious ones went to
some trouble to base their verdict on sources. Sadly, here too misunderstandings
abound. T h e editors o f Germania Judaica I, and others follow ing them, quoted a
Responsum, attributed by Rashi to G ersh om ’s “ Light of E x ile ”, as proof fo r wide­
9 Source references in: T he Responsa Project, Version 12+, Bar-Ilan University (Ram at Gan 2004,
C D - R o m , Hebrew), under the terms medinot ha-yam, medinat ha-yam, and the abbreviation mdhy.
10 C f. Sblomo Dov Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: T h e Jewish Co m m un iti es of the Arab
World as Portrayed in the D o cu m e n ts o f the Cai ro Geniza, 6 vols. (Berkeley, L os Angeles, L o n ­
don 1968-1993)/
11 Sblomo D ov Goitein, Mediterranean trade preceding the Crusades: some facts and problems, in:
Diog enes 59:5 6 (Fall 1967) 4 7 -6 2 ; Armand O. Citarella, A puzzling ques tion concerning the rela­
tions between the Jew ish comm uni tie s o f Christian Eu ro pe and those represented in the Geniz a
docume nts, in: Journal of the American Or iental Society 91 (1971) 390-3 97.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
185
spread money lending to G entiles already at the turn of the 10th to the 1 1th century:
It. is forbidden to do as they do in this kingdom, to give at the fa ir o f Cologne one
pound of pure silver which is 12 (ounces o f silver), and then to receive in their lodg­
ings in Mainz or upon their return to Worms 13 ounces in coin.12 This has nothing
to do with money lending. Rather, it is an early form of currency speculation, tak­
ing advantage o f the price difference between bullion and coined silver and making
use o f a network of coinless transfer of obligations, in short “dry exchange”. E vi­
denced between Jew s as well as with non-Jew s, such transactions were im portant
enough to be licensed, surely upon Jew ish insistence, in the privilege granted by
the bishop of Speyer in 1 0 8 4 13. Were this a case o f money lending to Gentiles, no
medieval Jew ish sage would have found reason to interfere. T h e only reason for
G ershom ’s intervention or for R ashi’s quotation was the concern that Jew s might
obtain forbidden interest from fellow Jews.
Nevertheless, merchants certainly made funds available as loans. A nother Responsum attributed to G ershom describes two types o f debtors: the violent oppres­
sor who will recover his pawn w ithout paying interest, and the regular customer,
whose pledge can be kept until due interest is paid14. T he context o f such loans is
nicely sketched in the opening to yet another Responsum by G ershom : Reuben
used to go to many places and to many fiefs distant one or two days from the town
where he dwelled; and he used to sell to the lords o f the fie f s and buy from them, his
regular clientele. And when they ba d no ready coin they would put in his band their
pawns o f silver and gold, and sometimes he would exchange with them merchan­
dise fo r the cattle that they looted from their enem ies. .. 1:\ This was an environm ent
chronically short o f cash, where straightforward loans, delayed paym ent, and
pawns put up as security until com pletion were all part and parcel o f the business
o f selling merchandise.
Such basic econom ic facts also had a social aspect. T he custom ers o f this trade in
goods and money were bishops and priests, in one case an episcopal treasurer, rich
ladies up to a queen o f H ungary (scholars differ as to her identity), magnates, bar­
ons, counts, chatelaines, and lords o f villages. In short, these were the upper layers
of ecclesiastical and lay society, resident in their palaces in tow n and in their castles
in the countryside. Yet another question addressed to G ershom describes the at­
mosphere in which Jew ish businessmen and Christian customers met: / have as­
siduously cultivated his friendship, often lent him money at no interest, and count­
less times served him in various capacities.16 Business was conducted within a
context o f familiarity, o f extended relations with a stock clientele. This is the set­
ting fo r the social sym m etry noticeable even at the eve o f the First Crusade (1096)
12 Gershom, n o . 29; Germania Judaica 1, X X I X - X X X .
13 Linder, 400.
14 Z edekiah ben Abraham h a-R ofe, Sefer Shib olch ha-Leket , part 2, ed. M. S. H asidah (Jerusalem
1968) 80, no. 45, transl. Mutius, I, 70.
13 Gershom, n o . 36. T h e translation of Agus, 99, misses the feudal point. T his particular case appa­
rently t o o k place in northeastern Fr ance, not in Germany.
16 Gershom, 161, transl. Agus, 210, no. L X I I .
186
M ichael T o ch
between some Jew s and Jew esses called in H ebrew sources “ noble”, and their
Christian counterparts, prelates, aristocrats, and members o f the urban patriciate17.
O n ly with such patrons in mind did it make sense to design the legal instrum ent of
Maarufiya (a term of A rabic derivation), by which the local com m unity gave to a
single m erchant exclusive access to a potent custom er and his household18. Simple
folk, let alone the poor, are not yet found amongst clients. Instead, they appear as
wagoners, craftsmen, and agricultural workers in the em ploy o f Jew s. In one case
in or near Regensburg they were a pair o f professional thieves who provided two
rival Jew ish “fences” with stolen m erchandise19.
Behind the frequent interference o f the sages there lies a m ajor problem beset­
ting business in the 10th and 11th century: the recurrent and apparently vital need to
raise substantial capital. T h e obvious solution, borrow ing m oney from fellow Je w ­
ish merchants, ran into the stern biblical prohibition: Unto a foreigner thou may
lend upon interest, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest (D euter­
onom y 23:20-21). The mortgaging o f agricultural land, much employed by Proven­
cal and Iberian Jew s, was o f little avail in the north, where Jew s lacked widespread
landed property, as we shall see. The problem urgently called fo r a solution, and a
num ber o f exceptions came to be permitted by Talmudic scholars. F o r long-term
partnerships in trade ventures, the legal instrum ent of Isska was developed. Very
sim ilar to the Italian commenda agreement, it guaranteed the silent partner his part
o f the profits20. The regular interest-bearing loan too was legalized, provided the
subterfuge of a pawn and a non-Jew ish intermediary were em ployed21. Yet another
resort was borrow ing from w ell-to-d o Gentiles, which was even termed an old
custom21. T h e sheer amount o f H alakhic discussion is a conclusive pointer to the
widespread need fo r ready cash, as well as to the fact that Jew s indeed took interest
from fellow Jew s. A nother problem was com petition in a constricted and highly
personalized market, as indicated by the frequent litigation recorded in the sources.
W hen rivalry got out o f hand, hatred, violence and the instigation o f Christian
17 N eubauer, Stern, in H eb r ew on pp. 3, 17, 22, 40, 44, 5 0-5 1, in G er m an translation on pp. 86,
101, 116-117 , 126, 128, 143, 160, 164, 171, 176, 190. It should be noted that this edition and trans­
lation is now superseded by Eva H averkam p, Hebräische Beric hte über die Judenve rfolgungen
während des Ersten Kreuzzugs (M o n um en ta Germaniae Historic», He brä ische Texte aus dem
mittelalterlichen Deutschland I, M ün chen 2005).
18 F o r the texts see Agus, 187-255. F o r the legal principles see Irving Agus, T h e H e r o ic Age of
F r a n c o -G e rm a n Je w ry ( N e w Y o r k 1969) 5 9-6 6, and Shlomo Eidelberg, “M aa ru fia ” in Rabben u
G e r s h o m ’s Responsa, in: Historia Judaica 15 (1953) 59-66.
19 T h e text, assiduously shunned by earlier Je wish scholars for providing am munition to anti -Se­
mitic slander, was first published in 1975 (!) by A braham Grossman, T h e Attitude o f the Early
Scholars of Ashkenaz towards the Au th or ity o f the " K a h a l ”, in: Annual o f the Institute for R e ­
search in Je wish Law 2 (1 97 5) 195-19 8 (H ebre w ). F o r a translation see Mutius, I, 109-115.
20 Soloveitchik, P aw n bro kin g 10. F o r examples o f such agreements see Agus, nos. X I I I - X V I I ,
X I X , X X V III, L X X V III, L X X X I I , CVII.
21 Soloveitchik, P aw n bro kin g 25- 81.
22 Agus, nos. X X V I I I , L X I X , L X X V I , C I I ; Mutius, I, 60, 76; Soloveitchik, P aw n bro kin g 323 and
note 51.
E c o n o m i c A c t i v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
187
authorities could follow, as witnessed fo r instance by a H ebrew h orror tale em bel­
lished as an instance of religious persecution and placed in late 10th century France23.
It is thus not surprising that among the earliest com m unity legislation, there were
two ordinances designed to curb the threat of econom ic anarchy: H erem ha-yishuv ,
which gave the com m unity the right to veto the settlement of newcom ers; and the
already mentioned Maarufiya, by which the com m unity assigned a potent cus­
tom er to a single merchant.
II. F ro m Traders to M oneylend ers: T h e C entral M iddle Ages
The sources for the econom ic history o f Germ an Jew s increase in volume and detail
in the Central Middle Ages, from the late I I th to the end o f the 13th century. There
is a growing flow o f Latin charters, reflecting more settled circum stances and a
stronger reliance on written records. H ebrew sources too are more plentiful, as is
to be expected in light o f the dem ographic and geographical surge o f Jew ish life.
However, this augmentation has its pitfalls, raising problems o f representation.
H ow typical is a sample o f Latin charters mainly produced by and fo r the elite, or
o f H ebrew Responsa recorded in the wake of litigation and doubt as to the norm?
The problem is typical to any historical enquiry: how to weigh and balance what is
in the record, the tip o f the iceberg, as compared to the iceberg itself, the absent
com m onplace unw orthy o f recording?
T he Central Middle Ages were a time o f a com mercial revolution, o f rapid popu­
lation growth (including a Jew ish one), and o f urbanization24. O ne m ajor factor
was the overall growth o f surface and river trade within continental Europe, on the
local, regional, and inter-regional level. A nother feature was the emergence of
industrial centers and regional specialization in com m odities production, most
notably in the textile crafts. T h e task o f the merchant and entrepreneur underwent
a decisive change, from provisioning a small aristocracy to handling mass consumer
goods. T h e servicing of such huge and growing systems, in size, com plexity and
capital outlays far surpassing earlier trade structures, was clearly beyond the re­
sources o f a numerically still tiny Ashkenazic Jew ry. Physical conditions too
changed, as the rising tide of enm ity turned the traveling Jew ish merchant into an
endangered species. However, contrary to the assertion frequently put forward by
scholars, there is no indication in the sources o f a deliberate exclusion o f Jew s from
trade by an emerging Christian m erchant class organized in guilds23.
23 A. H aberm an (ed.), B o o k o f Persecutions in G erm any and Fr ance (Jerusalem 1945/1971 H e ­
brew) 12.
24 T h e classic statement is still R obert S. Lopez, T h e Co m m er cia l Rev olutio n of the Middle Ages
(Cam brid ge 1976). F o r G erm any in this period see A lfred H averkam p, Medieval Germany, 10561273 ( O x fo rd 1988).
25 T h e classic statement is the article o f 1875 by Wilhelm Roscher, D ie Stellung der Ju de n im M i t ­
telalter, bet rachtet vom Standpunkt der allgemeinen Han delspolitik, translated into English by
Shlomo G rayzel as T h e Status of the Je w s in the Middle Ages Consider ed from the Standpoint of
188
M ichael T och
Rather, there must have been a strong pull o f new opportunities in the sedentary
handling and lending o f money. H ighly significant fo r our purpose, this was the
time when more and more parts o f the population became involved, for sustenance
and consum er goods, in the market econom y and in m onetary exchanges26. Such
econom ic changes called fo r huge investments in com m odities production and dis­
tribution systems. However, apart from the growing urban population, m ost earn­
ings were still tied to the slow rhythm of agricultural production, where one was
paid for one’s produce or labor once or twice a year. Even though the papacy, kings
and princes were rapidly developing taxation, middling and smaller lords still
depended on income from their landed possessions. In addition, the polities of
Europe were swept by heightened public consum ption and outlays, on the remu­
neration o f administrative personnel, on war overseas and at home, on huge build­
ing projects for both religious and m ilitary purposes. Thus fo r example, during the
13th century m ost Germ an towns constructed new and expensive fortifications27.
Sheer lavishness too came to the fore, not necessarily because people lost their
morals and religion, as preachers and clerics untiringly pointed out, but rather
because of the heightened com petition between and within the social elites of
Europe. While the demand fo r means o f payment surged, the supply side o f the
m onetary system remained in a backward and often anarchic state, w ith a large
number of mints turning out com peting and often debased coins. In short, the en­
tire extent of econom ic, monetary, social, and political development of the Central
Middle Ages made fo r a steady growth in the demand for credit.
O ver this period, Jew ish trade in northern Europe appears to have diminished,
in a course similar to the one effecting Jew ish merchants in the Mediterranean
south some hundred years earlier28. A t the same time a rem arkably stable percep­
tion of the Jew was formed by first French and then other ecclesiastics: the usu­
rer29. H ow accurate was this perception, com ing from people intent on moral and
religious purposes rather than on econom ic observation? O verall, it appears to
have been warranted by a changing reality, however with significant differences
and time lags between the different parts o f Europe. In Germany, the move to
C o m m er cia l Policy, in: Histor ia Judaica 6 (194 4) 13-26. See also there, o n pp. 1-12, the enthusiastic
appreciation by Guido Kisch, T h e J e w s ’ Fu nction in the Mediaeval E v oluti on of E c o n o m ic Life.
F o r a devastating critique see Toni Oelsner, Wilhe lm R o sc h e r’s T h e o r y and the E c o n o m i c and
Social Position o f the Je w s in the Middle Ages: A Critical Examination , in: Yivo Annual o f Jewish
Social Science 12 (195 8—9) 176-195.
26 A convincing statement o f the tensions and conflicts thus engendered is Lester K. Little, R e li­
gious Pov erty and the Profit E c o n o m y in Medieval F^urope (Ithaca N.Y. 1978).
27 M ichael Toch, T h e Medieval G er m an C i ty under Siege, in: M. Wolfe, I. Corfis (eds.), T h e Med i­
eval C i ty under Siege (Wood brid ge 1995) 35-48.
2S Eliyahu Ashtor, Gli ebrei nel com erc io mcditerraneo nelPalto medioevo (sec. X - X I ) , in: Gli
ebrei nell’alto medioevo (Spoleto 1980) 4 0 1 -4 8 7 . How ever, as will be demonstrated in my b ook
mentioned in note 7, Ash to r and other scholars highly overestimated Je wis h involvement in M ed i­
terranean trade.
29 Its development and modern historiographical offspins are treated in this volume by Giacomo
Todeschini.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s 111 th e M i d d l e Ag e s
189
m oney lending as the main Jew ish profession was a long process, beginning in the
early 12th century and not com pleted, by all signs, before the mid- 13th century. The
initial situation is concisely summed up in a Responsum of Elieser ben N athan of
M ainz (died around 1150), where one litigant states: all Jew s live by merchandise
and interest and we are no different. In another place Elieser writes: just at is al­
low ed to sell to them (the Gentiles,), it is allow ed to give them loans. Again: ... be­
cause trade serves as our livelihood30. Towards the end of the 12th century, E lieser’s
son-in-law , Jo el ben Yitzhak ha-Levi o f B onn, could still write: at this dyne when
we have no fields and vineyards and m ake a living by lending money at interest
and buying and selling31.
Actually, Jo el was not quite correct in his statement. In the l l ' 1' century some
Jew s had indeed possessed vineyards on the Rhine. So did their descendents o f the
12th century, on the Rhine and now on the Main River. As earlier, there were some
craftsm en working for Jew ish and at times for Gentile custom ers. Jew ish agricul­
turists and craftsmen and their share in the general picture will be treated further
below. As earlier, Jew s traveled by ship and wagon to the fairs at C ologne, and now
to Frankfurt on the M ain32. Apparently it was still standard procedure, as narrated
in the B ook of Pious , for a m erchant to load his wagon with clothes, drive to another
town, take lodgings, and open shop33. W hen king L othair held court in M ainz in
1128, young Jehudah o f C ologne, later the convert and autobiographer H erm an of
Scheda, arrived there with the purpose o f selling merchandise, as all Jew s are wont
to engage in business34. T he same intent brought another young man called A lexan­
der in 1199 to king Philip’s camp near K oblenz, and eventually to a violent death.
Earlier he had, amongst others, tried his hand selling new wine in the cou ntry­
side33. W hile inland business trips remain routine, travel abroad becom es definitely
sparse in the sources. Jew s also settled down as sedentary shopkeepers36. This must
have entailed a broadening o f the clientele beyond the aristocracy, as well as an in­
creasingly anonymous setting fo r com m ercial contacts, typically the market place.
F or the first time we hear of merchants of the tw o religions com ing into conflict.
Thus, in 1171 tw o strange Jew s had turned up at the market at C ologne to sell their
stock, only to be accused o f passing counterfeit money. Put out by a local m oney­
changer and spread further by the toll officials, this allegation nearly led to a p o­
grom 37. M inters, moneychangers, and toll-collectors were right to be apprehensive
o f Jew ish com petition, as dem onstrated in this volume by M arkus Wenninger.
These were services riding the crest o f the econom ic m odernization, growth, and
Elieser ben-N athan , Sefer Ra ben (Even h a-E zer), transl. H offm ann,
110 s. 64, 45, 47.
31 Dinur, 248.
32 H offm ann, nos. 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 61, 80; Germania Judaica I, 107, note 25.
Dinur, 237.
j4 Hermannus quondam Judaeus, O pu sc ulum de conversione sua, ed. G. N iem eyer (Weimar 1963)
72.
33 Aronius, no. 345.
36 H offm ann, no. 83, following Yitzchak ben Moshe O r sarua, before 1250.
37 Neubauer, Stern, 71-72, 206 -2 09.
190
Michael T och
com m ercialization felt, with time lags, all over Europe. T he reverse side to this
m onetary surge was the developm ent, in G erm any as well as in other places of
Europe, o f the stereotype o f the Jew as counterfeiter o f coins3S.
B oth H ebrew and Latin sources leave no doubt to the growing im portance of
money lending. B y the 12th century one can clearly differentiate betw een trade and
credit operations, and loans given against interest are in plain evidence. The clien­
tele is still mainly made up o f members o f the upper classes, even though by now
much extended: archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, deacons, com m unities of
m onks and cathedral priests; kings, dukes, princes, margraves and burgraves,
counts, landed proprietors, knights39. However, a strong qualification needs to be
added here. Latin sources m ention details only exceptionally and when grave cir­
cumstances are involved, fo r instance the transfer o f landed property, the source of
power, or o f politically precarious objects put up as pawns, such as precious pieces
of the treasury of a cathedral church or abbey40. Such sources cannot be expected
to wield system atic inform ation. B y the 13th century there were already com m on­
ers amongst the patrons, and by the early 14th century they made up a significant
part o f the clientele. The largest numbers were burgers, o f practically every more
im portant Germ an town as well as of many smaller ones. There were also peasants,
such as the customers o f an anonym ous Jew active in and around the Bavarian
m arket tow n of Straubing. His H ebrew list o f outstanding debts from the years
1329-1332 provides a cross-section of the more affluent society o f the region: lower
nobility, burgers o f towns and market places, village priests, and, the largest group,
peasants and rural artisans41. This source and similar ones o f the Later Middle Ages
invalidate an influential view, namely that m the entire source m aterial under con­
sideration, reaching up to the 15th century, there is not even a single instance prov­
ing or even indicating indebtness of peasants to Jew s42.
O u r sources shed little direct light yet on personal motives fo r borrow ing money.
F o r instance, there is no m ention o f the expenses occurred by crusaders taking the
cross, a matter frequently conjectured by historians to have plunged people into
debt. In regard to kings, princes, prelates, and tow n governments it is safe to infer
that many loans and especially more substantial ones were motivated by political
necessity. Thus, in 1287 bishop Frederick of Thur, a mem ber o f the family of the
38
in:
G erd Mentgen , D e r M ü n z f r e v e l v o r w u r f . E i n B e i t r a g z u r E r f o r s c h u n g a n t i j ü d i s c h e r S t e r e o t y p e ,
A. G iebm eyer, H. Schnabel-Schule ( ed s .) , “ D a s W i c h t i g s t e ist d e r M e n s c h ” . F e s t s c h r i f t K l a u s
G e r t e i s ( M a i n z 2000) 291 -3 0 7.
Dinur , 251, 257; H offm ann, n o s . 37, 38, 70, 77, 88; Caro, I, 349, 439, 4 41; Aronius, n os . 214, 287,
298, 369, 391, 392, 394, 407, 427, 444, 532, 533, 538, 5 7 7 -5 8 1 , 594, 619, 6 2 8 -6 3 1 , 642, 643, 680, 684,
689, 699, 707, 712, 730, 732. F o r a r e g i o n a l lis tin g o f c u s t o m e r s in 13th a n d ea r ly -14^ century
Alsace see Mentgen , 49 4-5 02.
