Article_cmr_0008-0160_1979_num_20!3!1366 Armenians and Jews in Medieval Lvov

7/29/2019 Article_cmr_0008-0160_1979_num_20!3!1366 Armenians and Jews in Medieval Lvov

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Eleonora Nadel-Golobi

Armenians and Jews in medieval Lvov : Their role in oriental

trade, 1400-1600In: Cahiers du monde russe et sovitique. Vol. 20 N3-4. Juillet-Dcembre 1979. pp. 345-388.

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Nadel-Golobi Eleonora. Armenians and Jews in medieval Lvov : Their role in oriental trade, 1400-1600. In: Cahiers du monde

russe et sovitique. Vol. 20 N3-4. Juillet-Dcembre 1979. pp. 345-388.

doi : 10.3406/cmr.1979.1366

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cmr_0008-0160_1979_num_20_3_1366
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/author/auteur_cmr_1086http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/cmr.1979.1366http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cmr_0008-0160_1979_num_20_3_1366http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/cmr_0008-0160_1979_num_20_3_1366http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/cmr.1979.1366http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/author/auteur_cmr_1086


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Rsum

Eleonora Nadel-Golobi, Armniens et Juifs Lvov au Moyen Age. Leur rle dans le commerce avec

l'Orient, 1400-1600.

Au cours de la priode considre, Lvov commera avec la Moldavie et avec la Crime jusqu' la fin du

XVe sicle, puis avec l'Empire ottoman au XVIe sicle. Au XVe sicle et antrieurement, le commerce

de Lvov avec l'Orient tait transitaire. En revanche, partir du XVIe sicle, une partie des marchandises

provenant de la Perse ou de l'Extrme-Orient et une quantit de produits d'origine balkanique taient

vendus sur le march local. Deux minorits ethniques les Armniens et les Juifs avaient la haute

main sur le commerce de Lvov avec l'Orient, alors que le rle des autres commerants tait de moindre

importance. Les minorits armnienne et juive taient volontiers acceptes par les rois de Pologne

(Lvov tait une ville de la Couronne), car elles disposaient non seulement des capitaux ncessaires et

des relations internationales, mais elles avaient de surcrot l'exprience du commerce. Au dbut de la

priode considre, les Juifs de la Russie Rouge et ceux de Lvov se livraient au commerce local (qui

comprenait galement des marchandises originaires de l'Orient) alors que les Armniens opraient

l'chelle internationale. Il n'est pas fait mention de la participation des Juifs au commerce international

avant la seconde moiti du XVIe sicle.

Abstract

Eleonora Nadel-Golobi, Armenians and Jews in medieval Lvov. Their role in oriental trade, 1400-1600.

The oriental trade of Lvov in the discussed period was connected with Moldavia and Crimea until the

end of the fifteenth century and with the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. In the fifteenth century

and earlier Lvov's oriental trade was of a transit character, however beginning with the sixteenth century

a part of the Far Eastern or Persian goods and a considerable part of local Balkan products were sold

on the local market. Lvov's oriental trade was dominated by two ethnic minorities: Armenians and Jews,

while the role of other traders was less significant. Both Armenian and Jewish minorities were readily

accepted by the Polish kings (Lvov was a Crown city) since they had at their disposal not only the

necessary capital and international contacts, but also trading experience. In the earlier stage of this

period the Jews of Red Russia and Lvov's Jews as well were engaged in local trade (which included

also the articles from Orient), while the Armenians operated on an international scale. Jewish

participation in international trade is attested only in the second half of the sixteenth century.


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DOSSIER

ELEONORA N A D E L - G L I

ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOVTHEIR ROLE IN ORIENTAL TRADE

1 400- 1 600*

The city of Lvov1 arose in Ruthenian lands on the territory of Galician-Volhynian principality in the middle of the thirteenth century. Thefounding of the city is attributed to Galician Prince Daniil Romanovich(1202-1264), who named the city after his son and successor Lev (1264-1300). The first historical mention of the city is found in the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle under the year 1256 when the chron icler describingthe fire of Kholm added that 'the flames were such that their glow wasseen all over the country, even looking from Lvov.'2By 1349, upon the extinction of Galician princely line, Lvov wasoccupied by the Poles. After the death of King Casimir in 1370, Lvov,with Galician Ruthenia, was incorporated into Hungary (on the basis ofthe Vyehrad Agreement between the Polish King Casimir and hisnephew, Hungarian King Louis of Anjou). The Hungarian rule lastedtill 1387 when Lvov, along with Galician Ruthenia, were again annexedby Poland.Lvov's geographical location at the crossroads of the trade routesleading from the Black Sea to the Baltic and connecting the Orient withWestern Europe served to further its development and growth as acommercial center. The trade which created prosperous conditions forthe city's merchants attracted different nationalities to Lvov. Thefundamental privilege given to the city in 13563 mentions Armenians,Jews, Saracens, Tatars and Ruthenians. The Polish rule added theburghers, mostly of German stock and Poles to the city's population.We have also later information about Greek, Italian, Moldavian, Valla-chian and Turkish merchants, who visited the city or settled here. Thenationalities who played important roles in international trade, i.e.,Armenians, Jews, Italians and Greeks, settled along the trade routesof Ruthenia, bringing with them the knowledge of oriental languages(Armenians spoke Kypchak which was the trade language of the Golden

* I wish to express my profound gratitude for invaluable suggestions and bibliographic assistance to Alexandre Bennigsen, Richard Hellie and Arcadius Kahan ofthe University of Chicago, and Matei Cazacu in Paris.Cahiers du Monde russe et sovitique, XX (3-4), juil.-dc. 1979, pp. 345-388.

