Court Jews

Since Jews were forbidden to engage in almost any type of trade, in the Middle Ages they began to occupy the niche of money lenders. Only they were allowed to take interest on loans, because although the Church condemned usury in general, canon law was applicable only to Christians, but not to Jews. In the end, most Jewish communities in Europe began to engage in financial affairs, thereby making a significant contribution to the development of the medieval economy. ^{[2] [3]} Religious restrictions on usury unintentionally led to the establishment of monopoly rents : accordingly, the profits associated with usury were higher than they otherwise could have been without such restrictions. ^[4] In general, the standard of living of the Jewish community was at least equal to the level of the lower nobility. ^[5] However, despite economic prosperity, the communities were never completely safe: religious hostility grew so much that it sometimes spilled out in the form of pogroms and exiles. In the late medieval period, Jews were successively expelled from various countries of Western Europe.

Although the phenomenon of “court Jewry” began to fully manifest itself only at the beginning of the 17th century, examples of those who will later be called court Jews can be found even earlier among moneylenders who managed to accumulate enough capital to finance royalties and nobles. Among them was Gozlen of Gloucester, a Jewish financier who loaned to Richard de Claire, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , during his campaign in Ireland in 1170, ^[6] as well as Aaron Lincolnsky, supposedly the richest man of the 12th century in Britain who left behind a fortune of approximately £ 100,000. ^{[4] [7]} Vivelin of Strasbourg, one of the richest people in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century, who lent 340,000 florins to Edward III on the eve of the Hundred Years War in 1339, should also be noted here. ^[8] By the sixteenth century, Jewish financiers had become even more connected with monarchs and courts. Jozef Goldschmidt (d. 1572) from Frankfurt , also known as the “Yud Josef Tsum Goldenden Schwan”, became the most significant court Jew of his era, conducting business not only with the Fuggers and Imhoffs , but also with representatives of the nobility and the Church. ^[9] At the beginning of the 17th century, the Habsburgs used the services of Jacob Bassevi from Prague, Joseph Pinkerle from Gorizia , and Moses and Jacob Marburgers from Gradisk .

At the dawn of the era of mercantilism, most Sephardic Jews were mainly active in the West in the fields of maritime and colonial trade, while the Ashkenazi rendered their services to the emperor and princes, leaning toward domestic trade. ^[10] Jews did not always occupy such high positions due to their education and other skills: mainly such people were wealthy merchants who were respected, unlike their co-religionists, for their commercial spirit and ability to adapt. The court Jews often suffered from the denunciations of their envious rivals and co-religionists and were often the objects of hatred from the people and courtiers. The court Jews could help their fellow Jews only during periods, often short, of their influence on the rulers. And since their very lives often came to a tragic end, ordinary Jews as a result of their fall suffered more and more oppression.

Court Jews, as agents of rulers, and during wars acting as traders and treasurers of the state, enjoyed special privileges. They personally obeyed the monarchs or their chief advisers and were not required to wear a yellow star . They were allowed to stay where the emperor kept his court, and to live in any territory of the Holy Roman Empire , even in those places where other Jews were not allowed. Wherever they settled, they could buy housing, cook meat according to Jewish rites, and visit a rabbi . They could sell their goods wholesale and retail , and could not be taxed higher than Christians .

Sometimes Jews were entrusted with the task of collecting taxes from the population. For this reason, a long feud arose between Jews and Christians, which in the long run entailed serious consequences for the Jews of Europe.

The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire from the Habsburg dynasty kept at their court a significant number of Jews. Among the courtiers of Ferdinand II, the following names are mentioned: Solomon and Ber Mayers, who provided furniture for the wedding of the emperor and Eleanor Gonzag and clothing for four cavalry squadrons; Joseph Pinkerle of Goertz ; Moses and Joseph Marburgers (another spelling of the surname is Morpurgo) from Gradisk ; Ventura Pariente from Trieste ; Dr. Elijah Salfon from Vienna ; Samuel Tsum Drachen, Samuel Tsum Straussen and Samuel Tsum Weissen Drachen from Frankfurt ; Mordecai Mesel from Prague . Among them was also Jacob Bassevi, who enjoyed special favor and was the first Jew to receive the nobility with the title “ von Treuenberg ”.

