The Curious Case of the iudex iudeorum: An Attempt to Define a Surprisingly Elusive Office in Medieval Austria

In 1244, Duke Frederic II of Austria issued a wide-ranging privilege for the Jews living under his rule which introduced the office of the iudex iudeorum; 20 years later, the first officeholder is mentioned in the Lower Austrian town of Krems. The principal duty of the iudex iudeorum was to settle disputes between Jews and Christians, in addition, he had limited rights of control over Jewish pawnbroking and was entitled to a number of fines from both Jews and Christians. The office took hold not only in the Habsburg-ruled duchies of Austria and Styria but can also be found (albeit with varying fields of responsibility) in countries such as Hungary whose rulers adapted the 1244 privilege, and in towns such as Ptuj (today`s Slovenia) that lay within the geographical boundaries of the Habsburg dukes but were under different rule. Although strong ties to the ducal court can be traced, the actual procedure of the installation of the iudex remains as yet unclear. The office of the iudex iudeorum was usually held by a member of a high-ranking family of the respective town; with the general rise of their importance, the towns became more and more interested in expanding the iudex`s competences to gain a more comprehensive jurisdictional and economic control of `their` Jews. The paper will outline the ways the iudex iudeorum appears in interaction with the Austrian Jewry and attempt to define his position as an intermediary between duke, town, and Jews.