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346 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIHorde), the beginnings of the banking system (Italians) and the knowledgeof the markets (Jews, Greeks). These eastern and western settlersstrengthened Lvov's trade by maintaining commercial ties with thecommunities they left behind upon moving to Lvov.

The scope of this paper is, however, limited only to the role of twoethnic groups: the Armenians and Jews who for centuries became a partof the city life in Lvov and played the most prominent role in the tradewith the Orient. Besides, some features of their social-economic andcultural existence in dispersion (diaspora), lack of a backing by a strongethnic state in vicinity, the influence of a long recorded historical tradition make them similar in many respects to each other in spite ofobvious differences and justify their treatment as a special topic selectedfrom the history of other trading minorities of Lvov whose role in orientaltrade was of lesser importance.

Documentary sources for the history of trade in Lvov in frame of social andeconomic history in general derive essentially from the archival depositories: thelocal Lvov archives and the central Archives of Ancient Acts in Warsaw where theA bstracts of the Records of the Crown Chancery or the Metryka koronna are kept.The edition undertaken by T. Wierzbowski and his continuators in 1905- 1961,Matricularum Regni Poloniae Summaria, part 1-5 covers the period 1447-1572.As to the local archives of Lvov before World War II the most important were theCity Archives and the so-called District, or Bernardine Archives, founded in 1784.The Bernardine collections are now in the Central State Historical Archives in Lvovas far as the medieval period is concerned. The State Archives of Lvov alsocontain the Acts of the City Council, the City Jury, the Court of the wjt, theArmenian Court, the City Books and other manuscripts.A rich material for the history of trade in Lvov can be found in the collectionof A. Czolowski, Pomniki dziejowe Lwowa z archiwiim miasta, volumes II-IV (cityrecords to the beginning of the fifteenth century)4 and especially in the series ofAkty grodzkie i ziemskie z czasw Rzeczypospolitej polskiej z Archiwum tak zwanegoBernardynskiego we Lwowie. Of the twenty- five-volume collection, of most interestto us are volumes III-V (acts from the City Archives 1334-1496), VI (acts of theguilds 1386-1496), VII (documents from various archives before 1665 includingMoldavian material), IX (City acts 1375-1521), X (abstracts of court documentationof the Castle and the County before 1783), XIV, XV, XVII and XIX (notes ofcourt procedures 1440-1570). Besides abstracts of court claims and verdicts theAkty contain the texts of royal charters, privileges and statutes. The charters ofMoldavian hospodars in volume VII are of importance when dealing with Lvov'sMoldavian trade. Volumes X and XV contain valuable data on Armenian andJewish commerce.After the publication of E. Kaluzniacki's edition of Dokumenty moldawskie imultanskie z Archiwum m. Lwowa in volume VII of the Akty* documents concerningLvov's trade with Moldavia, Vallachia and Hungary were published by N. Iorga inhis Studii si documente eu privire la istoria Rommlor,7 in volume XXIII (for theperiod 1404-1602), M. Costachescu in Documentele moldovenesti nainte de Stefan celMare, including his Documentele moldovenesti de la Bogdan voievod and Documentelemoldovenesti de la Stefmfa voievod (for the years 1387-1456 and 1504-1527),8 aswell as volume XV, part I of the collection of E. Hurmuzaki, Documente privitoarela istoria Romnilor* fo r the sixteenth century.