Famous court Jews were also Samuel Oppeheimer , who moved from Heidelberg to Vienna , and Samson Verteimer from Worms . Oppenheimer, who was appointed chief court Jew, together with his sons Immanuel and Wolf, as well as assistant Wertheimer, dedicated their talents, serving Austria and the Habsburg house: during the Rhine Wars, as well as wars with the French, Turks and Spaniards, they gave to debt to millions of florins, for which the Austrian rulers could acquire provisions and military equipment for their armies. Werteimer, who, at least in rank, was also the main court Jew under the electors of Mainz, Kurpfalz and Trier, also personally received from the emperor a chain of honor depicting an imperial portrait.

Wolf, the son of Samson Wertheimer, subsequently became the heir to his father. Wolf's contemporary was Leffman Berends of Hanover, a court Jew and confidant of Elector Ernst Augustus and Duke Rudolph Augustus of Braunschweig. He also did business with many other rulers and major dignitaries. The two sons of Berends, Mordecai Gumpel and Isaac, received the same title as their father, becoming the main court Jews and confidants. Isaac Cohen's father-in-law, Berend Lehman, sometimes also called Berman Halberstadt, was a court Jew in Saxony, holding the title of “resident”. Lehman Berend was also in Dresden at the court of King Augustus the Strong . Moses Bonaventure from Prague was the gof factor of the Saxon court in 1679.

The Model family was Jewish at the Margraves of Ansbach in the mid-17th century. Particularly influential was the Marx Model, who had many trading enterprises in the whole principality and often delivered supplies to the army and the yard. He fell into disfavor due to the machinations of the court Jew Elkan Frenkel, a member of the family who was expelled from Vienna. Frenkel, being a prudent, energetic, and proud man, took possession of the Margrave's trust to such an extent that he turned to them for advice in resolving critical government issues. According to the denunciation of a certain Isaiah Frenkel, who, however, wanted to be baptized, was charged against Elkan Frenkel: the latter was nailed to a shameful pillar , subjected to scourging and was sent to Würzburg for life imprisonment on November 2, 1712. There he died in 1720.

David Rost, Gabriel Frenkel, and, in 1730, Isaac Nathan (Isherlein) were also Jewish Jews along with Elkan Frenkel. Isherlein, according to the machinations of Frenkel, suffered the same fate as Elkan Frenkel. However, Nathan’s son-in-law, Dessauer, himself became a gof factor. Under the Ansbach’s marquers there were also such Jews as Michael Simon and Leo Israel (1743), Meyer Berlin and Amson Zeligman Solomon (1763).

Friedrich Wilhelm , Elector of Brandenburg, also kept court Jews in Berlin. Among them was Israel Aaron (1670), who by his actions tried to prevent the influx of foreign Jews into the Prussian capital. Other court Jews of the Elector were Gumpertz (died 1672), Berend Wulf (1675) and Solomon Frenkel (1678). However, the most influential among them was Jost Liebmann. Through his marriage to the widow of the aforementioned Israel Aaron, he took the position of the latter. His talents were highly praised by the Elector. He constantly quarreled with the Crown Prince's court Jew, Marcus Magnus. After the death of Jost Liebmann, his influence passed to the widow, the famous Liebmann, who was in such good relations with Frederick III (since 1701, King Frederick I in Prussia ) that could appear without warning in his office.

Court Jews were in all small German principalities. For example, Zachariah Zeligman (1694) was in the service of the prince of Hesse-Homburg , and many other Jews served the dukes of Mecklenburg . Other gof factors are mentioned in the chronicles of the late 17th century: Bendix and Ruben Goldschmidt from Homburg; Michael Hinrichsen of Gluckstadt , who soon joined Moses Israel Fürst, whose son, Reuben Hinrichsen, as of 1750, received a fixed salary as a court representative. Around the same time, the gof factor Wolf lived at the court of Frederick III of Mecklenburg-Strelitzky . Litigation against court Jews was usually protracted, which also indicates their privileged position.

