Judenschutz in gemischt-herrschaftlichen Kleinterritorien der fränkischen Reichsritterschaft

Abstract

Abstract The article deals with the general conditions of Jewish life in two Franconian noble territories in the 17th and 18th centuries. The two market villages of Küps and Mitwitz were divided between different lords. Their population included Jewish inhabitants as well as representatives of both Christian denominations. These villages are thus characteristic of the settlement structure of Jews in the pre-modern period. The settlement of Jewish families was, on the one hand, a privilege of the imperial nobility, with which they demonstrated their imperial status to the outside world. On the other hand, the spatial and lordly fragmentation offered opportunities for settlement among different rulers – a circumstance that Jewish actors deliberately incorporated into their actions. They were well informed about the ruling conditions and knew how to make effective use of the existing competitive situation in order to expand their scope of action.