The
badge, hat and clothing laws for Jews in the Middle Ages
How the criminal "Christian" Church introduced special marks
for Jews to prevent inter religious sex relationships
from: Badge, Jewish; In:
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 4
presentation by Michael Palomino (2007)
Jew with Jewish badge in yellow ring form (circular badge), Worms 16th
century
|
Jewish woman with Jewish badge in yellow ring form (circular badge),
Worms 16th century
|
<BADGE, JEWISH, distinctive sign compulsorily worn by Jews.
The first religious marks were imposed by Muslim rulers
Muslim World
[Vestimentary distinctions of
different colors]
<The introduction of a mark to distinguish persons not belonging to
the religious faith of the majority did not originate in Christendom,
where it was later radically imposed, but in Islam. It seems that
Caliph Omar II (717-20), not Omar I, as is sometimes stated, was the
first ruler to order that every non-Muslim, the dhimmi, should wear vestimentary
distinctions (called giyar,
i.e., distinguishing marks) of a different color for each minority
group. The ordinance was unequally observed, but it was reissued and
reinforced by Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-61).
Subsequently it remained
in force over the centuries, (col. 62)
[since 887/8: marks on the house
doors: swines for Christians and donkeys for Jews - and yellow belts
and special hats for the Jews]
887/8 compelled the Christians to wear on their garments and put on
their doors a piece of cloth in the form of a swine, and the Jews to
affix a similar sign in the form of a donkey. In addition, the Jews
were compelled to wear yellow belts and special hats.> (col. 63)
Christendom.
1215: Lateran Council appeals for measures against sex
between the religions
<Although written documentary testimony concerning distinctive signs
worn by Jews from the 12th century is still lacking, pictorial
representations of this (col. 63)
period, especially in the Germanic countries, introduce the pointed
hat. This is subsequently referred to as the "Jewish hat", worn by Jews
or depicted in allegorical representations of Judaism ("Synagoga"). It
would seem, however, that this distinction was instituted by the Jews
themselves.
Jewish ball pointed hat 01 |
Jewish ball pointed hat 02 |
|
There are some ambiguous references to the compulsory imposition
of
distinctive Jewish clothing in documents from the beginning of the 13th
century (Charter of Alais, 1200: Synodal rules of Odo, bishop of Paris,
c. 1200).
The consistent record, however, can be traced back only to canon 68 of
the Fourth *Lateran Council (1215):
"In several provinces, a difference in vestment distinguishes the Jews
or the Saracens from the Christians; but in others, the confusion has
reached such proportions that a difference can no longer be perceived.
Hence, at times it has occurred that Christians have had sexual
intercourse in error with Jewish or Saracen women and Jews or Saracens
with Christian women. That the crime of such a sinful mixture shall no
longer find evasion or cover under the pretext of error, we order that
they [Jews and Saracens] of both sexes, in all Christian lands and at
all times, shall be publicly differentiated from the rest of the
population by the quality of their garment, especially since that this
is ordained by Moses. ..."
Both the allusion to biblical law (Lev. 19), and the inclusion of the
canon among a series of others regulating the Jewish position, indicate
that the decree was directed especially against the Jews.
Implementation of the council's decision varied in the countries of the
West in both the form of the distinctive sign and the date of its
application.> (col. 64)
Jewish marks in England: Badges and hats since 1215 -
tabula
since 1253
[since 1215: Strong regulations in
England with the hat - rich Jews can ransom from the rules]
|
Jewish knob pointed hat, England, 13th century
|
<ENGLAND.
In England papal influence was at this time particularly strong. The
recommendations of the Lateran Council were repeated in an order of
March 30, 1218 [[and the Jewish hat was introduced]]. However, before
long the wealthier Jews, and later on
entire communities, paid to be exempted, notwithstanding the
reiteration of the order by the diocesan council of Oxford in 1222.
[1253: Badge and tabula order]
In 1253, however, the obligation to wear the badge was renewed in the period of
general reaction, by Henry III, who ordered the tabula to be
worn in a prominent position.
[1275: Yellow badge order in
tablet form]
In the statutum de Judeismo
of 1275, Edward I stipulated the color of the badge and increased the size. A
piece of yellow taffeta, six fingers long and three broad, was to be
worn above the heart by every Jew over the age of seven years. In
England, the badge took the form of the Tablets of the Law, considered
to symbolize the Old Testament, in which form it is to be seen in
various caricatures and portraits of medieval English Jews.> (col.
