Henry of Valois (1573-1574) Sigismund Augustus died without leaving an heir in 1572, plunging Lithuania into a period of anarchy. In order to restore order and prevent a civil war, a new monarch, the
pretender Henry of Valois,
Duke of Anjou, was chosen. In
France, Henry had been a fanatical Catholic who had killed thousands of
Huguenots, but in his new role as King of the Commonwealth, Henry gave complete religious freedom to all Christians and later all people in his realm. He reconfirmed Jewish legal privileges as well as their exclusive right to mint coins of Sigismund. His motives for this were that he needed to secure allies in his competition over the Polish throne with
Ivan the Terrible. After only 13 months he decided he preferred France to the Commonwealth, which he viewed as barbarous, and returned to France. The Karaites were throughout this period treated as one in the same with the Jews, as they had been before the commonwealth. By 1576 they had made the same progress as the Jews, building a synagogue, a Talmud Torah, and even had their own police to keep watch over their own community. The divides between the Rabbinic and Karaite Jews were mostly theological. The Karaites governed themselves by the means of a General Assembly whose primary purpose was the elect the religious and secular leaders of the community, handle internal issues, and appoint functionaries This assembly initially met once ever year but later met irregularly. The various Karaite communities were led by secular judges known as
voits, initially elected by the General Assemblies later became a whose job was the maintain the communities autonomy and manage civil disputes while also being the official representative to the federal government. For payment the Voits were given a house, a plot of land, and a 10% commission of the legal cases argues before him. The appointment of a Voit had to be approved by the
Voivode in whose land the town was located in. The Assemblies also elected three
Dayamin or religious judges who served as the spiritual leaders with the power to issue herems.
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki (1669-1673) The Commonwealth at this time was marked by instability and indecisiveness. There were frequent internal conflicts and civil wars which nearly brought the nation to its knees; with the
Sejm of Warsaw repeatedly intervening to limit violence. The final blow was dealt by
Grand Hetman George Lubomirski, launched
a rebellion against
John Casimir; with instability and personal frustration leading John Casimir to resign in 1668. The Sejm filled the vacant position with a compromise candidate,
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, with him being chosen due to his famous father
Jeremi Wisniowieski, who had fought against the Cossacks during their rebellion under
Bogdan Khmelnytsky. The
Wisniowiecki had a good relation with the Jews owing to years long business partnerships. With the new king interviewing on the behalf of the Jews in their conflicts with the Trade Guilds and antisemitic rulings of
canon law. Despite his best efforts, the country still reeled from years of war and conflicts between the central government, local governments, and the army and anti-Jewish sentiments continued to grow. With fanatical priests, especially Jesuits, being to primary spreaders of anti-Jewish ideas.
John III Sobieski (1674-1696) John III Sobieski succeeded king Michael after his death in 1663. He was a renown military man though had to contend with internal chaos; the source of this chaos for most of his rule being the
magnate class. He generally paid more attention to his
Ruthenian lands and neglected the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Despite his wife's fondness for the Catholic Church he was an
enlightened monarch who was tolerant of all religions. In 1683 he suppressed riots against the Jews as well as an uprising and accompanying pogrom in
Brest-Litovsk, which he followed up with actively prosecuting those involved. He also ordered the Sejm to contest the frequently made accusation of Blood Libel. Life for the Lithuanian Jews was becoming more complex. The power of the Kahals was beginning to collapse, especially after the rise of the Sabbateans when many Jews openly rebelled against the religious establishment. Converts to
Christianity were awarded tax relief and other privileges but despite this there were few converts, mostly following pogroms. Though some exceptions such as the followers of the
false messiah Jacob Frank and his daughter
Eva exist. During Sobieski's rule Vilnius became the center of Judaism in Lithuania, possibly due to the presence of the
Lithuanian Supreme Court in the city. During this time period the Jewish communities maintained a large degree of autonomy with this being due to the mutually beneficial arrangement this autonomy created, as the Jewish autonomous system collected taxes on behalf of the government from the Jews but did not become a threat as the Jew had no greater political ambitions. Similar systems of autonomy existed for other minorities, the only difference was that the Jews lacked a national
homeland. Sobieski was lenient on the Jews who could not pay their taxes with his renewing the 10-year moratorium first granted by John Casimir. We was a public opponent of the Blood Libel and pogroms, both of whom were so common that they overwhelmed the Kahals who were forced to turn to the state for help. Sobieski himself was personally close to the Jews with his physician being a Jew named
Emanuel Ben-Yehuda and his customs farmer was a Jew named Bezalel.
