Hanna of Goslar: A Jewess between the Town Council and the Counts of Regenstein

The so-called "Judenbriefe" of Goslar present a rich collection of sources, especially concerning the relationship between individual Jews and the Goslar town council. These letters also acquaint us with Jewess Hanna (Hanneke), the wife of the influential Asher ben Abraham. Both she and her husband were included in the protection of the town in December 1347 and in September 1356. On 8th May, 1358, following the death of her husband, the Goslar Council decided that Hanna should maintain her citizenship. Thereafter she received a lifetime weekly pay of 12 shillings, Goslar currency. This weekly allowance was, however, not explicitly connected to the continuation of her citizenship. Hanna was later branded as a judea perfida in a copy of her privilege, which may be the result of an unresolved disagreement between Hanna and the Goslar council. A letter written by Count Burchard of Regenstein, sometime between 1365 and 1388, offers some explanation. He wrote to demand the Goslar council pay his Jewess named Hannken the pension they owed her. After 1358, Hanna must have left her former home of Goslar and moved to Blankenburg, into the immediate vicinity of her new patrons, the Counts of Regenstein, direct rivals of Goslar in regards to their influence in the Harz region. It can be assumed that her departure from Goslar was not consensual, otherwise the Council would not have refused to pay the agreed pension. It is likely that the Goslar council regretted the loss of an important and economically potent citizen.