Jewish Life in the Middle Ages

APPENDIX TO CHAPTERS XI AND XII

APPENDIX TO CHAPTERS XI AND XII A OCCUPATIONS OF THE JEWS OF ROME BEFORE THE FOURTH CENTURYI Trading merchants. Painter. Actor. Poet. Singer. B Butcher. Tailor. Smith. Beggars. OCCUPATIONS OF THE JEWS OF THE LEVANT. PERSIA, SYRIA, AND THE EAST GENERALLY (CHIEFLY UP TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY) 2 Landowners (many). Agricultural labourers (many). Millers. Fruit-growers. Tree-planters. Vineyard owners. Wine-sellers. Com-dealers. Builders. Slaveowners. Cattle dealers. 1 Berliner, R01ll, i. (1), p. 98. Travelling merchants (travelled great distances). General dealers. Clothiers. Booksellers. Dealers in ship-stores. Goldsmiths (rare). Agents and brokers. Makers of water-clocks. Soldiers. Owners of olive-presses. 2 The Ruponsa of Geonim, the ltinU'a", of Benjamin of Tudela, and other ftOurces. Trades and Occupations Dealers in houses. Innkeepers. Tanners. Dyers (many). Manufacturers of silk and purple cloth (Greece and Turkey). Artisans (general). c Glass-manufacturers (Antioch and Tyre. Ship-owners (Tyre). Physicians (rare). Musicians. Scholars (of little note). Pearl-dealers. OCCUPATIONS OF THE JEWS OF GERMANY, NORTH FRANCE, AND ENGLAND' Scholars. Professional scribes. Money-lenders (many). Financiers. Merchants (many). Agriculturalists. Vintners (many). Smiths. Sailors (rare). Hunters (rare). Soldiers. Travellers. Masons· Tanners. Bookbinders. Card-painters. Sculptors. Armourers. Coiners (many). Stone-engravers. Innkeepers Doctors (comparatively rare). Bakers. Dairymen and cheesemakers. Butchers. Tailors. Women-traders. Goldsmiths. Retail dealers in general stores. Glaziers. Grinders. Turners. Assayers. Box-makers. Cowl-makers. Makers of mousetraps. Barterers. Booksellers. Spice-importers (many). Peddlers (especially dealers in ornaments such as gold-em-. broidered gloves and headcloths , furs, and dyes). Salt-dealers. 1 See chiefty Zunz, Zur G~scleiddl! fl. Litl!Ya/ur, p. 173; Glidemann, iii. 170: Berliner, Aus dem inn"en Leben, 43. 47; Jacobs, Angevin Eltciand and the .Nl!sf>t1ltSIJ literature, e.g. MilUer's.N. Afescnulla", 6. Kalonymus, p. 7. But few of these trades were carried on in England. Jewislt 247 D OCCLJPA'flONS OF THE JEWS OF SOUTH FRANCE, SPAIN, AND lTAl-Y, BEFORE THE END OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 1 Physicians (very many). Clerks of the Treasury. Cloth-merchants. Corn-dealers. Fur-merchants. Horse-dealers. Leathel'-merchants. Lion-tamers. Mule-sellers. Bullion-merchants. Surgeons. Tailors. Timber-merchants. Upholsterers. Wine-merchants. Slave-dealers. Goldsmiths. Astronomers. Pawnbrokers. Farm-stewanls Finance miniskrs. Revenue oilicers. Merchants. Royal minters. Sokliers. Navigators. Collectors of crops. Founders. Shoemakers. Hide-dressers and tanners. Silk-mercers. Spice-dealers. Silversmiths. \Veavers. Peddlers. OWI1<,r;; of vineyards. Public of!1dals (many). Scholars and poets. Metal-workers. Mechanics. Officers of Papal Household (before thirteenth century). Gilders. Carpenters. Herdsmen. Locksmiths. Black,miths. Basket-makers. Curriers. Makers of Scientific Instruments. I J. Jacohs, ,lfS. of tlu His!u1"), oj flu Jews ;', 5pain, p. xxxvii, and the State documents printed throughout Lurdo's lIiS/IN)' of tlu Jews of :-;pailt, an,l Amador de 105 Rios, Historia de los Jttdios de Espa"", ii. 521; M. F. Fita, {,',,/,lin d,· Academia de fa hislor/a, (Modrid), pp. 321 seq. Trades