In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity. Frederick, by the favor of divine mercy Emperor of the Romans, ever august.

Let it be known to all bishops, abbots, dukes, counts and everyone subject to the laws of our kingdom that, by our authority, we confirm as perpetually valid the regulations established by our great-grandfather, Emperor Henry, for the Jews of Worms and their fellow Jews during the time of Salmann, the leader of those Jews.

1. Because we desire that they look to us alone in all matters of justice, we command by the authority of our royal dignity that no bishop, chamberlain, count, magistrate or anyone else presume to hear a case involving them, to proceed against them or to exact justice from them. The only exception shall be a person chosen by the Jews from among themselves and appointed over them by the emperor, especially since they belong to our chamber according to our pleasure.

2. No one shall presume to take from them any property that they possess by hereditary right, including building plots, gardens, vineyards, fields, servants or any other movable or immovable possessions. No one shall interfere with the rights they possess in buildings situated on the city wall, either inside or outside it. Anyone who violates this decree shall incur our displeasure and shall restore twice the value of anything taken from them.

3. They shall have the unrestricted right to exchange money with anyone throughout the city. They may not, however, conduct such exchanges directly in front of the mint or wherever the official moneyers have established their exchange tables.

4. They may travel freely and peacefully throughout our kingdom to conduct their business and trade, buying and selling as they wish. No one shall demand a toll or any public or private payment from them.

5. No guests shall be quartered in their houses without their consent. No one shall demand from them a horse for a journey by the king or bishop, or forced service in support of a royal military expedition.

6. If stolen property is found in their possession and a Jew declares that he purchased it, he shall swear according to his law how much he paid. After receiving that amount, he shall return the property to its original owner.

7. No one shall presume to baptize their sons or daughters against their will. Anyone who baptizes one of them after seizing the person by force, secretly abducting the person or otherwise compelling the person shall pay twelve pounds of gold to the royal treasury. If one of them wishes to be baptized voluntarily, the person shall wait three days so that it may be determined whether the decision arises from a sincere desire to accept Christianity or from an injury or injustice inflicted upon that person. Just as converts abandon the law of their ancestors, they shall also relinquish their inheritance.

8. No one shall baptize their non-Christian servants under the pretext of Christian religion and then remove those servants from Jewish service. Anyone who does so shall pay the prescribed penalty of three pounds of silver and return the servant to the owner. The servant shall obey the owner’s commands in all matters, provided that observance of the Christian faith is preserved.

9. The Jews may employ Christian maidservants and wet nurses, as well as hire Christians to perform work, except on Sundays and Christian feast days. No bishop or cleric shall prohibit this. The Jews may not, however, purchase a Christian as a slave.

10. If a Jew brings a case against a Christian, or a Christian against a Jew, each shall receive justice and prove the case according to that person’s own law. Just as a Christian may prove by a public oath, supported by one Jewish and one Christian witness, that guarantors provided to a Jew have been released from their obligations, a Jew may prove by an oath, supported by one Jewish and one Christian witness, that guarantors provided to a Christian have been released. Neither party shall then be subjected to any further demand by the claimant or judge.

11. No one shall compel a Jew to undergo an ordeal involving heated iron, hot water or cold water. A Jew shall not be whipped or imprisoned but shall swear according to Jewish law after forty days. No one may be convicted in any case unless both Jewish and Christian witnesses testify together.

If the Jews appeal any matter to the royal court, they shall be granted sufficient time to present the appeal. Anyone who harasses them contrary to this decree shall pay the prescribed penalty of three pounds of gold to the emperor.

12. If anyone conspires against one of them or lies in wait so that the person may be killed, both the conspirator and the killer shall pay twelve pounds of gold to the royal treasury. Anyone who wounds a Jew without killing the person shall pay one pound of gold.

If a servant kills or wounds a Jew, the servant’s owner shall either pay the stated compensation or surrender the servant for punishment. If poverty prevents the guilty party from paying, that person shall suffer the same penalty imposed during the reign of our great-grandfather Emperor Henry upon the person who killed a Jew named Vivus: the person’s eyes shall be put out and the right hand cut off.

13. If the Jews have a dispute or legal case among themselves, they shall be judged by their peers and not by others. If a dishonest person among them attempts to conceal the truth about something that has taken place, their religious leader shall compel that person to acknowledge the truth. If they are accused of a serious offense, they may, if they wish, receive time to appeal to the emperor.

14. They shall also have permission to sell their wine, spices and medicines to Christians. As stated above, no one shall demand saddle horses, forced service or any public or private payment from them.

So that the authority of this grant may remain inviolate for all time, we have ordered this charter to be written and authenticated with the impression of our seal.

The witnesses are Arnold, Archbishop of Mainz; Conrad, Bishop of Worms; Gunther, Bishop of Speyer; Hermann, Bishop of Verden; Conrad, Count Palatine of the Rhine; Frederick, Duke of Swabia and son of King Conrad; Count Emicho of Leiningen; Ulrich of Hörningen and Marquard of Grumbach.

The sign of Lord Frederick, august Emperor of the Romans.

I, Chancellor Rainald, acting on behalf of the Archbishop of Mainz, have authenticated this charter.

Given at Worms on the eighth day before the Ides of April, during the reign of Lord Frederick, the unconquered Emperor of the Romans, in the fifth indiction, in the year 1157 of the Incarnation of the Lord, the fifth year of his reign and the second year of his empire.

Done happily in Christ. Amen.