40 F o r instance Aronius, nos. 214, 287, 298, 349, 369, 391, 392, 394, 407; C aro , I, 439, 441.
41 Edited and commented upon by Toch , Geld und Kredit. F o r references to peasant customers in
other places, all of them in the early 14tJl century, see Germania Judaica II, 70, 217, 446, 594, 601,
39
888.
42 Kisch , 225. His position derived entirely from an inappropriate type of sources, legal texts of
urban origin, and was a patent attempt to co un te r 19c!l century anti-Semitic apologetics.
E c o n o m i c A c t i v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
191
counts o f M ontfort, needed to attend the imperial diet at W ürzburg. F or this pur­
pose his three brothers borrowed for him the substantial sum of 160 marks from a
Jew ess, Guta o f Uberlingen43. This was a middling transaction, even though it em ­
broiled the family in years o f negotiation and strife. Considerably larger was the
sum raised in 1297 by Conrad IV, archbishop of Salzburg, to redeem the valley of
Gastein, which one of his predecessors had pawned away almost three centuries
earlier44. In a com plicated arrangement the archbishop borrowed 600 marks silver
from a consortium made up o f one local Jew, Samson o f M ühldorf, and two foreign
ones, Flatschim and Ja co b o f Regensburg. At the top end we find a high-flying
banker like Vivelin “the R ed ”, who amongst others lent substantial sums to the
C ount Palatine of the Rhine and to the archbishop of M ainz43. H e served as coun­
selor to the archbishop o f Trier, with whose Jew ish and Christian administrators he
jo in tly carried out numerous financial deals. In addition, he was the principal in a
com plicated arrangement by which King Edward III o f England, in dire need of
cash for his military operations in France, raised in 1338/9 the immense sum of
3 4 0 0 0 0 gold florins. As part o f security the great English crow n was pawned to the
archbishop of Trier, who eventually turned it over to Vivelin.
Outside the elite, the demand for credit by the greater number o f com m oners
has usually been seen by historians as tied to distress: One went to the usurer only
in direst need,46 Such a view, clearly conditioned by the moral condem nation of
“usury”, could detect no redeeming feature or econom ic contribution in money
lending. However, in many documented cases the premise of “direst need” is clear­
ly inapplicable. The Bavarian peasants mentioned above took out m ost o f their
loans in the fall; after the harvest was in, when food was plentiful47. If hunger does
not account fo r recourse to borrow ing, what then does? We return to the general
considerations on the need for credit in the expanding econom y and society o f the
Central Middle Ages. Significantly, much o f the inform ation on credit in the coun­
tryside, indeed on early credit in general, com es from regions that specialized in
viticulture. It has been recently suggested that viticulture and its regular need for
m oney inputs provided the initial stimulus fo r Jew s to move from trade to money
lending48. This was the one agricultural pursuit to be com m ercialized very early,
and Jew s were from the beginning significantly engaged in the wine trade (and in
43 Caro, II, 149, 312.
44 Eveline Brugger, “Sechs hundert marchen silbers, di er uns schuldich was urn di G a s t e w n . . . ”.
Ju den als Geld geber des Salzburger Er zbis ch o fs beim K a u f des Gasteiner Tales, in: Salzburg A r ­
chiv 27 (2 00 1) 125-134.
4:> G erd Mentgen, Herausragende jüdische Finanziers im mittelalterlichen Straßburg, in: H o c h f i ­
nanz im Westen des Reiches 1150 -1500 , eds. F. Burgard et al. (Trier 1996) 75- 100 .
46 H erbert Kellenbenz, Die Ju den in der Wirtschaftsgeschichte des rheinischen Ra um es von der
Spätantike bis zum Jahre 1648, in: M on u m en ta Judaica, ed. K. Schilling (K ö ln 1963) I, 216.
47 Toch, Geld und Kredit 514-5 15. F o r identical findings from southern Fr anc e see R. W. Emery,
T h e Je w s o f Perpignan in the 13'1' C e n t u ry (N e w Y o rk 1959) 64-65.
45 Soloveitchik, Principles.
192
M ichael T och
wine production - see below). T hey remained so also in times when they had
otherwise largely retreated from com m erce.
Inform ation from the largest Germ an town, Cologne, and its sizeable Jew ish
com m unity illustrates some salient features of the rise o f m oney lending49. From
the mid- 13th century onwards, financiers becom e identifiable by name. Liverman
of D üren, his brother Schonem an, and David o f Zülpich, all three residents in C o ­
logne, provided credits to subsequent archbishops o f the town, to a count, another
noble, a burgrave, a monastery. These were substantial and im portant men: H e ­
brew sources call Liverman Ju d ah the renowned and rich. Fie owned five houses in
the Jew ish quarter o f C ologne, Schonem an three and a half. Generations of their
family were involved in the running of the community. B y 1266, the Jew ish bankers
of C ologne were im portant enough for the archbishop to grant them a monopoly,
excluding Christian com petition from residing in the city. T he conditions of this
privilege, with other favorable clauses, were cut in a splendid tablet o f stone and
publicly exhibited outside the cathedral'’0.
In many regions professional moneylenders were solely Jew s. In others such as
the Rhineland and some Alpine districts, there were also foreign Christians active,
the so-called Lom bards and Cahorsins. However, not only specialists extended
credit. Inform al arrangements for small credit needs were part o f fam ily and neigh­
borhood networks in villages and tow ns51. T he lower nobility relied on regional
sets o f connections fo r many o f their credit requirem ents, in addition to Jew ish and
other moneylenders. Christian merchants extended loans fo r business capital as
well as fo r political purposes, to colleagues, town governments, and kings. E cclesi­
astical institutions too were involved in frequent credit operations, which were
usually camouflaged as charitable help. Jew ish and Christian credit thus fulfilled
different econom ic and social functions, but could also interlock. Jew ish financiers
would serve as a safety valve and go-betw een fo r credit arrangements between
Christians. From the 13th century onwards merchants employed a procedure called
Schadennehmen, literally to take out (a loan) for/against dam agen . Faced with a
possibly risky debtor in their business deals, Christian merchants would insert an
authorization clause in the contract, allowing them to take out in the d ebtor’s name
a high interest loan from a Jew ish moneylender. In case of default they would
collect their debt from the Jew , leaving the debtor saddled with the consequences.
Tow n-governm ents used the same device to ensure prom pt payment o f taxes: they
49 F o r the sources and a detailed exposition on Co lo g n e financiers see Schmandt, 75-77.
3° p or references and the text see Schmandt, 25, 2 7 1 -2 7 2 ; Aronius, no. 718.
31 Cf. M ichael Toch, Local Cred it in an Agrarian E c o n o m y : T h e Ca se o f Bavaria (1 4th and 15th
Centuries), in: /. Zilli (ed.), Fra Spazio e Tempo. Studi in O n o r e di Luigi de R osa (Naples 1995) I,
7 9 3 -8 03; E. Clark, D e b t Litigation in a Lat e Medieval English Vill, in: J. A. Raftis (ed.), Pathways
to Medieval Peasants (T o ro n to 1981) 24 7-2 79.
52 T h e earliest extant references date to 1257 and 1258: Aronius, no. 632; Schmandt, 75. F o r details
see Guido Kisch, Das Schadennehmen, in: idem, Fo rsc hun ge n zur R ec hts- und Sozialgeschichte
des Mittelalters (Zürich 1980) 29 6-3 25.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
193
impounded a valuable belonging to a tax dodger and then satisfied themselves by
pawning it to a Jew.
Collateral, the measures taken to secure outstanding debts is a m ajor issue
fraught with implications. M ost com m on was the written deed claimable in court
(also called charter, instrument, letter of debt, or prom issory note) issued by the
debtor or by a notary or court o f law; warranty (surety) by third party; and the
pawn or pledge. There was also a curiously medieval custom called in German
Einlager (literally “depositing”) and in H ebrew eating on someone as warranty.
Pressure was achieved by lodging on the debtor’s account a party in an inn, with
their horses in its stable. B o th would then merrily eat and drink away, until pay­
ment of the debt was effected. This was also practiced between Jew s: Shimon be­
came Reuben ’s surety to a Gentile and Reuben stipulated with the Gentile that if he
delayed paym ent after a specified date, Shimon would rightfully eat on him. Reuben
shall pay fo r Shim on’s standard eating, as Jew s eat in a Jew ish home, that is a
medium and limited eating, since it is the custom of the sons o f Abraham, Yitzhak
and Ja co b to take pity on their brethren ... and not to eat on them cruelly5J.
Clearly, the type o f collateral demanded depended on the trustw orthiness o f the
debtor, o f which his social standing was a m ajor com ponent. As evident from the
H ebrew record, all forms were employed, separately and in com bination, by Je w ­
ish lenders54. We are told by Ephraim bar Jaco b o f Bonn that Jew ish financiers in
France lent on faith ( be-am anah ) and thus suffered heavily from the m oratorium
on debts decreed by the King of France during the Second Crusade33. W hen you th­
ful Jehudah of C ologne failed to secure a pawn in one o f his first business deals, as
required by their (the Jew s) custom, his elders were scandalized56. It follow s that
loans that relied solely on faith and b elief were clearly an exception and would be
granted only to special custom ers, the M aam fiya treated above37. The widespread
em ploym ent of pawns also points to a certain broadening of the clientele and to a
concom itant growing anonym ity o f the money market. The increasing use o f w rit­
ten contracts claimable in court, on the other hand, argues for the integration of
credit arrangements into the legal machinery o f the period. Even so, this was risky
business and things could go very wrong. Rabbi Abraham ben David o f Posquieres
(Southern France, circa 1120 to 1198) had some pertinent advice to investors in the
lending business. And do not lend without a good pledge o f gold and silver; and put
the money regularly beneath the earth to safeguard from fire and thieves without
M aharam, no. 83. T h e translation o f Agus, Rabbi M eir o f R o then bur g, his Life and his W or ks as
Sources fo r the Religious, Legal, and Social H isto ry o f the Je ws of G erm any in the 13th Ce n tury
(Philadelphia 1947/New Y o rk 1970) 448, n o . 485, flattens the delightful text.
34 H offm ann, 88 -100.
55 N eubauer, Stern, 64,196. T h e H e b r e w term employed does not mean, as translated by Robert
Cbazan, Medieval Jew ry in Nort hern France (Baltimore, L o n d o n 1973) 34, “by charte r”, but ex­
actly the opposite.
36 Herrnannus quondam Judaeus (above, note 34) 72.
37 H offm ann, n o . 40. T h e same meaning of dispensing with a pawn appears in contracts between
Jew's: M aharam, nos. 393, 880. F o r other special treatment see Shatzmiller, 99- 103 .
194
M ichael T och
people knowing about this, so that it shall not be known to thieves and m ake them
think o f stealing; and when you receive a pledge of gold and silver conceal it in a
secure place beneath the earth. And he (the investor) shall instruct him (the agent)
not to take pledges o f gold and silver from great townsmen and violent men so that
he shall not, be forced to return them withou t security against his wilP8. Things were
done differently in smaller places where everyone knew everyone, like the abovem entioned market town o f Straubing in the early 14th century. There, m ost ou t­
standing loans were not secured by form al measures, but apparently rather by the
simple oral promise frowned upon by more circum spect financiers59.
The em ploym ent of pawns as security gave rise to serious tensions. To pawn ec­
clesiastical utensils endowed w ith the quality o f holiness to the unbelieving Jew
was increasingly felt to be sacrilegious. Little less fraught w ith difficulties was the
privileged status granted to Jew s (and Lom bards) in regard to stolen goods. Civil
authorities tried to tread a thin line between the need to deter theft and the wish to
prom ote the sm ooth perform ance o f the market. Thus it became accepted practice
to allow the lender to swear that such pawns had been accepted in good faith as
security, rather than acquired as cheap goods o f doubtful provenance60. Conversely,
an increasing range o f objects were prohibited as pawns: ecclesiastical utensils;
goods whose wet or bloody condition suggested theft or robbery; the weaponry
and armor o f the members o f urban militias; the buckets, axes and shovels kept at
different locations in town in case o f fire; and a whole range o f tools and raw mate­
rials essential for the livelihood o f artisans. In short, accepting pawns as security
could easily develop into paw nbroking, a practice fraught with social problem s, as
was to becom e very clear in the Later Middle Ages.
G oing by the life-style and status sym bols displayed by many Jew s, such as
housing, servants, clothes, and the jew elry bequeathed in wills, m oney lending af­
forded substantial and sometimes opulent rewards, at least to its top practitioners.
A nother clue is provided by the considerable taxes collected since the 13th century
from Jew s. The very first extant list of taxes levied by the Germ an em peror on
38 Rabad o f Posquieres, Responsa, 110 .1 4 0 , in: T h e R esponsa P ro je ct (above, note 9).
39 Toch, Geld und Kredit 5 1 6 -5 20. F o r identical findings fr om southern France: Emery (above,
note 47) 31.
60 T h e historiography on this topic on ce m ore reflects the depths of apologetics Je wish history has
been entangled in. M o st 19th century scholars saw this privilege as deriving from Jewish law: Caro,
I 181; Germania Judaica I, X X X I . B y the early 2 0 th century anti-Semitic propagandists app ro ­
priated this finding, termed it fence-laiv (H ehlerrecht ), and used it to point an accusing finger.
G u id o Kisch invested considerable labor to disprove this idea. Betray ing a poignant trust in the
efficacy of rational argument, he ch o ose this topic to open the first issue (o f 1938!) o f the journal
edited by him in America after his escape from Europe: Guido Kisch, T h e “Je w ish Law o f C o n ­
cealm ent”, in: Historia Judaica I (1 938 ) 1-30. Af ter World War II historians were loath to go near
anything that might be construed as slanderous to Jews. K i s c h ’s view thus became accepted o p i­
nion, despite grave prob lem s in his interpretation o f sources. T his was finally remedied in 1990 in
a perceptive study by Friedrich Lotter, Talmudischcs R ec ht in den Judenprivilegien Heinrichs IV.?,
in: Arch iv für Kulturgeschichte 72 (1 99 0) 23-6 1. ITe proved bey ond d ou b t the Talmudic origins of
this statute, and thus the early influence o f Je w s on legislation pertaining to them.
E c o n o m i c A c t i v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in t h e M i d d l e A g e s
195
towns and their Jew ries (1241) does not include the largest and fiscally m ost potent
com m unities of Cologne, M ainz, W ürzburg, and Regensburg61. In the cities that
were listed, Jew s paid 13% o f all the taxes raised, a highly disproportionate share
compared to their population numbers. Apparently w ithout causing problem s of
solvency, the Jew ish tax yield in Frankfurt on the Main grew eight-fold between
1241 and 13 1962. This astonishing fiscal capacity could not have been sustained
w ithout the high turnover of lending m oney against interest. T he rising demand
for credit in ever more regions and localities, as well as the capability to cater to
such needs, thus became the basis fo r the continuous expansion o f Jew ish settle­
ment. In turn, such dynamism would have been im possible to maintain without
yet another im portant characteristic o f Jew ish (and Italian) credit: namely the fact
that it enjoyed the explicit support o f the powers that be. Bankers depended on
government and its agents to carry out their business. They employed the m achin­
ery o f authority against the borrow er to collect debts, foreclose on collateral when
the borrow er failed, and put pawns up fo r sale. D espite the odium increasingly
attached to money-lending, rulers on all levels put their power - armed, judicial,
and legislative - at the disposal o f the m oney-lender. They did so in the name of
public order, econom ic w ell-being, and o f course steadily growing taxes. Such as­
sistance laid civil authorities open to criticism and heavy pressure, especially when
com bined with accusations o f corruption and the taking of bribes. This m ajor con ­
tradiction came to beset public attitudes at precisely the point when Jew ish (and
Italian) m oney lending was becom ing a regular feature in a buoyant market. It be­
came first visible in m id-13th century, when political authorities found it necessary
to institute an upper limit on interest rates6-1. Further implications were to become
painfully apparent in the Later Middle Ages.
I II. Jew ish C red it in the L ater M iddle Ages
There can be no doubt that money lending and credit operations had now become
the mainstay o f Jew ish livelihood in Germany. Rabbi M oses M inz, the forem ost
H alakbic authority of the 15th century, could thus differentiate between money­
lenders and the rest o f livelihoods. Rabbi Joseph C o lo n (died 1480) put it like this:
His occupation is to lend against interest, and this is the main occupation of Jew s
that live in these lands64. As evident from numerous agreements and privileges of
settlem ent, by the early 14th century only financiers (and medical doctors, see be­
low) were able to obtain permits o f residence in Germ an towns and territories.
61 M G H , Constitu tio nes et acta publica imperatorum et regum, III (1980) 1-6, no. 1.
62 Karl Biicher, D ie Be völkerung von Fr ank furt am Main im 14. und 15.Jahrhundert. Socialstati­
stische Studien (Tü bin gen 1886) 526 -601 .
63 Avoyiius, nos. 547, 618.
64 Moses Minz, Responsa (Tel Aviv 1968/69), no. 60; Joseph K olon , Responsa (Jerusalem 1973)
no. 132.
196
M ichael l o c h
Practitioners of any other occupation needed to be included, as household depend­
ents, in the arrangements of licensed moneylenders.
Their activities com e into stark relief during the Later M iddle Ages, when eco­
nom ic matters are more plentifully treated in the sources. A number o f reasons
com bine to create this state of affairs. Jew s had by then becom e wholly subject to
the increasingly w ell-organized governments o f towns and princes, whose admin­
istrations were based on w ritten records. T he ecclesiastical censure of usury deci­
sively shaped public opinion to stress the social, moral, and spiritual damage caused
to Christendom . Established authority and reformers alike shared this groundswell. Precariously balanced against this trend was an ongoing reliance of rulers on
Jew ish taxes, loans and finances. Lastly, fo r reasons to be treated below, ever more
people were turning to the services o f the moneylender. The meeting o f these con ­
flicting tendencies generated sustained administrative efforts and legislation to
regulate and control the terms o f Jew ish existence and especially o f money lend­
ing65. This “administrative overload” resulted in a previously unknow n wealth of
written references to econom ic matters. C ontracts o f settlement and legislation
specify the conditions under which financiers were allowed to operate. Series of
tax-lists help to reconstruct the econom ic fortunes o f individuals, families, and
com m unities over time. Tow n governments recorded ordinances and other matters
pertaining to their Jew s in special “Jew s B o o k s ” (Judenbuch) 66. Civil authorities
attempted to com pel lenders and borrow ers to record their transactions, norm ally
in court registers and, less frequently, in notaries’ ledgers. A nti-usury campaigns,
periodical confiscations, and the legal squabbling over the spoils made for the re­
cording o f Jew ish assets, prom inently among them due loans, specifying the names
o f custom ers, sums and conditions, and the collateral taken as security. As for
Jew ish writings, legal scholars still devoted much of their time to litigation deriving
from econom ic matters. Finally, from this period we also have a few fragments of
account books, usually w ritten in Hebrew.
In contrast to form er times, G erm an kings and emperors rarely figure now
amongst the customers of Jew ish financiers67. O n ly king Ruprecht (1400-1410),
whose impecuniousness was proverbial, used their services in a regular manner. In
the later 14th century, members o f the high nobility - archbishops and bishops,
dukes and electoral princes - would still avail themselves routinely of Jew ish credit.
They did so much less during the 15th century. A similar trend is visible fo r the
next-ranking group of counts and their ecclesiastical equivalents, lesser bishops
65 F o r a case study from N urem berg see Toch, um b gem eym nutz und nottdurfft willen. O b r i g ­
keitliches und jurisdiktionclles D en k en bei der Austreib ung der Nür nb erg er Ju den 1498/99, in:
Zeitschrift für historische Fo rsc h un g 11 (1984) 1-21. F o r an European overview see Shatzmiller,
4 3- 70.
M' A research project led by Alfred Haverkamp o f Trier University is now exploring this genre.
67 I have used the sources and research literature collected in Germania Judaica III, tog ether with
previous work, for a detailed analysis o f Je wis h livelihoods in the late medieval Ger m an empire:
Toch, Tätigkeit. Unless otherwise indicated, the reader is directed to this study fo r references.