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 347Lvov's merchant privileges may also be traced to the eighteenth-centuryedition of medieval Polish law, the Volumina legum et constitutionum10 reprinted byJ. Ohryzko. Volume I (1347-1547) and volume II (1550-1609) pertain to theperiod under scrutiny.Archival materials from the end of the sixteenth century still unpublishedcontain documents issued by the City Council, the City Jury (Inducta et protocollaiudicii civilis scabinalis), the Court of the City Judge (wjt), the Armenian Court,records of elections and grants of citizenship and so on. The Acts of the CityCouncil include, besides decisions related strictly to administrative matters alsocourt materials, claims, royal edicts, mandates, manifestoes, statutes of the guilds,property cases involving the City patriciate and other data.11Local historiography of Lvov is going back to the seventeenth century as faras the history of the city in this period is concerned.11 J. Alembek, a successfulmerchant and poet, wrote a brief outline of Lvov's history in his "Topographiacivitates Leopolitanae" (1618)13 and J. B. Zimorowicz (1597-1677) presented achronicle of events for the period 1 292-1633 (Leopolis triplex)1* and a book on theViri illustres civitatis Leopoliensis (1671) being himseli a distinguished citizen ofLvov and officeholder: councillor, secretary of the Council and mayor. li The laterpart of the seventeenth century is covered in the chronicle of J. T. Jzefowicz, canonof the local Roman-Catholic chapter." Of pure compilatory character in regardto the medieval period is the chronicle of Father I. Chodynicki, Historia stolecznegokrlestw Galicyi i Lodomeryi miasta Lwowa od zalozenia jego a do czasw terazniey-szych (1829)." Of higher quality is the chronicle compiled by D. Zubrzycki whowas also the first to introduce to a larger extent archival data in his Kronika miastaLwowa (1844).1Among the numerous memoirs of the period of fifteenth-beginning seventeenthcenturies of special importance are various travelogues which enable us to trace thetrade routes used and to better understand the organization of travel and transportationt that time. Among the better known reports are those of G. de Lannoy,

Burgundian errant knight and diplomatic agent of Henry V of England (1421),E. Otwinowski, companion of the Polish ambassador to Turkey (1557), H. Lippo-mano, papal nuncio (1575), M. Broniewski, envoy of the Polish King StephenBathory to Crimea (1578), the English traveler Master Henry Austell (1585),E. Lassota von Steblau, ambassador of Emperor Rudolf II to the ZaporozhianCossacks (1594), Sefer Muratowicz, Armenian merchant in service of Sigismund IIIof Poland who reached Persia (1601), Simeon Lehatsi, Armenian deacon who traveled from Lvov to Istanbul (1608) and D. Emiddio Dortelli d'Ascoli, a Dominicanmonk who was prefect of Kaffa and Tartaria (1633).1The modern scholarly literature dealing with our subject started a century agowith W. Heyd's Geschichte des Levanthandels im Mittelalter, volumes I-II (1879).Still of value is the monograph of W. Lozinski, Patrycyat i mieszczanstwo Iwowskie wXVI-XVII wieku (1895)20 and to some degree also early attempts at synthesis ofthe trade history of the Ukraine, such as A. Jablonowski, Handel Ukrainy w XVIwieku (1895) and A. V. Verzilov, "Ocherki torgovli iuzhnoi Rusi s 1480 po 1569 god"(1898)."Fundamental monographs on aspects of Lvov's oriental trade in connectionwith social, economic and cultural development of Poland, Ukraine and Romaniawere essentially written in the first three decades of this century. This literature ispresented among others by St. Kutrzeba, "Handel Polski ze Wschodem w wiekachrednich" (1903)," M. Hrushevsky, Istoriia Ukrainy-Rusy, volume VI (1907),St. Lewicki, Lemberg's Stapelrecht (1909)," I. Nistor, Die auswrtigen Handelsbezie-hungen der Moldau im XIV. XV. mid XVI. Jahrhundert (19),1* St. Lewicki,Historja handlu w Polsce (1920), J. Rutkowski, Z ary s gospodarczych dziejw Polski wczasach przedrozbiorowych (1923),'* L. Charewiczowa, Handel redniowiecznego Lwowa(1925), a concise outline still to consult," St. Hoszowski, Ceny we Lwowie w XVI i


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348 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIXVII wieku (1928), an important statistical monograph,17 R. Rybarski, Handel ipolityka handlowa Polski w XVI wieku, volumes I-II ( 1928-1929), * P. Panaitescu,"La route commerciale de Pologne la mer Noire au Moyen Age" (1933)," J. Ptanik,Miasta i mieszczastwo w dawnej Polsce (1934).*0

