expedition to the Holy Land, reminded them of Augustine’s injunction
against killing or forcibly converting Jews, reiterating Augustine’s reasons for
tolerating Jews:
The Jews are not to be persecuted, killed, or even put to flight. ... The
Jews are for us the living words of Scripture, for they remind us always of
what our Lord suffered. They are dispersed all over the world so that by
expiating their crime they may everywhere be the living witnesses of our
redemption. ... If the Jews are utterly wiped out, what will become of
our hope for their promised salvation, their promised conversion?To be sure, the abbot reiterated some of the iniquities of the Jews, such as
moneylending, which undoubtedly spurred some violence. Still, he redirected
at least some of the crusaders’ zealous animosity toward the infidel away from
the Jews.
From this point on, Jews sought more reliable protection from the author-
ities, and were willing to pay more for it, crystallizing in a newly emerging
status of the Jews: servi camari nostrum(literally, servants of our chamber, i.e.
the royal or imperial treasury). This new status entailed a stricter array of
restrictions, mainly in terms of residence and occupation.
Moreover, Jews were gradually excluded from most major European cities. A
“city” in the twelfth century was not defined by size or population; rather, it
was a legal category. Cities had royal, imperial, or ecclesiastical charters that
gave them a measure of autonomy and certain rights. Typical among the latter
was De non tolerandis Judais, the right to exclude Jews. The motivation behind
this exclusion was largely economic – that is, Christian burghers and artisans
not wanting to compete with Jewish merchants and artisans. The lone excep-
tions to this residential exclusion were cities that housed the seat of an imperial
or royal throne. In such places, the sovereign was able to override the right of
exclusion for his own benefit. This was the case in Prague and later in Kraków.
Jews were also gradually excluded from most occupations. They could not
own or farm land, thus they could not be farmers or landowners. They could
not attend university, thus they were excluded from the free professions. They
could not join Christian guilds, thus they could not be artisans. What
remained were commerce and moneylending, which ranged from peddling to
international trade, and from pawnbroking to large-scale lending.
In addition, the experience of the crusades left an imprint on the
Ashkenazic worldview. In this regard, it is useful to contrast Rashi’s commen-
tary with that of his Spanish counterpart, Abraham ibn Ezra. As compared
with Ibn Ezra’s philosophical commentary on Deuteronomy 6:5, “Thou shalt
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” Rashi’s
comment is more pietistic and indicates his awareness of the traumatic experi-
ence of the martyrs: “Even if he should take your life.”
84 The Jews of medieval Christendom