Fu rt h er insights have been gained from Andernacht.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in t h e M i d d l e Age s
197
and abbots o f monasteries. O f the loans recorded for members of this group, two
thirds belong in the second half of the '14th century, only one third in the subse­
quent hundred years and more until the close of the Middle Ages. Matters o f high
politics, the financing o f war and the acquisition of territories, which had earlier
been paramount in the credit needs o f the political elite, are now rarely found. The
same holds for routine credits taken to fund the running of princely courts. U ntil
the end of the 14th century, the middling and lower nobility of some regions - Aus­
tria is an especially well documented case - continued to frequent Jew ish m oney­
lenders fo r their financial conduct, often to finance feuds, raise dowries and inheri­
tance payments, and acquire lands. In other areas credit ties between nobles and
Jew s had become much weaker. In a similar vein, in the 14th century there were still
some tow n governments, such as Andernach, Basle, or N urem berg with frequent
recourse to Jew ish loans to balance their budgets. O thers took loans on an inter­
m ittent basis when they met unexpected expenditure for political purposes. B y the
15th century m ost towns supported their regular and irregular needs from other
sources, especially taxation. The breaking point, in this regard as in others, appears
to have been the wholesale liquidation o f debts owed to the Jew s o f a number of
im portant south-G erm an towns. D ecreed by King Wenzel in 1385, it was used by
some tow n governments as a powerful political lever in their struggle against the
nobility68. A fter that people o f the upper classes, the ones in political power, in­
creasingly satisfied their credit needs by recourse to sources other than the Jew s. A
clear consequence of this process was a lessening of their dependency on Jew ish
finances and a corresponding loss in the political leverage, always slight, at the dis­
posal o f Jew s.
In many places, peasants and other inhabitants o f the countryside are now found
in vast numbers amongst the patrons of m oney lending. There is not a single town
whose citizens and inhabitants did not have frequent recourse to Jew ish loans. D e ­
tailed inquiries in a number o f places have brought out the salient fact that people
of the lower classes now replace the m ore affluent as the main clientele, fo r instance
in a large town such as N urem berg69. This also holds for the smaller towns so
typical of the social landscape o f the period. F o r instance, in Bingen on the Rhine a
detailed inquiry was undertaken in the year 1427 by the officials of the archbishop
of M ainz, the lord o f the town, into the indebtness of the people to Je w s70. In this
town of roughly 2500 inhabitants, no less than one hundred and forty -tw o, men
and wom en, were recorded as owing yet unpaid debts. Am ongst them were a chap­
lain, a toll-official, and the daughter o f som eone called a lord. Flowever, the vast
m ajority were artisans and other poor people. There were altogether 606 yet unpaid
68 p or J etails see Toch, Geldhandel 287.
69 Toch, Geklhandel.
70 T h e source for this and the following is a yet unpublished manuscript, first transcribed and
utilized by Yacov Guggenheim , in Staatsarchiv W ürzburg , catalogue num ber G 17337, titled: This
is the debt ow ed by the burghers and poor people (that is non-citizens) in Bingen to the Jew s. M y
thanks go to Yacov for his transcription.
198
M ichael T och
loans with a total o f 2270 Gulden, not an exorbitant sum. T he arithm etic mean
stood at 16 Gulden total per borrow er and 70 Gulden total per lender. The average
loan was rather small, running in most cases from half a Gulden to ten, with only a
small fraction (7 % ) above that sum. T he common man and woman o f Bingen thus
had modest credit needs. F o r some, recourse to the m oneylender was a rare or just
once occasion. F o r the m ajority of custom ers, however, this was a routine matter.
The prize goes to the son of Arnolt K em erer (a man so insignificant to the clerk that
his Christian name remained unrecorded), who borrowed the magnificent sum of
eight Gulden in 49 transactions from ten different Jew s. As an unreliable customer,
he had to put up a pawn fo r every deal. F'indings from Frankfurt on the Main and
Constance, both mid-sized towns in this period, exhibit a similar trend o f wide­
spread and modest credit needs: few loans in sizeable sums and a m ajority in small
ones not exceeding 10 G ulden71. T h ey differ from a large tow n like N urem berg,
where town burgers took out relatively few loans altogether, but with a much larger
share o f significant sums, 50 and even 100 Gulden and above72.
There was thus a decisive shift in the make-up o f the clientele, less aristocracy,
less bourgeoisie, and many m ore people o f the lower middle and lower classes. A c­
com panying this change was an increasing vulnerability o f Jew ish m oney lending
to confiscation and legal obstruction, and a dim inishing willingness of civil authori­
ties to provide assistance to lenders. The transform ation is clearly reflected in the
nature o f collateral and indicates a darkening cloud of suspicion on both sides of
the divide. The simple promise to pay, still found in the early decades o f the 14th
century in the rural environm ent o f Bavaria, has practically disappeared from the
record. Instead, there is a whole arsenal o f anticipatory securities: warrantors to
stand surety; the prom issory note claimable in court; entering the particulars of
debts in a notary’s register, a court b ook or other registers kept by political au­
thorities (Amtsbuch). As means o f pressure on obstinate debtors, especially from
the aristocracy, there was still the Einlager o f eating guests. T h e main collateral, the
pawn or pledge, could take many different forms: designation to proceeds o f tolls
or tithes; landed property like houses, fields or vineyards, with some aristocratic
debtors even w hole fortresses, villages or manors; and o f course the pawn simple
and pure, farm animals, merchandise and stock. M ost com m on were utensils of
daily life such as domestic furnishings, furniture, tableware, clothing, textiles, furs,
jewelry, weapons, armor, and to ols73. Nevertheless, in the choice o f pledge too
Jew s came to be increasingly limited. In addition to religious articles or ones per­
71 Isidor Kracauer, Geschich te der Ju de n in Fr an kfurt a .M . (F rankfurt 1925) I, 4 2 7 (for the year
1389); idem (ed.), Urk un denb uch zur Ges ch ich te der Ju den in Fra nk furt am Main von 1150 -1 40 0
(F rankfurt a .M . 1914) 8 8 1 -9 0 6 (for the year 1400); H ektor Ammann, D ie Judenge schäfte im
Kon st anzer A m m an n -G e ric h tsb u c h 142 3-143 4, in: Schriften des Vereins für Geschich te des B o d e n ­
sees 71 (1 95 2) 4 4 -7 4 (f or the years 1423-1429) .
72 I'och, Geldhandel 293-2 95.
73 See for instance the lists o f pawns confiscated from Rege nsburg Je w s at the time o f their expul­
sion: K. M atzel,]. Riecke, Das Pfandregister der Regensburge r Ju den vom Jahre 1519, in: Zei t­
schrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 51 (1988) 767- 806 .
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e Age s
199
taining to the defense and safety o f the town, many authorities now banned real
estate in town and countryside. Such measures, as well as the social change in the
clientele, brought about a clear ascendancy of petty movables and personal effects,
as amply illustrated by the Bingen docum ent of 1427. There, of a total of 606 credit
deals, we have inform ation on the collateral of 371. In 311 cases this was a movable
pawn, in 41 cases warranty o f third party, in 19 cases an official docum ent signed
by the tow n’s jurors (Schöffenbrief). There was no landed property, and some deals
had to be secured by multiple means. We can thus distinguish an effort by lenders
to counter the loss of legal security by turning to tangible assets, the sale o f which
would offset lost debts. This too was counteracted by the tendency o f authorities,
visible in many places towards the end o f the 15th century, to limit the lender’s
disposal over forfeited pawns in favor of the debtor. T h ey did so by enforcing the
registration of debts, by allowing the debtor extended and repeated terms to redeem
the pawn, and by com pelling the lender to put up pawns for com pulsory sale74.
Behind these measures one senses one m ore tim e the deep uneasiness and resent­
ment that “Jew ish usury” aroused.
G oing by the many writings and laws produced in the period, the m ost visible
focus for such resentment should be interest. D uring the 13'*' to 15th centuries, the
idea that Jew s took exorbitant interest had becom e a regular feature o f anti-Judaism. Clad into the phrase servitude o f interest (Zinsknechtschaft) by w hich Jew s
enslaved G entiles, it was invoked countless times. D oes this image reflect contem ­
porary reality or is it yet another instance of the unceasing polemics characteristic
of C hristian-Jew ish relations? T he rich late medieval material allows us to recon­
struct the actual interest rates as demanded by lenders and paid by borrow ers. O ne
can also determine the level deemed acceptable by political authorities, as expressed
in legislation for maximum interest rates. T he gist o f it is that people o f the later
Middle Ages paid excessively high interest rates ranging from 2 4 % to 9 1 % per
year. These are compound figures aggregated from the totality of recorded instances
and thus o f course an abstract construct. However, the range o f actual interest rates
demanded (and sometimes also paid) in Bingen o f 1427 exactly fits these com posite
figures. Actually, there were two different trends, a consistently higher one paid on
loans in silver m oney and a slightly lower one on gold coin. The variation between
the tw o is due to m onetary reasons, the fluctuations in the relative price o f silver
and gold, and to social reasons, the fact that the p oor borrowed in silver and the
rich in gold. The extreme disparity in rates, ranging from 2 4 % per year to almost
four times this amount, 9 1 % per year, points to one further feature heavy with
social im plications. P oor people tended to take short-term loans that were much
m ore expensive than the longer running credits taken by more affluent (that is,
m ore trustw orthy) debtors. H olders o f political power borrowed at the cheapest
rates. T h e secular trend was stationary to slightly rising.
7'1 F o r N urem b erg and G öt tin gen see Toch , umb gemeyns nutz (above, note 65) 11-15, and P. H oheisel, Z ur jüdischen Pfandleihe im spätmittelalterlichen Göttingen , in: Göttinger J a h rb u ch 44
(1996)107-119.
200
Michael T och
The same political authorities, princes, prelates and town governments, issued
frequent legislation on permissible maximum interest rates73. Usually they decreed
lower rates fo r their own citizens and higher or unregulated ones fo r strangers.
O u r material documents tw o parallel and basically stationary trends, with silver
being mostly, but not at all points o f time, more expensive than gold. As was to be
expected, there was a significant gap between effective interest paid and the maxi­
mum rates decreed by governments. O n the average people paid up to one third
more than the upper limit decreed by their rulers. A few im portant conclusions can
be drawn from this fact. F o r one, it follow s that legislation had no or little impact
on the market. Its influence should rather be sought in the realm of sym bolical
representations, the way people felt about things. Secondly, even the moderate in­
terest permitted by authorities was much higher than the one usual in modern
times. D ifferent market conditions brought about a different idea of the tolerable
and excessively high interest rates were not necessarily considered as such by con ­
temporaries. G oing by the voices o f the people themselves, for instance the com ­
plaints registered in the Bingen docum ent o f 1427, custom ers of Jew ish credit were
m ost aggravated by the practice o f charging com pound interest, w hich is adding
unpaid interest to the capital sum, fo r w hich a new interest rate was then com put­
ed76. Thus it was not “usury” itself - taking interest on loans - that was resented by
contem poraries, but rather its abuse. All this is far removed from the intensive ar­
guments on forbidden usury as such that occupied theologians and lawyers o f the
period and with which they decisively influenced political authorities77. M odern
historians have mostly turned to their writings for an appreciation o f contem po­
rary attitudes. Reading legal norm and religious polemics as econom ic fact, they
appear to be considerably off the mark. A com parison of our Germ an findings to
those from other parts o f Europe points to a further intriguing fact: official interest
rates were low er in Southern Europe (Southern France and Aragon) than in N o rth ­
ern E urope (England and G erm any), and highest in Eastern Europe. This parallels
a sim ilar difference in effective rates found within Germany, between a lower westG erm an market and a more expensive Bavarian and Austrian one.
In previous periods, as our inquiry has shown, the reasons fo r borrow ing money
were usually connected to the boom conditions of a burgeoning econom y and so­
ciety. This was generally not the case anym ore under the adverse circum stances of
the Later M iddle Ages. O ne indication is the transform ation, sketched above, in
the make-up o f the clientele. In com parison to earlier times, large numbers o f bor­
rowers were by definition poorer and subject to greater hardships in their lives.
73 F o r a European overview o f official “m o d era te ” interest rates sec Shatzmiller, 53-5 4.
76 F o r a similar observation from different material see Markus Wenninger, Geldkreditgeschäfte im
mittelalterlichen Erfurt, in: Erfurt. Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. U. Weiß (Weimar 1995) 439-4 58 .
77 F o r such discussions taking place mostly in the learned milieu o f university scholars, see also
Wenninger, Geldkreditgeschäfte (previous note), note 38. See also M. H. Shank, „Unless You B e ­
lieve, You Shall N o t Un derstan d“ . Logic, Un iversity and S oc iety in Late Medieval Vienna (Prince­
ton 1988). F o r a similar argument on the (relative) acceptability o f Je wis h mone y lending, as o p ­
posed to its unqualified condem na tion by the literate, see Shatzmiller.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e Ag e s
201
There are also direct indications that penury and poverty now com e to the lorefront of borrow ing. Between the years 1497 and 1501 roughly forty individuals of
the agricultural village of Bornheim near Frankfurt on the Main entered into a total
o f 150 different debts contracted with Jew s from Frankfurt78. The vast m ajority of
borrow ers were simple peasants. U nlike their Bavarian predecessors of the early
14th century, they contracted loans throughout the year, with no particular season
standing out. However, an overwhelm ing percentage of these debts was to be re­
paid in the fall, from the proceeds o f the grain harvest and the vintage, many times
directly in agricultural produce. It follow s that the peasants of Bornheim , in con ­
trast to their Bavarian predecessors, were able to pay o ff their debts only after the
harvest was in. But even so, in the m ajority o f cases they defaulted, thus leading to
protracted litigation and eventually to intervention by the town authorities of
Frankfurt. A similar situation of chronic indebtness can be found in many more
places, which was indeed one of the grievances forcefully conveyed by German
peasants at the time of their great revolt o f 152 579.
Apparently no great changes in the organization of money lending occurred
during the one and a half late medieval centuries. Still, we know many more details
than in earlier periods. F or instance, it was not always money that was lent, but
also fruits o f the soil such as grains, wine, and flour. M ore com m only debts were
paid back, w holly or partly, in kind. O u r Bingen docum ent specifies a w hole range
of such goods: oil, beer, geese, meat, firew ood, wine and oats, as well as transport
services of wine to M ainz (30 km distance), of beer to Cologne (125 km distance!),
and o f firew ood in tow n80. Judging by contem porary legislation, this was yet an­
other point of friction, as Jew s were forbidden to lend on the growing grain. This
meant the practice to stipulate repayment o f loans in natural produce, at prices
fixed before the harvest. Such contracts were considered a device to corner the
market in politically sensitive foodstuffs and as speculation on dearth. N either was
deemed acceptable. As we shall see below, in the Later Middle Ages some Jew s in­
deed returned to some degree to sell merchandise, m ostly forfeited pawns. They
also marketed the produce in kind received in lieu o f loans, of which wine was the
m ost usual81. Flowever, nowhere did such com m erce reach the critical mass that
would ju stify the sinister intentions imputed. Instead, payment in kind should be
seen as yet another devise in an econom y starved o f ready cash.
M ostly, the normal fram ew ork for the credit business was the fam ily firm, a
single Jew or Jew ess (on business-wom en see Keil in this volume) and their im m e­
diate relatives including sons-in-law. A ccording to personal capabilities and re­
sources as well as to location, a wide spectrum emerges. O n the lower end, there
78 Andernacht, nos. 2 9 0 5 -2 9 1 7 , 292 5, 2 9 3 2 -2 9 3 4 , 293 7, 2 9 4 1 -2 9 4 4 , 2948, 2 9 6 5 - 2970 , 297 3, 2977,
2985, 2986, 29 94 , 3004, 301 6, 3018, 3 0 2 4 -3 0 2 6 , 3042, 3089 , 3110 , 312 0, 3131, 3211.
79 H .-J.G ilom en, Das M otiv der bäuerlichen Ver schuldung in den Bauernunruhen an der Wende
zur Neu zeit, in: Spannungen und Widersprüche. Ge den kschrift für Erantisek Graus, eds. S. Burg­
hartz et alia (Sigmaringen 1992) 173-189.
' Staatsarchiv W ü r zb u rg (above, note 70) 1r, 4v, 5r, 6r, 6v, lOv, 19v, 20r, 20v.
81 See now Soloveitchik, Principles, with abundant quotations, as well as Mentgen, 56 0-5 74.
202
M ichael T och
were the anonym ous Jew s of Bingen, their names unknow n even to their custom ­
ers82. O n the top end we find a man like Jekel of U lm , later o f N ördlingen,
Constance and N urem berg83. He did his business together with his sons Menlin,
Low, Isaac, and Fiflin, and his sons-in-law Isaac, son of Vischlin of Strasbourg, and
Isaac, son o f Rechlin o f Reutlingen. Betw een 1368 and 1402 he was active all over
Southern Germany, with family branches in U lm , Constance, Strasbourg and
Reutlingen. F o r loans to the counts o f W erdenberg he received as pledge the town
o f Langenau and the domain o f A lbeck, both o f w hich he subsequently sold, on
credit, to the town o f U lm . O th er custom ers were the town governments of
N urem berg, Augsburg, and Constance. In 1385, he headed the list o f Jew ish bank­
ers whose assets had been seized in N urem berg, with outstanding loans amounting
to 15 000 Gulden out o f 81 000.
It was not by coincidence that Jeck el first choose U lm and then N urem berg as
his domicile. These two places were indeed the m ost im portant centers o f Jew ish
banking in the second half o f the 14th century. Further focal points o f supra-local
finance were Erfurt, Strasbourg, C ologne, M ainz, Speyer, and Vienna. Towards the
end o f the 15th century Frankfurt on the M ain became increasingly im portant84.
The volume of transactions, the com position o f the clientele, and the size o f the
“catchm ent area” can measure the rank of a place as a financial center. Thus,
N urem berg Jew s ministered to an area com prising all Franconia and m ost of
Southern Germany. In contrast, the custom ers o f the Jew s o f Constance were
m ostly burgers o f the tow n and o f the small towns o f the nearer neighborhood,
winegrowers on both shores of Lake Constance, and lower nobility of the castles
o f the region83. However, location was not everything and personal circum stances
could play a role, as fo r instance in the case o f the im portant m oneylender
Flentschlein (grandfather o f the scholar Rabbi Israel Isserlein), who resided from
1354 to 1389 in the Austrian town o f H erzogenburg86. Flis circle o f customers
reached as far as Vienna, Regensburg, and Prague, but his small hom etow n never
became a financial center. A t the lower end o f this hierarchy of financial functions
one finds even smaller places, barely townships and m ostly villages, were Jew s
were allowed to settle towards the very end o f the period, expressively to provide
fo r the credit needs of the lower nobility, the lords o f such places. A t the very b o t­
tom o f the ladder there were Jew s like one Abraham , who left in 1450 the tow n of
Lichtenfels in Franconia to settle in M arktgraitz, a market township tucked away
in a valley not far away. His few custom ers came solely from the immediate sur­
roundings o f his two dom iciles87. Thus even in this time o f decline, Jew ish money
lending still reflected a hierarchy o f clientele, each w ith different credit needs.
82 Staatsarchiv W ü rz bu rg (above, note 70) 6v, 7r: “the J e w 1’, “a j e w ”, “ in the house o f the J e w ”.
83
84
85
86
Ge rm ania Judaica III, 1504-1505.
Toch> Wirtschaft.
/Xyyitncinn, Judengeschäfte (above, note 7 ! ) 43.
Germania Judaica I I I , entry Her zogenbur g.
87 Ge rm ania Judaica I I I , entry Marktgraitz.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e Ag e s
203
Follow ing a boom after 1350, Jew ish finances were badly hit by a series of con­
fiscations o f capital and assets, which began in 1375 in Austria and peaked in 1385
in the financial centers of Southern Germany. This started a flight of Jew ish capital
abroad, mainly to Italy (and thus the beginning of considerable migration of
Germ an jew s to N orthern Italy). T he growing persecutions o f the 15'1’ century
must have stepped up this process. F o r the m id-point o f the Later Middle Ages, the
years around 1426, the total business capital of Germ an Jew s has been estimated at
one and a half to tw o million G uldens8. This was not more than the assets o f the
burgers o f the three middle-sized towns o f Esslingen, Basel, and Constance. It is
thus not surprising that Germ an Jew s o f the Later Middle Ages returned to an in­
creasing involvement in com m erce. In many cases, this was a trade in used clothes,
gems, furniture, and other utensils o f daily life, clearly a by-product o f paw nbrok­
ing. Towards the end of the M iddle Ages such business increased, yet another
consequence o f the turn towards the pawn described above. In some larger places
Jew ish brokers, all female, are mentioned, a sign that such trade had reached a cer­
tain critical mass. There were also beginnings o f a Jew ish engagement in the mar­
keting o f victuals, cattle, and horses. Trade in wine is o f course found in regions of
viticulture, such as the Rhineland and M osel region, Hessen, Alsace, Franconia,
and Low er Austria, as well as in some large com m unities, N urem berg, R egens­
burg, and Prague. It was practiced in a highly organized and capital-intensive man­
ner on the eastern fringes o f the G erm an R eich, in Styria, Carinthia, M oravia, and
Slovenia89. Significantly, system atic trade activities (as distinct from trade deriving
from paw nbroking) cluster in these eastern regions and especially in Bohem ia.
