Charters

Medieval W. Christendom
Given the popular hostility toward Jews depicted in the preceding section and the
ambivalent stance of the Roman Catholic Church toward Judaism and Jews detailed
earlier, the lay authorities became the key to Jewish well-being in medieval western
Christendom. Lay authorities in both the south and the north were regularly committed
to fostering Jewish presence, for a variety of reasons. In the south, as Christian armies
began to push back the Muslims on the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, the lay authorities
felt the need to reassure the Jews of the conquered areas in order to maintain societal
stability and the local economies—hence charters such as those of Count Raymond
Berenguer IV of Barcelona and King James I of Aragon. These rulers—and others like
them—sought to reassure Jews through the grant of generous concessions to those willing
to remain in place and make their contribution to Christian society in newly conquered
areas.

In the north, charters emerged out of somewhat different circumstances. Here,
rulers determined to lead their domains toward economic development that would enable
them to close the gap between the older and better developed societies of the south and
the young and vigorous societies of the north concluded that Jewish settlers, bringing
with them economic expertise, would be a boon to the process of economic maturation.
Thus, Bishop Rudiger of Speyer committed himself to attracting Jews to his town, in
order to enhance its economy; he decided that the most effective way to entice Jewish
settlers would be through offering them circumstances better than those enjoyed by Jews
anywhere else in his region. At a later point in time, as the burgeoning principalities of
eastern Europe sought to close the gap between themselves and their neighbors further
westward, rulers in this area came to parallel conclusions, as reflected in the charter issue
by Duke Boleslav of Greater Poland.

The interest of the lay authorities in fostering Jewish presence had a narrower and
more self-serving focus as well. For the rulers of medieval western Christendom, the
Jews offered rich taxation opportunities. Given the Jewish dependence on these rulers,
tax demands were almost impossible to resist.