64)
 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica: Badge, vol.
4, col. 63, a "Tablets of the Law"
badge depicted in this English caricature of the Jew "Aaron son of the
devil", dated 1277. Aaron is wearing the typical Jewish hood (cloth
hat). London, Public Record Office. |
Jewish marks in France: Yellow and red-white Badges
 French
Jewish badges and Jewish clothing in the Middle Ages.
|
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica:
Badge, vol. 4, col. 64: pointed Jewish hat, France, 12th century: This
was the typical pointed hat worn by Jews in France, from a historiated
initial letter "V" showing the prophet Joel. Stavordale Bible, N.
France, 12th century. London, British Museum, Add. ms. 28106-7
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica:
Badge, vol. 4, col. 65, French two colored red and white circular badge
worn by French Jews in 13th and 14th century. A drawing after a French
14th century miniature. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale (National
Library), ms. Français
820, fol. 192.
|
[1217: Order for a yellow
round
wheel badge - sabbath regulations - national badge edict 1269]
<FRANCE. In 1217, the papal legate in southern France
ordered that
the Jews should wear a rota
("wheel") on their outer garment but shortly afterward the order was
rescinded. However, in 1219 King Philip Augustus ordered the Jews to
wear the badge, apparently in
the same form. Discussions regarding the permissibility of wearing the
badge on the Sabbath when not attached to the garment are reported by
*Isaac b. Moses of Vienna, author of the Or Zaru'a, who was in France
about 1217-18.
Numerous church councils (Narbonne 1227, Rouen 1231, Arles 1234,
Béziers 1246, Albi 1254, etc.) reiterated the instructions for wearing
the badge, and a general edict for the whole of France was issued by
Louis IX (Saint Louis) on June 19, 1269.
This edict was endorsed by Philip the Bold, Philip the Fair, Louis X,
Philip V, and others, and by the councils of Pont-Audemer (1279), Nîmes
(1284), etc.
[Badge variations: yellow or white
and red - punishments when the badge is not worn]
The circular badge was
normally to be worn on the breast; some regulations also required that
a second sign should be worn on the back. At times, it was placed on
the bonnet [[cap]], or at the level of the belt. The badge was yellow in color, or of two shades, white and red. Wearing
it was compulsory from the age of either seven or thirteen years.
Any Jew found without the badge forfeited his garment to his
denunciator. In cases of a second offense a severe fine was imposed.
When traveling, the Jew was exempted from wearing the badge. Philip the
Fair extracted fiscal benefits from the compulsory wearing of the
badge, by annual distribution of the badges by the royal tax collectors
at a fixed price.> (col. 65)
Jewish marks in Spain: Badges and
huts
|
Flavio
Josefo / Flavius Josephus in a Spanish drawing from the Middle
Ages with Jewish hat
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica: Badge, vol. 4, col. 66, a typical hat worn by
Jews in Spain. A panel from a page of Las Cantigas de Santa María,
composed by Alfonso X of Castile (1252-1284). Madrid, Escorial Library,
ms. T-I-I, Cant. 34.
|
[Badge regulations in Spain since
1215 -
flight of some Jews to Muslim countries - badge regulations suspended -
sporadic badge regulations]
<SPAIN. The obligation to wear the Badge
of Shame was reenacted by the secular authorities in Spain
shortly after the promulgation of the decrees of the Lateran Council,
and in 1218 Pope Honorius III instructed the archbishop of Toledo to
see that it was rigorously enforced. The Spanish Jews did not submit to
this passively, and some of them (col. 65)
threatened to leave the country for the area under Muslim rule. In
consequence, the pope authorized the enforcement of the regulation to
be suspended. The obligation was indeed reenacted sporadically (e.g.,
in Aragon 1228, Navarre 1234, Portugal 1325).
[Jews with "influence" can arrange
life without badge - Castile 1263: penal law under Alfonso X - Aragon
1268: no badge rule, but cape suggestion under James I]
However, it was not consistently enforced, and Jews who had influence
at court would often secure special exemption. Alfonso X the Wise of
Castile in his Siete Partidas
[[seven charters]] (1263) imposed a fine or lashing as the penalty for
a Jew who neglected
the order. In 1268 James I of Aragon exempted the Jews from wearing the
badge, requiring them on the other hand to wear a round cape (capa rotunda).