To he role of the Black Sea trade in connection with the Ottoman expansion andchanges in the structure of trade and trade routes of Eastern Europe are devotedthe works of M. Malowist, Kaffa Kolonia genuenska na Krymie i problem wschodniw latch 1453-1475 (1947), 8l G. Bratianu, La mer Noire des origines la conquteottomane (1969), an important synthesis,81 T. Mankowski, "Wyprawa po kobiercedo Persji w r. 1601" (1953) and A. Dziubinski, "Drogi handlowe polsko-tureckiew XVI wieku" (1965). 8*A revived interest in aspects of Lvov's trade and the Black Sea connectionstarted recently in the sixties with publications in Eastern Europe as well as in theWest. Soviet Ukrainian scholars M. F. Kotliar and la. P. Ki published monographs, the first on Halyts "ka Rus" druhii polovyni XIV pershii chverti XV st.,based on numismatic materials, the second on Promyslovys L'vova period feoda-lizmu XIII-XIX st . (1968)34 using unpublished data from the Lvov archives.Similarly E. M. Podgradskaia elaborated the problem of trade between Moldaviaand Lvov, Torgovye sviazi Moldvii so L'vovom v XVI-XVII vekakh (Kishinev, allthree books appeared during 1968). 8i The Shevchenko Scientific Society publisheda volume, Lviv. A Symposium on its 700th anniversary (1962), A. Bennigsen andCh. Lemercier-Quelquejay wrote on "Les marchands de la Cour ottomane et lecommerce des fourrures moscovites dans la seconde moiti du xvie sicle" (i97o)Mand M. Berindei on the Moldavian-Polish route of the same trade, "Contribution l'tude du commerce ottoman des fourrures moscovites. La route moldavo-polonaise 1453-1700" (1971).87 M. Cazacu in collaboration with . Kvoniancontributed new materials on the collapse of Italian dominion in the Black Searegion, in "La chute de Caffa en 1475 la lumire de nouveaux documents" alongwith M. Berindei and G. Veinstein in "La Tana-Azak, de la prsence italienne l'emprise ottomane (fin xine-milieu xvie sicle)" which was published in 1976. 8Special source collections and abundant historical literature are dealing withthe trading minorities of Lvov, especially with the Armenians and Jews to whomthe scope of this paper is limited.A collection of royal privileges and mandates concerning the Armenians ofLvov was compiled by F. Bischoff, "Urkunden zur Geschichte der Armenier inLemberg" (1865) for the period 1377-1736, omitting some earlier documents. *It is superseded by the edition of the same documents in the Akty although thematerial regarding Armenians is scattered there in volumes III, VII and IX.Other materials related to the Armenian colony in Lvov are included in volumes XIVand XV of the same series and in the Pomniki dziejowe. Information on unpublished sources can be found in W. Lozinski's Patrycyat i mieszczanstwo and inK. Badecki's "Zaginione ksigi redniowiecznego Lwowa" (1927) which deals withlost city records of medieval Lvov.40Legal sources for history of the Armenians in Lvov and medieval Poland wereedited and studied much more often than the other materials starting with F. Bischoff 's Das alte Recht der Armenier in Polen (1857) and his Das alte Recht de r Armenierin Lemberg (1862),41 the important studies of St. Kutrzeba41 and O. Balzer48 andthe recent work of M. Olea, The Armenian law in the Polish kingdom (1356-151)published in 1966 in Rome. The most important source in this category is theArmenian statute confirmed by King Sigismund I in 15 19 which was the base ofArmenian courts in Poland up to 1784.44 Acts of the Armenian court in Kamenetswere edited partially by T. I. Grunin in 1967, Dokumenty na polovetskom iazykeXVI w. (Stidebnye akty Kamenets-Podol' koi Armianskoi obshchiny) covering theyears 1559-1567. V. R. Grigorian prepared an edition of the portion of the sameActs written in Armenian for the period 1572-1575.4* Documentary materials


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 349related to Armenian and Jewish trade can be found in Z. Abrahamowicz, Katalogdokumentw tureckich. Dokumenty do dziejw Polski i krajw osciennych w latch1455-1672."Besides indications regarding the area of commercial activities of the Armeniantraders the mentioned materials contain valuable data on prices and rates ofexchange in sixteenth-century Poland.The trade routes used by Armenian merchants can be reconstituted from thetravelogues of Sefer Muratowicz and Simeon Lehatsi ("the Pole") mentionedabove.47Interesting data on the life and history of the Armenian communities in Lvovand Kamenets can be found in the chronicles of Jzefowicz (himself of Armenianorigin), Chodynicki and Zubrzycki,48 while the Armenian Kamenets Chronicle waspublished in 1957 by J. Deny in L armno-coman et les " phmrides" de Kamieniec(1604-1613) .*The scholarly literature on the Armenians in Lvov starts in the nineteenthcentury with F. Z [achariasiewicz], Wiadomo 0 Ormianach w Polszcze (1842) andespecially S. Baracz, ywoty stawnych Onnian w Polsce (1856) and his Rys dziejwormianskich (Tarnopol, 1869). " T. Gromnicki, Ormjanie w Polsce, ich historja,prawa i przywileje (1889) and W. Loziski in Zlotnictwo Iwowskie v dawnych wiekach1 384-1640 (1889) as well as in his Patry cy at i mieszczanstwo introduced respectivelythe aspects of legal and economic history in investigation of the Armenian past inLvov. 51The twentieth century witnessed an interest in the study of Armenian law inPoland (see above) mostly in the early decades and also in some general surveys ofthe past of Armenian colonies in Poland and Romania by F. Macler in Revue desEtudes armniennes (1926- 1927) ,si while a deeper scholarly concern for this themeemerged in the Soviet Union and Poland in the 1960's. Armenian and Ukrainianscholars published jointly three volumes of the collection Istoricheskie sviazi idruzhba ukrainskogo i armianskogo narodov (Erevan, 1961, 1965, 197 1) dealingwith various aspects of the Armenian colonies in medieval Poland among otherthings.58 From the total number of 76 contributions, 30 are devoted to our topic,although their value for research purposes is a mixed one. Together with paperswritten by critical scholars like la. R. Dashkevich, V. Grigorian, la. Ki, N. Kot-liar, I. Krypiakevych, L. Melikset-Bek and E. M. Podgradskaia (to quote only a fewnames) there are some popular and compilatory articles designed apparently fo r thewider audience.64Of special importance are the following publications of la. R. Dashkevich,Armianskie kolonii na Ukrainie v istochnikakh i literature XV-XIX vekov (1962)a historiographie outline, his Armianskaia koloniia v Kamenets- Podol' ke v 50-60-khgodakh XVI v. (1967; a version in English appeared earlier)" and his Ukrainsko-armianskie sviazi v XVII veke (1969), a collection of documents (most of themnewly published) in translation from the Lvov Archives.**

