Wenceslas IV, a Protector of the Jews? The Life of Jewish Communities in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown at the Turn of Fifteenth Century

The abbot Ludolf of Sagan labeled the Bohemian King and former King of the Romans Wenceslas IV of Luxembourg a protector of the Jews in his tractate on the papal schism. Similar designations appeared in the works of some of his contemporaries. Even the archbishop of Prague, John of Jenstein, a former chancellor of Wenceslas IV, wrote that the king had protected the Jews and allowed Jewish converts to return to Judaism. However, this image of Wenceslas comes from the pens of his adversaries. Their intention was to show him as someone who had caused the crises of the Church and the society. Painting Wenceslas IV as a protector of the Jews was merely one of their weapons.

In reality, the policy of Wenceslas IV towards the Jews was very similar to that of his father, Charles IV. All the kings of the Luxembourg dynasty on the Bohemian and the Roman thrones primarily followed their economic interests, which included also Jewish taxes, the Jewish money lending system and the profits from those activities. Nevertheless, during the second half of the 14^th century, under Charles IV and Wenceslas IV, the density of the Jewish population in Czech lands had increased significantly. The Jews had been settling down in many towns and even villages. This development reached its peak shortly before the Hussite revolution (1419) and could be one of the reasons for the rhetoric about Wenceslas IV as a protector of the Jews.