Acts – Page 29 – OAJA.org

1. Full Date of Act	Jan. 31, 1316
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Royal Announcement” issued by King Louis IV (Ludwig, the Bavarian)
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany; Swabian
4. Text of Act	We, Louis/Ludwig, […] exonerate the municipal chief ('Schultheiß'), council and citizens of Esslingen along with Johannes von Bernhausen, his brother Wolfram and Walther von Urbach and all their heirs, […] for the great damage which they have suffered at the hands of our enemies while in our service, of all debts, which they currently owe to Jews, who have not submitted to our rule but those of our enemies. [The aforementioned] are also exonerated of any payment obligations to the Jews [… and] may not settle any of the debts with the Jews or do otherwise anything that could hurt the [aforementioned folks]. […] the citizens are free of all vows, promises, and guarantees [made] to Jews which are no longer valid [… and for which] they cannot be held liable by any court or judge. […]
5. Source	Stuttgart, HStA, H 51, U 251, Orig., dt., Perg, (“Main State Archiv of Stuttgart, H 51, U 251, Orig[inal], German, [on] parchment paper”)
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Editor Swabian Imperial City of Esslingen; Present-day Germany

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 9, 1316
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Writ of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	Louis, the Bavarian (‘Ludwig der Baier’) gives the [city] council and the community of citizens in Worms another one hundred Pound (‘Pfund’) Heller annually in addition to the 300 Pound (‘Pfund’) Heller from the local Jews […] for their (citizen’s) services/aid they have rendered to the empire and for the damage they have suffered because of it until he or his successors redeem these 400 Pound with ten times the amount.
5. Source	Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland während des Mittelalters. Bearbeitet von Dr. M. Wiener. Erster Teil. (Regesta regarding the history of Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages. Edited by M[eir] Wiener, PhD. First Part.); Hannover; 1862;
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The above is a translation of a German summary of the old original text both of which can be found in the cited source. The original writ is located in the City-Archive of Speyer.

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 23, 1316
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Order” of Frederick the Handsome/Fair (“Friedrich, der Schöne”)
3. Geography of Act	Duchy of Austria; House of Habsburg
4. Text of Act	[…] Jews of Neustadt [near Vienna] are prohibited to work as tailors or be faced with confiscation [of the items] by the princely chamber ('landesfürstliche Kammer') and forfeiture of the dresses to the same [authority].[…]
5. Source	Berliener, Abraham: Aus dem leben der deutschen Juden im Mittelalter: zugleich als Beitrag für deutsche Culturgeschichte. Nach gedruckten und ungedruckten Quellen (“From the Lives of the German Jews in the Middle Ages: at the same time as Contributions to German Cultural History. According to printed and unprinted Sources”) (Berlin; 1900)
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 29, 1316
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Writ of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	Louis, the Bavarian (‘Ludwig der Baier’) confirms via a writ to the citizens of [Schwäbisch-]Hall that they only need to pay homage to him on [St.] Martin’s Day of the following year and frees […] them of any taxes and services for two years and grants/transfers to them the use of the local Jews for one year […]
5. Source	Weller, Karl: Hohenlohisches Urkundenbuch. Im Auftrag des Gesammthauses der Fürsten zu Hohenlohe. Band II. 1311-1350. (‘Book-of-writs for Hohenlohe. Published on behalf of the entire house/line of the princes of Hohenlohe. Volume II. 1311-1350.); (Stuttgart; 1901);
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The above is a translation of a German summary of the original old text which can be found in Stuttgart’s Stadtarchiv.

