History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume 1 [of 3]: From the Beginning until the Death of Alexander I (1825) — John Shaqi
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume 1 [of 3]: From the Beginning until the Death of Alexander I (1825)Dubnow, Simon
History
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume 1 [of 3]: From the Beginning until the Death of Alexander I (1825)
Dubnow, Simon
Jews -- Poland -- History; Jews -- Russia -- History; Poland -- History; Russia -- History
On one occasion, on the third day of Easter, the priest Budek, who had
gained the reputation of an implacable Jew-baiter, delivered a sermon in
the Church of St. Barbara. As he was about to leave the pulpit, he
suddenly announced to the worshipers that he had found a notice on the
pulpit to this effect: "The Jews living in Cracow killed a Christian boy
last night, and made sport over his blood; moreover, they threw stones
at a priest who was going to visit a sick man, and was carrying a
crucifix in his hands." No sooner had these words been uttered than the
people rushed into the Jewish street, and began to loot the houses of
"Christ's enemies." The royal authorities hastened to the rescue of the
Jews, and by armed force put an end to the riots. But several hours
later, when the bells of the town hall began to ring, summoning the
members of the magistracy to a meeting, for the purpose of punishing the
instigators of the disorders, some one in the crowd shouted that the
magistracy was inviting the Christians to another attack upon the Jews.
Thereupon the rabble came running from all parts of the city and began
to slay and plunder the Jews, setting fire to their houses. Some Jews
sought refuge in the Tower of St. Anne, but the mob set fire to the
tower, and the unfortunate Jews had to surrender. A number of them, to
save their lives, adopted Christianity, while the children of the slain
were all baptized. Many Christians, according to the testimony of the
Polish historian Dlugosh[33], grew rich on the money plundered from the
Jews.
One cannot fail to perceive in all these catastrophes the influence of
neighboring Germany[34]. It was from Germany that the clerical reaction
which followed upon the struggle of the Church with the reformatory Huss
movement penetrated to Poland. The Synod of Constance, which condemned
Huss, was attended by the Archbishop of Gnesen, Nicholas Tromba, who
appeared at the head of a Polish delegation. On his return, this leading
dignitary of the Polish Church presided over the proceedings of the
Synod of Kalish (1420), which had also been convened in connection with
the Huss movement.
At the suggestion of this Archbishop, the Council of Kalish solemnly
ratified all the anti-Jewish enactments which had been passed by the
Councils of Breslau and Buda (Ofen),[35] but had seldom been carried out
in practice. These laws, as will be remembered, forbade all intercourse
between Jew and Christian, and ordered the Jews to live in separate
quarters, to wear a distinctive mark on the upper garment, and so forth.
At the same time the Jews were required to pay a tax in favor of the
churches of those diocesan districts "where they now live, and where by
right Christians ought to live," this tax to correspond to "the losses
inflicted by them upon the Christians." These injunctions were issued as
special instructions to the members of the clergy in all the dioceses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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