Statute of Kalisz

The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the Statute of Kalisz was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious on September 8 , 1264 in Kalisz . The statue served as the basis for the legal position of Jews in Poland and led to creation of the Yiddish -speaking autonomous Jewish nation until 1795 . Statue granted exclusive jurisdiction of Jewish courts over Jewish matters and established a separate tribunal for matters involving Christians and Jews. Additionally, it guaranteed personal liberties and safety for Jews including freedom of religion, travel, and trade. The statue was ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir the Great in 1334 , Casimir IV of Poland in 1453 , and Sigismund I of Poland in 1539 . Abridged excerpts from 46 chapters of the Statue of Kalisz: 1. ... If any Christian should accuse any of the Jews in any matter whatsoever, even a criminal matter, he shell not be admitted to testimony except with two good Christians and also with two good Jews... 2. ... If any Christian shall sue a Jew, asserting that he has pawned securities with him, and the Jew denies it, then if the Christian refuses to accept the simple word of the Jew, the Jew by taking oath must be free of the Christian. 7. ... If a Jew and a Christian fighting with each other engage in hitting or wounding, then neither the judge of the city, nor the consuls, nor even anybody else, but only the palatine of the Jews or his surrogate shall judge them, and the place of the trial shall be with the Jews... 12. ... If a Christian gets into an argument with a Jew in any way, and if that Christian wounds the Jew with a bloody or livid wound ... then the Christian ... must and shall be required to give to that Jew five marks for a blow to the jaw by any finger, ten marks for a livid wound, but for a bloody wound half of his possessions both movable and immovable to the aforesaid Jew... 13. ... If... any Christian kills one of the Jews ... then (he) ... must be punished with the imposition of death, a head for a head, and it is not to be done otherwise in this matter. 16. ... If any of the Jews enters into the home of any Christian, none of the Christian people must offer him any impediment, physical inconvenience, or annoyance. 17. ...Any Jew may freely and securely walk or ride without any let or hindrance from city to city and province to province in our realm, in accordance with the law of secure liberty in all our cities or provinces without let or hindrance on the part of their subjects, and any Jew in our realm may freely, securely, and without any let or hindrance take with him his goods, property, or whatsoever merchandise he wishes or is able to have, and to sell such things and buy others, and to alter and convert them to his own satisfactory uses; he may freely and securely delay or stay in a place of the city of town without let or hindrance, for as long as it suits him... they shall pay customary tolls just as other Christians do, and nothing else. 20. ... Wherever the Jews have an inn in any city or town of our realm, they may slaughter sheep and cattle for meats for their own use, and if any meats should be displeasing to them according to their custom and will, then they may sell these in whatever way they are better able or seems good to them. 22. ... If any of the Christians rashly and presumptuously jeers at their synagogues, such a Christian shall be required to pay and must pay to our palatine their guardian two talents of pepper as punishment. 29. ... If any of the Christians, not observing or heeding our statutes, should violently enter into the home of the Jew seeking whatever property of his own... that Christian must be judged as a bandit and robber. 30. ... No Christian may summon any Jew into the ecclesiastical court in any way whatsoever, or for whatever property or summons he be summoned, nor shall the Jew make answer before the judge in the ecclesiastical court, but the Jew shall appear before his palatine appointed for that term, and furthermore the aforesaid palatine, along with our governor for that term, shall be required to defend and protect that Jew, and prohibit his responding to the summons of the ecclesiastical court. 39. ... If any Jew is to be prosecuted by any Christian alleging that the Jews of necessity annual use the blood of Christians or the sacraments of the Church of the Christians, concerning which the statues and constitutions of Pope Innocent teach us that in such matters they are not culpable, since this is against their own law; and if despite this any Christian... accuses any Jew of such things, then... he must prove it with three good propertied Jews in our realm... and... four Christians... If by such testimony the Christian proves (his case) against the Jew, then the Jew shall be deserving of death and must be punished with it; and whenever the Christian does not adduce such testimony, and is not able to prevail against the Jew, then he alone is to be condemned...