Frederick Augustus II The election of
Frederick Augustus II was the first such election in which the Jews welded any electoral power. This was not due to Jewish suffrage of Jewish candidates, both of which were distant pipe-dreams at this time. But rather it was because the Jews were wealthier than they had been in the past and wished to that they were a powerful force; as such after studying each of many candidates position on the Jews as well as their general views they decided to support Frederick Augustus II. Lithuanian Jewry, like the rest of the commonwealth, was engulfed in turmoil as the country collapsed. In 1712, although he confirmed the pre-existing Jewish rights and privileges the king signed a new decree accusing the Jews of the Blood Libel. With a series of Blood Libel prosecution following. When king Frederick increased the Jewish head tax to 60,000
shoks the Jews sent two delegates to plead against the decree and they obtained a moratorium and guarantees of protection and freedom of worship. Two other times Frederick gave the Jews a 10-year moratorium to help with their heavy tax burdens in exchange for a large sum of money. To add to their financial troubles the Jews were beset by several disastrous fires. In 1731, most of
Slobodka and parts of
Kaunas burned to the ground in 1734 man Jews were killed and the
Jewish quarter was destroyed during the
Great Fire of Vilnius. The Jews were given no relief due to these fires, with some of their enemies accusing them of starting the fires. The during this time were under attack by the local governments, the
burghers, the
trade guilds, the
gentry, and the church. They appealed to the Sejm and the King for help, but they usually responded to their appeals with indifference. The rules designed to protect them often contained loopholes or contradictions, and when someone stepped in to try and help the Jews the Christian majority often responded with riots. While the Royal Court which often mediated disputes between the local governments and the Jews generally ruled against the Jews, imposing fines on them. Though despite these difficulties the Jewish community continued to expand geographically and numerically.
Frederick Augustus III The election of
Frederick Augustus III was a time of foreign influence and national decline, with the king himself spending the vast majority of his time in
Saxony. During his rule Ukrainian
Haydamack launched a reign of terror which lasted from 1734-1736. Jews were the easiest targets of the Haydamack, with
Orthodox propaganda only increasing their hatred. The Polish authorities were unable to defend the Polish population, let alone the Jews who were an unpopular minority. The Haydamack usually targeted easy targets such as Jewish
tenant farmers, outlying
Shtetls, and Jewish
traveling merchants. With their attacks sometimes escalating into large scale massacres, in which women and children were often not spared. The revolt was finally defeated by a joint Russian-Polish effort. The Gentry had grown very powerful and destroyed respect for the higher government in Lithuania. Elected officials answerable to the Gentry gained control of individual towns, infringing on the magnates powers and damaging the Governance of these towns. They then used their new power to dominate the burghers, peasants, and Jews now under their control. Using their power to take control of the export of
corn,
potash,
hemp, and
cattle from the Jews and burghers. Eventually they surpassed the king in power and became the strongest force in the Commonwealth. Despite the kingdoms declared neutrality, foreign armies marched through the country in 1735 during the
Russo-Turkish war and from 1740-1763 during the
Austrian Wars of Succession. Young men were forcibly drafted into the
Russian and
Prussian armies and in 1742
Elizabeth of Russia's soldiers occupied part of the Commonwealth and expelled the Jewish population from the region. As the economy constantly worsened,
Christian Antisemitism increased significantly. Encouraged by the Antisemitic mayor of Kaunas who confined the cities Jews to a
ghetto, and by extremist clergy, especially Jesuits, who the Councils paid an annual bribe to limit their attacks. Accusations of Blood Libel and
witchcraft became so pervasive that the Council of Poland and Council of Lithuania sent an ambassador to the
Holy See, who ordered the future
Pope Clement XIV to investigate the accusations with him finding them to be false and recommending the Church takes efforts to protect the Jews. But this victory was cold comfort, the Jews were among those who suffered the most from Commonwealths degeneration. Catholic controlled municipalities such as Vilnius,
Gardinas, and
Novogrodek among many others incited hooligans to attack Jews and loot their homes in order to make up for the impossibly high tax burdens the Jews had placed on them. The government banned Jews from leasing the right to collect customs duties, in a process lasting from 1728-1730. But many Jews got around this by getting Christian business partners and as late 1756 there were complaints of Jews still engaging in this practice. It became standard practice for Jews to supply their Voivode and his assistants with luxurious good such as
