Source 1 Introduction
This privilege of August 1453 – only a small part of whose 46 paragraphs is presented here -was one of the most short-lived ever granted to the Jews of Poland. The King, Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1447-1492), seems to have wanted to extend his power over his country’s Jews (note the usage, “Our Jews”), a significant urban population who played an important role in developing regional and national markets. The privilege - by which is meant not only its legal content but its physical form - was an expanded version of privileges previously granted to the Jews of Poland by Jagiellończyk’s ancestor, Kazimierz the Great in the mid-14th century, which were themselves a slightly expanded version of the first charter of rights granted to Polish Jews by Bolesław the Pious in Kalisz, 1264. However, Jagiellończyk’s version gives the Jews a number of new economic concessions. (Notice, however, that these new concessions are granted under the guise of simply renewing a previous privilege burnt in the Poznań fire). It is also the first privilege explicitly to give state backing to the organs of Jewish autonomy in Poland (paragraph 7). It was this state backing which was to allow the highly complex and sophisticated development of Jewish communities and regional councils in future centuries. However, if in this important aspect, the privilege of 1453 looks forward to future developments, in other stipulations it is clearly medieval in nature. These are the references in clauses 6 and 7, as well as in one version of the conclusion (here brought in square brackets), which demarcate the Jews as belonging to the Royal Treasury. This status of “servi camerae” was one of the characteristics of Jewish legal status in Europe during the high Middle Ages, which disappeared as a result of constitutional changes in the early modern period. In Poland, these changes stemmed from the strengthening of the nobility at the expense of monarchy. The first sign of this development was seen in 1454, where the Polish nobility, gathered at Nieszawa, forced the King to grant them a number of concessions, including the weakening of his control over Poland’s Jews and the consequent cancellation of this privilege.
Source Publication
J. Bandtkie, Ius Polonicum codicibus veteribus manuscriptis et editionibus quibusque collatis, Warsaw 1831: 1-21.
M. Schorr, “Krakovskyi svod yevreyskich statutov i privilegyi”, Yevreyskaya Starina 1 (1909): 247-264; 2 (1910): 76-100, 223-245.
Bibliography
Sh. A. Cygielman, “The Basic Privileges of the Jews in Great Poland as Reflected in Polish Historiography”, Polin 2 (1987): 117-149.
A. Teller, “A View from the East: The Legal Status and the Legal System of Polish Jewry in the 16th-18th Centuries” in: A. Gotzmann, S. Wendehorst (eds.), Von den Rechtsnormen zur Rechtspraxis. Ein neuer Zugang zur Rechtsgeschichte der Juden im Alten Reich [Beiheft der Zeitschrift fuer Historische Forschung] (Forthcoming).
Source 1 Translation
In the Name of the Lord, Amen. As a perpetual memorial, We, Kazimierz, by the grace of God, King of Poland, as well as of the lands of Krakow, Sandomierz, Sieradz, Leczyca and Kujawa, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Hereditary Lord of Pomerania and Ruthenia, give notice by this present document to all those whom it may benefit, both now and in the future, who have knowledge of this document: That before Our Majesty appeared as delegates Our Jews from the lands of Great Poland, namely from the Palatinates of Poznań, Kalisz, Sieradz, Łęczyca, Brześć, and Włocławek, and the districts pertaining to them, and related: That the laws which they had previously received from the most serene prince of blessed memory, Our predecessor, Lord Kazimierz, King of Poland, and which they had always enjoyed in the times of the other kings, Our predecessors, and in our day, at all times and occasions, were reduced to ashes by the fire when before Our very eyes Our city of Poznań, in Our presence, was consumed in a firestorm. They [i.e. the Jews] are requesting and humbly supplicating that we should graciously agree to renew, ratify, and confirm the laws, according to a copy of the said laws which they have shown us. Which laws thus given, copied word for word, read thus.
…
Sixth. That no Captain (Starosta) or Palatine (Wojewoda) should [exact] from the Jews any payments, namely taxes and exactions, unless the Jews themselves give them of their own free will; this is because We have made them part of Our treasury.
