Mirror of the Community? Jews and Books of Obligations in Eger (Cheb)
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Kajetán Holeček
Abstract
Typically, books of obligations are utilized as primary sources for studying the credit trade, particularly in relation to the role of Jews. Research in this area often focuses on their involvement in credit transactions, examining aspects such as loan amounts, interest rates, pledges, and similar factors. These inquiries are valid, as they shed light on the role of Jewish financiers in the medieval economy. However, in this paper, I explore a different angle: what can the books of obligations reveal about the Jewish community itself and its broader involvement in moneylending and credit trade? The books of obligations preserved in Eger (Cheb) span nearly a century (1405–1496), providing a unique lens through which we can trace the community’s participation and its evolving role within the broader financial landscape during this period.
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Introduction
- Die Briefbücher des Erfurter Rates bis 1456 als Quelle für Kredite von Juden
- Jewish Archives, Archival Practices, and Jewish-Christian Business Records in the Medieval Holy Roman Empire
- Mirror of the Community? Jews and Books of Obligations in Eger (Cheb)
- Jewish Life in Kolín in Light of Municipal Sources from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries
- The 1262 rotulo de puramento (TNA E 101/249/10)
- The Mother Tongues of Medieval English Jews
- Gender, Jewish Credit Markets, and Notarial Culture in the Crown of Aragon
- Jewish Moneylenders and the Use of Notarial Registers in Late Medieval Provence
- Legal Prohibitions on Usury and the Documents of the Cairo Geniza
- Weitere Beiträge
- Lehmann Isaac Kohen, Grandson of Behrend Lehmann and Student of Albrecht Haller: The (Rightful) First Jewish Medical Graduate of the University of Göttingen, 1739
- Die ›Judenoffnung‹ von 1743. Ein Quellenfund zur jüdischen Geschichte von Randegg
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Introduction
- Die Briefbücher des Erfurter Rates bis 1456 als Quelle für Kredite von Juden
- Jewish Archives, Archival Practices, and Jewish-Christian Business Records in the Medieval Holy Roman Empire
- Mirror of the Community? Jews and Books of Obligations in Eger (Cheb)
- Jewish Life in Kolín in Light of Municipal Sources from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries
- The 1262 rotulo de puramento (TNA E 101/249/10)
- The Mother Tongues of Medieval English Jews
- Gender, Jewish Credit Markets, and Notarial Culture in the Crown of Aragon
- Jewish Moneylenders and the Use of Notarial Registers in Late Medieval Provence
- Legal Prohibitions on Usury and the Documents of the Cairo Geniza
- Weitere Beiträge
- Lehmann Isaac Kohen, Grandson of Behrend Lehmann and Student of Albrecht Haller: The (Rightful) First Jewish Medical Graduate of the University of Göttingen, 1739
- Die ›Judenoffnung‹ von 1743. Ein Quellenfund zur jüdischen Geschichte von Randegg