[Castile 1405: badge regulation -
1412: clothing and red badge law - and hair and beard law - Aragon
1393: clothing rule for Jews]
In Castile, Henry III (1390-1406) yielded in 1405 to the demand of the
Cortes and required even his Jewish courtiers to wear the badge.
As a result of Vicente *Ferrer's agitation, the Jews were ordered in
1412 to wear distinctive clothing and a red badge, and they were further
required to let their hair and beards
grow long. The successors of Henry III renewed the (col. 66)
decrees concerning the badge.
In Aragon, John I, in 1393, prescribed special clothing for the Jews.
[Barcelona
1397: special terror against Jews with marks]
In 1397, Queen Maria (the consort of King Martin) ordered all the Jews
in Barcelona, both residents and visitors, to wear on their chests a
circular patch of yellow cloth, a span in diameter, with a red "bull's
eye" in the center. They were to dress only in clothing of pale green
color - as a sign of mourning for the ruin of their Temple, which they
suffered because they had turned their backs upon Jesus - and their
hats were to be high and wide with a short, wide cuculla. Violators
were to be fined ten libras
and stripped of their clothes wherever caught. When in 1400 King Martin
granted the Jews of Lérida a charter of privileges, he required them,
nevertheless, to wear the customary badge.
In 1474, the burghers of Cervera sought to impose upon the local Jews a
round badge of other than the customary form. In the period before the
expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the wearing of the Jewish
badge was almost universally enforced, and some persons demanded that
it should be extended also to Conversos.> (col. 67)
Jewish marks
in Italy: Badges, hats and kerchieves - first ghetto in 1555
[Different rules in split Italy
1221-22: a blue "T" and beard law in Sicily - badge in Pisa]
<ITALY. Presumably the order of the Lateran Council was reenacted in
Rome very soon after its promulgation in 1215, but it was certainly not
consistently enforced. In 1221-22 (col. 67)
the "enlightened" emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen ordered all the
Jews of the Kingdom of Sicily to wear a distinguishing badge of bluish
color in the shape of the Greek letter T and also to grow beards in
order to be more easily distinguishable from non-Jews. In the same year
the badge was imposed in Pisa and probably elsewhere.
[since 1257: Papal
States: circular yellow badge for Jews - two blue
stripes on the veil for women Jews]
In the Papal
States the obligation was first specifically imposed so far as is known
by Alexander IV in 1257; there is extant a moving penitential poem
written on this occasion by Benjamin b. Abraham *Anav expressing the
passionate indignation of the Roman Jews on this occasion. The badge
here took the form of a circular
yellow patch a handspan in
diameter to be worn on a prominent place on the outer garment: for the
women, two blue stripes on the
veil.
[since 1360: Rome: red cap for
Jews - red apron for women Jews - and harsh control]
Red Jewish hat 01 |
Red Jewish hat 02
|
In 1360 an ordinance of the city
of Rome required all male Jews, with the exception of physicians, to
wear a coarse red cape, and
all women to wear a red apron,
and
inspectors were appointed to enforce the regulation. Noncompliance was
punished by a fine of 11 scudi; informers who pointed
out offenders were entitled to half the fine. The ordinance was revised
in 1402, eliminating the reward for informing, and exempting the Jews
from wearing the special garb inside the ghetto [[since 1555]].
[Control in Sicily]
In Sicily, there was from an early period a custos rotulae whose function it
was to ensure that the obligation was not neglected.
Elsewhere in Italy, however the enforcement was sporadic, although it
was constantly being demanded by fanatical preachers and sometimes
temporarily enacted.
 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica: Badge, vol. 4, col. 67,
circular badge worn by Italian Jews. Detail from a 15th-century
painting by an unknown Italian artist of the Madonna and Child. The
four Jewish figures are Daniel Norsa and his family. Mantua, Church of
Sant' Andrea. Photo Alinari, Florence. |
|
Encyclopaedia
Judaica: Badge, vol. 4, col. 66, circular badge worn by an Italian
Jewish bridegroom. Bottom half of an initial word panel from the
"Hamburg Halakhah Miscellany", Padua, 1477. Hamburg, Staats- und
Universitätsbibliothek (Municipal and University library). Cod. Heb.
