Jewish Life on Trial in Sixteenth-Century Regensburg: Expulsion, Segregation, or Shared Culture?

The Jewish Community in medieval Regensburg (Ratisbon) was one of the oldest in Ashkenaz and located in the midst of town. At the beginning of the 16th Century, the local City Council turned to Emperor Maximilian I to obtain his permission to expel all the Jews. The request was rejected. Instead, the Emperor appointed the Innsbruck Regiment to rule on the case. The legal proceedings lasted several years and illustrate different religious, economic and legal aspects; they also reveal how both sides considered in what way Jewish life should be conducted at the edge of Early Modern Times and in contrast to previous periods.