T hey are also found, to a degree, in some smaller places in the west o f the country.
In the larger towns o f the west Jew ish traders had no chance against the highly
effective lobby o f Christian merchants organized in guilds, especially not in the
many towns directly ruled by such associations. In the Jew ish m etropolis o f early
16th century Prague, a whole structure o f Jew ish businesses and shops is found,
including dealers in ice, geese, horses, as well as pub keepers90. In some places,
H eidelberg, Magdeburg, and N euenburg, Jew s served their lords as com m ercial
and financial agents, an early form of court Jew s. All these are econom ic patterns
that were to becom e characteristic o f the early modern centuries91.
88 Yacov Guggenheim, Jewish Banks in the G erm an E c o n o m y during the First H alf o f the 15th
Century, in: Proceedings of the Nin th World Co n gre ss o f Je wish Studies. Division B. vol. I (Jeru ­
salem 1986) 121 -1 26 (Hebrew).
89 See Herbert. Teufel, O f Wine Grower s, Vintners and Wine Dealers. Je ws in Agriculture and
Viticulture in Moravia during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, in: Review o f the Society
for the H i s to r y of C ze ch os lo vak Je w s 6 (1993/94) 119-131.
90 ]a n H erm an, D ie wirtschaftliche Betätigung und die Berufe der Prager Ju den vor ihrer Au sw ei­
sung im Ja h re 1541, in: Judaica Boh em ia e IV/1 (1 968) 57-61.
1,1 Toch, Wi rtschaft; M ichael Toch, Aspects o f Stratification o f Early M odern G erm an Je w ry : P o p ­
ulation H isto ry and Village Je ws, in: R. Po-chia Hsia, H. Lehmann (eds.), “ In and O u t of the
G h e t t o ”. lew ish-G en tile Relations in Late Medieval and Ea rly Modern G erm any (Ca m brid ge
1995) 77-89.
204
M ichael T och
IV. O th er O ccu p ation s
Around 1503, the German jurist Johannes Purgoldt expanded on statements made
almost four hundred years earlier: Now it is their (the Je w s’) state that they may
not own real property in this country, nor own hereditable possessions, because this
is not allow ed to them. If they had such property, people would dam age it; if they
w ork in handicrafts, the guilds and master artisans w ould not tolerate it, they would
not be received into their associations, and the people w ould not let them work; if
they engage in trading, no one would like to buy from them. And therefore must
they thus engage in usury, and this is their excuse*1. Shaped as it was by religious,
literary, and legal concerns, does this recurring image of a very restricted occupa­
tional structure reflect historical reality?
Throughout the whole Middle Ages, in G erm any as in other parts of Europe,
considerable numbers o f Jew s derived their livelihood by occupations other than
com m erce or credit. T h ey provided the well o ff with the conditions necessary to
live as Jew s in a Jew ish com munity, as well as w ith some basic amenities. Best
know n are the rabbis, but there was also a whole range o f ritual practitioners, arti­
sans, and providers o f varied services, m ostly o f a menial nature. By numbers the
m ost significant were Jew s and Jew esses employed by more affluent co-religionists
as manservants, maids, teachers, and religious personnel. These people are the least
documented of the Jew ish population. O n e reason fo r the poor visibility of such
humble persons is occupational indistinctness: many of them earned their living by
various crafts practiced sim ultaneously or alternately93. This holds also fo r the
Jew ish serving classes, as noted in a H ebrew autobiography o f 1382: I settled in
C oblence... and served the community as cantor, kosher butcher, examiner (o f food
stuffs) and innkeepei'94. A nother reason is the insignificance o f such mostly indi­
gent persons as taxpayers: there was no reason to list them individually in the re­
cords. They became o f interest to authorities only when perceived in police terms,
as undesirable elements. Follow ing deliberations by the city council o f N urem berg
on the need to control its Jew ish population, on M arch 14th 1489, a Sabbath, a clerk
entered the synagogue to take down the particulars of the male adults (that is over
13 years old)95. O f the male persons present, fourteen percent were com m unity
servants and a slightly higher proportion could be identified as house servants and
private teachers. Actually, of the fifteen Jew ish households of N urem berg in the
year 1489 only one, that o f a widow, had no hired help. Similar findings from
O snabrück, W orms, Prague, and Frankfurt on the Main corroborate this basic fact
92 Translated by Kisch, 19 3-194 (with slight emendations by me, M.T.), and quoted, in a different
cont ext , by Shatzmiller, 96.
93 II. Swanson, Medieval Artisans. An U rb an Class in Late Medieval England ( O x fo rd 1989).
94 Israel Yuval, A Ger m an-Je w ish Auto b iogra ph y o f the Fourteen th Century, in: Bin ah 3 (1994)
7 9- 99. See also Ge rm an ia Judaica I I I, entries Höchs täd t/ Donau, Triest, Windecken.
<h M ichael Toch, D ie soziale und demographische Stru k tu r der jüdischen G em einde Nü rnbergs
im Ja h r e 1489, in: Wirtschaftskräfte und Wirtschaftswege. Festschrift für Fiermann Kellenben z,
ed ./. Schneider, vol. V (Stuttgart 1981) 82-83.
E c o n o m i c A c ti vi tie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in the M i d d l e A g e s
205
of Jew ish occupational and social structure96. Given the peculiarities o f the written
record, such figures should be understood as the “tip of the iceberg” o f an other­
wise unrecorded group o f Jew s and Jew esses o f the serving classes, making up close
to one third of population numbers.
In contrast to domestics, other non-traders and non-financiers have been of
more interest to historians. This again has to do with 19'1’ century polemics and
apologetics, and especially with the debate how to “ameliorate the Je w s ”. As part
o f the em ancipation process, a large number o f schemes were devised to get the
Jew s out o f finance, trade, and services and into “productive” occupations in agri­
culture and crafts. Zionism and its tenet o f the “ return to the so il” are but one o ff­
spring of this mindset. Even if not consciously seeking for historical precedent, the
figure of the sturdy Jew ish peasant, a human type purportedly in balance w ith his
surroundings, has fascinated historians. Elowever, he is very hard to find in the
sources. As quoted above, there are clear testim onies, penned by Jew s and nonJew s from the 12th century onwards, against agricultural pursuits. W hat do other
types o f sources have to say on Jew ish agriculturists and on farmland held by
jew s?
In the early period, in Latin sources there are but two concrete instances o f such
agricultural property97. The first in or near M etz (before 945) was a vineyard and
the second one near Regensburg (before 981) might have been one as well. In both
cases the property had already passed from Jew ish into Christian hands. A third
text, the privilege accorded in 1090 by em peror H enry IV to a number of Jew s of
Speyer, guaranteed the properties that they possess in hereditary rights, in open
grounds, in houses, in gardens, in vineyards, in fields, in slaves, or in other proper­
ties, m obile and im m obile98. This is the usual enum eration of all legal form s of
ownership, and might or might not indicate that Jew s o f Speyer indeed owned
agricultural land. In short, in the early period there is little evidence that Germ an
Jew s possessed significant landed property beyond vineyards, in contrast to sou th­
ern France and to a lesser extent to northern France99. Such (relative) dearth is cor­
roborated by the H ebrew sources. O f the questions addressed to G ershom ben
Jehudah “Light o f the E xile” on the possession, mortgaging, and inheritance of
agricultural land, not one can be identified as com ing from Germany. M ore fre­
quent in H alakhic sources are references to vineyards and wine production, but
here too the context is m ostly a com m ercial one, o f the transport and sale o f wine
96 Ge rm ania Judaica I I I, entries O sn ab rü ck , Wor m s; G. Wolf, Zur Geschich te der Ju de n in Ö s t e r ­
reich. I. Verzeichniß der Prager Jude n, ihrer Frauen, Kinde r und D ienst bote n im Jahre 1546, in:
Zeitschrift für die Geschich te der Ju de n in Deut schland 1 (1887) 176-189 ; Andernacht, nos. 344,
1766.
97 Aronius, nos. 126, 135.
98 Linder, 394.
99 See Bernard Blumenkranz, Cultivateurs et vignerons juifs en B ou rg ogne du I X Cau X I 1' siccles,
in: idem, Juifs en France. Ecrits disperses (Paris 1989) 89 -9 9; Norman Golh, T h e Je w s in Medieval
N o r m a n d y (C am bridge 1998) 552-5 53. I am now in the process o f integrating the Latin sources
with the H eb r ew ones, with fascinating results.
206
M ichael T och
produced by Je w s 100. From the 12th century onwards, the possession o f vineyards
is m ore often m entioned101. In some cases, Jew ish owners were personally involved
in wine production, fo r instance Isaac bar Jo e l ha-Levi and Judah, both of M ainz,
killed in 1146 by crusaders while gathering the grapes102. T heir participation in the
w ork process was required by religious law in order to make the wine potable by
observing Jew s. Such properties are also found in the Later Middle Ages, indicating
an ongoing concern for the production o f kosher w ine103. In 1374, we learn that
the Jew s o f Vienna were freed from taxes on two kinds o f wine: on their pauwein,
wine produced by themselves, and on wine received in payment fo r loans104. The
latter appears in many places in sizeable quantities and was clearly funneled into
trade. T h e same applies fo r wine grown in vineyards in Jew ish possession but
worked by n on -Jew s105. In many cases these must have been holdings put up as
collateral for loans.
In the 10 th/11th century there are only dim references to other agricultural pur­
suits106. Later, landed property that was not vineyards becom es somewhat more
com m on. In mid- 13th century Austria tw o Jew ish officials in ducal service received
possession (or the right o f usage, the source is somewhat uncertain) o f sixteen feu­
dal estates. As in other more modest cases, their title to the land was m ost probably
acquired when lenders defaulted on their loan s107. This was clearly the instance in
one o f M eir ben B arukh’s (the Maharam o f R othenburg, ca. 1220-1293) Responsa,
w here a village and the enjoym ent of its harvest were handed over by the debtor to
a consortium o f Jew ish lenders fo r a number of years. However, yet another Responsum tells of a Jew ish landowner who arranged with a Christian peasant, clearly
his dependent, to exchange fields and oxen. In another case two Jew ish brothers
went to court over intermingling fields possessed by them 108. In the Later Middle
Ages there are further indications for some Jew s making a living by agriculture109.
Clearly, the w orking of fields, unlike vineyards, remained an isolated occurrence,
and m ost o f the property reported in the sources was forfeited collateral from
credit operations. Real change appears only at the very end o f our period, when a
100 Agus, nos. L X X X I V , C I I , C X X X V , C L X X X I V , C C L X X I I I ; Mutius I 7 0-7 5, 83, 88, 100-2,
110; II, 28, 73, 7 6-7 7, 82, 84, 86, 105, 119; Aronius, no. 170. O n the ritual problems o f wine p ro d u c ­
tion, the real reason for its frequent mention in the sources, see Soloveitchik, Principles,
iai p or references see Soloveitchik, Principles, as well as Germania ju d aic a II, 344, 801, 837, and
Aronius, nos. 317, 336, 371, 404.
102 N eubauer, Stem, 191.
IOi> Ge rm ania Judaica I I I, entries Bohem ia , Austria, Ko nstanz , Kitzingen; Stewart Jen ks, Ju d en verschuldung und Verfolgung von Ju den im 14.Jahrh undert: Fran ken bis 1349, in: Vierteljah r­
schrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte 65 (1 978 ) 349; Mentgen, 5 5 7 -5 60, as well as a sizable
am ou nt o f H eb r ew sources, fo r instance Israel Isserlein, Sepher Teru math h a-D es h en (Warsaw
1882) no. 329.
104 Mentgen, 558.
105 Aronius, no. 336.
106 Agus, nos. C X X X I X , C C L X X X I I I .
107 Aronius, nos. 627, 349, 360, 361, 364, 375, 442.
108 M aharam, nos. 997, 452, 640.
109 Ge rm ania Judaica I I I, entries Pardubitz, Spandau, Sezemitz, Wildberg, Winterbach.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e A g e s
207
com plex econom ic structure developed in the rural com munities and small towns
centered on Frankfurt on the M ain 110. T h e village Jew s o f these places worked
small plots for their own provision. T heir main livelihood however was a com bina­
tion o f m oney lending, the peddling o f urban craft goods in the countryside, and
the supply o f rural products to Frankfurt. As a by-line they also provided the Je w ­
ish com m unity o f that town with kosher meat and wine. B y the 16th century they
were raising considerable quantities of livestock, as indicated by frequent conflicts
with their Christian neighbors over grazing rights.
T he agricultural nexus holds an im portant im plication o f social history. In m edi­
eval society, w ork in agriculture and indeed life in the countryside was held to be
socially and culturally demeaning. Tow n-dw elling Jew s also held to this attitude,
nicely expressed in a Responsum by M eir ben Barukh o f Rothenburg, where a
woman categorically states: it never entered my mind to live in a village without
Minyan (orderly religious services) and prayer111. W hen Jew s became socially de­
graded at the end of the Middle Ages, when they turned from town-dw ellers into
village Jew s, one begins to find agricultural pursuits similar to surrounding society.
It was then that the stereotype o f the itinerant Jew , the cattle-dealer and peddler,
arose. T h e m ajor exception to the degrading aspect o f rural occupations is viticul­
ture, fo r its ritual feature o f the provision o f kosher wine, as well as an im portant
source o f merchandise fo r entrepreneurs.
The Torah is being fulfilled in Ashkenaz more than in other countries because
they take interest from the Gentiles and do not need to work in crafts, and therefore
they have leisure to study the Torah. This is one more dictum by a late medieval
R abbi, Josep h ben M oses (died after 1488), indicating the supreme value put on
religious studies112. D oes it also indicate, as it purports to, the absence o f Jew ish
men and women making a living from crafts? In the early period there are only
faint indications: Gershom ben Jehudah refers to a man who depended fo r his live­
lihood on the bakery oven owned and operated by him 113. O th er texts o f the 11th
century, on a goldsmith, on horse shooing, and on the repairing o f vessels, can be
understood to refer to Jew ish craftsmen w orking fo r internal needs114. B y the 12th/
13th centuries, some craftsmen catering for Jew ish and at times for G entile cu stom ­
ers can be more clearly made o u t113.
M ore substantial inform ation becomes know n in the Later Middle Ages, mostly
from urban sou rces116. In many cases, one learns o f crafts practiced by Jew s only
110 M ichael Toch, D ie ländliche Wirtschaftstätigkeit der Ju den im frühmod ernen Deut schland, in:
M. Richarz, R. Riirup (eds.), Jüdisches Leben auf dem Lande. Studien zur deutsch-jüdischen G e ­
schichte (Berlin 1997) 59-6 7; Toch, Wirtschaft.
111 M aharam, no. 1006.
112 Joseph ben Moshe, Leket Joscher, ed./. Freimarin, part I (Berlin 1903) 119, paragraph B.
113 Agus, n o . X L I X .
Agus, nos. C X X I I , C C L X X V I .
115 Dinur, 223, 225, 22 9; Aronius, no. 305; M aharam, nos. 677, 856.
116 F o r details and references see M ichael Toch, Geldleiher und sonst nichts? Z ur wirtschaftlichen
Tätigkeit der Ju den im deutschen Sprachraum des Spätmittelalters, in: Tel Aviver Ja h rb u ch für
deutsche Ges ch ich te 22 (1993) 117-126; Toch, Tätigkeit; Mentgen, 579-585 .
208
M ichael T o ch
when political authorities prohibited such activity, mostly after pressure by crafts
guilds. A t the very end o f the Middle Ages, the strong current against Jew ish money
lending also led to some attempts to “ameliorate the Je w s” by forcing them to earn
a living by the sweat o f their brow. Thus, in 1497 the bishop o f Strasbourg allowed
one Jew to settle in the village o f Schäfersheim , provided he refrained from lending
m oney to the bishop’s subjects and dealt only in window glazing, production of
playing cards, or sw ord-cutling. T h e range of crafts evident in late-medieval G er­
many is quite impressive and was m ostly geared towards a general, non-Jew ish,
clientele. In the leather branch there were producers of bags and purses, belts,
saddles, sheats, maybe also of bellows, as well as furriers and cobblers. In textiles,
there were weavers, dyers, tailors and (female) producers of veils. In the metal
crafts one finds knife grinders and com paratively numerous sword cutlers and
goldsmiths. Apparently, Jew s were also drawn towards somewhat artistic occupa­
tions, as producers o f playing cards (am ong them a woman o f W orm s) and o f dice,
illum inators, printers, and bookbinders. T here were makers of shofaroth and, in
Prague, a manufacturer o f mousetraps, brewers, a distiller o f spirits, a miller, a
turner, and a bricklayer. G laziers, mentioned in eight different places, were appar­
ently a Jew ish profession. T he bishop o f Strasbourg was thus right on the mark:
glaziers, painters of playing cards and cutlers were indeed the m ost com m on crafts
for Jew s. T h e highest concentration is found in Bohem ia, especially in Prague,
while the German west has only isolated instances, most probably because o f the
opposition of craft guilds that there were much more powerful.
Jew ish entrepreneurs, engineers, and proprietors of exotic expertise provide an
intriguing chapter o f occupational history. It opens with a somewhat enigmatic
reference o f Ibrahim ibn Jacu b, the Jew ish traveler from C ordoba (before 970), to
a salt refinery situated on the river Saale and worked by Jew s. This allusion, ou t­
landish as it might be, returns almost 300 years later, when a Latin source mentions
at the very same place, near H alle on the river Saale, the Jew ish member of a con ­
sortium engaged in salt refinery117. This is the only source from the central Middle
Ages, but later meticulous bookkeeping by princely and town administrations
produces a rich harvest of inform ation on Jew ish technical expertise118. Usually we
learn o f these individuals when they are being rewarded: fo r disclosing the secrets
of an unspecified art (in Frankfurt in 1454 this meant the strange art o f blow ing up
fortifications); fo r the production of guns, gunpowder and other m ilitary equip­
ment; fo r building mills and the model o f a mill; fo r drainage w ork and the laying
o f pipes; for em ploym ent in minting, mining and the working o f precious metals.
In 1455, one M ichael served landgrave Ludwig I o f Kassel as alchemist. A nother
practitioner o f the occult was less lucky: a Jew who had dabbled in N urem berg a
few years earlier in alchemy of silver and gold was branded on forehead and cheeks
and expelled from town. Such people led a m obile existence, moving from one
117 Aronius, nos. 131, 447.
118 F o r details and source references see Toch, Tätigkeit; M. Ginsburger, Les juifs et Part militairc
au m oycn age, in: Revue des etudes juives 88 (1 929 ) 156-166.
E c o n o m i c A c ti v i t ie s o f G e r m a n J e w s in th e M i d d l e Ag e s
209
place to the other, as migrants and by the invitation of rulers, even to localities were
the Jew s had previously been expelled.
M edicine is among the earliest occupations mentioned for jew s in Europe, and
this holds also fo r G erm any119. From the Book of Pious one learns of the use of
medical handbooks already in the 12t,1/13tl1 century. Though no hard inform ation
is available, such instruction manuals might well be the link between Jew ish practi­
tioners in the north o f Europe and the much more highly developed medical cul­
ture in the south. Substantial inform ation again becom es available in the Later
Middle Ages. The m ost remarkable fact is the widespread reliance of rulers - kings,
princes, and tow n governments - on Jew ish doctors. T hey were retained both on a
perm anent basis and from case to case. From such em ploym ent records we learn
that betw een 1350 and 1520 over 160 Jew ish physicians, surgeons and other medi­
cal practitioners known by name were active in Germany. Th eir actual number
might well have been larger. Significantly, they are also found in regions that by
then had been altogether emptied o f Jew s, such as the N etherlands, the Germ an
northw est, today’s Switzerland and Bavaria. T h eir expertise was im portant enough
to overcom e the extrem ely strong anti-Jew ish feelings rampant in these regions.
Physicians were probably the m ost m obile element of the Jew ish population.