337 (scrin 132), fol. 75v.
|
[1555-1792: First ghetto system in
the Papal States - with the badge]
The turning point came with the bull Cum
nimis absurdum of Pope *Paul IV in 1555, which inaugurated the ghetto system. This enforced the
wearing of the badge (called by the Italian Jews scimanno, from Heb. siman) for the Papal States, later
to be imitated throughout Italy (except in Leghorn), and enforced until
the period of the French Revolution [[in 1792]].
[Rome: yellow hats and yellow
kerchieves - Venice: red hats and red kerchieves - Crete: badges on the
shops - David d'Ascoli punished for resistance]
In Rome as well as in the Papal States in the sough of France, it took
the form of a yellow hat for men, a yellow kerchief for women. In the
Venetian dominions the color was red.
In Candia (Crete), the under Venetian rule, Jewish shops had to be
distinguished by the badge.
David d'Ascoli, who published in 1559 a Latin protest against the
degrading regulation, was severely punished and his work was
destroyed.> (col. 68)
Jewish
markings in Germany: Hats, badges, bells, veils, collars]
[Holy Roman Empire: The pointed
hat]
German Jewish hats on the Naumburger Lettner in the Naumburg cathedral,
13th century |
German Jewish hat of Nikodemus (right) with Jesus (left) on the
baptismal font of Lippoldsberg (Lippoldsberger Taufstein) in the
Lippoldsberg abbey church, 13th century |
GERMANY. In Germany and the other lands of the
Holy Roman
Empire, the
pointed hat was first in use as a distinctive sign. It was not
officially imposed until the second half of the 13th century (Schwabenspiegel, art. 214, (col. 68)
c. 1275; Weichbild-Vulgata, art. 139, second half of 13th century; cf.
Council of Breslau, 1267; Vienna, 1267; Olmuetz, 1342; Prague, 1355,
etc.).
The church councils of Breslau and Vienna, both held in 1267, required
the Jews of Silesia, Poland, and Ausdtria to wear not a badge but the
pointed hat characteristic of Jewish garb (the pileum cornutum).
A church council held in Ofen (Budapest) in 1279 decreed that the Jews
were to wear on the chest a round patch in the form of a wheel.
German Jewish hat, Regensburg Pentateuch 01, 1300 approx. |
German
Jewish hat, Regensburg Pentateuch 02, 1300 approx.
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica: Badge, vol.4, col. 67, Jewish pointed hat in
Germany of about 1300,
here depicted in the Regensburg Pentateuch, a Hebrew illuminated
manuscript,
Germany, 1300. Jerusalem, Israel Museum, ms. 180/52, fol. 154v. |
The
badge was imposed for the first time in Augsburg in 1434, and its
general enforcement was demanded by Nicolaus of *Cusa and John of
*Capistrano. In 1530, the ordinance was applied to the (col. 69)
whole of Germany (Reichspolizeiordnung,
art. 22). In the course of the 15th century, a Jewish badge, in
addition to the
Jewish hat, was introduced in various forms into Germany.
Jewish
hats in a woodcut of Johannes Schnitzer of Armsheim: Five Jewish
elders disputing, from the book: Seelen Wurzgarten, printed by Conrad
Dinckmut, Ulm, 26 July 1483
|
Jewish
badge of the Middle Ages with inscription (pattern): "Der Juden
Zeichen / Welches Sie ihren Kleidern zu tragen schuldig" ("The
Jewish badge of guilt which is their tragedy to
wear").
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica: Badge, vol.4, col. 68, Jewish clothes with
Jewish ring badges:
A German Jew and Jewess from Worms, 16th century, in typical Jewish
dress
with circular badges on their garments. Worms, Stadtarchiv (municipal archive).
|
[1418: Salzburg: compulsary bells
for the dresses of Jewish women]
A church council which met in Salzburg in 1418 ordered Jewish women to
attach bells to their dresses so that their approach might be heard
from a distance.
German Jewish hat on a statue of the portal of Maria Strassengel church
near Judendorf in Steiermark (Austria)
[1434: Augsburg: yellow circles
and yellow pointed veils]
In Augsburg in 1434 the Jewish men were ordered to attach yellow
circles to their clothes, in front, and the women were ordered to wear
yellow pointed veils.
[Nuremberg: Special visitor's
hoods]
Jews on a visit to Nuremberg were required to wear a type of long, wide
hood falling over the back, by which they would be distinguished from
the local Jews.