1. Full Date of Act	Oct. 13, 1316
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Official Announcement” of the Head of the Community, Knights, and Council Elders
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany; Free Imperial City of Frankfurt and Wetterau
4. Text of Act	The head of the community, knights, and the Council Elders of the city of Frankfurt announce that the Jewish community has transferred the interests […] due on their synagogue, schoolyard, the cemetery and all the homes associated with these to Wingand and Kuntzela Kohnhusen. The Jewish community – in great sorrow – sees no other way out than the sale of the above mentioned interests because of their large debt. The interest is to be paid annually on St. Michael’s Day (September 29) or the following week. […] Should the Jewish community not be able to pay the interest on time, Wigand Kolnhusen shall close the synagogue, the schoolyard, the cemetery, and the associated houses, and keep them closed until the Jews have made the payment. For each week the Jew are late, they are to pay four Marks of Cologne as penalty. Should the Jewish community let ten years pass before repurchasing all or at least half of the interests, the unpaid portion of interest can never be reclaimed/repurchased. […]
5. Source	UB zur Geschichte der Juden in Frankfurt, Nr. 43, S. 13; (“Certificate Book on the History of the Jews in Frankfurt, No. 43, p. 113”)
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1317
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal Bull of Pope John XXII
3. Geography of Act	Papal States; Present-day Italy
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "Orders Jews to wear a badge on their breasts and issues a bull against ex-Jews." Gotthard Deutsch and Joseph Jacobs: Jewish Encyclopedia: The Popes; jewishencyclopedia.com
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 12, 1317
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Special Taxation of Jews” issued by Duke Friedrich III (the fair) of Austria
3. Geography of Act	House of Habsburg
4. Text of Act	[…] in light of the many services rendered to Us by the noble Lord Otto von Ochsenstein […] We guarantee him and his heirs the payment of 300 Mark of pure silver of which they are to receive 100 Mark immediately from Our chamber servants, the Jews […], who reside in Colmar […].
5. Source	Darmstadt, StA, B 2, Nr. 115, Orig., lat., Perg. (“Darmstadt, City Archive, B 2, No. 115, Original, Latin, [on] Parchment Paper”)
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The Document was issued in the former “Free Imperial City of Offenburg, Germany.”

1. Full Date of Act	May 22, 1317
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Order of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV (“Ludwig der Bayer”)
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	King Louis transfers the bailiwick of the empire’s abbey of Werden and the bailiwick/jurisdiction of the Jews of Dortmund […] to Count Dietrich [VII] of Kleve. […]
5. Source	Duisburg, LA, Kleve-Mark, Urkunden, Nr. 146, Orig., lat., Perg. (“Duisburg, Provincial Archive, Kleve-Mark, Official Documents, Nr. 146, Orig[inal], Latin, [on] Parchment Paper”)
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher Since most rulers in the Middle Ages considered Jews to be part of their personal possessions, Jews were often sold and pawned off at will and for monetary gain.

1. Full Date of Act	Nov. 19, 1317
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Writ of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany
4. Text of Act	Louis, the Bavarian (‘Ludwig der Baier’) orders his chamber-servants, the Jews of Speyer to pay/submit their tithe (‘Zehnten’)* to the Archbishop Peter of Mainz.
5. Source	Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland während des Mittelalters. Bearbeitet von Dr. M. Wiener. Erster Teil. (Regesta regarding the history of Jews in Germany during the Middle Ages. Edited by M[eir] Wiener, PhD. First Part.); (Hannover; 1862);
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The above is a translation of a German summary of the original Latin text which can be found in Guden’s Codex Diplomaticus (Volume III). *Zehnt was approximately a 10% mandatory tax due to the church, or a king, or local ruler.

