Mar. 6, 1523

“Royal Decree” issued by Sigismund I for Posen [Present-day Poland]: “[…] Jews are not permitted to sell silk items/fabric and gold fabric by the ell but only as a whole;  [Jews may only sell] silk by the pound and not by the lot* […] other items, such as cotton [and] cotton-fabric (‘Kattun, Zwillich’) […] as whole pieces, not by the ell […] pepper only by the pound […] comestibles, especially during Lent, per wholesale, namely by the sack or in smaller containers […] only 2 Cologne canvases at a time, those of lower quality only one at a time, but each may not cost more than one and a half Mark […They may sell] common canvases, namely Russian and those produced on their own by the ell […] silver and gold yarn only 2 ounces at a time. Jews may sell fabric of any kind only as a whole and not by the ell. If [a Jew] is in possession of a whole piece of crimson-red/purple fabric (‘Purpur-Tuch’), he’s to report this to the mayor who is free to purchase it for a reasonable price, but if he (the mayor) chooses not to, the Jew is to be permitted to sell it by the ell. The Jew may not purchase more than 8 ox-hides, ten calf-, five wolf-, and four Mustelidae-hides at once, lamb-hides not under 1 1/2 stone [… they may only purchase items that have not been sold at the market … they may not ruin a trade a Christian is involved in; only when a Christian passes on the item, may the Jew consider it … Jews may not establish a shop on the market of Posen, nor store wool or hides in the houses near the market … violators are to be fined one Schock Groschen [currency] and should a Jew deny that he has transgressed against any of the above guidelines, he’s to be brought to court …]” [Researcher’s note: *A lot is an old unit of measurements of about 16 grams. The above is a translation of a German summary of the original Latin text.]