Evasion as a Legal Tactic: The 1616 Amsterdam Regulations Concerning the Jews
Early modern rulers (or ruling bodies) who chose to readmit Jews in places where they had long been banned were faced with theological dilemmas and practical problems. Although it is true that the principle of freedom of conscience was gaining increasing acceptance, its adherents were rarely clear about whether it could be applied to non-Christians. And while the economic interests of rulers favored the settlement of Jews in their lands, the opposition of guilds and clergy could not be ignored. In these circumstances, a rather striking policy of evasion was adopted in France, in the Netherlands, and in England. The legal status of the Jews remained formally unclear, while in practice Jews were allowed to establish themselves with unprecedented rights. To illustrate this legal tactic, I will present the Amsterdam Regulations of 1616 concerning the Jews a rather meager document which constituted the legal basis for Jewish settlement in that city for nearly two centuries. This presentation is for the following text(s): The Regulations for the Jews of Amsterdam (1616)
Reluctant Cosmopolitans: The Portuguese Jews of Seventeenth-century Amsterdam
A Note on Orthography, Transliteration, and Special Usages List of Tables List of Abbreviations Introduction. The Dutch Jerusalem: The Distortions of History 1 'The True Book of Experience': Amsterdam's Toleration of the Jews The Law in Practice * Traditions of Toleration * A Distinctive Liberalism 2 Refuge and Opportunity: The Geography of a Jewish Migration The Genesis of a Diaspora * Geographical and Historical Origins * Gender and Prosperity * Sizes of Community * Complexities of Flight and Attraction 3 Commerce, Networks, and Other Relations: The Inner Workings of Portuguese Jewish Entrepreneurship Trade Circuits and Kin Networks * International Alternatives to Commerce * Brokers and Interlopers at the Local Exchange * Industries of Mass Consumption and Luxuries * Some Forms of Jewish Solidarity 4 Nacao and Kahal: A Religious Community in the Making The Genesis of a Kahal Kados * Membership and Administration * Charity, Worship, and Education * Orthodoxy and Morality * Dimensions of Conservacao 5 'Dissonant Words, 'Bad Opinions', and 'Scandals': Varieties of Religious Discord and Social Conflict Matters of Contention * Challenging Authority * Questioning Tradition * Internal Tensions and Communal Identity 6 A Patchwork Culture: Iberian, Jewish, and Dutch Elements in Peaceable Coexistence Languages and Names * Writing, Reading, Performing, and the Arts * Cultural Conservatisms, Exorcisms, and Flirtations Conclusion. Reluctant Cosmopolitans: Jewish Ethnicity in statu renascendi Appendix: Details of Freight Contracts Bibliography Index of Persons Index of Subjects
Unity and Diversity as a Theme in Early Modern Dutch Religious History: an Interpretation
The Reformation in the Low Countries fascinates both church historians and general historians. Religious change and political revolution went hand in hand. The history of the Reformation is an integral part of the history of the birth of the Dutch nation. Although well-researched, its attraction is renewed with each successive historiographical fashion.