The last court Jews were Israel Jacobson, who was in the court of Braunschweig, and Wolf Breidenbach, who served as elector of Hesse. Both of them hold honorable positions in Jewish history.

In rough chronological order:

• Abraham Seneor (1412–1493)
• Yitzhak Abrabanel (1437-1508), financier at the Spanish and Portuguese courts ^[11] .
• Edward Brempton (c. 1440 - 1508), godfather of Edward IV , Governor of Guernsey ^[12] .
• Abraham Zakuto (c. 1450 - c. 1510)
• Moses Fishel and Rachel Fishel from Krakow, court Jews of Jan I Olbracht ; Rachelle was the maid of honor of Queen Mother Elizabeth.
• Jozel of Rosheim (1476–1554) ^[13]
• Mordecai Meisel (1528–1601) ^[14]
• Jacob Bassevi von Troienberg (nobleman) (1580-1634) ^[15]
• Hajim Fürst, (1592–1653), a court Jew in Hamburg, would also be the head of the Jewish community of the city and the richest Jew in it.
• Moses Israel Fürst, (1617–1692), Hoff factor of Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
• Leffman Berends (Lipman Cohen) of Hanover (c. 1630-1714) ^[16]
• Samuel Oppenheimer (1635–1703), was engaged in military supplies for the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire ^[17] .
• David Cohen, Earl of Larvotto (1628–1704), financier and adviser to Louis I , Prince of Monaco.
• Samson Wertimer (1658-1724), Austrian financier, chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, rabbi of Eisenstadt ^[18] .
• Issachar Berend Lehman (1661-1730)
• Suess Oppenheimer (1698-1738), financier of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg .
• Aaron Beer (d. 1740), the corrugation factor of Aurich and Frankfurt.
• Leo Sinzheim (c. 1675 - 1744), procurement officer of Mainz ^{[19] [20]} .
• Israel, edler von Hoenigsberg, (1724-1789), a court agent, had a monopoly on the sale of tobacco, which he received from the Habsburgs. "Bankaldirektor" by Joseph II. The first Austrian Jew who received the noble title without conversion to the Christian faith (1789) ^[21] .
• Joachim, edler von Popper (1720-1795), a court agent, had a monopoly on the sale of tobacco, which he received from the Habsburgs. The second Austrian Jew who received the noble title without conversion to the Christian faith (1790) ^[22] .
• Daniel Itzig (1723-1799), Hoff factor of Frederick II and Frederick William II .
• Rafael Caulla (d. 1810), as well as "Madame Caulla" (1739-1809)
• Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), Hof factor of William I, Elector of Hesse
• Israel Jacobson (1768–1828), philanthropist and reformer, Hoff factor of Braunschweig ^[23] .
• Wolf Breidenbach (1751-1829), court Jew of the Elector of Hesse, father of Moritz Wilhelm Augustus of Breidenbach.
• Bernhard von Eskeles (1753-1839), the Hoff factor of Joseph II and Francis II.

The image of the court Jew is also found in literature. Jewish Isaac in Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe serves the purposes of Prince John and other nobles.

Lyon Feuchtwanger in two novels depicts court Jews and their high patrons. In the novel The Spanish Ballad, which describes the events of the end of the 13th century in Spain, the ruler of Toledo don Alfonso, nicknamed Alfonso the Wise , uses Yehuda ibn Ezra at his service as a talented financier. In another novel, Jew Suess, who was named after the novel, was bred as a court Jew ^[24] .

• Oath for the Jews
• Useful Jew | Stadlan

• Israel, Jonathan I. European Jewry in the Age of Mercantilism, 1550-1750. - New York: Oxford University Press, 1985 .-- ISBN 0198219288 . ISBN 0198219288.  
• Stern, Selma. The Court Jew: A Contribution to the History of the Period of Absolutism in Europe. - New York: Transaction, 1950. - ISBN 0-88738-019-0 . ISBN 0-88738-019-0.