T hey moved from place to place, but also from culture to culture. A M oses traveled
from R om e to Aschaffenburg and then to Frankfurt on the Main, where he was
employed as town surgeon and pioneered the treatm ent of syphilis. Feifel, traveler
and surgeon from the holy city o f Jerusalem , reached amongst other places also
Prague, where he became personal physician to king Wenzel. However, he also
worked as kosher butcher120. Since the early Middle Ages, doctors were apparently
especially prone to convert to Christianity, maybe because o f their proxim ity to
rulers and o f the considerable rewards offered to them. In the Later M iddle Ages
this included the bestowal of academic titles and, in at least one case, ennoble­
m ent121. These were dignities no normal Jew s could aspire to. Jew ish medicine also
included humble dispensers o f medicine and ointm ents, simple surgeons, a sizable
number o f specialists in ophthalm ology and dentistry, and women practicing
general medicine as well as midwifery. There were veterinary surgeons, for instance
Y tzinger the Young of K ronberg, who fo r his art was allowed in 1486 by the arch­
bishop o f M ainz to settle in a small town on the Rhine. There was also that one
blind baptized jew , who dabbled in quack medicine and was expelled from Frank­
furt on the Main in 1497122. Still, Jew ish medicine was not wholly directed towards
the outside world. In 1364 a R abbi Lebelang proposed to establish a hospice for
119 F o r the following see Toch, Tätigkeit; Jo-A'pij Shatzmiller, D o cto rs and Medical Practice in
G er m a n y around the Year 1200, in: Jo u rn al o f Jewish Studies 33 (1982) 5 8 3 -5 93; Mentgen, 585—
591.
120 Germania Judaica III, entries Frankfurt/Main, Prague.
121 Markus Wenninger, Z ur P rom oti on jüdischer A rz te durch Kaiser Friedrich II I., in: A s c h ­
kenas 5 (1 995 ) 413-4 2 4 ; G erd Mentgen, D ie mittelalterliche Ärz te- F am il ic “G u tl eb en “, in: Z ei t­
schrift für Geschich te des Ober rh ein s 139 (1991) 79-93 .
122 Andernacht, no. 2896.
210
Michael T och
Jew ish lepers in W einheim near Heidelberg (where centuries later M artin B uber
lived). Possibly his plan, a remarkable exercise in com m unity solidarity, was real­
ized to some measure. Rainer Barzen is further elaborating on the topic in this
volume.
To sum up: There was always a sizable stratum of “low er-class” Jew s and Je w ­
esses employed in the service sector o f the com m unities and of affluent families.
However, our examination has found the traditional picture of the preponderance
of trade, and later o f money-lending, largely valid. Such occupations certainly pro­
vided the basis fo r Jew ish existence, in the sense that its practitioners were the ones
whose econom ic activities answered to the demands o f the m arket-place. As such,
they were o f use to the authorities as highly significant taxpayers. T hey were also
the ones in full view o f Christian society, w ith all that entailed fo r the shaping of
the image o f the Jew. As traders, Jew s were certainly not as all-im portant as has
been claimed. As m oney-lenders, they fulfilled a more significant role in the econ­
om y and society, alongside other people and institutions engaged in extending
credit. As fo r the impact o f econom ics on broader history: I see the turn to money
lending as one growing influence, amongst other factors, on the increasingly nega­
tive image that G erm an society, as that o f other European ones, came to hold o f
and apply to the Jews.
Index
Bearbeitet von An na Gutgarts
Abraham ben David von Posquieres
Abravanel, Familie 62
Abulafia, An na Sapir 12
Abulafia, David 64
A d olf I., E r z b isch o f von Mainz
Afrika 5 0 , 5 8 - 6 0 , 1 8 4
Aguna 1 7 1 , 1 7 5
20, 193
17,19
B altic Aniim
33, 34
149
Balduin, E r z b i s c h o f von Trier
160, 161
131, 132
Balthasar von M eißen , Landgraf von T h ü r i n ­
134
g en
5, 7, 55, 65, 67, 68, 70- 75, 77-8 1, 83,
92, 107, 1 2 5 , 2 0 2
Barcelona
20,57
Bardi, F irm a
107
B a r z e n , R a i n e r 210
Banken
Ägy pte n
19, 31, 38, 39, 45, 47, 49-5 1, 184
A k k o n 38
al-Andalus 50
Alb re cht II., H er z o g von Österreich
160, 161
A lb re cht IV., E r z b isch o f von Magdeburg 133
Alexander III., Papst 14
Alexander IV., Papst 95
Alexandrien 22, 27, 30-3 2, 3 8-4 0, 4 2 -4 5, 47,
68, 168
Alfo n so von Aragon 53, 60
al-M ah diyy ah 50
A lm ose n 140, 143, 146
Alpen
1 0 3 ,1 0 7 ,1 2 5 ,1 2 7 ,1 9 2
Amalfi 5 1 , 5 2
Am bro si us von Mailand
Amtsbuch 198
An dernach 160, 197
Bab ylo nien
Badoer, G ia c o m o
Basel
1 7 0 ,197,203
7
60,61
Bayern
106, 190, 191, 198, 200, 201, 20 9
be-am anah 193
Beit Ospisanckiah 149
Basil v on C aesarea
Bau m w olle
28, 32
33, 35, 85
Belvedere (Kreta)
B e n ja m in v on Tudela
Bern
98,1 6 9 ,1 7 0
B e r n a r d i n o v o n S ie n a
7, 8
B ern h ard von Clairvaux
83-85
13
Bern h ard von Sachsen, H e r z o g
Berthold, B isch o f von Bam berg
Andreas II., K ön ig von Unga rn
123
Andr on ic us II., byz. Kaiser 33, 64
A n dros 3 6 , 3 8
angaria 60
- Siehe auch corvee
A n to n io M arm ora 85, 86
A n to n io Venier, venez. D oge 86
Apulien 40, 52, 54, 55
Arag on
50, 53, 57, 64, 200
A r b a ’a ha-T urim 21
128
132
Berufe:
208
-
Alchem ist
-
36, 4 1 , 4 4 , 4 6 , 5 3 , 5 6 , 5 8 , 5 9 ,
69, 76, 78, 80, 166, 1 9 5 , 2 0 9
Bäcker
207
-
Arzt, Ä rztin
-
B a n k i e r , G e l d l e i h e r, F i n a n z i e r
-
D ien stb ote
-
passim
154,204-205
- Siehe auch Ja c o b ben Asher
Armenfürsorge, Armenkasse 139-152
-
2 9 ,3 5 ,3 6 ,5 7 , 7 6 ,8 0 ,8 5 ,2 0 8
1 2 1 ,1 2 4 ,1 2 8 ,1 3 1 ,1 3 3 ,1 3 4
Fischer
58
Fuhrm ann
76
G astw irt
68, 76
A sc h er ben Je chiel
178
Aschkenas 66, 76, 77, 83, 121, 139, 141, 142,
144, 146, 148, 151-153, 159, 167, 176, 184,
187,207
-
G erber
-
G laser
-
Ashtor, Eliyahu 68
Assisi 100, 101
Augsburg 1 4 9 , 1 7 3 , 2 0 2
Augustinus, B isc h o f von Flippo
Avicenna 80
Avignon
101, 107
-
3 3 -3 5 ,5 7 ,6 5 ,7 6 ,9 0
208
G oldschm ied
5 6 ,5 7 ,7 6 ,8 1 ,2 0 7
-
H andw erker
-
49, 5 1 - 5 3 , 5 6 , 5 8 , 6 1 , 6 2 , 7 5 ,
76, 80, 190, 194, 197, 204, 207, 208
H ebam m e
166
H ofm eister
130
Flutm acher
76
In g e n i e u r 208
-
Kam m ergraf
-
7
Färber
Finanzbeam te
-
129
212
-
Kaufman n
Index
28, 30, 3 2-3 4, 36, 38-4 2, 49-5 2,
54, 56, 5 8-6 1, 68, 69, 75, 76, 84, 90, 91, 95,
103, 104, 106-108, 114-116, 125, 181, 183189, 192, 203
- K o c h 76
- Makler, Mäklerin
- M aur er 36
4 3,178,203
- Schiffszi mmerman n
- Schlachter, Fleischer
-
Spielkartenmacher
37
34, 57, 76, 204, 209
- Web er 76
- Zim m er m an n
C lun y
13,94
Cohen, Boaz
14
4
12
collegancia ( K o n t r a k t ) 4 4 ,
comm enda 186
condotta 6 7 , 7 3 , 7 6 , 7 9 - 8 1 ,
Coron
corpus iuris civilis
corv ee
9
angaria
.. S i e h e a u c h
129
87
C y ren aica
58 ,6 1
D arlehen
2
83, 92
6 0 , 61
custodia
208
45
3 5 , 3 9 , 68
C o sm a s von Prag
- trapezites (G eldleiher)
- Vice dominus
129
144
26, 36, 37, 3 9 - 4 2 , 4 4 -4 6
C ohen, Jerem y
123, 124, 127, 128,
- Pfandleiher 5 3 , 8 2 , 105, 106
- Salzsieder 208
Schmied 3 6 , 5 7
Schreiber 76
Schuh macher 36
Schwertfeger 20 8
C hios
C ö l e s t i n I I I . , Pa p st
~ Münzer, Mün zm eiste r
130, 134, 137,189
- Papiermache r 76
-
Chatam , Chatima 165
Chevrot ( B r u d e r s c h a f t e n )
2 7 , 3 0 , 3 2 , 3 3 , 3 9 , 4 0 , 4 3 - 4 6 , 5 4 , 55 ,
5 7 , 6 0 , 6 7 , 6 8 , 7 1 - 7 5 , 8 0 - 8 2 , 8 4 , 8 7 , 88 , 94 ,
9 5 , 9 9 - 1 0 1 , 103, 1 05, 1 06, 1 0 9 - 1 1 3 , 1 15 ,
1 3 3 , 1 54 , 1 5 8 - 1 6 2 , 17 6 , 185, 18 6, 1 8 9 - 1 9 4 ,
57
1 9 6 -2 0 3 ,2 0 6
- Zöllner, Zollpächte r
129, 130, 132, 135
Bet Din 171
122, 124, 125, 127,
Bibel 2 , 3 , 1 7 - 2 2 , 9 4 , 1 7 4 , 1 8 6
- Siehe auch glossa ordinaria 2
Bibles Moralisees 13
Bingen
132, 160, 197-202
D avid K im hi
21
D a v i d S te u s s
160
D e regimine Judaeorum
Decretum Gratiani 7
D eutschland
52
11, 2 2 , 5 3 - 5 5 , 6 4 , 7 6 , 91 , 9 4 ,
1 0 6 - 1 0 8 , 1 15, 12 2, 127, 13 0, 13 6 , 146, 150 ,
159 ,
1 70 , 1 8 1 - 1 8 3 , 18 8, 19 0, 19 2, 1 9 4 - 1 9 7 ,
Birgitta von Schweden
167
Blutbesch uldigung 172
dienchelele
-
D ietrich, E rz b isch o f von M ainz
Siehe auch R itu alm ord pr oz eß
2 0 0 -205,208-210
59
Böhmen
129, 130, 135, 165, 203, 208,
B o lo gn a 3, 78, 100
Braunstein, Philippe 79, 80
Bresc, H en ri 5 1 , 5 5 , 5 6 , 5 8
dinej de-m alkhuta dinej
B run o , B isc h o f von O lm iit z
130
Buch der Frommen - siehe Sefer Hasidim
B u chd ru ck 5 3 , 5 4
Bu ch fü h ru n g 104-1 08 , 110- 116 , 131, 158
Burgund 13, 100, 103, 104, 108, 109
B y zan z 25, 26, 47, 57, 64, 76, 92, 184
ebraike -
D om inikaner
38
D uby, Georges
12
s i eh e J u d e n v i e r t e l
Edgar, K ö n ig v on E n g lan d
125, 192
Einlager
Eisengüter
91
Elia von Prag
171
44
Candia 2 7 -3 0 , 32, 3 4-4 6, 68, 75, 76
Can ea 28, 32, 34, 36, 37, 68
Capodistria 8 3 , 8 4
Eliezer von M etz
Carlebach , Elisheva
Car pi, Daniel 63
Carrara 6 9 , 7 7
England
99, 107
156
Elsaß
191
193 , 198
176
E lieser ben N athan von M ain z
cambium maritimum
C ham pa gn e
94
Ed w ard III., K ö n ig von England
Elieser ben Joel ha-Levi
Cah orsi nen
162, 165
172
98, 99, 189
97
101 ,2 0 3
E m anzipation
E m igration
85 ,2 0 5
42, 50, 52
5 9 , 6 0 , 6 4 , 9 3 , 9 4 , 9 6 , 9 8 , 105, 107,
128 , 159 , 1 9 1 , 2 0 0
Eph raim bar Ja co b von B o n n
Erasm us
3 ,6
193
In d ex
Er be, Er bsch afte n
197
Erice 5 6 , 5 7
Es ch , Arnold
Este 7 8 , 8 0
77, 144, 147, 157, 162, 194,
169
Euböa
35, 36, 38, 43, 45
93, 94, 97, 143
E x kom m u n ikatio n
130
exempla
E x p o rt 2 8 -3 0 , 34, 37, 38, 42, 45, 50, 53, 58,
61, 88
Färberei 35, 36, 40, 5 0- 52, 54, 57, 58, 182
F'eltre 6 3 , 7 4
Fe rdinand I. von Neapel (Ferrante)
Fe rdinand II. von Aragon
Ferrara 55, 73, 78
Fichtenharz
105
Flore nz
53 -5 5
55, 61
54, 106
F ran ces co Foscari, venez. D oge 65
F ran ces co I il Vecchio (F ran cesco Carrara, il
Vec chio) 69
Francesc o II N ovello (F ran cesco Nove llo
Carraresi) 69
F r a n c h e -C o m t e
1 0 3 ,109,115
Frank en 2 0 2 , 2 0 3
Fr an k fu rt am Mai n
189, 195, 198, 201,
Frank reich, Zarfat
107, 111, 125, 144,
200, 205
150, 161-163 , 173, 178,
202, 204, 2 0 7 -2 0 9
11, 13, 18-21, 59, 64, 105,
145, 150, 187, 191, 193,
Fr anziskaner 66
Friaul 74, 124, 159
Friedric h II., D eu tsc h er Kaiser und K ön ig von
Sizilien 5 1 , 5 2 , 5 8 , 6 4 , 1 2 2
Friedric h II I., D eu tsc h er Kaiser 162, 163
Friedric h II I., K ön ig von Sizilien 57
Friedric h III., E r z b isch o f von Kö ln
133
Friedrich, Bischof von T h u r
190
Friesach
132, 158
Ftm duq,fondaco
213
Geldstrafe 29, 39, 53, 79, 94, 105, 145, 147
Geldw echsel
103
Geleitb rie f 173-174
G en iz ah von Kairo 49, 50, 59, 61, 184
Gen ua 26, 30, 3 9 -4 2, 44, 46, 47, 4 9-5 1, 5 7-5 9
Gerbere i 5 8 , 9 0
Ger hard, B isc h of von Schwa rzburg
133
Germ ania Judaica 134, 184
G ersh om ben Jehudah, „L icht des E x il s“ 22,
98, 181, 182, 184, 1 8 5 , 2 0 5 , 2 0 7
Gesela de M alkhuta 172
Get (Scheidungsbrief) 175
Getreide 4 0 , 5 9
Gilden, Zün fte 82, 83, 187, 203, 204, 208
Giovanni di Capestrano, Fra 52, 136
Gio va nni Soranzo, venez. D o g e 38, 64
G iro n a 20, 105, 115
giudecca - siehe Judenviertel
Gla nz, R u d o lf
139
glossa ordinaria - siehe Bibel
Görz
1 2 5 - 1 3 1 , 1 3 5 , 173
G o ld 42, 50, 185, 191, 193, 194, 199, 200, 208
G o ldene Bulle 88, 123
Gratianus 3 , 1 1 , 1 2
Grayzel, So lom o n
14, 93
G r eg o r I., Papst 95
G r eg o r X ., Papst
130
G r eg o r X I . , Papst 133
griparia 30
G ros s Schaefer, Arthur 5
G ros sm an, Avraham 176
H ab sb urg
136, 137, 160
F lalach a " 2, 1 8 ,5 1 , 139, 142, 156, 172, 175-180,
186, 1 9 5 , 2 0 5
H am b urg 1 0 8 , 1 3 2
Flanau (Grafschaft)
Hande l passim
H anse
108
161
42
Funk enstein, Am o s
12
Flatra'a
G abai (Kassenwart)
Heidelberg 1 3 3 , 1 3 4 , 2 0 3 , 2 1 0
Heinric h III., E r zb isch o f von M ainz
132
Heinric h IV., Deu ts ch er Kaiser 205
He in ric h, B isc h o f von Breslau 130
He in ric h, H er z o g von Kärnten und G r a f von
T ir ol
126
Gam ora n , Hillel
142
4
Gelb e r Fl ec k 85, 87, 88
- Siehe auch rotella rossa
Geldleihe 37, 43, 45, 46, 48, 5 1-5 4, 57, 59, 60,
79, 82 , 84, 88, 92, 112, 113, 116, 154, 155,
161, 176, 179,184, 185, 188-192, 194-198,
2 0 1 ,2 0 2 ,2 0 7 ,2 0 8 ,2 1 0
- Ku nd en 80-8 2, 100, 109, 111 -1 12 , 185-186,
190-19 1, 196-198
-
Siehe auch Wuc her
179
Häute 5 0 , 5 4 , 91
Haverk amp, Alfred
144
Flekdesch
151, 152
Henri von Blois 94
H e n ry II I., K ön ig von England 93, 159
H erem ba-yishuv 187
H erm an von Scheda - siehe Jehuda h von Kö ln
214
H iero ny m u s
In d e x
2
J o se p h Kimhi
H ilchot 'Zedaka
18
142
H ofju de, H ofj ud en tu m
131, 132, 13S, 203
H o ro w itz , Ellio t 140
Hospital
140, 141, 148-152 , 209
judaisare 13
Ju d ei antiqui 3 9 , 5 4
Ju den bischof 133
Judenbuch 196
Hosp italerorden
Judenviertel:
- ebraike 77
- G h et to 6 1 , 8 9 , 9 0
- g iudecca 59, 60, 77
39
Ibrahim i b n j a c u b 208
Im por t 27, 3 0-3 4, 3 7-4 0, 42, 50, 58, 91
Indien 49-51
I nn ozen z HL, Papst 14
I nn ozen z V I I., Papst 78
Investitionen 45, 47, 48, 56, 57, 71, 78, 79, 89,
115, 188
Isaak ben M osh e O r Sarua von Wi en
Isaak ben Samuel von D am pierre 99
142
- iudaica, judaiche 7 7 , 8 9
- mons Iudeorum 89
Justinian, byz. Kaiser 9, 10
Kair o 184
Kalabrien 52, 101
Kampan ien 95, 101
Isaak von Mon sc h au
133
Isabella I. von Kastilien 55
Isak von Lie nz 125
Israel - siehe Land von Israel
Kammer grafen
128, 129
K am m er kn echts ch aft der Ju den 64, 65
karim i 51
Karl I I I . von D u ra zzo, K ön ig von Neape l
Israel ben Jo e l Susslin 150
Israel Bruna 171
Israel Isserlein
157, 162, 167, 168, 171, 172,
174, 175, 178, 179
- Siehe auch Terumat h a- D es che n
Isska 1 1 , 1 8 6
Istrien 7 4 , 8 3 , 1 2 4 , 1 2 5
Karl IV., Deu ts ch er Kaiser
Italien 13, 16, 31, 42, 47, 49, 5 1-5 7, 59, 61, 62,
6 9 , 9 9 - 1 0 1 , 106, 111, 124, 125, 136, 141, 184,
186, 1 9 5 , 2 0 3
iudaica - siehe Judenviertel
Ja c o b , E r z b i s c h o f von Gn ese n
Ja c o b B e n Ash er 2 1 , 2 2
- Siehe auch A r b a ’a ha-Turim
97
Ja c o b Mol in (Maharil) 157, 166, 167
Ja c o b Tarn 1 9 , 9 7 - 9 9
Ja c o b von Padua 171
Ja c o b Weil 171
J ac ob y, David
63
Jehu da h h a -C o h e n
182
Jehu da h von K ö l n
189, 193
Jemen 49-51,61
Jerusalem 1 6 7 , 1 6 8 , 1 7 4 , 2 0 9
Jeschivah 76, 153, 162
176 -1 79
Joan n a I., Kö nigin v on Neapel
Jo se ph C a r o 21
Jo se p h C o l o n
195
Karl V., Kaiser 61
Karl der G r o ß e, Kaiser 9, 11
Karl von A n jo u , K ön ig von Neapel
53
Kär nten 9 1 , 1 2 4 , 1 3 2 , 2 0 3
Kasch rut 28, 32, 39, 46, 47, 76, 156
- Fleischer 57, 204, 207, 209
- Käse 26, 27, 29, 3 0-3 2, 50, 60
- Wein 2 6 -2 8 , 3 0-3 2, 47, 57, 20 3, 206, 20 7
Kaspisches Mee r 41
Kastilien 5 9 , 6 2
Katalonien 45, 49, 50, 5 6 -5 9, 61, 105, 111
Kat z, J a c o b 5
Keil, M art ha 201
Ketubba 1 5 7 , 1 7 8 , 1 7 9
Khal af bar Y a ’akub ha-Sefardi 50
Kirschenbaum , Aaro n 4
Klost erneuburg 159, 160
K ob len z 1 4 9 , 1 8 9 , 2 0 4
Köln
131, 133, 149, 182, 185, 189, 192, 195,
201,202
Kohen
175, 178
Ko nra d IV., E r z b isch o f von Salzburg 191
K on so rt ien 124, 158, 191, 206, 208
Kon stantin X I . , byz. Kaiser 31
Ko nstantinop el 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39, 4 1-4 5,
47, 64, 77, 96
Jichu d
52
Jo a n n a II., Kö n igin von Neapel 52
Jo e l ben Yitz h ak ha-Levi von B o n n
Jo se p h bar Yitzcha k 171
Jo se ph ben Mos es 207
86
131
Ko n st anz
189
106, 111, 1 6 1 , 1 9 8 , 202, 203
51
K on tr akte 2, 5, 7, 10-12 , 20, 22, 2 7 -3 0 , 32, 34,
40, 44, 56, 77, 83, 88, 192, 193, 196, 201
Konve rsion, Konve rtiten 8, 52, 59, 60, 129,
189, 209
Konstitutionen von M elfi
In d e x
Konzile, Konzilsbeschlüsse:
- Basel
136
- Lateran 51
- Lateran IV.