1. Full Date of Act	1318 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Diocesan Synod of Brixen” held under Bishop Johannes von Schlackenwert
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Prince-Bishopric of Brixen [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	"[…] Jews may not appear in public among/in the company of Christians on Good Friday. Furthermore, they should distinguish themselves in their attire from Christians at all times. They should not be used as judges or in any other [public] capacity [to rule] over Christians. Nor should Christians serve them or allow them to feed their children (as wet-nurses). 42) Jews are not to build new synagogues."
5. Source	Medieval Ashkenaz: Corpus der Quellen zur Geschichte der Juden im Spätmittlealterlichen Reich; Synoden und Konzilien 1, Nr. 11 (“Corpus of the Sources on the History of Jews in the Late Middles Ages; Synods and Councils 1, No. 11”).
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 30, 1318
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“City Law of Strasbourg” issued by the Magistrate of the City
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France; Free Imperial City of Strasbourg
4. Text of Act	1) If a Jew demands money from a letter of debt [he owns] that is more than ten years old, and if the alleged debtor swears by the Holy Saints that he owes nothing to the Jew, these letters are to be deemed invalid and returned to the debtors. 2) A Jew or his heir, who present letters of debt to the heirs of Christian survivors and testators, must prove that the debts have not existed for more than ten years. The heirs can deny this by swearing to the Holy Saints, whereupon the Jews must return the letters of debt to them. […].
5. Source	UB Straßburg 4, 2, S. 40 f. (Abschnitt 68). “University Library of Strasbourg 4, 2, p. 40 f. (Segment 68)”);
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 5, 1318
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal bull “Exigit Tuorum,” from John XXII to Mary, widow of Philip III and Queen Dowager of France
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France
4. Text of Act	We have received your petition which stated that, after the general expulsion of the Jews from France, you had come into a large sum, amounting to ten thousand pounds, from the Jews of your territories which had been given to you as your marriage portion or as gifts. Since you do not know from whom the money had been exacted – the original owners may have died or cannot be found – we are granting you our permission to retain the sum, under the condition that part of the money be given to Philip, King of France [i.e., Philip V, coronated in 1317], in support of his planned voyage to bring aid to the Holy Land.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. The Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century, Volume II (1254-1315). The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, 1989. Page 306.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher While a similar letter had been issued to Mary by Clement V in 1306, when she was still Queen, Louis X, after his coronation in 1315, allowed the Jews to return to France, also allowing them to reclaim their communal property and their debts, provided two thirds of the latter were turned over to the treasury. Mary apparently tried to ensure, via papal decree, that she would not be bound to return property confiscated or debts collected before the return of the Jews.

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 27, 1319
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Order” of Pope Johannes/John XXII addressed to the Deacon of Strasbourg
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France; Free Imperial City of Strasbourg
4. Text of Act	[…] it has come to Our attention […] that many Jews have extorted and still try to extort a lot of money through the evil act of usury […] which are based on oaths and public records/documents and guarantees of citizens and other collateral handed over to them [by monks] […]; if this is so, you [the Deacon of Strasbourg] are to force the Jews to rescind the oath, [and] to free the guarantors from their guarantees, and content themselves with the [lent] capital and to return the already collected usury interests which they have extorted to the Abbot and the convent […].
5. Source	Stuttgart, HStA, A 502, U 63, Abschr. (besiegeltes Vidimus des Straßburger Offizials vom 17. Juli 1319), lat., Perg. (“Stuttgart, Main State Archive, A 502, U 63, Transcr. (sealed Vidimus ('We saw') of the Strasbourg Officials from July 17, 1319, Latin, [on] Parchment [Paper]”);
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The document is officially notarized with a seal on 7/17/1319 in Strasbourg.

1. Full Date of Act	May 1319 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Jews. [Their] conduct during Good Friday” issued by the [City] Council of Zurich
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Switzerland [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“One orders/writes to all Councils: The local Jews and Jewesses are not to be seen through windows or on the streets as soon as they hear the [church-]bells ring between [Good] Wednesday and Holy Saturday, and in their homes, they are to refrain from yelling or making loud noises […] lest they be fined by the [City] Council.”
5. Source	Die Zürcher Stadtbücher des XIV. und XV. Jahrhunderts. Auf Veranlassung der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich. Herausgegeben mit Geschichtlichen Anmerkungen von H. Zeller-Werdmüller. I. Band. (City-ledger of Zurich for the 14th and 15th Century. [Complied/Printed] At the request of the Antiquarian Society in Zurich. Published with historical annotations by H. Zeller-Werdmüller. Volume I.); (Leipzig; 1899);
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The source dates this original writ of the City Council of Zurich as “before May 1, 1319.”

