Statute of Kalisz

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Statute of Kalisz frontispiece, by Arthur Szyk (1927)

The General Charter of Jewish rights known as the Statute of Kalisz, and the Kalisz Privilege, granted

Jewish
courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and Jews designed to avoid Jewish discrimination. It led to the formation of a separate court and safety for persecuted Jews which attracted Jewish immigrants from across Europe to Poland.

Thanks to the statute, specialists in various crafts, trade and financial operations arrived in the country. An additional benefit for the country was the frequent practice of an additional tax for the possibility of practicing Judaism.

The statute was issued by the Duke of

Sigismund I
in 1539. It was at a time when rulers in Western Europe forced Jews to emigrate (England in 1290, France in 1290, Spain in 1492). Practically, this meant that the ruler robbed the Jewish people property and threw the robbed people outside the country's borders. The main motive was the robbery of property, justified by religious reasons. Polish Jews appreciated the opportunities Poland provided them and significantly contributed to its development. Their loyalty was also important to the ruler. After the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the role of Jews as bankers and lenders was important. The weak tax system often could not provide sufficient funds for the functioning of the state (the nobility paid almost no taxes). Jewish subjects in Poland were
serfs, and so further enjoyed the country's religious toleration codified by the Warsaw Confederation
of 1573.

The Polish aristocracy developed a unique social contract with Jews, who operated as

Eastern Orthodox Ukraine, the introduction of the system was a partial cause of the Cossacks' anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic Khmelnytsky Uprising
of 1648.

Bolesław the Pious from the Piast dynasty, who issued the Statute of Kalisz

[citation needed].

Excerpts

Following are abridged and translated excerpts from the 36 clauses of the Statute of Kalisz:[1]

1. ...Should a Jew be taken to court, not just only a Christian must testify against him, but also a Jew, in order for the case to be considered valid.

2. ... If any Christian shall sue a Jew, asserting that he has pawned securities with him, and the Jew denies it, then if the Christian refuses to accept the simple word of the Jew, the Jew by taking oath must be free of the Christian.

10. ... As punishment for killing a Jew, a suitable punishment and confiscation of property is necessary.

11. ... For striking a Jew, the usual punishment in the country shall apply.

13. ... Jews shall not pay for the transport of their dead.

14. Christian destroying cemetery except normal penalty will lose assets.

17. ...Any Jew may freely and securely walk or ride without any let or hindrance in our realm. They shall pay customary tolls just as other Christians do, and nothing else.

22. ... If any of the Christians rashly and presumptuously jeers at their synagogues, such a Christian shall be required to pay and must pay to our palatine their guardian two talents of pepper as punishment.

30. ... No Christian may summon any Jew into the ecclesiastical court in any way whatsoever, or for whatever property or summons he be summoned, nor shall the Jew make answer before the judge in the ecclesiastical court, but the Jew shall appear before his palatine appointed for that term, and furthermore the aforesaid palatine, along with our governor for that term, shall be required to defend and protect that Jew, and prohibit his responding to the summons of the ecclesiastical court. No Christian is to accuse a Jew of blood libel.

36. ... Jews are allowed to purchase any items, as well as to touch bread and other food.

Accusations of forgery

Romuald Hube analyzed source documents and claimed that both the original and its authenticated copies could not be found and that the text was a forgery from the 1400s done for political purposes.[2][3][4][5] This view is not confirmed by contemporary scientists.[6]

20th-century edition

In the 1920s, Polish-Jewish artist and activist

Jewish Museum (New York).[16]

  • Jewish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (1927)
    Jewish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (1927)
  • English-language page (1927)
    English-language page (1927)

See also

References

  1. ^ The Statute of Kalish of Bolesław the Pious for Jews in 1264
  2. ISBN 9788386951789
    . p. 340: "uznany przez badaczy za falsyfikat" = deemed by researches as false....
  3. ISBN 9783515054737
    .
  4. ISBN 9788304037977
    .
  5. ISBN 9788392704911
    . p. 57 : "W 1453 r. król (...) zatwierdził przywilej dla Żydów, opierając się na rzekomym przywileju króla Kazimierza Wielkiego, w istocie sfałszowanym" = In 1453 r. king confirmed the Jewish privilege based on an alleged privilege by king Casimir the Great which was in essence a falsification
  6. ^ See Marcin Hlebionek: Bolesław Pobożny. Wielkopolska na drodze do zjednoczonego królestwa (1224/1227–6, 13 lub 14 IV 1279). Kraków: Wydawnictwo „Avalon”, 2017, s. 226. ISBN 978-83-7730-244-6
  7. doi:10.2307/1504027
    .
  8. ^ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk" Archived 2008-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Ansell, Joseph P. Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole. Portland: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2004. 62.
  10. ^ Ansell 71.
  11. ^ Ansell 74.
  12. ^ Ansell 77.
  13. ^ Ansell 118.
  14. ^ Ansell 121, 126, 234, 237.
  15. ^ Ansell 59–60.
  16. ^ Widmann, Katja and Johannes Zechner. Arthur Szyk – Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror. Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, 2008.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Statute_of_Kalisz&oldid=1212769437"