Soli duci hic casus reservabitur? The Practicalities of Ducal Rule over the Jews in Medieval Austria

Legislative sources paint a fairly clear picture of how the Austrian dukes intended to rule over the Jews living in their territories. However, the surviving source material suggests that the dukes chose a pragmatic approach when putting this legal theory into practice, which led to significant changes in the way how (and by whom) matters like jurisdiction or taxation were handled between the 13^th and the 15^th centuries. While the Habsburg dukes jealously defended their position as supreme rulers over "their" Jews against members of the aristocracy, municipal communities and foreign territorial princes, they proved remarkably flexible as far as the practical organisation of this rule was concerned. The paper will attempt to trace the evolution of this organisation, and to analyse and compare the offices and individuals who were involved in the practical execution of the dukes` policy towards "their" Jews in the context of the general political and socio-economic development of the Habsburg territories until the end of the Middle Ages.