furs,
sugar,
salt, and
boots, and
Spices. In addition they were expected to pay the wages of the Voivode's guards and servants plus funding his lavish way of life. Even when this practice was banned in 1745 municipal officers continued to have the Jewish communities shower them with gifts. From the years 1756-1759 this practice was accompanied to large scale looting of Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses. Junior officers, due to their lack of law enforcement powers, were simply bribed. The personal record of Frederick Augustus III on the Jews was mixed. On the positive side in 1738 he reconfirmed the Jewish Charters and privileges, but on the other hand in the same year he imposed a 1,500
zloty head-tax on all city dwellers. Nobody could afford this but the Jews were particularly affected because they already had the highest tax burden. Augustus III, like his father, gave the Jews a 10 year moratorium and absolved the Councils of interest payments on their late taxes. In disputes between the burghers and the local governments against the Jews he was largely ambivalent but when he did intervene he supported the local governments against the Jews. In 1761 a massive scandal erupted when it was discovered that the King and some of his allies had been engaging in a
coin debasing scheme, when this was discovered European merchants refused to accept the coins causing a loss of several million zloty. The king and his treasurers pinned the blame of the Jewish owned company producing the coins, this resulting in antisemitic wave to cross over the Commonwealth which greatly harmed the Jewish community of the Commonwealth.
Stanislaw II Poniatowski Stanislaw II Poniatowski was elected King of the Commonwealth at the behest of
Prussia and the Russian Empire. In accordance with this foreign influence, in 1767 the Lesser Gentry recognized
Catherine II as the protector or the Commonwealth and with the support of King Poniatowski and the Sejm lobbied for increased restrictions on the Jews and foreigners. The community successfully organized to fight these restrictions led by community leader
Arieh Leib Meitess and supported by
Vice Chancellor of Lithuania Joachim Chreptowitz. Further Antisemitic campaigns continued but the Royal Court ruled the Jews favor in these attacks. Jewish affairs were not a primary concern of the king, though he did improve their civil rights a fair deal. In 1784, Jews were finally allowed to engage in any profession they wished. With special Jewish taxes also being abolished, the Jews now lived as pretty much equal citizens to everyone else. From 1765 onward, all Jews irrespective of age of gender were forced to pay an annual
poll tax of 2 zloty, however in the same decree Poniatowski renewed the Jews' privileges for another 20 years. In 1772 seizing on the opportunity created by revolts and general instability, Prussia, Russia, and Austria signed a treaty which led to the
First Partition of Poland; Ponatowski and the Sejm were made to accept these losses without resistance via military threats and bribery. Under the effective leadership of
Ignacy Potocki, the Commonwealth began to enact a series of desperately needed reforms. A
new constitution was issued which abolished the
Liberum Veto, equalized the number of Poles and Lithuanians in the Sejm, a long with a series of other reforms. This
Great Sejm, which lasted from 1788-1792, elected a special deputation to review the laws governing the Jew's status, but the Sejm completely ignored the Jewish question. The Sejm did make several changes which affected the Jew's though: all religion were given freedom of conscience, municipalities were empowered, only Christians were allowed to be citizens, and a new constitution was issued. Many Jews were disenfranchised from other reforms with many who had worked a revenue collectors for the government switched or working a innkeepers or
small business owners. In 1776 the Sejm deprived the towns of villages of the self government they had enjoyed under the old
Magdeburg Rights. Meanwhile other reforms gave towns judicial and administrative autonomy, as well as representation in the Sejm. The Jews were unhappy with the municipal reform as they viewed the municipalities as hostile and preferred to be ruled by the voivode's. They attempted to appeal but to no avail.This period also saw major economic improvements in the Commonwealth with many news canals, roads, and highways being constructed. Jews were among the foremost pioneers in these new innovations particularly the use of waterways in the
timber industry. The municipal dispute went beyond concerns over antisemitism and also involved a long term conflict between the burghers and the Jews. When the Jews clashed with trade guilds or burghers there was often only enough business for one of the two to survive, as markets were limited, competition was fierce, and poverty was commonplace. The Christian burghers and guilds often exploited the widespread economic suffering of the Christian artisans to incite them against the Jews, by scapegoating the Jews for the artisans economic woes. By these methods the burghers were effectively able to advance themselves at the Jews interest. ==Jewish culture in Lithuania==