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 30, 1319
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Order" of Duke Rudolf I
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany; Duchy of Saxony
4. Text of Act	[…] Furthermore, Jews are not permitted to take/charge unwarranted (excessive) usury.
5. Source	Urkundenbestand des Stadtarchivs Berlin (masch.), Nr. 26, S. 97; Regesten der Markgrafen von Brandenburg, Nr. 2765, S. 816 f. ("Stock of Dokuments of the Archive of Berlin; No. 26, p. 97: Registers of the Margrave of Brandenburg, No. 2765, p. 813 f.")
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1320 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Jewish Ordinance to Strasbourg” issued by the City Council of Strasbourg, year 1320*
3. Geography of Act	Free Imperial City of Strasbourg; Present-day France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“[…] no Jew may have or inherit [land] in the city of Strasbourg or anywhere near the burg […] henceforth (‘hinnen furder’) […]”
5. Source	"Forschung zur Geschichte der Juden: Abteilung A: Abhandlungen: Band 2"; ("Research Regarding the History of the Jews: Section A: Treatise: Volume 2); (Hannover; 1995); Accessed Online;
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher The exact date for this ordinance appears to have been lost; however, experts believe that it was issued in the 1320s or early 1330.

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 19, 1320
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal Decree titled Cum Sit Absurdum [When It Is Absurd] by Pope John XXII
3. Geography of Act	Papal States
4. Text of Act	As long as Jews converted to Christianity, they did not need to be despoiled.
5. Source	Michael C. Thomsett, “The Inquisition: A History,” McFarland & Company, Inc., London, 2010, p. 118, available from scribd.com.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Researcher To despoil means to steal or to plunder so as long as the Jews converted to Christianity, they would not have their possessions forcibly taken away from them. Translator The name of this Act was translated using Google translate.

