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16 Introduaion We have presented in this book three examples ofsuch chronicles, which combine to create a concise picture of the edicts and persecutions affecting western and central European Jewry in the waning days of the medieval era. Notes I. The political, social, and cultural changes affecting Bohemia at the close ofthe medieval era have been studied extensively. For an up-to-date summary of the subject, see K. Bosl, Handbuch der Geschichte der bohmischen Liinderj 2 vols. (Stuttgart , 1967-74). 2. Royal records concerning the Jews were compiled by G. Bondy and F. Dworsky, Zur Geschichte der Juden in Bohmen, Miihren und Schlesien, 2 vols. (Prague, 1906). Other royal documents concerning Bohemian Jewry are found in scholarly studies cited below. The Jewish chroniclers, like Joseph ha-Kohen, David Gans, and R. Joseph of Rosheim (see below), paid scant attention to the affairs of the medieval Bohemian Jewish community. 3. David Gans's historiographical methods, as presented by M. Breuer in his edition of Sefer ZemaJt David (Jerusalem, 1983), and in his studies of Gans and his works, do not provide an adequate explanation for the strange lack of information regarding his city and country in his lifetime and the preceding generations. 4. On communal life in medieval Prague, see the summary in S. Steinherz, ed., Die Juden in Prag: Bilder aus ihrer tausendjiihrigen Geschichte (Prague, 1927); 0. Muneles, Prague Ghetto in the Renaissance Period (Prague, 1965); and below. 5. See S. Steinherz, "The Expulsion of the Jews from Bohemia in 1541" (Hebrew), Zion 15 (1950): 71-74. 6. Many monographs have been written on the MaHaRaL and his thought. See, for example, A. Gottesdiener, "Ha-Ari She-be-I:IakJuney Prag," inAzkarah lenishmat . .. Ha-Rav Kook, QlJVe~ ToraniMadai 3 (1937): 253-430; A. F. Kleinberger, The Educational Theory of the Maharal of Prague (Hebrew) (Jerusalem, 1962); A. Neher, Le puits de I'Exil: La theologie dialectique du Maharal de Prague (Paris, 1966). 7. See M. Breuer, "R. David Gans, Author of the Chronicle ~emal? David" (Hebrew), Bar Ilan II (1973): 97-103; Breuer, ~emal? David I: iv-v. 8. See Breuer, "R. David Gans," 103-4. 9. Ms. Mic. 3849, Jewish Theological Seminary of America. I made an initial public presentation ofthe contents ofthis chronicle at the Eighth World Congress ofJewish Studies in the summer of1981. The presentation appeared in the Proceedings of that Congress, vol. 2 (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1982), 63-70. 10. On 21 March 1527, Ferdinand granted a protective charter to Bohemian Introduction 17 Jewry, similar to those ofhis predecessors. See Bondy and Dworsky, Zur Geschichte derJuden, 254-55; Steinherz, "Expulsion of the Jews," 71-74. II. David Gans makes no reference to the return ofthe Jews under Maximilian II in his ?emai? David. However, the anonymous proofreader of the book Emeq haBakha dearly hints at this course ofevents, writing: "His sons were merciful kings, favorably inclined towards the Jews, saying to them, 'have no fear, dwell in the land and acquire holdings in it. You will be men, dwelling safely in your land.'" See Joseph ha-Kohen, Emeq ha-Bakha, ed. K. Almbladh (Uppsala, 1981), 98. 12. On David Gans, see B. Z. Degani, "The Structure ofWorld History and the Redemption ofIsrael in R. David Gans's ?emai?David" (Hebrew), Zion 45 (1980): 196-200. See also Breuer, ~ David, xxi-xxii. 13. See H. H. Ben-Sasson, "Trends in Medieval Jewish Chronography" (Hebrew) in Historians and Historical Schools (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1962), 32-34; H. Y. Yerushalmi, "Clio and the Jews: Reflections on Jewish Historiography in the Sixteenth Century," PAAJR (Jubilee Volume) 46-47 (1979-80): 624-25. 14. Concerning their writings, see A. David, ed., Two Chroniclesfrom the Generation ofthe Spanish Exile (Hebrew) (Jerusalem, 1979), v-xvi. 15. See B. Netanyahu, Don Isaac Abravanel (Philadelphia, 1972), 130-49. 16. The Venice Chronicle was published by N. Porges, REJ 79 (1924): 28-60, and recently in his edition of the historiographical work Seder Eliyahu Zuta 2 (Jerusalem, 1977), 215-327. 17. See A. David, "The Historiographical Work ofGedaliah ibn Yal).ya, Author of Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah" (Hebrew; Ph.D. diss., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1976), 23-62. 18. See Degani, "Structure of World History," 173ff.; Breuer, ?emaI? David, XVI-XXI. 19. See Breuer, "R. David Gans," 109-13; idem,?emaI? David, viii-ix. 20. 1. Sedinova, "Czech History as Reflected in the Historical Work by David Gans;" Judaica Bohemiae 8 (1972): 80-81. 21. See "Rabbi Joselmann de Rosheim: Diary" (French), ed. J. Kracauer, REJ 16 (1888): 90...

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