[1530: general badge regulation in
Germany - 1551: general badge regulation in Austria]
The obligation to wear the yellow badge was imposed upon all the Jews
in Germany in 1530 and in Austria in 1551.
Jew with Jewish badge in yellow ring form (circular
badge), Worms 16th
century |
Jewish
woman with Jewish badge in yellow ring form (circular badge),
Worms 16th century |
A ring on the coat as a Jewish sign, fair leaflet of Frankfurt, about
1516 |
German Jewish clothing of Jewish couple of Frankfurt, etched by Caspar
Luyken, from the book: Neu-eröffnete Welt-Galleria from Abraham a
Sancta Clara; printed in Nuremberg by Christoph Weigel in 1703 |
[Prague: yellow collars for
Jewish
women]
As late as in the reign of Maria Theresa (1740-80) the Jews of Prague
were required to wear yellow collars over their coats.
Discontinuance.
[Medieval Yellow Jewish badges up to the French
Revolution 1791]
 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica: Badge, vol. 4, col. 69, a
decree issued in Vienna, 1551, by Ferdinand I, emperor of Austria,
requiring Jews to wear a distinguishing mark "namely on the outer coat
or dress over the left breast a yellow ring, circumference and diameter
of the circle as herein prescribed and not narrower nor smaller, made
of yellow cloth..." Freiburg, Stadtarchiv (municipal archive), XII°. |
[Jewish regulations depending from
region to region - almost no regulation in Poland]
In the new communities which became established in Western Europe (and
later America) from the close of the 16th century under somewhat more
free conditions the wearing of the Jewish badge was never imposed,
though sometimes suggested by fanatics.
In Poland, partly probably because the Jews constituted a distinct
ethnic element, it was likewise virtually unknown except in some major
cities under German influence. Similarly the Court Jews of Germany were
unable to perform their function unless dressed like other people.
[18th century: Jewish badge is
neglected in big parts of Europe - Venice with red hats]
In the course of the 18th century, although there was no official
modification of the established policy, the wearing of the Jewish badge
came to be neglected over a good part of Europe. In Venice the red hat
continued to be worn by elderly persons and rabbis through sheer
conservatism.
From the 17th century, there were some regional suspensions of the
distinctive sign in Germany, as also for the Jews of Vienna in 1624,
and for those of Mannheim in 1691.
[Jewish
emancipation and French revolution end of 18th century: all badge and
hat laws are abrogated - Papal ghetto system abolished only in 1797]
It was abrogated at the end of the
18th centrury with (col. 70)
Jewish emancipation. Thus on Sept. 7, 1781, the yellow "wheel" was
abolished by Emperor Joseph II in all the territories of the Austrian
crown.
In the Papal States in France the yellow hat was abolished in 1791
after the French Revolution reached the area, although some persons
retained it until forbidden to do so by official proclamation. In the
Papal States in Italy, on the other hand, the obliagation was reimposed
as late as 1793. When in 1796-97 the armies of the French Revolution
entered Italy and the ghettos were abolished, the obligation to wear
the Jewish badge disappeared.
Its reimposition was threatened but not carried out during the
reactionary period after the fall of Napoelon, and it then seemed that
the Badge of Shame was only an evil memory of the past.
[B. BL.] (col. 71)
Bibliography
-- G. Rezasco: Segno degli ebrei (1889)
-- U. Robert: Signes d'Infamie ... (1891)
-- F. Singermann: Kennzeichnung der Juden im Mittelalter (1915)
-- Kisch, in: JH, 19 (1957), 89ff.
-- Lichtenstadter, in: JH, 5 (1943), 35ff.
-- Strauss, in: JSOS, 4 (1942), 59
-- A. Cohen: Anglo-Jewish Scrapbook (1943), 249-59
-- Aronstein, in: Zion, 13-14 (1948-49), 33ff.
-- B. Blumenkranz: Le Juif médiéval au miroir de l'art chrétien (1966)
-- S. Grayzel: Church and the Jews in the XIIIth Century (1966),
index
-- Baron, Social, 11 (1967), 96-106
-- A. Rubens: History of Jewish Costume (1967), index.> (col. 73)
Sources
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 62
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 63-64
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 65-66
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 67-68 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 69-70 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 71-72 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Badge, vol. 4, col. 73-74 |
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