Documents on Jewish History in S- and W-Austria 1405-1418

The Institute for Jewish History in Austria (St. Pölten) has been engaged in documenting the vast number of charters and narrative sources on medieval Jewish history for several years. These sources are being published in the form of summaries of the legal content; this series (three volumes so far) is an essential basis for any research of Austrian Jewish history. In the course of several FWF-projects, the source material that concerns Jews from today`s Republic of Austria has been collected and processed up to the year 1404. The project that is being applied for plans to continue this work for the federal countries of Styria (including Lower Styria in today`s Slovenia), Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg up to the year 1418. These sources that contain references to Austrian Jews as well as those that mention edifices (e.g. synagogues, houses owned by Jews) or legal provisions concerning Jews will be collected and processed for academic use. The material includes many texts which have not been published at all, or have been treated with no regard to the Jewish aspect so far. Research will be conducted in archives in Austria and abroad; besides, material contained in earlier publications will be collected as well. The publication consists of a chronological series of document summaries. To facilitate the use of the collection for the reader, an extensive index as well as commentaries will be added to the respective documents. The history of the Jews in Southern and Western Austria has for the most part not been researched in detail for the time period covered by the project because the source material was difficult to access until now. In 1404, a persecution had taken place in the archbishopric of Salzburg; in the course of the project, the after-effects of this persecution will be looked into with regard to both the Jewish communities under the rule of the archbishop and to those with familial and/or business contacts to the affected communities. In the Habsburg territories, the first years of the project`s timeframe were characterised by a struggle for power among the several family branches; the effects this war-like situation had on the Jews will be looked into for the first time. In Styria and Carinthia, the prevailing duke, Ernst, implemented a series of political and economic measures, but whether these affected the Jews is yet unknown. An extensive overview over the source material is essential for any research on the legal, social and economic situation of the Jews and on the interaction of the Jews with their Christian environment. The planned project will provide researchers with the necessary basis for such endeavours.

No additional funding sources recorded.