and OCCUPATIONS OF THE JEWS OF PRAGUE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURYl Tailors (many c;\ses). Shoemakers. Tanners. Dyers. Furriers. Hatmakers. G]ovemaker. Hamessmakers. Saddler. Butcher;.;, Carpenter. Locksmiths. Hatchetnlakers. Nailmakcr. Tinman. lronmongers. Glaziers. Potters. Quiltmaker. Upholsterer. Candlcmaker. vVriters. Hospital nurses. Domestic servants. Cooks. Citron importers. Porters. Innkeep£;L Vintners. Publicans. SpiriHleaiers. Tobacconist. Watchmen. Street Woodcuttefs, Timber·mercllant. Horse-dealer. Charcoal-burner. Architect. Painter;;. Musicians. Singers. Goldsmiths (many). Pearl-setters. Lace-maker. Stone-graver. Optician. Glass Wheelwrights. \Vagon-makers. Doctors (many). Barbers. Apothecaries. Midwtve~. Printers (many). Booksellers. Bookbinders. 1 :Froll1 the epitaphs published by :VI. Popper in his Die InschrifltJt des aIM" PraseI' Jttdmfn:edh(}fts (Brunswick, r893); many of these artisans must have worked exe]usively for the Jewish community. Jewish Commereial Activity 249 F PROFESSIONS OF THE JEWISH DELEGATES TO THE PARIS CONFERENCE SUMMONED BY NAPOLEON IN 1806 Landholden; (several). Merchants. Clock manufacturer. Silk-merchant. Tobacco manufacturer. Banker. Rabbi-physician. G Ship-owner' Cloth-merchant. Leather manufacturer. Horse-dealer. Officer in army. Municipal officials (several). JEWISH COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES M, lsidor Loeb arrived at the following conclu.'lions as the result of bis inquiries: 1 I . The Jews rendered conspicuous services to Europe by teaching it commerce; by creating, in the teeth of the Church, that instrument of credit and exchange without which the existence of a State is impossible; and by developing the circulation of capital to the great advantage of botb agriculture and industry. 2. When the medieval Jews devoted themselves largely to commerce and money-lending, 'bey were not obeying a natural taste nor a special instinct, but were led to these pursuits by the force of circumstances, by exclusive laws, and by the express desire of kings and peoples, The Jews were constrained to adopt these modes of obtaining a livelihood by the irresistible material and moral forces opposed to tbem. 3. Christian rivals in these branches of enterprise have not been unable to hold their own against the Jews, on the contrary the Christian operators h;wc often crushed their Jewish rivals by the superior weight of theil- capital. I RijfO';01lS sltr !~S J"ift in the Rf!'lIue des A'tutlu Jtlivu, t. xxviii. p. 19. Trades and OCCltpatt'OtlS 4. The trade in money rarely profited the Jews, who remained mostly poor or possessed of very moderate wealth j the real gainers were the kings, the aristocracy, and th(~ towns. 5. The rates of interest demanded by Jewish money-lenders were, considering the scarcity of specie, and the extraordinary risks incurred, far from excessive, and were sometimes considerably lower than the rates exacted by Christian financiers. Tbe Jews were not' usurers' in the modern sense of the term, but the outcries against Jewish usury were due mainly to the medievai i.gnorance of the elements of economics , while the prejudice against lending money for interest was derived from the Roman Catholic Church which both then and now regarded the practice as most blameworthy. H For an account of the modern occupations of Jews, see Joseph Jacobs, Studies X',t Jewish '::'latistics (London, 1891), pp. 22-40. ...