…
Seventh. That if any Jew should not be obedient to his elders, he should pay a penalty of three marks to the Lord Palatine and similarly a penalty of three marks to his elders.
…
And we also stipulate that any Jew who holds hereditary property through an agreement [i.e. mortgage] should not be made to ride out to war, nor to make any [financial] contribution to the expedition, because these Jews are a part of Our treasury.
…
And We, the aforementioned, King Kazimierz, having listened to the laws of the above Jews, and after requisite deliberations with certain of the Counsellors of Our kingdom, having reviewed, examined, and considered the individual points, clauses, and conditions which appear in them [i.e. the laws], and desire that the Jews whom [we reserve to Ourselves and Our kingdom as a special treasury] should recognize that they they have received the relief of our happy kingdom for the Jews in the lands of Great Poland, namely in the Palatinates of Poznań, Kalisz, Sieradz, Łęczyca, Brześć, and Włocławek, as well as in the districts, towns and small towns belonging to them, both for those resident there now and for the others who will come to the lands of Great Poland from other places. We renew, ratify, and confirm the laws described above in all their points, conditions, articles, and clauses, and with the determination that they shall have eternal and perpetual force, in testimony to the present document, our seal is appended.
Made in Kraków, 13 th August 1453
Source 2 Introduction
This privilege, granted to a small community in what is today Ukraine (the 1765, census notes 293 Jews in Jampol), illustrates the extent to which Jews were integrated into the life of the town in the 18 th century. The basis for this integration was the economic policy of the Polish nobility - in particular, the wealthiest magnates. In order to reconstruct the economy of their estates following the destruction of the mid-17 the wars, the magnates initiated a policy of encouraging Jewish settlement and economic activity. The legal basis for this was a law of 1539, which removed the Jews on noble estates from royal control, leaving them entirely under the jurisdiction of the nobility. This put an end to the Jews’ medieval status of “servi camerae” and allowed each community to negotiate its own settlement terms separately. Since the magnates recognized the Jews as a highly effective economic force, they were prepared to grant them very favorable conditions. The Jews’ economic importance was largely felt in the realm of the production and sale of alcoholic beverages - the so-called propinacja monopoly, which the estate owner granted Jewish businessmen on lease (arenda). Though their dependence on their noble lords could sometimes leave the Jews exposed to persecution at their hands, in the vast majority of cases, the economic services the Jews gave meant that they could rely on help and support. This may be seen here not only in the broad concessions granted to the Jews in the realms of trade and crafts, but also in the permission to build a synagogue, mikveh and cemetery (and to use wood from the estate owner’s forests). The magnate estate owner also lent his support to the community council (kahal) and the Jewish courts, even allowing the Jews themselves to try cases where a Christian was the plaintiff. However, the most striking example of Jewish integration into urban structures in this document is the stipulation of the magnate estate-owner that the Jews of Jampol should be active participants in the municipal council. This was an extremely rare concession and should in no way be taken as representative of the situation in the overwhelming majority of Polish and Lithuanian towns and cities in this period. It should be noted that almost all the forms of Jewish integration into 18th century urban life in Eastern Europe were possible only due to noble support. The non-Jewish townspeople remained hostile to the Jews, whom they saw as economic competitors and religious enemies, but could not easily express their hostility for fear of invoking the wrath of their lords. From time to time, however, this hostility did find expression: in Jampol, the townspeople, with the support of the local bishop, accused the Jews in 1756 of murdering a local Christian boy.
Source Publication
J. Goldberg, Jewish Privileges in the Polish Commonwealth: Charters of Rights Granted to Jewish Communities in Poland-Lithuania in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, II, Jerusalem 2001, 66-68
Bibliography
J. Goldberg, “The Privileges Granted to Jewish Communities of the Polish Commomwealth as a Stabilizing Factor in Jewish Support”, in: Ch. Abramsky et al. (eds.), The Jews in Poland, Oxford 1986: 31-54.
A. Teller, “The Legal Status of the Jews on the Magnate Estates of Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century”, Gal-Ed 15-16 (1997): 41-63.
