Antisemitism in the population of 1350.
Antiquitates Flandriae by
Gilles Li Muisis (
Royal Library of Belgium manuscript 1376/77). Jews in Strasbourg were forbidden by local law, and often canon law, to own land or to be farmers. As one of the few roles available to them was money-lending, Jews took an important position in the city's economy. However, this led to conflict. Formally, the Jews still belonged to the King's chamber, but he had long since ceded these rights to the city (the confirmation of the relevant rights of the city by
Charles IV occurred in 1347). Strasbourg, therefore, took in the most of the Jews' taxes, but in exchange had to take over their protection (the exact amount of the taxes was determined by written agreements). Pressure to meet tax obligations affected the Jews' business practices and fueled anti-Semitism among the population, particularly among the Jews' debtors. With the threat of
Black Death, there were also accusations of
well poisoning, and calls for the burning of Jews.
The government's policy of protecting Jews The council and the master tradesmen attempted to calm the people and prevent a pogrom. The Catholic clergy had been advised by two papal bulls of
Pope Clement VI the previous year (July and September 1348) to preach against anyone accusing the Jews of poisoning wells as "seduced by that liar, the Devil."
Tactical measures At first, the council tried to rebut the claims of well poisoning by initiating court proceedings against several Jews and torturing them. As expected, they did not confess to the crimes. Despite this, they were still killed on the
breaking wheel. Furthermore, the Jewish quarter was sealed off and guarded by armed persons to protect the Jews from the population and possible over-reactions. There were concerns that a pogrom could escalate and turn into an uncontrollable revolt of the people, as evidenced by a letter from the city council of
Cologne on 12 January 1349 to the leaders of Strasbourg, which warned that such riots by the common people had led to much evil and devastation in other towns.
Rebellion of the artisans On Monday, 9 February, the artisans gathered in front of the cathedral and, in front of the crowd, informed the masters that they would not allow them to remain in office anymore, as they had too much power. This action appears to have been organised beforehand among the guilds. The masters attempted to persuade the artisans to break up the assembled crowd—without success—but made no moves to comply with the rebels' demands. After an exhaustive debate that involved not only the guilds' representatives but also prominent knights and citizens, it became clear to the masters that they lacked support, and so they gave up their posts. One craftsman became , namely "" (Betscholt the butcher). Swarber was also stripped of his property on this day.
Organisers of the coup The noble families of Zorn and Müllenheim, who had been forced from power at that time, cooperated with the guilds in an attempt to regain their old position of power. The nobles cooperated not only with the guilds, but also with the
Bishop of Strasbourg. On that occasion, the Strasbourg bishop, representatives of the cities of Strasbourg, Freiburg, and Basel, and Alsatian local rulers met in Benfeld, in order to plan their actions towards the Jews. Peter Schwarber was aware of this agreement by the bishop and Alsatian nobles, which is why he warned: if the bishop and the nobles were successful against him in the "Jewish issue", they would not rest until they were also successful in other cases. But he was not able to dissuade them from the anti-Jewish stance.
Result of the coup Through the coup, the old noble families regained a great deal of their former power, the guilds regained their political participation, and many expected an anti-Semitic policy from the new political leadership (whereas between 1332 and 1349, not one nobleman had held the office of a master; now, two of four town masters were nobles). The demand to reduce the power of the masters was also granted. The old masters were punished (the town masters were banned from election to the council for 10 years, the hated Peter Schwarber was banished, his assets confiscated), the council was dissolved and reconstituted in the next three days, and the pogrom began a day later. == The pogrom ==