M. Zakrzewska-Dubasowa wrote a monograph on Ormianie zamojscy i ichrola w wymianie handlowej i kulturaine] midzy Polska a W chodem (1965) and. Kvonian authored a substantial paper on Armenian commerce in the seventeenth century which is of value also for the earlier period, "Marchands armniensau xviie sicle. A propos d'un livre armnien publi Amsterdam en 1669" (1975). *'Documentary sources for the history of the Jews in Lvov are included in thefollowing general collections mentioned above; Metryka koronna ed. by T. Wierz-bowski, Pomniki dziejowe and especially volumes X and XV (1884-1891) of theAkty grodzkie.b% Special collections of documents concerning Jews have beenpublished from the end of the nineteenth century: Regesty i nadpisi. Svod mate-rialov dlia istorii Evreev v Rossii (80 g.-i8oo g.), volume I (1899) up to 1670,S. A. Bershadskii's Russko-evreiskii arkhiv, volume HI of which Dokumenty k istoriipol'skikh i litovskikh evreev (1903) mostly from the Metryka koronna contain about


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35 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBI60 documents on Lvov for the period 1364-1569." A collection of over 100 documents from the Lvov archives never published before, was edited by M. Balabanas "Materyaly" in his ydzi Iwowscy na przelomie XVI i XVII wieku (1906).New materials from the Metry ka koronna starting from 1574 were collected byJ. Morgensztern, "Regesty z Metryki Koronnej do historii ydw w Polsce, 1574-1660" (published in 1963- 1968). eoMaterials on the legal situation of the Jews can be found in the Voluminalegum and in the collections of privileges of the Polish Jewry: Ph. Bloch, Die Gene-ralprivile gien der polnischen Judenschaft (1892), M. Bersohn, Dyplomatariusz dotyc-zacy ydw w dawnej Polsce na rdtach archiivalnych osnuty (1382-IJ82) editedin 191 1. Also in textbook edition of R. Mahler and E. Ringelblum, Teksty rdtowedo nauki historii ydw w Polsce i we wschodniej Europie, fasc. I (i93o).eiDocumentary materials from Jewish authorities, such as the book of records(pinkas) of the Lvov community (1617-1652) used by M. Balaban, the Protocolsof the Jewish Council (vaad) of Four Lands available through I. Halperin, Pinkasvaad arba aratsot (Protocols of the Council of Four Lands) (1945) in Hebrew,*1 arevery rare.

Source materials in Hebrew derived from documentary as well as non-documentaryecords and incriptions, response of medieval Jewish scholars, biographicaldata on rabbis and members of the community board (kahal in Polish derived fromHebrew kehilla) are gathered in G. Suchystaw's Matseveth Kodesh (Holy gravestones), fasc. I-IV (i860- 1869), which was uncritical and included some forgeries,S. Buber's Anshe shem (Men offame) (1895)* and B. Z. Katz's Lekoroth ha-yehudim-Riisia, Polin ve-Lita (History of the Jews in Russia, Poland and Lithuania)(1899). J. Caro's Geschichte der Juden in Lemberg (1894), a chronicle rather thana historical monograph,*1 is based on the materials of Suchystaw and the Lvovchronicle of Zubrzycki with addenda from Zimorowicz and Jzefowicz.Of importance to the legal status of Jews in Lvov are L. Gumplowicz, Prawo-dawstwo polskie wzgldem ydw (1867), M. Schorr, Organizacya ydw w Polsce(1897) and Rechtstellung und innere Verfassung der Juden in Polen (1917), St. Kutr-zeba, Stanowisko prawne ydw w Polsce w XV stuleciu (1901), I. Lewin, "The protection of Jewish religious rights by royal edicts in ancient Poland" (1943),*' aswell as important studies by M. Balaban. The basic work together with a collection of source materials is M. Balaban'smonograph ydzi Iwowscy na przelomie XVI i XVII wieku (1906) with specialchapters on trade, Turkish Jews as well as on legal situation and sources.6'Comprehensive histories of Polish Jewry which contain some materials on Lvovinclude A. Kraushar, Historya ydw w Polsce, volumes I-II (i865-i866),*8H. Stern-berg, Geschichte der Juden in Polen unter den Piasten und Jagiellonen (1878),H. Nussbaum, Historya ydw od Mojzesza do doby obecn , volume V (i89o),*9S. Dubnow, History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, volume I (1916) and hisHistory of the Jews, volume III (1969),70 R. Mahler's outline in Di yidn in Poyln(Jews in Poland) (1946), 7l B. Mark, Di geshikhte fun yidn in Poyln (History of theJews in Poland) (1957), f which only volume I covering the period to the mid-fifteenth century was published, and recently B. D. Weinryb, The Jews of Poland.A social and economic history of the Jewish community in Poland from 1100 to 1800(Philadelphia, 1973).For economic history of the Jews in Lvov and Poland the basic monographsare I. Schipper, Stud j nad stosunkami gospodarczymi ydw w Polsce podezasiredniowiecza (191 1) and his monumental, Dzieje handlu ydowskiego na ziemiachpolskich (1937).7*Economie and demographic aspects of history of Jews in Red Russia or HalichLand became more recently the object of important studies of M. Horn and E. Horn.Especially important to our topic is M. Horn's monograph, ydzi na Rusi Czer-wonej w XVI i pierwszej polowie XVII w. Dzialalnosc gospodarcza na tie rozxvoju