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 4, 1320
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal bull “Dudum Felicis Recordationis,” from John XXII to the Archbishop of Bourges and His Suffragans
3. Geography of Act	Present-day France
4. Text of Act	You shall make the Jews who live in the said [French] provinces and dioceses assign to you whole the said law, or book, which they call Talmutz, and all their other books with their additions and commentaries, compelling them to do this by whatever canonical punishments may seem to you expedient. After having subjected the Talmutz and books to careful examination […], you shall burn by fire those of the books which you shall find contain the said blasphemies, errors, falsehoods and curses, calling in the secular arm, if necessary, for this purpose.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. The Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century, Volume II (1254-1315). The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, 1989. Page 316.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Dec. 24, 1320
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal bull “Significarunt Nobis,” from John XXII to the Rector of the March of Ancona
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy
4. Text of Act	The community of Macerata, which is subject to the Roman Church, and some individuals of the city complained that […] they have become heavily burdened by debts to Jews living there and in the neighborhood. […] Since these Jews do not consider themselves bound up with the edicts against usury issued by Pope Clement V and others among our predecessors, they try to collect from the said community and individuals sums beyond the principal, subjecting them to annoyance and expense. We order that the Jews, satisfied with the principal, shall abstain from the exaction of usury, and you must make the canonical statute apply to them.
5. Source	Grayzel, Solomon. The Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century, Volume II (1254-1315). The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, 1989. Page 320.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1321
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Papal bull issued by Pope John XXII
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "John XXII (1316-1344), who gave his assent to the massacres of the Jews at Chignon and other places, was not alone the enemy of the Jews, but of everybody who would not buy his friendship He was too mundane to expel the Eoman Jews as he was petitioned to do, but what he dared not do through expediency he resolved to accomplish by bigotry. His sister Sangisa suborned a few priests in his favour and induced them to swear that they had seen a body of Jews in a synagogue treating a cross with disrespect. Pope John, without permitting the Jews to exculpate themselves, immediately issued a Bull ordering the banishment of the Eoman Jews from the Province (1321). Full of sorrow, the innocent men decreed a rigorous fast and assembled in their synagogues, but Count Robert of Naples proved their guiltlessness of the charge, through the confession of one of the accusatorial priests to this friend of the Jews; and a Hebrew emissary; who had been despatched to the Papal court, obtained a hearing through Robert's influence and confuted the calumnies of the Clique. It took 20,000 golden ducats to mollify Sangisa's asperity and after receiving this stipulated ramollescence she condoned their residence in the Church States." Gustav Pearlson: “Twelve centuries of Jewish persecution: a brief outline of the sufferings of the Hebrew race in Christian lands, together with some account of the different laws and specific restrictions under which they have ar various times been placed.” p. 162
5. Source	None
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1. Full Date of Act	1321
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Jewish Dress Code" Issued by Henry II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Spain
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) "Henry II of Castile forces […] Jews to wear the yellow badge." Cyrus Adler, Joseph Jacobs: "BADGE;" jewishencyclopedia.com
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 12, 1321
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Order” of the Administrators of the Archdiocese of Mainz
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany; Free Imperial City of Mainz/Electorate of Mainz
4. Text of Act	We, the administrators (‘provisores’) of the Archdiocese of Mainz, assign the knight Tillman of Rüdesheim as compensation for his imprisonment and for what he has suffered in the service of the late Archbishop Gerhard [II] or rather the church of Mainz, […] all the Jews in Mainz […] to move to the City of Bingen or the village of Rüdesheim. The Jews […] are pledged (pawned off) to Tillmann for 50 Mark of Cologne Pennies […] until the administrators (‘provisores’) or the future Archbishop or the church of Mainz have released them (purchased them back) for the remainder of the outstanding balance. […]
5. Source	Wiesbaden, HStA, Abt. 3003, Nr. 2, fol. 10r, Abschr. (17 Jh.), lat., Papier (Wiesbaden, Main State Archive [of Hesse], Dept. 3003, No. 2, fol. 10r, Copy (17th Cent.), Latin, [on] Paper);
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8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1322
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Expulsion by Charles IV
3. Geography of Act	France
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) “In 1322 Charles IV expelled them [the Jews] again but in 1359 they were brought back, this time with certain requested guarantees of security.” Flannery, Edward H.: “The Anguish of the Jews.” p. 108
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	1322 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“City Law” of Strasbourg
3. Geography of Act	Free Imperial City of Strasbourg; Present-day France [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“[…] 1) within the city of Strasbourg and its castle region (Burghanngebiets), Jews are not allowed to have possessions or inheritance. 2) Jews are entitled to only one synagogue by law, but are not permitted to use any [private] homes/houses as a synagogue. […] 6) If a Jew holds a letter from any citizen [of Strasbourg] which has been sealed by credible sources, and he or his heirs have not demanded the repayment of that debt by law and/or have failed to prove the debt to be valid within five years of the issuance of the document – through witnesses – the debtor or his heirs can swear to the Saints that they owe nothing and be free of the debt. In such cases, the Jew and his heirs have to return the IOUs back to the debtor, and he or his heirs will no longer have the right to demand the repayment of the debt or to harass the debtor, his heirs or the guarantors in any way. […]” [Researcher’s notes:** Taking into account the codification of the city laws of Strasbourg in 1322 (VI City law) and based on the mentioning of the “four ‘[Stett-]Meistern” in the text which could have only occurred before 1333 – the above regulations regarding the Jews could have only been issued between 1322 and 1333. *The word in the original text is “schüle” which was used interchangeably for synagogues and schools in the Middle Ages.]
5. Source	UB Straßburg 4, 2, S. 168 f. [510-515];Hegel, Recht (1871), S. 975 f. (“University Library of Strasbourg 4, 2, p. 168 f. [510-515]; Hegel, Law (1871), p. 975 f.”);
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1. Full Date of Act	Jan. 26, 1322
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Jews to Function as Liability” for the Parishes of Lodengereut and Petelngeruet
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Germany; Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg
4. Text of Act	Freidrich Zollner, […] chief nurse of the hospital of St. Katharina, as well as Otte Potschmann, head of the hospital/hospital ward (Spitalmeister) of Lodengerewt (Lodengereut) and Petelngerewt (Patelngereut) are to pay an annual interest of 15 Bamberger Pennies for hospital goods on St. Martin’s Day. If the hospital is unable to make the assigned interest payment on time, St. Jakob of Bamberg is to take the interest/money from the Jews.
5. Source	State Archive of Bamberg; HV Rep. 2, No. 284, fol. 16v, Copy (15th century)
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8. Notes	None