Między Pragą i Morawami a Krakowem. Żydzi na dworze ostatnich cieszyńskich Piastów.
Between Prague, Moravia, and Kraków: Jews at the Court of the Last Piasts of Cieszyn

Summary/Abstract: This article explores Jewish settlement in the Duchy of Cieszyn during the rule of the local branch of the Piast dynasty (ca. 1290–1653). In this economically underdeveloped region, situated along the trade route connecting the Czech landsand Prague with Lesser Poland and Kraków, Jews began to appear relatively late. The earliest mention of their presence in documents dates only from the first halfof the 16th century. Moreover, in that century (ultimately in 1581), a ban on Jewish residence was enacted in Silesia. One of the few known Jews to be active at the court was Markus, a Jewish glassmaker, who briefly served Duke Wenceslaus III Adam of Cieszyn (1528–1579). In 1575, the duke granted him a privilege allowing the purchase of a house in the town and permission to engage in trade. At the turn of the16th and 17th centuries, Jewish merchants from Prague and Moravia increasingly frequented the markets in Kraków, with some transporting goods through Cieszyn. However, permanent settlement only began under the rule of Duchess Elizabeth Lucretia (1625–1653), when the ongoing Thirty Years’ War compelled Emperor Ferdinand II to relax anti-Jewish legislation. Immediately after assuming power,the duchess leased toll collection rights in her duchy to three Moravian Jews. From1631, the lease was held permanently by Jakob Singer of Ivančice near Brno. Theduchess also permitted him to purchase a house in Cieszyn, which remained in the possession of the Singer family until 1788. Although not formally labeled as privileges,the documents issued by the duchess effectively granted Singer the statusof a court Jew of Elizabeth Lucretia. She even ignored imperial orders demanding his removal from Cieszyn, as Singer was one of the few reliable sources of revenue for the ducal treasury. In addition to collecting tolls, Singer engaged in large-scalecommerce, gradually taking over – together with other Moravian Jews – a significant portion of the trade mediation between Kraków, Prague, and Moravia. Occasionally,other Jews appeared in the duchess’s entourage, as well as in the nearby statelordships of Frydek and Frysztat.

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