STUDY QUESTIONS

Robert Chazan, ed., Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages (New York, 1980), 57-59

Introduction

In contrast to the Church, the states of medieval western Christendom lacked impressive intellectual traditions. There was, in these states, no great sense of a rich heritage from the past and no great drive toward the careful articulation of legal precedents and practices. Such law books as did develop did not normally treat extensively the position of Jews. To the historian, the most useful materials for ascertaining the position of the State toward the Jews are the charters occasionally extended to individual Jews, to specific Jewish settlements, or to the entire Jewish population of a given area.

The circumstances which occasioned these charters were varied. In many instances, they reflect the founding of a new Jewish enclave; in some cases, they signify a shift in political power, with the new ruler promising protection for his Jewish subjects. Often the charters indicate a period of danger and violence, when it seemed appropriate to reassure threatened Jews; on occasion it is impossible to reconstruct the circumstances that gave rise to a particular charter. Since they came into being under specific conditions, these documents cannot be viewed as broad and disinterested formulations of Jewish status. Nonetheless, they remain useful for the insights they provide into the general position taken by the State toward the Jews.

The charters addressed many diverse issues. Jews are accorded areas of a town in which to settle; the safety of their homes, synagogues, and cemeteries is guaranteed; judicial prerogatives are granted; business rights are specified; religious freedoms are established; the right to self-government within the Jewish community is proclaimed; unwarranted restrictions on the Jews are prohibited. These grants reflect both the needs of the Jews and the commitments of their overlords. How well these promises were fulfilled, how they were tempered by ecclesiastical demands, how they were sometimes broken by avarice and cupidity [will be dealt with later in the volume].

Chapter 5: Local Charters -- Bishop Rudiger of Speyer, 1084

In 1084, a fire broke out in the Jewish quarter of Mainz. Fearful of the rage of the burghers, some of the Jews of this illustrious community decided to seek refuge elsewhere. Fortunately for them, the bishop of neighboring Speyer was willing to bring them to his town, accord them security and safety, and grant them the rights necessary to earn their livelihood and to conduct their religious affairs.

Bishop Rudiger indicates clearly that his intention was to bestow upon these immigrant Jews a generous set of safeguards and rights. His frankly avowed purpose was to attract Jews who would aid in his program of improving the economy of Speyer. First and foremost in his charter was the promise of physical safety. The Jews, fleeing impending violence, were established a distance away from the Christian burghers and were surrounded with a wall. Also crucial to the Jews were the buiness rights -- they were allowed freedom of trade throughout the entire area. The remaining issues addressed in the charter include the autonomy of the community in the conduct of its own internal affairs and freedom from certain Church pressures. Although there is no way to assess whether this was in fact "a legal status more generous than any which the Jewish people have in any city of the German kingdom," it certainly does represent a considerable effort on the part of the bishop to afford the conditions for a flourishing Jewish community.

The brief Hebrew account, written by a twelfth-century Speyer Jew, reveals the circumstances under which Rudiger's charter was given. The generosity of his grant accords well with the Jewish report that he "pitied us as a man pities his son."

The Latin Document

In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity. When I wished to make a city out of the village of Speyer, I, Rudiger, surnamed Huozmann, Bishop of Speyer, thought that the glory of our town would be augmented a thousandfold if I were to bring Jews.

1. Those Jews whom I have gathered I placed outside the neighborhood and residential area of the other burghers. In order that they not be easily disrupted by the insolence of the mob, I have encircled them with a wall.

2. The site of their residential area I have acquired properly -- first the hill partially by purchase and partially by exchange; then, the valley I received by gift of the heirs. I have given them that area on the condition that they pay annually three and one-half pounds in Speyer currency for the shared use of the monks.

3. I have accorded them the free right of exchanging gold and silver and of buying and selling everything they use -- both within their residential area and, outside, beyond the gate down to the wharf and on the wharf itself. I have given them the same right throughout the entire city.

4. I have, moreover, given them out of the land of the Church burial ground to be held in perpetuity.

5. I have also added that, if a Jew from elsewhere has quartered with them, he shall pay no toll.

6. Just as the mayor of the city serves among the burghers, so too shall the Jewish leader adjudicate any quarrel which might arise among them or against them. If he be unable to determine the issue, then the case shall come before the bishop of the city or his chamberlain.

7. They must discharge the responsibility of watch, guard, and fortification only in their own area. The responsibility of guarding they may discharge along with their servants.

8. They may legally have nurses and servants from among our people.

9. They may legally sell to Christians slaughtered meats which they consider unfit for themselves according to the sanctity of their law. Christians may legally buy such meats.

In short, in order to achieve the height of kindness, I have granted them a legal status more generous than any which the Jewish people have in any city of the German kingdom.

Lest one of my successors dare to deny this grant and concession and force them to a greater tax, claiming the the Jews themselves usurped this status and did not receive it from the bishop, I have given them this charter of the aforesaid grant as proper testimony. In order that the meaning of this matter remains throughout the generations, I have strengthened it by signing it and by the imposition of my seal; as may be seen below, I have caused it to be sealed. (This charter has been given on September 13, 1084 A.D., in the seventh indiction, in the twelth year since the aforementioned bishop began to preside in that city.)

The Hebrew Report

At the outset, when we came to establish our residence in Speyer -- may its foundations never falter! -- it was as a result of the fire that broke out in the city of Mainz.

The city of Mainz was the city of our origin and the residence of our ancestors, the ancient and revered community, praised above all communities in the empire. All the Jews' quarter and their street was burned, and we stood in great fear of the burghers. At the same time, Meir Cohen came from Worms, bearing a copy of Torat Cohanim [either Leviticus itself or the midrash on Leviticus]. The burghers thought that it was silver or gold and slew him . . .

R. Meshullam said to them: "Fear not, for all this was ordained." We then decided to set forth from there and to settle wherever we might find a fortified city. Perhaps the compassionate Lord might show compassion and the merciful One might exhibit mercy and the All-Helpful might help to sustain us, as in fact He does this very day.

The bishop of Speyer greeted us warmly, sending his ministers and soldiers after us. He gave us a place in the city and expressed his intention to build about us a strong wall to protect us from our enemeis, to afford us fortification. He pitied us as a man pities his son. We then set forth our prayers before our Creator, morning and evening, for a number of years.