two sons, Salim and Ataim. This country was ruled over by seventy-two princes down to 210 b.c. It is possible that the Jews themselves in Austria, as in other countries, invented such fables in order to free themselves from the accusation of having participated in the crucifixion of Jesus; but more likely the whole story is an invention of the chroniclers, who wanted to present to their readers interesting tales (Pez, " Scriptores Rerum Austriacarum," i. 1046 etseq., quoted by Scherer, " Rechtsverhitltnisse der Juden," 1901, i. 112). The first reliable report of the existence of the Jews in Austria is found in a law respecting tolls issued at Raffelstatten during the reign of Louis the Child, 899-911, article 9 of which reads: "Lawful merchants i.e., Jews and other merchants whencesoever they come, whether from this or any other country, shall pay a just toll on their slaves and on other merchandise, as has been the case under the former kings" (Pertz, "Monumenta Germaniaa," Leges, iii. 480). From this statement it would appear probable that Jews lived in those days in Austria. The first documentary evidence comes, however, from the twelfth century. Duke Leopold V. (1177-94), who did a great deal for the development of commerce in Austria, had a Jewish "mintfarmer" (master of the mint) called Shlom, who was engaged in a litigation with a Vienna monaster}- about the possession of a vineyard. Shlom was assassinated by a mob of Crusaders, because he had had arrested a servant of his who had stolen some money and had subsequently taken the cross (" Quellen zur Gesch. der Juden in Deutschland, " ii. 92; "Emek Habaka," ed. Wiener, his
—
p. 37).
1204; stadt,
A synagogue in Vienna is first mentioned in somewhat later appear Krems, Wiener NeuAs in all German Tulln, Klosterneuburg.
settlements (" Judendorf," "Vicus cities, Jewish Judseorum ") were found in Austria in those days. Vienna must have been a considerable community for in the first half of the twelfth century one of the
most prominent rabbis of the time, Isaac ben Moses, author of the compendium on ritual "Or Zarua'," lived there, as well as Abigdor ben Elijah ha-Kohen and his brother Eliezer. At the same time Moses ben Hasdai Ipn (of Tachau?) was living Important in Wiener Xeustadt. Others are men tioned in Mordecai ben Hillel's (died Rabbis. Aug. 1, 1298) glosses to Alfasi. During the first half of the twelfth century the Jews of Vienna must have been a very influential factor in commercial and political life, because Duke Fredthe Belligerent (1230-46) prohibited on their advice the exportation of corn and wine from erick
322
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Austria
II.
Austria during his war with Hungary (Pertz, I.e. ix. 706); and, if the statement of this chronographer be exaggerated, it is certainly significant that in the charter which Emperor Frederick II. granted to the citizens of Vienna (1237) he should have agreed that no Jew should henceforth hold office. The emperor, who was at war with the duke and who naturally desired to have the good-will of the citizens of Vienna, must have made this concession upon the complaint of the citizens. That the sentiment with regard to the Jews was far from friendly appears from the fact that the emperor expressly states that the Jews, because of their crime i.e., for having
killed Jesus
tude
("
— should
cum imperialis
be held in everlasting serviauctoritas
Iudseis indix-
.
perpetuam servitutem "). A year later the emperor granted to the Jews of Vienna a charter in which the Jews are called, for the first " Servi time in Germany, the emperor's serfs (" servi camera nostra;") and although Camerse Nostrse." this expression is meant in the first erit
the emperor's right with regard to the fact that the
sense to assert
over the Jews,
it is,
emperor considers them as condemned to eternal servitude, a matter of some importance. Charter of Emperor Frederick II. (1238):
The
Jews,
jurisdiction over the
fiscal rights,
was a subject
like
many
other
of controversy between
While Emperor the emperor and the feudal lords. Frederick, when he had conquered Vienna, catered to the burghers by excluding the Jews from public offices, he also wished to attach them to his cause, and therefore defined their rights in a charter which is, in its most important features, a repetition of the one granted to the Jews of Germany in 1236. The charter contains ten sections, and states first that the Jews shall be under the emperor's protecThey are exempt tion ("servi cameras nostra? "). from the duty to furnish vehicles and horses for the If stolen property is they have merely to swear how much they have paid for it in order to receive The baptism of that sum from the lawful owner. Jewish children without the consent of their parents and a heavy fine is imposed is expressly prohibited on transgressors of this law. Baptism of the slaves Converts shall be of Jews is similarly prohibited. given three days during which the sincerity of their desire to embrace Christianity shall be tested. In civil law Jews and Christians are treated as equals but a Jew can not be forced to the ordeal and can free himself by oath from any accusation. Jews can not be condemned on the testimony of Christians alone. Their lives are under the protection of the law, and for killing or assaulting a Jew a fine is imposed, which, according to the views of the time, is the reparation for such a crime. In their internal affairs they have perfect autonomy and shall be
royal retinue
found in
("
hospites
").
their possession,
judged by their rabbis and communal officers " coram eo qui preest eis ") only in important mat(
ters jurisdiction is reserved to the
emperor. In connection with the commercial activity of the Jews, dealing in wines, paints, and antidotes is especially mentioned some of them must, therefore, have been physicians.
Charter of Duke Frederick II. of Austria (1244): After Frederick II. had regained possession of his country he vigorously asserted his rights, although he made some concessions to the states ("Stande"). Thus, he confirmed to the citizens of Wiener Neustadt the privilege that the Jews should not be placed in office, just as Emperor Frederick had confirmed it to the citizens of Vienna hut, on the other hand, he regulated the position of the Jews, and evidently with a benevolent intention. He says that he grants this charter in his desire to give to all those who are living within his dominion a share in his grace and benevolence. This law is a classic type of the legislation on the Jews during