15, 121
- Ly on II. 15, 132
- Tole do III.
121
Korallen 60
Korfu 39, 76, 83, 85 -92
K orinth 3 6 , 4 4
Krain
124, 125
Kredit
Kreuzzüge, Kreuzfahrer 13, 25, 26, 51, 132,
142, 167, 185, 190, 1 9 3 , 2 0 6
5
Ladislaus, König von Neape l 52
Lanciano (Messe) 55
Land von Israel 184
Landwirtschaft 26, 35, 56, 58, 60, 88, 89, 113,
114, 186, 188, 189, 1 9 1 , 2 0 1 , 2 0 5 - 2 0 7
lapidatio 87, 88, 92
Lateinische R o m ania 25, 26, 47, 68
Le opo ld V., H e r z o g von Öst er rei ch 128
Lepröse, Le proso rie n
150,210
Levante 4 5 , 5 1
Liga von Ca m brai 66, 74
L ip to n, Sara 12-14
Litauen 137
mechila 177
m edinot ha-yam
Med izin
18 3 ,1 8 4
53, 59, 80, 182, 209
Meinhard V II., G r a f von G ö r z
173
M eir ben Baruk h von R o th en b u rg
145, 146,
148, 1 5 1 , 2 0 6 , 2 0 7
Melfi - siehe Konstitutionen von Melfi
Mellinkoff, R uth
12
M en ac hem Merseburg 156
Mendikan ten 15
Meschullam ben Me nac he m
168
Meschul lam von Volterra 85
Mes opo ta m ien
19
Messe 55
Messina 5 7 , 5 9
Mestre 67, 72, 73, 76, 82
m etayage 113
M etz
131,205
56,60
Michael V I I I . Palaeologus, byz. Kaiser 33
Midrash 17
Midrash Sifre 1 ,20, 22
Minbag 165
Minoritenpredigt 7 1 , 8 3
Mishna 2, 17-19
Mishneh Torah 20
Mitgift 77, 157, 197
Mitt elm eer 2 5 -2 7 , 29, 32, 34, 37, 42, 44,
4 6 - 5 2 , 5 7 , 64, 184, 188
M o d o n 35, 36, 39, 68
Möschter, Angela 70
8
78, 103, 109, 114,
L opez , R o b e rt o 4
L o thar III., D eutsc h er Kaiser 189
Louis V I I., K ön ig von Fr ank reic h 13
Lu dw ig I., Landgraf von Kassel 208
Ly on 1 5 , 1 0 7 , 1 1 1 , 1 1 3
Maarufiya
186, 1 8 7 , 1 9 3
Magdeburg 132, 1 3 3 , 2 0 3
Maghreb 60
Mäh re n
Mailand
M a ro k k o 61
Marseille
1 0 5 ,1 0 7 ,1 1 1 ,1 1 5
McLaug hlin , Terence P. 6
m ezzadria
21
L oeb, Isidore 103
Lom bardei, Lom b ard en
116,
125, 192, 194
L o n d o n 93, 107, 170
41
40, 44
Marcus, Ivan 96
Margaret Kemp e
167
M ar in o Sanudo 66, 67
Marlowe, C hrist op he r 60
101, 105, 108, 110-113 , 116, 148, 160, 177,
188,
190-193, 195 -2 02, 204, 206, 210
Kr eta 2 6-3 2, 34, 3 7 -3 9 , 4 2-4 8, 63, 68, 69, 75,
92
Levi B e n G er sh o m
Levine, Aa ron 4
Mallorca 40, 42, 57
Malta 4 9 , 5 8 - 6 1
M am lu kk en 43
Manuel II., by z. Kaiser
Maon a von C hio s
27, 4 3-4 5, 49, 52, 54, 61, 67, 72, 73, 95,
Kriege], iMaurice
Krim 42
215
1 2 9 ,1 3 0 ,1 6 5 ,2 0 3
73,75
Mainhard IV., G r a f von G ö r z -T i r o l
124
Mainz 22, 131, 132, 142, 150, 172, 173, 181,
182, 185, 189, 191, 195, 197, 20 1, 202, 206, 209
Monselice 6 7 , 7 8
Mon tagnana 67, 78
Montaub an
107,111
M osc he M inz
162, 1 7 6 , 1 9 5
M osc he von Tarvis
171
Mos elzo ll 131, 160
Moses ben J a k o b Bo nen fant
160
Moses Maim onide s
1 9 -2 2 , 1 4 2
M ose s Nah manides 2 0 , 2 1
M ü n z e 124, 126, 128-130 , 134, 136, 188
Index
216
M ünzwesen:
-
D u k a t e n ( ducats ) 3 4 , 3 9 , 4 3 - 4 5 , 4 7 , 53 , 69 ,
-
F l o r i n 10 0, 101, 191
-
G u l d e n 1 5 8 - 1 6 3 , 170, 1 9 8 , 2 0 2 , 2 0 3
7 1 - 7 5 , 7 7 - 8 0 , 82 , 8 4 , 8 9
- hyperper 29 , 3 1 , 3 8 , 39 , 4 2 - 4 4
-
L i r a 81
-
Mark
{marks)
9 8 , 1 28, 15 8, 15 9, 1 74, 191
- perperi 91
-
P f u n d ( ö s t e r r e i c h i s c h un d d e u t s c h ) 1 32, 159,
-
P o u n d s ( e n g l i s ch u n d f r a n z ö s i s c h ) 94 , 100,
-
S c h i l l i n g 101
1 60, 1 6 4 , 165 , 1 67
1 09, 112 , 113 , 15 9
M ytilene
40 ,4 1
N a h m a n i d e s - si e h e M o s e s N a h m a n i d e s
N arbonne
1 8 ,2 1 ,1 0 7 ,1 1 3
N atanha-Lew i
N eapel
N ederm an, C ary
Nida
100
18 2 , 2 0 9
N igel, B is c h o f von E ly
94
N ik o la u s v on K ues, Kardinal
N oon an, Jo h n T hom as
N orm annen
N ürnberg
Peter boroug h 94
Petrus Venerabilis
1 3 ,9 4 ,9 5
pezzaria 82 , 8 3
Pfand, Pfandleihe 52, 61, 67, 72-7 5, 77, 80-84,
8 8 , 9 2 - 9 5 , 98 -1 01, 106, 113, 123, 131-133,
160, 177, 178, 185, 186, 190, 191, 193-195,
198,
1 9 9 ,201,203
Philipp von Schwaben, D eu tsc h er K önig
189
Philippe IV. le Bel, K ö n i g von Frankreich
109
95
Pisa 4 4 , 5 0
Podiva
129, 130
Pole n
128, 137, 182
157
N iederlande
Pera (Ko nstantinop el) 30, 33, 4 0-4 2, 44
Perugia 6 9 , 7 0
Peruzzi, Firma 107
Pest 6 8 , 1 3 5 , 1 4 1 , 149-151
- Siehe auch Verfolgung
Peter der K an to r 13
Philippe Augustus, K ön ig von Fr ank reich
Piove di Sacco 66, 67, 69, 70, 78, 80
Piraten 3 7 , 3 8
6
3 4 - 3 9 , 4 2 , 4 4 , 4 5 , 68
N i c h o l a s IV., P a p s t
25, 35, 37, 46
Philippe V. le Long, K ö n ig von Frank reich
104
161
3 2 ,5 2 -5 5 , 6 1 ,6 2 ,6 4 ,1 0 1
N egroponte
Peloponnes, Peloponnesus
Penslar, D ere k 4
Portugal 62
Prag 129, 144, 171, 182, 2 0 2 -2 0 4 , 208, 209
prizut 1 7 7 , 1 7 9
136
6
5 0 ,5 1 ,5 8
10 8 , 11 1, 115 , 1 4 0 , 14 9, 15 0 , 17 1,
Prove nce
107,186
197, 1 9 8 , 2 0 2 - 2 0 4 , 2 0 8
-
N ürnberger M em orbu ch
O b a d ia h von B e rtin o ro
58
O d o v o n Sully , B i s c h o f v o n P a r i s
Ö sterreich
183,
197, 200, 2 0 2 , 2 0 3 , 2 0 6
O l d r a d o de P o n t e
O livenöl
40
38
60
4
O tto , A b t von Zw ettl
159
O tt o , B isch o f von W ü rzb u rg
O ttom anen
1 7 8 ,1 7 9
5 9 , 6 3 , 6 6 , 6 8 , 6 9 , 7 2 - 7 4 , 7 7 - 8 2 , 92 , 159
P a l ä s ti n a
Palerm o
17,21
5 0 ,5 1 ,5 7 -5 9
parasha 111
pam assim ,parnesset
Pa t ra s
128
33 , 3 5 , 4 0 , 4 2
overet a l dat
4 5 ,4 6
1 56, 164
156, 179, 184, 185
Rav Fli yy a
19
Rav Flu na 19
R egensbu rg 108, 113, 149, 159, 163, 164, 166,
167, 183, 186, 1 9 5 , 2 0 2 , 2 0 3 , 2 0 5
reseba 179
Responsa, Responsenliteratur 11, 97, 143,
144, 146, 182, 184, 185, 187, 1 8 9 , 2 0 6 , 207
R e t h y m n o 29, 3 1 , 3 2 , 4 3 , 4 5 , 6 8 , 6 9
Reuter, T im o t h y
168
R hein 131, 132, 142, 145, 150, 182, 189, 191,
209
11
O rnstein, Richard
Pa d u a
96
128 , 1 3 0 , 155 , 159, 1 6 0 , 16 3, 170,
Officium provisionis
on a’a
Raschi
151
Rheinland 9 4 , 1 4 6 , 1 9 2 , 2 0 3
R heinz ölle 131, 132
R h od o s 30, 39, 45
Richard L öw en he rz , K ön ig von England
R itu al m ord pr oze ß
164
- Siehe auch Blu tbeschuldigung
R o b e rt de Chesnay, B i s c h o f von Lincoln
R oger II., K ö n ig von Sizilien 51, 52
Rom 55,2 0 9
Roover, R aym on d de 6, 116
128
94
217
In d ex
Roschor, Wilhelm 4
60
- Siehe mich gelber Fleck
R otes Mee r 50
Roth, Cecil 85
Silber 54, 128, 185, 191, 193, 194, 199, 200,
208
Silvestri, Alfo nso 52
Simcha ben Schmuel von Speyer 176
Simlin von Triest 171
Sim on K atz von Mainz
162
Sim onie 9, 10, 13
Sizilien 30, 40, 45, 4 9-5 1, 5 4-6 2, 64, 184
rotella rossa
R oth en b urg ob der Tauber 150
R ouge m on t, Familie 112, 113, 118
R ovigo 6 3 , 7 8
R ub in , Miri
12
Runtinger, Familie
108, 113
Rup recht I., Pfalzgraf
Sklaverei, Sklaven, Sklavenhandel
66,
182,205
societas terre
134
Rupr echt, D eu tsc h er K ön ig
Ruß land
183
196
Saadja bar M ore n u ha-R aw Elieser
Sabbath 204
165
Sahara 50
Salman Segal
171
Salzburg 132, 191
Sankt Osw ald 94
Sa nt’AIberto da Trapani
sarsarut 178
Sassaniden
19
Savoyen
59
101, 127, 135
Schlesien 130
Schöffe nbrie f 199
Schöffenkrieg
133
Schuldentilgung 136, 160, 165, 197, 202, 203
Schulz, Kn ut 153
Schwab, Moi'se 105
Schwabenspiegel
123
Schwarzes M eer 3 3 , 3 4 , 4 1 , 4 7
Schweiz 9 8 , 2 0 9
59,60
scribania vegetum Judeorum Venetorum 31
Sefer ha-Berit. 18
Sefer ha-Dinim 182
Sefer Hasidim 93, 9 7-9 9, 143, 148, 149, 174,
189,
209
Sefer Or Sarua 142
Sefer Yere’im 97
St eiermark 91, 162, 165, 1 7 0 , 2 0 3
Stephen, K ön ig von England 94
Stephen Lan gt on 93
Steuer, Besteuerun g 31, 33, 3 7 -3 9 , 53, 54, 56,
61, 65, 67, 68, 70-7 5, 84, 87-8 9, 136, 151,
156, 159, 163, 164, 172, 188, 19 2-197, 204,
206,210
Stieldorf, Andr ea 165
Stow, Ke nn et h 4
Straßburg 2 0 2 , 2 0 8
Straubing
1 0 6 ,1 1 1 ,1 9 0 ,1 9 4
82
Stromer, Wolfgang von 106
strazzaria
Synagoge 5 8 , 1 3 3 , 1 4 5 , 1 6 7 , 2 0 4
Syrakus 50, 5 9-6 1 , 63, 65, 7 0-7 4, 76, 77, 82,
84, 92, 159
Szende, Katalin
155
Tak ka not
142, 145, 147
Talmud 2, 10, 17-20, 156, 172, 175-178, 184,
186
Tausch 4 1 , 5 4 , 9 1
Terraferma 63, 67, 70, 7 3-7 7, 79, 83, 88, 89,
Seide 35, 36, 52, 57, 60,
Sepharad 142, 176, 184
- Siehe auch Spanien
Shatzmiller, Jo se p h 5
91, 92
Tertullian
122
Terumat h a-D esc he n
shofaroth 3 0 , 2 0 8
Shidhan ’A n ikh 21
Siems, Harald
10
Siena 78, 107
Sigmund, D eu tsc h er Kaiser
Signoria 7 3 , 7 4
44
S o lo m on ben Adret von Barce lona 20, 21
Soloveitchik, H a y m 4, 11, 12
Som bart, Werne r 4
soprabondanza 82
Spanien, Spanier, Iberien 18, 49, 50, 53, 54,
62, 104, 144, 184
- Siehe auch Sepharad
Speyer 1 4 2 , 1 5 0 , 1 8 5 , 2 0 2 , 2 0 5
Spoleto
100-102
Stato da mar 63, 74, 83, 89, 92
Schadennehmen 192
schitufe sima 179
Sciacca
57, 58, 64,
-
179
Siehe auch Israel Isserlein
teschuwa 178
Textil, Han del und Erzeugung 4 0-4 2, 50-52,
55,
5 7 -6 1, 81, 91, 100, 103, 107, 108, 111,
161
113, 114, 182
T h e b e n 3 5 , 3 6 , 51
218
T hessalo niki
Index
26, 35, 37
T hom as von A quin 5 1 , 5 2
T iro l
127, 135
T oaff, A riel 100
T och , M ichael 71, 106, 154
T odesch ini, G ia co m o
184
T oled o 21, 121
Torab 1 1 1 , 1 6 4 , 1 7 4 , 2 0 7
Tosafot
Tosefta
1 5 6 ,1 7 6 ,1 7 9
17
Toskana 49, 52, 55, 57, 58, 59, 125
Tovei h a -Ir
147
Trachtenberg, Jo sh ua
Trani 52
12
Trapani 5 0 , 5 6 , 5 9 , 6 1
Trier 96, 131, 132, 142, 145, 150, 191
Triest 63, 1 5 9 , 1 7 4
Tripoli 5 9 , 6 1
Tunesien 4 9 , 5 0 , 5 9 , 6 1
T ürk en 4 , 3 4 , 4 1 , 7 4
Tyrus 3 7 , 3 8
U lm 1 5 0 , 2 0 2
U m b rien 55, 100
Unga rn 123, 128, 129, 155, 182, 185
U n te rne hm er 28, 29, 33, 187, 207, 208
U rb a n V., Papst
101
Wein - siche Kasch rut
Weingort, Abraham 4
Wenninger, Mark us 189
Wenzel, D eu tsc h er K ön ig
Werdenberg 202
Westgotenreich
121
Wettinger, G o d fre y 60
197, 209
Wien 122, 124, 128, 150, 159, 164, 202, 206
Wiener Gesera 179
Wiener Neustad t
150, 155, 162, 163, 168, 175
W inchest er 94, 159
Wladislaw I., H e r z o g von B ö h m e n
Worcester 9 3 , 9 6
129
W orm s 142, 150, 182, 185, 204, 208
Wucher, Wucherer, usura 1-16, 52, 55, 56, 59,
70,
74, 75, 83, 101, 144, 188, 191, 196, 199,
200, 204
W ürzb urg 149, 191, 195
X e n o d o c h e in
149
X im e ne s d ’Urrea, Vizekönig
Yoreh D eah
59
2 1 ,2 2
- Siehe auch Arba'a ha-Turim
Yuval, Israel 140
Verona 63, 64, 72, 82
Verpfändung - siehe Pfand
Zadikim
166
Zarfat - siehe Fr ank reich
zedaka 1 3 9 - 1 4 2 , 1 4 4 , 1 4 7 , 1 5 1 , 1 5 2
Z eh nt 15, 146, 147
Zeldes, Nadia 55
Zins, Zinsen, Zinssätze 32, 44, 51, 53, 54, 59,
67, 7 1 , 7 2 , 74, 75, 80, 82, 8 4 , 8 8 , 112, 113,
130, 134, 162, 185, 186, 189, 190, 192, 195,
199,
200, 207
Vertreibung
109
zniut
Valencia 5 9 , 9 6
Venedig 7, 26 , 27 , 2 9 -3 5 , 3 7 -4 6 , 48, 50, 54, 55,
6 3 -6 9, 71- 78, 81, 82, 86, 88-9 2, 183
Veneto 63, 83, 84
Verfolgung 135, 141, 149 -1 52 , 187, 189, 203
55, 57, 58, 67, 71, 73, 88, 105,
Vesoul 1 0 3 - 1 0 5 , 1 0 7 - 1 1 6
Vicenza 63, 74, 78, 79, 82, 83
Villach 125, 132
Vivelin der R o te 191
Zionismus 205
167, 180
Zoll
1 2 2 -1 3 3,135,137,138,172
Zwangstaufe 179
Zyp er n 30, 40, 44, 45
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
1 H einrich Lutz. (Hrsg.): Das römisch-deutsche Reich im politischen System
Karls V., 1982, X II, 288 S. ISB N 3-48 6 -5 1 3 7 1 -0
vergriffen
2 Otto Pflanze (Hrsg.): Innenpolitische Probleme des Bism arck-Reiches, 1983, X II,
304 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 1 4 8 1 -4
vergriffen
3 Hans C onrad P eyer (Hrsg.): Gastfreundschaft, Taverne und Gasthaus im M ittel­
alter, 1983, XIV, 275 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -51661-2
vergriffen
4 E berhard Weis (Hrsg.): Reformen im rheinbiindischen Deutschland, 1984, X V I,
310 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 1 6 7 1-X
5 Heinz A ngerm eier (Hrsg.): Säkulare Aspekte der Reform ationszeit, 1983, X II,
278 S. ISB N 3-486 -5 1 8 4 1 -0
6 G erald D. Feldm an (Hrsg.): Die Nachwirkungen der Inflation auf die deutsche
Geschichte 1 9 2 4 -1 9 3 3 , 1985, X II, 407 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -52221-3
vergriffen
7 Jürgen Kockci (Hrsg.): Arbeiter und Bürger im 19. Jahrhundert. Varianten
ihres Verhältnisses im europäischen Vergleich, 1986, X V I, 342 S.