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 351demograficznego (Warsaw, 1975) and partially also his Walka klasowa i konfliktyspoleczne w miastach Rusi Czerivonej w latch 1600-164J na tle stosunkw gospo-darczych (Wroclaw, 1972).'* E. Horn wrote "Poloenie prawno-ekonomiczneydw w miastach ziemi halickiej na przetomie xvi i xvii w." (1961).74The literature dealing with Karaites (mentioned in Lvov in 1418), Jews in theBlack Sea region and Turkey in their relation with Lvov include T. Czacki, Roz-prawa o ydach i Karaitach (1807), M. Bataban, "Karaimi w Polsce" (i924-i926),7iA. Zajqczkowski, Karaims in Poland (1961), G. A. Hoker, Evrei v Kaffe podgenuezskim vladychestvom (I9i2),7e J. Resnik, Le duc Joseph de Naxos (1936). "Historiographie and bibliographie materials for the history of Jews in Polandare available in G. Hundert, "Recent studies related to the history of the Jews inPoland from the earliest times to the partition period"7*, as well as in I. Biderman'smonograph Mayer Balaban: historian of Polish Jewry. His influence on the youngergeneration of Jewish historians (1976), on the Jewish historians of Lvov in N. Gelber'sarticle " Ha-historyonim shel yehudei Lvov" (The historians of the Jews of Lvov)1956)7 and in M. Bataban's Bibliograf a historji ydw w Polsce i krajach ociennychza lata ioo- (1939). 80

Some observations can be drawn from the survey of sources and historiographyconcerning the source base of our topic, contemporary research situation andpossibilities of further investigation.As far as source holdings are concerned legal documents, court books andrecords are the bulk of the published editions. They were issued by the authoritiesof the Kingdom of Poland and the city of Lvov. Far less publications deal withfiscal institutions, customs, private accountancy, commercial letters and others.As to the provenience of the archival collections, the territory of the formerKingdom of Poland is the base, while some additional material is available fromRomania for Moldavia and Vallachia81 and from Genoa, Italy, for the Black Seatrade before 14 75."Documents issued by the Armenian and Jewish communities are very scarcefor the period under study. It is quite probable that some materials of the lostArmenian chronicle of Lvov ( 1492-1537) were incorporated in the so-called Venetianchronicle.8* The same is true about the Lvov Pinkas and other Hebrew sourcesof the seventeenth century used in later compilations of source materials.84Of very little value for our topic is the very rich polemical literature againstJews in Poland from the fifteenth century onwards8* as well as the political andreligious literature concerning the union of the Armenian Church with Rome.**II

Lvov started to grow in importance as a center for commerce andcrafts after 1356, i.e., the time when the city received the charter ofCasimir the Great granting it the Magdeburg Law.87 This privilegeinvolved a right to self-administration, exclusion from the jurisdictionof Polish governors (wojewody) the right to organize guilds for craftsmenand trade rights. Different nationalities of Lvov were admitted to theprivileges of the Magdeburg Law: Armenians, Jews, Saracens, Rutheniansand others; if, however, these nationalities chose to remain within theirown jurisdictions, they could also do so. It would be appropriate toremark, however, that the Magdeburg Law favored the Catholic burghersas a whole, while other religious groups were restricted in their city rights,such as the eligibility to public offices and the right to a permanentresidency in Lvov.


