“Order” issued by Emperor Louis IV (Ludwig, the Bavarian) [Swabian Imperial City of Esslingen; Present-day Germany]: “We, Louis/Ludwig, Roman Emperor by the grace of God, […] free the municipal chief, the council, and the citizens of Esslingen for their service [to us] from the taxes they are due to us and the empire for the next five years starting from the following Saint Martin’s Day. [In these five years, …] you shall use and enjoy (‘nutzen und niezzen sullen’) the taxes of the Jews of Esslingen […] in order to expand and change the wall of the so-called suburb ‘Upper Esslingen’ (‘obern Eszelingen nempt’). The officers, bailiffs, and reeves are to obey this order […]” [Researcher’s note: While Louis exempts all [Christian] citizens of Esslingen from the annual taxes by the power of this order, the Jews are required to continue to submit their taxes – not to him, but to the city for the purpose of its rebuilding efforts.]
Stuttgart, HStA, H51, U 301, Orig., dt., Perg. (Main State Archive of Stuttgart, H51, U 301, Orig[inal], German, [on] parchment paper); Researched and Translated by Ziba Shadjaani 3/13/2018