ISB N 3-486-52871 -8
vergriffen
8 K onrad Repgen (Hrsg.): Krieg und Politik 1 6 1 8 -1 6 4 8 . Europäische Probleme und
Perspektiven, 1988, X II, 4 5 4 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 3 7 6 1-X
vergriffen
9 Antoni M gczak (Hrsg.): Klientelsysteme im Europa der Frühen Neuzeit, 1988, X ,
386 S. ISB N 3-486-54021-1
10 E berhard K olb (Hrsg.): Europa vor dem Krieg von 1870. Mächtekonstellation Konfliktfelder - Kriegsausbruch, 1987, X II, 216 S. ISB N 3-486-54121-8
11 Helmut G eorg K oen igsberger (Hrsg.): Republiken und Republikanismus im
Europa der Frühen Neuzeit, 1988, X II, 323 S. ISB N 3-486-54341-5
12 Winfried Schulze (Hrsg.): Ständische G esellschaft und soziale M obilität, 1988, X,
4 1 6 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -54351-2
13 Joh an n e Autenrieth (Hrsg.): Renaissance- und Humanistenhandschriften, 1988,
X II, 214 S. mit Abbildungen ISB N 3-486-54511-6
14 Ernst Schulin (Hrsg.): Deutsche Geschichtswissenschaft nach dem Zweiten Welt­
krieg ( 19 4 5 —1965)7 1989, X I, 303 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 4 8 3 1 -X
15 Wilfried Barrier (Hrsg.): Tradition, Norm, Innovation. Soziales und literarisches
Traditionsverhalten in der Frühzeit der deutschen Aufklärung, 1989, XXV , 370 S.
ISB N 3-486 -5 4 7 7 1 -2
16 Hartmut Boockm ann (Hrsg.): Die Anfänge der ständischen Vertretungen in Preu­
ßen und seinen Nachbarländern, 1992, X , 264 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -55840-4
17 Joh n C. G. R öhl (Hrsg.): Der Ort Kaiser Wilhelms II. in der deutschen Geschichte,
1991, X III, 366 S. ISB N 3-486-55841 -2
vergriffen
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
18 G erhard A. Ritter (Hrsg.): Der Aufstieg der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung. Sozial­
demokratie und Freie Gewerkschaften im Parteiensystem und Sozialmilieu des
Kaiserreichs, 1990, X X I, 461 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 5 6 4 1 -X
19 R oger D ufraisse (Hrsg.): Revolution und Gegenrevolution 1789 -1 8 3 0 . Zur gei­
stigen Auseinandersetzung in Frankreich und Deutschland, 1991, X X , 274 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -55844-7
20 Klaus Schreiner (Hrsg.): Laienfrömmigkeit im späten Mittelalter. Formen, Funk­
tionen, politisch-soziale Zusammenhänge, 1992, X II, 411 S. ISB N 3-486-55902-8
21 Jürgen M iethke (Hrsg.): Das Publikum politischer Theorie im 14. Jahrhundert,
1992, IX , 301 S. ISB N 3-486 -5 5 8 9 8 -6
22 D ieter Simon (Hrsg.): Eherecht und Familiengut in Antike und Mittelalter, 1992,
IX , 168 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 5 8 8 5 -4
23 Volker Press (Hrsg.): Alternativen zur Reichsverfassung in der Frühen Neuzeit?
1995, X , 254 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56035-2
24 Kurt R aaflaub (Hrsg.): Anfänge politischen Denkens in der Antike. Die nahöst­
lichen Kulturen und die Griechen, 1993, X X IV , 461 S. ISB N 3-486-55993-1
25 Shulamit Volkov (Hrsg.): Deutsche Juden und die Moderne, 1994, X X IV , 170 S.
ISBN 3-48 6 -5 6 0 2 9 -8
vergriffen
26 Heinrich A. Winkler (Hrsg.): Die deutsche Staatskrise 1 9 3 0 -1 9 3 3 . Handlungs­
spielräume und Alternativen, 1992, X III, 296 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6-55943-5 vergriffen
27 Johan n es F ried (Hrsg.): Dialektik und Rhetorik im früheren und hohen Mittelalter.
Rezeption, Überlieferung und gesellschaftliche Wirkung antiker Gelehrsamkeit
vornehmlich im 9. und 12. Jahrhundert, 1997, X X I, 304 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 0 2 8 -X
28 P aolo Prodi (Hrsg.): Glaube und Eid. Treueformeln, Glaubensbekenntnisse und
Sozialdisziplinierung zwischen M ittelalter und Neuzeit, 1993, X X X , 2 4 6 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 5 9 9 4 -X
29 Ludwig Schm ugge (Hrsg.): Illegitimität im Spätmittelalter, 1994, X , 314 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6-56069-7
30 Bernhard K ölver (Hrsg.): Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien/
The State, the Law, and Administration in Classical India, 1997, X V III, 257 S.
ISB N 3-48 6 -5 6 1 9 3 -6
31 Elisabeth Fehrenbach (Hrsg.): Adel und Bürgertum in Deutschland 1770 -1 8 4 8 ,
1994, X V I, 251 S. ISB N 3-486-56027-1
32 R obert E. F erner (Hrsg.): Neue Richtungen in der hoch- und spätmittelalterlichen
Bibelexegese, 1996, X II, 191 S. ISB N 3-486 -5 6 0 8 3 -2
33 Klaus H ildebrand (Hrsg.): Das Deutsche Reich im Urteil der Großen Mächte und
europäischen Nachbarn (1 8 7 1 -1 9 4 5 ), 1995, X, 232 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56084-0
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
34 Wolfgang ./. Mommsen (Hrsg.): Kultur und Krieg. Die Rolle der Intellektuellen,
Künstler und Schriftsteller im Ersten Weltkrieg, 1995, X , 282 S.
ISBN 3-48 6 -5 6 0 8 5 -9
"
vergriffen
35 P eter Krüger (Hrsg.): Das europäische Staatensystem im Wandel. Strukturelle
Bedingungen und bewegende Kräfte seit der Frühen Neuzeit, 1996, X V I, 272 S.
ISB N 3-486-56171-5
36 P eter B lickle (Hrsg.): Theorien kommunaler Ordnung in Europa, 1996, IX , 268 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 1 9 2 -8
37 Hans E berhard M ayer (Hrsg.): Die Kreuzfahrerstaaten als multikulturelle
Gesellschaft. Einwanderer und Minderheiten im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert, 1997, X I,
187 S. ISBN 3-48 6 -5 6 2 5 7 -6
38 M anlio B ellom o (Hrsg.): Die Kunst der Disputation. Probleme der Rechtsaus­
legung und Rechtsanwendung im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert, 1997, X, 248 S.
ISB N 3-486 -5 6 2 5 8 -4
39 Frantisek Sm ahel (Hrsg.): Häresie und vorzeitige Reformation im Spätmittelalter,
1998, XV, 304 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56259-2
4 0 A lfred H averkam p (Hrsg.): Information, Kommunikation und Selbstdarstellung
in mittelalterlichen Gemeinden, 1998, X X II, 288 S. ISB N 3-48 6 -5 6 2 6 0 -6
41 Knut Schulz (Hrsg.): Handwerk in Europa. Vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Frühen
Neuzeit, 1999, X X , 313 S. ISB N 3-486-56395-5
42 Werner E ck (Hrsg.): Lokale Autonomie und römische Ordnungsmacht in den
kaiserzeitlichen Provinzen vom 1. bis 3. Jahrhundert, 1999, X , 327 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56385-8
43 M anfred H ildenneier (Hrsg.): Stalinismus vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Neue Wege
der Forschung / Stalinism before the Second World War. New Avenues o f
Research, 1998, X V I, 345 S. ISBN 3-486-56350-5
44 Aharon O ppenheim er (Hrsg.): Jüdische Geschichte in hellenistisch-römischer
Zeit. Wege der Forschung: Vom alten zum neuen Schürer, 1999, X I I , 275 S.
ISB N 3-486-56414-5
45 D ietm ar Willoweit (Hrsg.): Die Begründung des Rechts als historisches Problem,
2 000, V III, 345 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 4 8 2 -X
46 Stephen A. Schuker (Hrsg.): Deutschland und Frankreich. Vom Konflikt zur Aus­
söhnung. Die Gestaltung der westeuropäischen Sicherheit 1 9 1 4 -1 9 6 3 , 2000, X X ,
2 8 0 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 4 9 6 -X
47 Wolfgang Reinhard (Hrsg.): Verstaatlichung der Welt? Europäische Staatsmodelle
und außereuropäische Machtprozesse, 1999, X V I, 375 S. ISB N 3-486-56416-1
48 G erhard B esier (Hrsg.): Zwischen „nationaler Revolution“ und militärischer
Aggression. Transformationen in Kirche und G esellschaft während der konsoli­
dierten N S-Gewaltherrschaft 1 9 3 4 -1 9 3 9 , 2001, X X V III, 276 S.
ISB N 3-486-56543-5
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
49 David Cohen (Hrsg.): Demokratie, Recht und soziale Kontrolle im klassischen
Athen, 2002, VI, 205 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56662-8
50 Thomas A. Brady (Hrsg.): Die deutsche Reformation zwischen Spätmittelalter und
Früher Neuzeit, 2001, X X I, 258 S., ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 5 6 5 -6
51 H arold Ja m es (Hrsg.): The Interwar Depression in an International Context, 2002,
X V II, 192 S., ISB N 3-486-56610-5
52 C hristof D ipper (Hrsg.): Deutschland und Italien, 1 8 6 0 -1 9 6 0 . Politische und kul­
turelle Aspekte im Vergleich, 2005, X , 284 S. ISB N 3-486-20015-1
53 Frank-Rutger Hausmann (Hrsg.): Die Rolle der Geisteswissenschaften im Dritten
Reich 1 9 3 3 -1 9 4 5 , 2002, XXV , 373 S. ISB N 3-486 -5 6 6 3 9 -3
54 Frank K olb (Hrsg.): Chora und Polis, 2004, X V III, 382 S. ISB N 3-486-56730-6
55 Hans Günter H ockerts (Hrsg.): Koordinaten deutscher Geschichte in der Epoche
des Ost-W est-Konflikts, 2004, X V III, 339 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56768-3
56 Wolfgang Hardtwig (Hrsg.): Utopie und politische Herrschaft im Europa der
Zwischenkriegszeit, 2003, IX , 356 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56642-3
57 Diethelm K lippel (Hrsg.): Naturrecht und Staat. Politische Funktionen des
europäischen Naturrechts (1 7 .-1 9 . Jahrhundert) (mit Beiträgen von H. Brandt,
W. Brauneder, W. Demel, Ch. Dipper, M. Fitzpatrick, S. Hofer, S. Rus Rufino,
W. Schm ale, J. Schröder, D. Schwab. B. Stollberg-Rilinger) 2006, X I, 231 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -57905-3
58 Jürgen R eulecke (Hrsg.): Generationalität und Lebensgeschichte im 20. Jahr­
hundert, 2003, XV, 300 S. ISB N 3-48 6 -5 6 7 4 7 -0
59 Klaus H ildebrand (Hrsg.): Zwischen Politik und Religion. Studien zur Entstehung,
Existenz und Wirkung des Totalitarismus. Kolloquium der Mitglieder des Histori­
schen Kollegs, 23. November 2001, 2003, XIV, 155 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56748-9
60 M arie-Luise R ecker (Hrsg.): Parlamentarismus in Europa. Deutschland, England
und Frankreich im Vergleich. 2004, X V III, 232 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56817-5
61 Helmut A ltrichter (Hrsg.): GegenErinnerung. Geschichte als politisches Argument
im Transformationsprozeß Ost-, Ostmittel- und Südosteuropas (mit Beiträgen
von H. Altrichter, C. Bethke, K. Brüggemann, V. Dumbrava, R. Eckert,
U. von Hirschhausen, J. Hosier, I. Ivelije, W, Jilg e, C. Kraft, H. Lemberg,
R. Lindner, B . Murgescu, A. Nikzentaitis, A. Pok, H. Sundhaussen, S. Troebst,
M. Wien) 2006, X X II, 326 S. ISB N 3-486-57873-1
62 Jürgen Trabant (Hrsg.): Sprache der Geschichte, 2005, X X IV , 166 S. ISBN
3 -4 8 6 -5 7 5 7 2 -4
63 Anselm D oering-M anteujfel (Hrsg.): Strukturmerkmale der deutschen Geschichte
des 20. Jahrhunderts (mit Beiträgen von E. Conze, A. Doering-Manteuffel,
M. Geyer, H.-G. Haupt, H. Jam es, G. Koenen, D. van Laak, M. Niehuss,
L. Raphael, J. Reulecke, J. Riickert, M. Ruck, A. von Saldern, A. Schildt,
A. Wirsching, M. Zimmermann) 2006, V III, 273 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -58057-4
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
64 Jan-D irk M üller (Hrsg.): Text und Kontext: Fallstudien und theoretische Begrün­
dungen einer kulturwissenschaftlich angeleiteten Mediävistik (mit Beiträgen von
G. Althoff, H. Bleumer, U. von Bloh, U. Friedrich, B. Jussen, B. Kellner, Ch. Kiening, K. Krüger, St. G. Nichols, P. Strohschneider, Ch. Witthöft) 2 007, X III, 272 S.
ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -58106-5
65 P eter S chäfer (Hrsg.): Wege mystischer Gotteserfahrung. Judentum, Christentum
und Islam/Mystical Approaches to God. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (mit B e i­
trägen von W. Beierwaltes, P. Dinzelbacher, R. Elior, A. M. Haas, M. Himmelfarb,
P. Schäfer, G. G. Stroumsa, S. Stroumsa) 2006, X , 164 S. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 8 0 0 6 -X
66 Friedrich Wilhelm Gra/(Hrsg.): Intellektuellen-Götter. Das religiöse Laborato­
rium der klassischen Moderne (mit Beiträgen von C. Arnold, K. Große Kracht,
H. Haury, G. Hübinger, V. Krech, Ch. Nottmeier, M. Pyka, A. Reuter, U. Sieg)
(in Vorbereitung)
67 Werner Busch (Hrsg.): Verfeinertes Sehen. Optik und Farbe im 18. und frühen
19. Jahrhundert (mit Beiträgen von U. Boskamp, W. Busch, E. Fioretini, J. Gage,
B. Gockel, U. Klein, C. Meister, J. MUller-Tamm, A. Pietsch, H. O. Sibum,
M. Wagner, M. Wellmann) 2008, X , 228 S. ISB N 978 -3 -4 8 6 -5 8 4 9 0 -5
68 K aspar von Greyerz (Hrsg.): Selbstzeugnissse in der Frühen Neuzeit. Individuali­
sierungsweisen in interdisziplinärer Perspektive (mit Beitägen von J. S. Amelang,
P. Becker, M. Christadler, R. Dekker, S. Faroqhi, K. v. Greyerz, V. Groebner, G.
Jancke, S. Mendelson, G. Filler, R. Ries) 2007, V II, 201 S. ISB N 978-3-48658236-9
69 Wilfried Hartmann (Hrsg.): Recht und Gericht in Kirche und Welt um 900
(mit Beiträgen von C. Cubitt, R. Deutinger, S. Hamilton, W. Hartmann, E.-D . Hehl,
K. Herbers, W. Kaiser, L. Körntgen, R. M eens, H. Siem s, K. Ubl, K. ZechielEckes) 2007, IX , 249 S. ISB N 978 -3 -4 8 6 -5 8 1 4 7 -8
70 Heinz Schilling (Hrsg.): Konfessioneller Fundamentalismus. Religion als
politischer Faktor im europäischen M ächtesystem um 1600 (mit Beiträgen von
R. Bireley, H .-J. Bömelburg, W. Frijhoff, A. Gotthard, H. Th. Gräf, W. Harms,
Th. Kaufmann, A. Koller, V. Leppin, W. Monter, B. Roeck, A. Schindling,
W. Schulze, I. Töth, E. Wolgast) 2007, X I, 3 2 0 S. ISB N 978-3 -4 8 6 -5 8 1 5 0 -8
71 M ichael Toch (Hrsg.): W irtschaftsgeschichte der mittelalterlichen Juden. Fragen
und Einschätzungen (mit Beiträgen von D. Abulafia, R. Barzen, A. Holtmann,
D. Jacoby, M. K eil, R. Mueller, H.-G. von Mutius, J. Shatzmiller, M. Toch,
G. Todeschini, M. Wenniger) 2008, X , 218 S. ISB N 978-3-486-58670-1
72 Tilman N agel (Hrsg.): Der Koran und sein religiöses und kulturelles Umfeld
(in Vorbereitung)
73 K arl-Joachim H ölkeskam p (Hrsg.): Eine politische Kultur (in) der Krise?
Die „letzte Generation“ der römischen Republik (mit Beiträgen von H. Beck,
F. Bücher, J.-M . David, E. Flaig, K .-J. Hölkeskamp, T. Hölscher, M. Jehne,
R. Morstein M arx, W. Nippel, U. Walter, G. Zecchini) (in Vorbereitung)
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Kolloquien
74 K arl Schlägel (Hrsg.): Mastering Space. Raum und Raumbewältigung als Probleme
der russischen Geschichte (in Vorbereitung)
75 Aloys Winterling (Hrsg.): Zwischen Strukturgeschichte und Biographie. Probleme und
Perspektiven einer römischen Kaisergeschichte (Augustus bis Commodus) (mit B ei­
trägen von Chr. Bruun, R. Haensch, O. Hekster, R. van den Hoff, M. Hose, Ch. Ronning, D. Schnurbusch, G. Seelentag, D. Timpe, U. Walter, A. Winterling, Chr. Witschel, R. Wolters, M. Zimmermann) (in Vorbereitung)
76 Rüdiger vom Bruch (Hrsg.): Die Berliner Universität im Kontext der deutschen Uni­
versitätslandschaft nach 1800, um 1860 und um 1910 (mit Beiträgen von Th. Becker,
H.-W. Hahn, N. Hammerstein, W. Höflechner, P. Lundgreen, Ch. E. McClelland, M.
Middell, W. Müller, W. Neugebauer, R. C. Schwinges, M. Stickler) (in Vorbereitung)
77 Christoph Buchheim (Hrsg.): Europäische Volkswirtschaften unter deutscher Hege­
monie 1938-1945 (mit Beiträgen von St. Andersen, J. Balcar, M. Boldorf, J. Catalan,
H. James, H. Joly, S. Kudrjaschow, K. Oosterlinck, J. Schemer, H. Wixforth) (in Vor­
bereitung)
78 Klaus Schreiner (Hrsg.): Heilige Kriege. Religiöse Begründungen militärischer
Gewaltanwendung: Judentum, Christentum und Islam im Vergleich. Kolloquium der
Mitglieder des Historischen Kollegs, 7 .-9 . November 2007 (mit Beiträgen von W.
Eck, F. W. Graf, H. G. Hockerts, H.-Chr. Kraus, H. Maier, T. Nagel, A. Oppenheimer,
R. Schieffer, H. Schilling, L. Schmugge, K. Schreiner, D. Willoweit) (in Vorbereitung)
79 Jörg Fisch (Hrsg.): Selbstbestimmung und Selbstbestimmungsrecht: Errungenschaft
der Moderne oder kollektive Illusion? Self-Determination and the Right o f Self-Deter­
mination: Achiverment o f Modernity or Collective Illusion? (in Vorbereitung)
80 G eorg Schmidt (Hrsg.): Die deutsche Nation im frühneuzeitlichen Europa. Politi­
sche Ordnung und kulturelle Identität? (in Vorbereitung)
81 Albrecht Cordes (Hrsg.): Eine Grenze in Bewegung. Öffentliche und private Justiz
im Handels- und Seerecht (in Vorbereitung)
Sonderveröffentlichungen
Horst Fuhrmann (Hrsg.): Die Kaulbach-Villa als Haus des Historischen Kollegs.