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352 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIBetween the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, Lvov was themajor economic center of Ruthenian lands. Although not much dataon Lvov's population at that time is available, a picture of a medium sizecity appears in our view when we compare Lvov's population with

that of the other cities. At the end of the fifteenth century Lvov had8,000 inhabitants (6,000 in the city, 2,000 in the suburbs). A morecomplete datum is available for the sixteenth century. According toKi, who computed Lvov's population on the basis of data collectedfrom the birth certificates, between the years 1574-1591 Lvov had12,344 inhabitants, while between 1592-1620 it contained 28,789 persons. Ki estimated that in the second half of the sixteenth centurybetween 17,000 and 20,000 people lived in Lvov.88 For the period1624-1635 Zubyk figured between 16,000-18,000 people.89 The ethnicbreakdown of Lvov's population at the end of the sixteenth century isvery incomplete; there is no doubt, however, as to the Catholic majority(Germans and Poles) who accounted for around 50 percent, while thepercentage of non-Catholics (Jews, Ruthenians and Armenians) remainsuncertain. According to Ki in addition to 50 percent Catholics therewere 20 percent Ruthenians, 10 percent Armenians and 20 percentJews.90 The population of Lvov was divided into two major legalgroups: citizens and city dwellers. The citizens monopolized the politicaland initially also the economic life of the city. There were basicallytwo requirements for citizenship besides residence: Catholic religion andlegitimate birth. Foreigners who settled in Lvov could be granted theresidence rights by the King's decree while the right to give the citizenship was reserved to city authorities.91The city records contain registration of grants of citizenship for theperiods 1405-1426, 1461-1604, 1624-1635, indicating origin and trade ofthe new citizens.92 In the first two periods, 2,916 persons were naturalized,hich makes a yearly ratio of 18.3 persons. The fluctuation in thenumbers of citizenship grants was considerable: from 2 persons in 1581to 71 in 1589. The highest noted number is 79 in 1602. 93 After 1570 theidentification as "merchant" is introduced to the records and we have68 persons in this category, among them 16 from abroad (Chios, Dalmatia,Hungary, Venice, Galata, London, Muscovy, Silesia). Sixty-seven newcitizens were Armenians (13 from Lvov, 7 from Kaffa, 6 from Suceava,6 from Kamenets and 4 from Armenia-Persia). Among 18 converts toCatholicism 4 persons who received citizenship were formerly of Jewishfaith. The admissions to citizenship illustrate also the importance ofcertain trades in Lvov directly connected with the East-West commerce.Among the new citizens 14 percent registered as their occupation tanningindustry (in first place in the fifteenth century), 10 percent cloth industry(dominating trade in the sixteenth century) and 8 percent metallic trade.Eighty-six persons or 2,9 percent of the new citizenswere szlachta whosettled in Lvov and became burghers in spite of the decree of 1565which barred the gentry from trade and commerce. Two hundredfifty-six persons or 7.2 percent among the new citizenry were Ruthenians.94 The analyzed figures confirm the observation that the Catholicburghers of German and Polish stock were in control of city life in Lvov.The Catholic community which became increasingly polonized, enjoyed


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 353self-government on the basis of Magdeburgian Law completely monopolizinghe access to the city's political and legal institutions: the city jury(collegium scabinorum) office of the city judge (wjt), the city council,office of the proper mayor which were hereditary and represented the citypatriciate; while the College of 40, created in 1578 represented the "commoners": the trade guilds and the merchants. The ordo 40 vironim wasa lifelong office that exercised control over the financial activities of thecity council and other offices.95Armenians and Ruthenians who dwelled in Lvov can be considered assecond class burghers without political suffrage and with limited civilrights. In administrative and judicial matters they were mostly subjected to the jurisdiction of the Catholic city authorities, although theyconstituted also separate religious and legal communities with their ownelders and limited jurisdiction according to their own law: Armenian orRuthenian.96 On the legal situation of the latter we practically knowvery little, since the Ruthenian elders acted as the superiors of religiousfraternities (the most famous was the so-called Stauropigian or theBrotherhood of the Church of the Assumption, founded in 1463)97 andnot legal communities like the Armenians or Jews. Because of theirwealth the Armenians nevertheless were admitted to various committeesof the city administration and their elders sometime in the seventeenthcentury were placed as second in importance after the city jurors, whileto the Ruthenian elders is attributed the last place in the following order:city jurors, Armenian elders, merchants, guild elders, Ruthenian elders.98It is necessary to mention that the discrimination of Ruthenians in Lvovwas a policy in flagrant violation of the royal privileges of 1433 and157299 and diverged from the pattern of Lithuania where the Rutheniansin the cities quite early achieved virtually equal rights with the burghers.However in the cities belonging to the Crown of Poland the Lvov situationis typical of the legal disabilities of the Ruthenian population.100Quite a different situation existed, for instance, in Kamenets- Podol' k101where the Armenian community dominated the economy, while theCatholic group monopolized the city's political life, and the Rutheniansconstituted a separate entity with their own judge elected (from 1491)who possessed criminal jurisdiction according to Ruthenian written law.Therefore the royal decrees are calling all three groups cives Camenecensestam Romani quam Graeci et Armni ritus.102 However an inspectionreport of 1565 is referring only to the Catholic group as citizens (cives),while the Armenians and Ruthenians are called simply city inhabitants(incolae).103The Jews did not belong to the burghers, nor did they participate inpublic life of the city. They were tolerated on the ground of royal privileges and agreements with the city. They were subject to the jurisdiction of the royal governor and a jury of Jewish elders.104The royal privileges exempted from the jurisdiction of the city'sauthorities on an individual basis certain groups of inhabitants: szlachtaand most foreign merchants and traders. The property of the gentryand magnates within the city became sometimes a place of asylum forartisans not admitted to the guilds and for Jews without formal residencyqualifications within the city limits. These enclaves are known as the


