city's business, and the whole town and even the region about was in their debt. They had mortgages on many of the surrounding estates in their coffers. It was charged, probably with truth, that they were receivers of stolen goods, and the plate on their boards was often made of vessels taken from the altars of Christian churches. But their chief crime, no doubt, was that they were too rich. The people saw only too clearly that, while their affairs went from worse to worst, while the public finances became more and more embarrassed, while the trade and manufactures of the city more and more declined, the Jews continued to prosper. What was more natural than that they should lay the blame for all this on the Jews? The priests, therefore, found willing ears to listen to their denunciation of the usury of this people, and the citizens flocked to hear such sermons.
The Regensburg Jews were under the special protection of the House of Austria, and at the meeting of the Reichstag at Cologne in 1512 they appealed for protection against the constantly increasing persecutions. It was the Imperial policy to hold this movement in check, and accordingly the fanaticism