Source 2 Translation
To all those in general and anyone in particular, whether now or in the future, who needs to know, we state:
That the kahal and burghers of our town of Jampol have laid before us in presentation a privilege written on parchment and granted to that kahal by His Grace, Prince Janusz Korybut Wiśniowiecki Wojewoda of Kraków, of blessed memory. In response to their strenuous request we permit its copying here as follows.
With this, my privilege, I inform all those in general and anyone in particular who needs to know, now and in the future, that God Almighty, who grants earthly consolations to all, has caused the afflictions of the last thirty years - the tiresome Turkish war and frequent Tatar incursions, and now the daily trial of the Swedish and Muscovite armies and other passersthrough, which have deprived this country of its pride and caused it the most unfortunate and highly lamentable loss; Jampol, my hereditary town has also undergone this misfortune. With divine help, raising [the town] from its ruins [and] striving to bring it back to vigor, I have resolved, desiring to encourage both those who are returning to their patrimony and other [settlers], to grant the citizens of this town rights to the benefit of their greater freedom and the increase of their fortunes. Which freedoms and rights - with the same benefits held by all my other towns - [are] granted them by me in the following privilege to serve their [needs].
First of all, there is to be free distillation of vodka, and alcohol may be sold in all the houses and open streets; however, Jews and Christians must return [payments] to my arenda on the distillation of vodka, the fermentation of mead and the brewing of beer according to the contract which will be made at the time. I grant them the freedom to engage in all forms of trade, both purchasing and selling goods of whatever sort, and in particular they may deal in woolen cloths, blue silks, fabrics, linens, silks, haberdashery, morocco leather, shoes, all kinds of cattle hide and goatskins - whether worked or unworked, imported or made in Jampol - wax, tallow and things of the sort which are sold in homes and in stalls. All craftsmen, Christians and Jews, whether linen-makers, tailors, furriers, bakers, slaughterers and others, may safely settle in this city and conduct free trade with each other.
The election of city councilors should be held in the following manner: the podstarosci of Jampol must choose one on behalf of the castle, the Jewish kahal a second, while the burghers are to choose two. These councilors must take good care that total order be kept in the town; the Catholic town guard must take care that the Jews not be harassed nor suffer any damage [to property] at the hands of fractious individuals during the Good Friday and Corpus Christi processions.
The free construction of a synagogue with its surrounding buildings is permitted, for which we allow [the use of] wood from our hereditary and leased forests, with the permission of the holders. They may have a cemetery and the man who lives there is to be exempt from labor obligations to both town and castle. A bathhouse with a well may [be constructed].
The Jewish kahal must give 12 days a year to the usual municipal works from houses fronting the street; from the houses without a front they must give 6 days if necessary and only to the [upkeep of the] municipal dykes, nothing else. On the great holidays of Easter, Ascension day, Whitsuntide, Corpus Christi, Christmas, Conception day and the Feast of the Assumption, no work may be done in the distilleries.
Any Jew who has been insubordinate to the kahal, I shall hand over to the jurisdiction of the kahal to prosecute him according to its religious law. A Jew sued by a Christian must [be brought] before the quarterly Jewish councilor; should he not be satisfied with the verdict, he may freely appeal to the castle. If the Jew is found guilty, the podstarosci must then send him to the quarterly councilor for sentencing. Jews may not purchase, bloody or damp items, nor church goods, under pain of death. They may freely trade in other goods according to the laws of the land. Weights and measures must be fair - the podstarosci must ensure this.
Those arendarze on my estates, in my hereditary lands and on those I have mortgaged under any title, who live in the vicinity of Jampol, belong to the Jampol kahal and must pay taxes to the Crown Treasury accordingly. These Jews must be tried according to their religious law and not before the castle [court].
Desirous that every clause of this law be carried out and consolidated, and in order to give it greater weight and reliability, I hereby sign in my own hand and give order that my seal be impressed.
Granted in Lublin, 5th June, 1711
This signature: Prince Janusz Wiśniowiecki, Wojewoda of Kraków, Starosta of Krzemieniec etc.
(Seal impression)
Which privilege, copied word for word, having signed, I give order to suspend my seal.
[Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł]
Granted in Biała Krynica 7th March 1753