(AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE).
Imperial Edict of Holy Roman Emperor ...

(AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE).
Imperial Edict of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II concerning the Jews of Bohemia.

German and Czech printed in double columns. Large type and broad margins.
pp. 35. Foxed. Unbound. Folio.

Vienna: 3rd August 1797

Infamous Edict against the Jews by Emperor Francis II (1792-1835) of Austro-Hungary. While officially, this "Patent" for Bohemian Jewry states as its objective the removal of Jewish disabilities, in fact its approach was generally draconian, especially in regard to the notorious Familiant Laws (see below).

The Edict is broken down into the following subjects: Religion, Education, Community Constitution, Population, Livelihood, Political and Legal Authority, and Duties toward the State.

OF SELECT INTEREST: Rabbis are required to be examined in secular philosophical studies (par. 3); Status of the “Schulsinger, der sogenannte Schames” (synagogue singer, the so-called “schamess”), (par. 6); Circumcision to be performed only by those with medical training (par. 42); families organizing private prayer services, complete with Torah reading, to be taxed (par. 11).

The historic Prague Jewish community comes under especial scrutiny, with detailed instructions for the administration of the community (pars. 18-19).

THE FAMILIANT LAWS (FAMILIANTENGESETZ): In order to limit the Jewish population, Familiants Laws were first introduced in 1727 and permitted only the oldest son of a Jewish family to marry. Paras 25-35 reinforce the Familiants Laws that limit the number of marriage permits issued, thus severely curbing the growth of the Jewish population. The number of Jewish families was to be frozen at 8,600 which was the number of families counted in the 1789 census (par. 26). Should a foreign Jewess marry a Jew from a native Bohemian family, a marriage permit can be granted only if the bride brings into the country no less than 5,000 gulden (par. 35).

The Familiants system forced many Jews to marry secretly and the children born of such couples were considered illegitimate by the authorities. The Familiants system led to large-scale emigration from those areas in which it was strictly enforced. Many of the communities in Hungary were founded by the younger sons of Moravian Jewish families.

See R. Kestenberg-Gladstein, The Jews between Czechs and Germans in the Historic Lands, 1848-1918 in: The Jews of Czechoslovakia (1968); EJ, Vol. III cols. 891-4; Vol. VI, cols. 1162-4.