Jewry Law and Jewish Economic Activities in Early Modern Poland

Jewry Law in Old Poland has so far appeared only on the margins of scholarly research devoted to Jewish privileges. Yet, as proved for example by research on Jewry law in Germany, such study could contribute to our understanding of Jewish history and experience in any country. By Jewry-law we should understand a special law for the Jews, the special norms which determined their status in the Christian country and were embodied in intentionally non-Jewish legislation. In early modern Poland, in addition to privileges granted to individual Jews, communities living in specific territory and later also to all Jews of the Polish Kingdom, also general statutes and parliamentary constitutions were often concerned with the economic situation of the Jews. Although their subject was usually narrower than that of law of the privileges, they had more direct impact on Jewish economic activities and occupational structure.

In the proposed lecture I intend to present the most influential of Jewry laws and discuss their practical application as well as economic implications.