Reden und wissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Eröffnung, 1989, X II, 232 S. ISBN
3-486-55611-8
Lothar Gcill (Hrsg.): 25 Jahre Historisches Kolleg. Rückblick - Bilanz - Perspektiven,
2006, 293 S. ISB N 3-486-58005-1
Oldenbourg
Schriften des H istorischen Kollegs: V orträge
1 Heinrich Lutz: Die deutsche Nation zu Beginn der Neuzeit. Fragen nach dem
Gelingen und Scheitern deutscher Einheit im 16. Jahrhundert, 1982, IV, 31 S.
vergriffen
2 Otto Pflanze: Bismarcks Herrschaftstechnik als Problem der gegenwärtigen
Historiographie, 1982, IV, 39 S.
vergriffen
3 Hans C onrad P eyer: Gastfreundschaft und kommerzielle Gastlichkeit im
Mittelalter, 1983’ IV, 24 S.
vergriffen
4 E berhard Weis: Bayern und Frankreich in der Zeit des Konsulats und des ersten
Empire (1 7 9 9 -1 8 1 5 ), 1984, 41 S.
vergriffen
5 Heinz A ngerm eier: Reichsreform und Reformation, 1983, IV, 76 S.
vergriffen
6 G erald D. Feldm an: Bayern und Sachsen in der Hyperinflation 1922/23, 1984,
IV, 4 I S .
vergriffen
7 Erich Angermann: Abraham Lincoln und die Erneuerung der nationalen Identität
der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, 1984, IV, 33 S.
vergriffen
8 Jürgen K ocka: Traditionsbindung und Klassenbildung. Zum sozialhistorischen
Ort der frühen deutschen Arbeiterbewegung, 1987, 48 S.
vergriffen
9 K onrad R epgen: Kriegslegitimationen in Alteuropa. Entwurf einer historischen
Typologie, 1985, 27 S?
"
vergriffen
10 Antoni M qczak: Der Staat als Unternehmen. Adel und Amtsträger in Polen und
Europa in der Frühen Neuzeit, 1989, 32 S.
vergriffen
11 E berhard K olb: Der schwierige Weg zum Frieden. Das Problem der Kriegs­
beendigung 1870/71, 1985, 33 S.
vergriffen
12 Helmut G eorg K oen igsberger: Fürst und Generalstände. Maximilian I. in den
Niederlanden (1 4 7 7 -1 4 9 3 ), 1987, 27 S.
vergriffen
13 Winfried Schulze: Vom Gemeinnutz zum Eigennutz. Über den Normenwandel in
der ständischen Gesellschaft der Frühen Neuzeit, 1987, 4 0 S.
vergriffen
14 Johan n e Autenrietli: „Litterae Virgilianae“ . Vom Fortleben einer römischen
Schrift, 198 8 ,5 1 S.
vergriffen
15 Tilemann Grimm: Blickpunkte auf Südostasien. Historische und kulturanthropo­
logische Fragen zur Politik, 1988, 37 S.
16 Ernst Schulin: Geschichtswissenschaft in unserem Jahrhundert. Probleme und
Umrisse einer Geschichte der Historie, 1988, 34 S.
vergriffen
17 Hartmut B oockm ann: Geschäfte und Geschäftigkeit auf dem Reichstag im späten
Mittelalter, 1988, 33 S.
vergriffen
18 Wilfried B arner: Literaturwissenschaft - eine Geschichtswissenschaft? 1990,
42 S.
vergriffen
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: V orträge
19 John C. G. Röhl: Kaiser Wilhelm II. Eine Studie über Cäsarenwahnsinn, 1989,
36 S.
vergriffen
20 Klaus Schreiner: M önchsein in der Adelsgesellschaft des hohen und späten
Mittelalters. Klösterliche Gemeinschaftsbildung zwischen spiritueller Selbst­
behauptung und sozialer Anpassung, 1989, 68 S.
vergriffen
21 R oger D ufraisse: Die Deutschen und Napoleon im 20. Jahrhundert, 1991, 43 S.
22 G erhard A. Ritter: Die Sozialdemokratie im Deutschen Kaiserreich in sozial­
geschichtlicher Perspektive, 1989, 72 S.
vergriffen
23 Jürgen M iethke: Die mittelalterlichen Universitäten und das gesprochene Wort,
1990, 48 S.
vergriffen
24 D ieter Simon: Lob des Eunuchen, 1994, 27 S.
25 Thomas Vogtherr: Der König und der Heilige. Heinrich IV., der heilige Remaklus
und die M önche des Doppelklosters Stablo-Malmedy, 1990, 29 S.
vergriffen
26 Johan n es Schilling: Gewesene Mönche. Lebensgeschichten in der Reformation,
1990, 36 S.
vergriffen
21 Kurt Raaflciub: Politisches Denken und Krise der Polis. Athen im Verfassungs­
konflikt des späten 5. Jahrhunderts v.Chr., 1992, 63 S.
28 Volker Press: Altes Reich und Deutscher Bund. Kontinuität in der Diskontinuität,
19 9 5 ,3 1 S.
29 Shulamit Volkov: Die Erfindung einer Tradition. Zur Entstehung des modernen
Judentums in Deutschland, 1992, 30 S.
vergriffen
30 Franz Bauer: Gehalt und Gestalt in der Monumentalsymbolik. Zur Ikonologie des
Nationalstaats in Deutschland und Italien 1 8 6 0 -1 9 1 4 , 1992, 39 S.
31 Heinrich <4. Winkler: Mußte Weimar scheitern? Das Ende der ersten Republik und
die Kontinuität der deutschen Geschichte, 1991, 32 S.
vergriffen
32 Johan n es F ried: Kunst und Kommerz. Über das Zusammenwirken von W issen­
schaft und Wirtschaft im M ittelalter vornehmlich am Beispiel der Kaufleute und
Handelsmessen, 1992, 40 S.
33 P aolo Prodi: Der Eid in der europäischen Verfassungsgeschichte, 1992, 35 S.
34 Jean -M arie M oeglin: Dynastisches Bewußtsein und Geschichtsschreibung. Zum
Selbstverständnis der Wittelsbacher, Habsburger und Hohenzollern im Spätmittel­
alter, 1 9 9 3 ,4 7 S.
35 Bernhard K ölver: Ritual und historischer Raum. Zum indischen Geschichtsver­
ständnis, 1993, 65 S.
36 Elisabeth F ehren bach : Adel und Bürgertum im deutschen Vormärz, 1994, 31 S.
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Vorträge
37 Ludwig Schm ugge: Schleichwege zu Pfründe und Altar. Päpstliche Dispense vom
Geburtsmakel 1 4 4 9 -1 5 3 3 , 1994, 35 S.
38 Hans-Werner Hahn: Zwischen Fortschritt und Krisen. Die vierziger Jahre des
19. Jahrhunderts als Durchbruchsphase der deutschen Industrialisierung, 1995,
47 S.
39 R obert E. L ern en Himmelsvision oder Sinnendelirium? Franziskaner und Pro­
fessoren als Traumdeuter im Paris des 13. Jahrhunderts, 1995, 35 S.
4 0 Andreas Schulz: Weltbürger und Geldaristokraten. Hanseatisches Bürgertum im
19. Jahrhundert, 1995, 38 S.
41 Wolfgang J. M ommsen: Die Herausforderung der bürgerlichen Kultur durch die
künstlerische Avantgarde. Zum Verhältnis von Kultur und Politik im W ilhelmini­
schen Deutschland, 1994, 30 S.
42 Klaus H ildebrand: Reich - Großmacht - Nation. Betrachtungen zur Geschichte
der deutschen Außenpolitik 1 8 7 1 -1 9 4 5 , 1995, 25 S.
vergriffen
43 Hans E berhard M ayer: Herrschaft und Verwaltung im Kreuzfahrerkönigreich
Jerusalem, 1996, 38 S.
44 P eter B lickte: Reformation und kommunaler Geist. Die Antwort der Theologen
auf den Wandel der Verfassung im Spätmittelalter, 1996, 42 S.
45 P eter Krüger: Wege und Widersprüche der europäischen Integration im 20. Jahr­
hundert, 1995, 39 S.
4 6 Werner Greiling: „Intelligenzblätter“ und gesellschaftlicher Wandel in Thüringen.
Anzeigenwesen, Nachrichtenvermittlung, Räsonnement und Sozialdisziplinie­
rung, 1995, 38 S.
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Dokumentationen
1 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Erste Verleihung des Preises des Historischen Kollegs. Aufgaben, Stipendiaten,
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs, 1984, VI, 70 S., mit Abbildungen vergriffen
2 Theodor-Schieder-Gedächtnisvorlesung: Horst Fuhrmann, Das Interesse am
M ittelalter in heutiger Zeit. Beobachtungen und Vermutungen - Lothar Gail,
Theodor Schieder 1908 bis 1984, 1987, 65 S.
vergriffen
3 Leopold von Ranke: Vorträge anläßlich seines 100. Todestages. Gedenkfeier der
Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und
der Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft
am 12. M al 1986, 1987, 44 S. "
vergriffen
4 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Zweite Verleihung des Preises des Historischen Kollegs. Aufgaben, Stipendiaten,
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs, 1987, 98 S ., mit Abbildungen
5 Theodor-Schieder-Gedächtnisvorlesung: Thomas Nipperdey, Religion und G esell­
schaft: Deutschland um 1900, 1988, 29 S.
vergriffen
6 Theodor-Schieder-Gedächtnisvorlesung: Christian Meier, Die Rolle des Krieges
im klassischen Athen, 1991, 55 S.
vergriffen
7 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Dritte Verleihung des Preises des Historischen Kollegs. Aufgaben, Stipendiaten,
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs, 1991, 122 S., mit Abbildungen
vergriffen
8 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Historisches Kolleg 1 9 8 0 -1990. Vorträge anläßlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens
und zum Gedenken an Alfred Herrhausen, 1991, 63 S.
9 Theodor-Schieder-Gedächtnisvorlesung: Karl Leyser, Am Vorabend der ersten
europäischen Revolution. Das 11. Jahrhundert als Umbruchszeit, 1994, 32 S.
10 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Vierte Verleihung des Preises des Historischen Kollegs. Aufgaben, Stipendiaten,
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs, 1993, 98 S., mit Abbildungen
11 Theodor-Schieder-Gedächtnisvorlesung: Rudolf Smend, M ose als geschichtliche
Gestalt, 1995, 23 S.
12 Stiftung Historisches Kolleg im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft:
Über die Offenheit der Geschichte. Kolloquium der Mitglieder des Historischen
Kollegs, 20. und 21. November 1992, 1996, 84 S.
Vorträge und Dokumentationen sind nicht im Buchhandel erhältlich;
sie können, soweit lieferbar, Uber die Geschäftsstelle des Historischen Kollegs
(Kaulbachstraße 15, 80539 München) bezogen werden.
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 1995:
Arnold Esch
Rom in der Renaissance. Seine Quellenlage als methodisches Problem
M anlio Bellom o
Geschichte eines Mannes: Bartolus von Sassoferrato und die moderne europäische
Jurisprudenz
Frantisek Smcthel
Das verlorene Ideal der Stadt in der böhmischen Reformation
Alfred H averkamp
„ ... an die große Glocke hängen“. Über Öffentlichkeit im M ittelalter
H ans-C hristof Kraus
Montesquieu. Blackstone, De Lolme und die englische Verfassung des 18. Jahr­
hunderts
1996, V III, 180 S. 4 Abb. ISBN 3-48 6 -5 6 1 7 6 -6
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 1996:
Johan n es F ried
W issenschaft und Phantasie. Das Beispiel der Geschichte
M anfred H ilderm eier
Revolution und Kultur: Der „Neue M ensch“ in der frühen Sowjetunion
Knut Schulz,
Handwerk im spätmittelalterlichen Europa. Zur Wanderung und Ausbildung von
Lehrlingen in der Fremde
Werner Eck
Mord im Kaiserhaus? Ein politischer Prozeß im Rom des Jahres 20 n.Chr.
Wolfram Pyta
Konzert der M ächte und kollektives Sicherheitssystem: Neue Wege zwischenstaat­
licher Friedenswahrung in Europa nach dem Wiener Kongreß 1815
1997, V I, 202 S. 1 Abb. ISB N 3-48 6 -5 6 3 0 0 -9
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 1997:
E berhard Weis
Hardenberg und Montgelas. Versuch eines Vergleichs ihrer Persönlichkeiten und ihrer
Politik
D ietm ar Willoweit
Vom alten guten Recht. Normensuche zwischen Erfahrungswissen und Ursprungs­
legenden
Aharon O ppenheim er
Messianismus in römischer Zeit. Zur Pluralität eines Begriffes bei Juden und Christen
Stephen A. Schuker
Bayern und der rheinische Separatismus 1 9 2 3 -1 9 2 4
G erhard Schuck
Zwischen Ständeordnung und A rbeitsgesellschaft. Der A rbeitsbegriff in der
frühneuzeitlichen Policey am Beispiel Bayerns
1998, X X I, 169 S. ISB N 3-48 6 -5 6 3 7 5 -0
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 1998:
P eter Pulzer
Der deutsche M ichel in John Bulls Spiegel: Das britische Deutschlandbild im
19. Jahrhundert
G erhard B esier
„The friends . . . in America need to know the truth . . . “
Die deutschen Kitchen im Urteil der Vereinigten Staaten (1 9 3 3 -1 9 4 1 )
David Cohen
Die Schwestern der Medea. Frauen, Öffentlichkeit und soziale Kontrolle im
klassischen Athen
Wolfgang Reinhard
Staat machen: Verfassungsgeschichte als Kulturgeschichte
Lutz Klinkhammer
Die Zivilisierung der Affekte. Kriminalitätsbekämpfung im Rheinland und in Piemont
unter französischer Herrschaft 179 8 -1 8 1 4
1999, 193 S. 5 Abb. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -5 6 4 2 0 -X
Schriften des H istorischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 1999:
Jan Assmann
Ägypten in der Gedächtnisgeschichte des Abendlandes
Thomas A. Bracly
Ranke, Rom und die Reformation: Leopold von Rankes Entdeckung des
Katholizismus
H arold Jam es
Das Ende der Globalisierung? Lehren aus der Weltwirtschaftskrise
C hristof D ipper
Helden überkreuz oder das Kreuz mit den Helden. Wie Deutsche und Italiener die
Heroen der nationalen Einigung (der anderen) wahrnahmen.
Felicitas Schm ieder
,,... von etlichen geistlichen leyen wegen“ . Definitionen der Bürgerschaft im spät­
mittelalterlichen Frankfurt
2000, VI, 199 S. 7 Abb. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56492-7
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2000:
Winfried Schulze
Die Wahrnehmung von Zeit und Jahrhundertwenden
Frank K olb
Von der Burg zur Polis. Akkulturation in einer kleinasiatischen „Provinz“
Hans Günter H ockerts
Nach der Verfolgung. Wiedergutmachung in Deutschland: Eine historische Bilanz
1 9 4 5 -2 0 0 0
Frank-Rutger Hausmann
„Auch im Krieg schweigen die Musen nicht“. Die .Deutschen Wissenschaftlichen
Institute* (D W I) im Zweiten Weltkrieg (1 9 4 0 -1 9 4 5 )
Ulrike Freitag
Scheich oder Sultan - Stamm oder Staat? Staatsbildung im Hadramaut (Jem en)
im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert
2001, VI, 250 S. 16 Abb. ISBN 3 -4 8 6 -56557-5
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2001:
M ichael Stolleis
Das Auge des Gesetzes. Materialien zu einer neuzeitlichen Metapher
Wolfgang Hardtwig
Die Krise des Geschichtsbewußtseins in Kaiserreich und Weimarer Republik und der
Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus
Diethelm K lippel
Kant im Kontext. Der naturrechtliche Diskurs um 1800
Jürgen Reitlecke
Neuer Mensch und neue Männlichkeit. Die „junge Generation“ im ersten Drittel des
20. Jahrhunderts
P eter Burschel
Paradiese der Gewalt. Martyrium, Imagination und die Metamorphosen des nachtridentinischen Heiligenhimmels
2002, VI, 219 S. 16 Abb. ISB N 3 -4 8 6 -56641-5
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2002:
Wolfgang Reinhard
Geschichte als Delegitimation
Jürgen Trabant
Sprache der Geschichte
Ma ri e-Lu ise Re eher
„Es braucht nicht niederreißende Polemik, sondern aufbauende Tat.“
Zur Parlamentskultur der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Helmut Altrichter
War der Zerfall der Sowjetunion vorauszusehen?
Andreas R ödder
„Durchbruch im Kaukasus“? Die deutsche Wiedervereinigung und die Zeitgeschichts­
schreibung
2003, VI, 179 S. 2 Abb. ISB N 3-486-56736-5
Oldenbourg
Schriften des H istorischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2003:
Joch en Martin
Rom und die Heilsgeschichte. Beobachtungen zum Triumphbogenmosaik von
S. Maria Maggiore in Rom
Jan-D irk Müller
Imaginäre Ordnungen und literarische Imaginationen um 1200
P eter S chäfer
Ex Oriente lux? Heinrich Graetz und Gershom Scholem über den Ursprung der
Kabbala
Anselm D oering-M anteuffel
Mensch, M aschine, Zeit. Fortschrittsbewußtsein und Kulturkritik im ersten Drittel des
20. Jahrhunderts
Bernhard Löffler
Öffentliches Wirken und öffentliche Wirkung Ludwig Erhards
2004, VI, 205 S. 20 Abb. ISB N 3-486 -5 6 8 4 3 -4
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2004:
Wolfgang Frühw ald
„Wer es gesehen hat, der hat es auf sein ganzes Leben“. Die italienischen Tagebücher
der Fam ilie Goethe
K aspar von Greyerz
Vom Nutzen und Vorteil der Selbstzeugnisforschung für die Frühneuzeithistorie
Friedrich Wilhelm G ra f
Annihilatio historiae? Theologische Geschichtsdiskurse in der Weimarer Republik
Werner Busch
Die Naturwissenschaften als Basis des Erhabenen in der Kunst des 18. und frühen
19. Jahrhunderts
Jörn Leonhard
Der Ort der Nation im Deutungswandel kriegerischer Gewalt: Europa und die
Vereinigten Staaten 1854-1871
2005, VI, 182 S. 9 Abb. ISB N 3 -4 8 6-57741-7
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2005:
M ichael M itterauer
Europäische Geschichte in globalem Kontext
M ichael Toch
Das Gold der Juden - M ittelalter und Neuzeit
Heinz. Schilling
Gab es um 1600 in Europa einen Konfessionsfundamentalismus? Die Geburt des inter­
nationalen Systems in der Krise des konfessionellen Zeitalters
Wilfried Hartmann
„Sozialdisziplinierung“ und „Sündenzucht“ im frühen M ittelalter? Das bischöfliche
Sendgericht in der Zeit um 900
P eter Scholz
Im itatio patris statt griechischer Pädagogik. Überlegungen zur Sozialisation und
Erziehung der republikanischen Senatsaristokratie
2006, V I, 190 S. 17 Abb. ISB N 978 -3 -4 8 6 -5 7 9 6 3 -5
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2006:
Klaus H ildebrand
Globalisierung 1900. Alte Staaten weit und neue Weltpolitik an der Wende vom
19. zum 20. Jahrhundert
K arl-Joachim H ölkeskam p
Pomp und Prozessionen. Rituale und Zeremonien in der politischen Kultur der römi­
schen Republik
Tilman N agel
Verstehen oder nachahmen? Grundtypen der muslimischen Erinnerung an Mohammed
K arl Schlägel
Moskau 1937. Eine Stadt in den Zeiten des Großen Terrors
Claire Gantet
Seele und persönliche Identität im Heiligen Röm ischen Reich, ca. 1500 - ca. 1750.
Ansätze zu einer kulturellen W issenschaftsgeschichte
2007 , VI, 211 S ., 7 Abb. ISB N 978 -3 -4 8 6 -5 8 0 3 6 -5
Schriften des Historischen Kollegs: Jah rb u ch
Jahrbuch des Historischen Kollegs 2007:
Luise Schorn-Schütte
Kommunikation über Politik im Europa der Frühen Neuzeit. Ein Forschungskonzept
Christoph Buchheim
Der Wirtschaftsaufschwung im Deutschland der NS-Zeit
Jan-O tm ar H esse
„Ein Wunder der W irtschaftstheorie“. Die „Amerikanisierung“ der Volkswirtschafts­
lehre in der frühen Bundesrepublik
Aloys Winterling
Cäsarenwahnsinn im Alten Rom
Christoph H. F. M eyer
Maßstäbe frühmittelalterlicher Gesetzgeber. Raum und Zeit in den Leges Langobardorum
Rüdiger vom Bruch
Vom Humboldt-Modell zum Harnack-Plan. Forschung, Disziplinierung und Gesellung
an der Berliner Universität im 19. Jahrhundert
2008, 267 S ., 3 Abb. ISB N 9 7 8 -3 -4 8 6 -5 8 4 8 9 -9