STUDY QUESTIONS

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

1) What kinds of rights appear to have been typically granted Jews by the charters?

2) Why did the Bishop of Speyer actively seek Jewish emigration to his city?

3) What might the degree of specificity with which the bishop articulated the new Jewish community's rights indicate about their pre-charter status as a group?

4) Did the new Jewish residents of Speyer fall under the same legal code as the other burghers? Who took the lead in adjudicating disputes?

5) How did the bishop seek to guarantee that a successor would not simply rescind the Jews' rights and protections?

6) Why might the views of the bishops have at times been at odds with those of their burghers (as evidenced by the need to grant "protection")?

7) Look up descriptions of medieval Mainz and Speyer, respectively. Why might the Jewish community of Mainz been formerly "praised above all communities in the empire"?

Terms, Concepts, Names, and Dates

bishop

medieval/early modern town

charter

Torat Cohanim