The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the Statute of Kalisz was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious on September 8, 1264 in Kalisz . The statute granted Jews unprecedented legal rights in Europe , including exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to Jewish courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and Jews. The statute was ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir III of Poland in 1334, Casimir IV of Poland in 1453, and Sigismund I of Poland in 1539. Following are abridged and translated excerpts from the forty-six chapters of the Statute of Kalisz: 1. ...Should a Jew be taken to court, not only a Christian must testify against him, but also a Jew, in order for the case to be considered valid. 2. ... If any Christian shall sue a Jew, asserting that he has pawned securities with him, and the Jew denies it, then if the Christian refuses to accept the simple word of the Jew, the Jew by taking oath must be free of the Christian. 10. ... As punishment for killing a Jew, a suitable punishment and confiscation of property is necessary. 11. ... Jews shall not pay for the transport of their dead. 17. ...Any Jew may freely and securely walk or ride without any let or hindrance in our realm. They shall pay customary tolls just as other Christians do, and nothing else. 22. ... If any of the Christians rashly and presumptuously jeers at their synagogues, such a Christian shall be required to pay and must pay to our palatine their guardian two talents of pepper as punishment. 30. ... No Christian may summon any Jew into the ecclesiastical court in any way whatsoever, or for whatever property or summons he be summoned, nor shall the Jew make answer before the judge in the ecclesiastical court, but the Jew shall appear before his palatine appointed for that term, and furthermore the aforesaid palatine, along with our governor for that term, shall be required to defend and protect that Jew, and prohibit his responding to the summons of the ecclesiastical court. No Christian is to accuse a Jew of blood libel . 36. ... Jews are allowed to purchase any items, as well as to touch bread and other food. In the 1920s, Polish-Jewish artist and activist Arthur Szyk (1894–1951) illuminated the Statute of Kalisz in a cycle of 45 watercolor and gouache miniature paintings. In addition to the original Latin, Szyk translated the text of the Statute into Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish, Italian, German, English, and Spanish. In 1929, Szyk's Statute miniatures were exhibited throughout Poland, namely in Lodz, Warsaw, Kraków, and Kalisz. With support from the Polish government, selections of the Statute miniatures were exhibited in Geneva in 1931, once again in Poland as part of a 14-city tour in 1932, in London in 1933, in Toronto in 1940, and in New York in 1941 and then, without government patronage, in New York in 1944, 1952, and 1974-75. In 1932, the Statute of Kalisz was published by Éditions de la Table Rode de Paris as a collector's luxury limited edition of 500. Szyk's original miniatures are now in the holdings of the Jewish Museum (New York) . The Statute of Kalish of Bolesław the Pious for Jews in 1264" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum , "The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk" Ansell, Joseph P.

The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the Statute of Kalisz , and as the Kalisz Privilege , was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious on September 8, 1264 in Kalisz . The statute granted Jews unprecedented legal rights in Europe , including exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to Jewish courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and Jews. The statute was ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir III in 1334, Casimir IV in 1453, and Sigismund I in 1539.

1264 decree by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious granting many legal rights to Jews Statute of Kalisz frontispiece, by Arthur Szyk (1927) The General Charter of Jewish rights known as the Statute of Kalisz , and the Kalisz Privilege , granted Jews in the Middle Ages special protection against discrimination in Poland when they were being persecuted in Western Europe . These rights included exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to Jewish courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and Jews designed to avoid Jewish discrimination. It led to the formation of a separate court and safety for persecuted Jews which attracted Jewish immigrants from across Europe to Poland. The statute was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Bolesław the Pious on September 8, 1264 in Kalisz . It was then ratified by some subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir III in 1334, Casimir IV in 1453, and Sigismund I in 1539. Jewish subjects in Poland were freemen allowed to trade, rather than serfs , and so further enjoyed the country's religious toleration codified by the Warsaw Confederation of 1573. The Polish aristocracy developed a unique social contract with Jews, who operated as arendators running businesses such as mills and breweries, and certain bureaucratic tasks to the exclusion of non-Jews, especially tax collection. After Poland expanded into Eastern Orthodox Ukraine , the introduction of the system was a partial cause of the Cossacks ' anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648. Bolesław the Pious from the Piast dynasty , who issued the Statute of Kalisz

1264 decree by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious granting many legal rights to Jews Statute of Kalisz frontispiece, by Arthur Szyk (1927) The General Charter of Jewish rights known as the Statute of Kalisz , and the Kalisz Privilege , granted Jews in the Middle Ages some protection against discrimination in Poland compared to other places in Europe . These rights included exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to Jewish courts, and established rules of evidence for criminal matters involving Christians and Jews. The statute was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Bolesław the Pious on September 8, 1264 in Kalisz . After the unification of Poland, the statute was then ratified by some subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir the Great in 1334, Casimir IV in 1453, and Sigismund I in 1539. This was in contrast to other rulers in Western and Southern Europe at the time who forced Jews to emigrate: England in 1290 , France in 1306 , Spain in 1492 . Polish Jews appreciated the opportunities Poland provided them and significantly contributed to its development. Their loyalty was also important to the ruler. After the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , the role of Jews as bankers and lenders was important. The weak tax system often could not provide sufficient funds for the functioning of the state (the nobility paid almost no taxes). Jewish subjects in Poland were freemen allowed to trade, rather than serfs , and so further enjoyed the country's religious toleration codified by the Warsaw Confederation of 1573. The Polish aristocracy developed a unique social contract with Jews, who operated as arendators running businesses such as mills and breweries, and certain bureaucratic tasks to the exclusion of non-Jews, especially tax collection. After Poland expanded into Eastern Orthodox Ukraine , the introduction of the system was a partial cause of the Cossacks ' anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648.