A. Rundichuk,

PhD Stud.,

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

ORCID: 0000-0002-6835-6201

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2022.152-153.9


BETWEEN THE KING AND THE CITY: THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF AUGSBURG AND THE GOVERNMENT IN THE 14TH-15TH CENTURIES


In the late Middle Ages on the territory of the cathedral city of Augsburg were two Jewish settlements, which were formed in the XII-XIII cent. In High Middle Ages, the administration of the Jewish community was made through the mediation of city, bishop and king. However, in the XIV-XV cent. the main interaction regarding the settlement of the life of the Jewish community took place between the king and the city. At the same time, were formed the main legal acts, which regulated the relations between the local population and the Jewish community, its social status.

Augsburg Jews were under the jurisdiction of the king and paid taxes to the state treasury in exchange for security guarantees. Legal regulation of the Jewish population of Augsburg, the resolution of disputes between Christians and Jews was carried out with the participation of the city or a person appointed by the king. The city council tried to take precedence in the tax collection procedure, which was perceived by the king as an encroachment on his authority. Such conflicts were resolved by imposing fines on the city or through the courts. In addition, members of the Jewish community were lenders to both the ruler and the burghers and the city council, which often led to misconduct against Jews by the authorities, including arrests and extortion of debtors, and de facto write-offs of the debts.

The change in the Jewish community of Augsburg, as in other German medieval cities, depended on the waves of the plague, which often led to pogroms, organized on baseless accusations of causing the disease, followed by the expulsion of the Jewish population from the city. At the same time, most debtors were given the opportunity not to pay debts to their lenders. Besides, the property of the Jewish community passed into the hands of the emperor and princes. From the XV cent., Augsburg, following the example of other German cities, introduced special markings for the Jewish population.

Keywords: German city, Augsburg, XIV-XV centuries, Jewish community, king, city council.




Submitted: 05.05.2022

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