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354 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIjurydyki of the szlachta. Merchants and artisans to whom were grantedthe so-called serwitoriaty were exempted from toll duty and staple rightof the city as well as local jurisdiction. As royal servitores they weresubjected to the jurisdiction of the King's Court system.105

The complexity of the legal frames in which the Lvov Armenians andJews lived and exercised their economic activities require a detailedanalysis which will be discussed below in connection with their role inoriental trade.Before I touch upon this part of the paper, the participation of Tatars,Karaites and Greeks in Lvov's trade with the Orient should be mentionedbriefly. The Greeks, as well as Moldavian merchants, did not formseparate legal communities and joined the religious fraternities of theRuthenians who were considered Greek Orthodox. A famous case isConstantine Korniakt at the end of the sixteenth century who was a nativeof Crete, became a wine merchant in Lvov, was a leaseholder of royaltolls and finally achieved nobility.106 The Ruthenian minority, as indicated above, is beyond the scope of this paper.Tatars are mentioned in the privilege of King Casimir given to Lvovin 1356 after the Saracens. According to Balzer those Saracens are anexplanatory note (Muslims) following the name of the Tatars.107 Theinformation on Tatars in Lvov is very skimpy. There existed a streetnamed Tatar street in Lvov and a tradition that a mosque was formerlyin the place of the later Dominican convent. Tatars were active intannery and commerce. It is suggested that the Lvov Tatars came fromthe (iolden Hoi de in pre-Polish times, were Kypchak by origin and language and possibly immigrated along with the Armenians.108As to the Karaites there is some evidence that they resided in Lvov inthe fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. A Karaite settlement existedalso in Dawidow near Lvov much later. If the Karaites from Lvovmoved here during the seventeenth century is not clear, but in any casethey disappeared from the Lvov city territory.109 Considered Jewish bythe authorities, they had their own community, used their Turkic idiombut were rejected as sectarians by other Jews, since the Karaites did notrecognize the Talmudic part of Judaism.Besides the Magdeburg Law, the most important privilege whichinsured rapid economic progress to Lvov was the staple right or the rightof emporium. The city was granted this right in 1379, by Louis ofAnjou.110 The staple right secured for Lvov a virtual monopoly of theeastern trade. Every merchant travelling through the area, either tothe East or to the West, was obliged to stop in Lvov for 14 days and offerhis goods for sale to the local merchants. Only afterwards was the merchant allowed to proceed with the unsold merchandise. After 1444 Lvovreceived absolute staple right according to which all the goods had tobe sold there. Besides the staple right Lvov received a number of othercommercial privileges, among them Lvov's inhabitants were exemptedfrom customs duties in Poland and Moldavia,111 which at the time was aPolish vassal (from the times of Louis of Anjou). City fairs in Lvov wereheld twice a year: in January and July (from 1472).Already in 1375 Lvov was marked on a Catalonian map (dutat de Leo)as a trading station of the eastern merchants on their way to Flanders.118


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 355Genoese sources of the fourteenth century mentioned "per viam deLolleo" as the safest trade route to the Black Sea colonies.118 Theoriental trade of Lvov in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries wascarried on mainly in three directions:

The first direction was down the steppes, so-called Dzikie j>ola(loca dserta) to Crimea land route. The second one was downthe river Dnestr and to Belgorod, by sea to Kaffa, while the thirdone was down the Danube to the Black Sea.The following three main trade routes frequented between the fourteenth-sixteenth centuries corresponded to the above directions:

The first was the so-called Via Tartarica, which existed in thefourteenth century, leading from Lvov to Kaffa in Crimea andTana on the Azov.114 Lvov-Ternopol' (Tarnopol')-Skala-Kame-nets (Kamieniec)-Mogilev (Mohylew)-Konetspole (Koniecpole)-Tavan'-to Kaffa or Tana. From Tana the route led to Sarai-Astrakhan-Persia-China. From Kaffa to Trabzon and Egypt.The second, chronologically later route, called Moldavian routewhich during the fifteenth century carried the bulk of Lvov's trade,was leading across Moldavian-Vallachian territories to Transylvania, urkey, the Black Sea, the coast of Asia Minor and GreekIslands. The first mention of this route is found in Lvov's citydocument of 138b.116 The route went from Lvov-Galich (Halicz)-Kolomyja-Sniatyn-Chernovtsy (Czerniowce)-Suceava and fromSuceava through Iasi-Lopusna-Belgorod Dnestrovskii (Akkerman)or Kilia on the Danube. From Belgorod by sea to Kaffa and Tana.Following the establishment of Turkish domination in theBalkans, the trade with Constantinople was achieved via Moldaviaas the third most important route:116 Lvov-Khotin (Chocim)-Dorohoi-Iasi-Galaji to Pazardzik-Adrianople-Constantinople.

Owing to the constant exchange of goods between the Orient and theWest, the city of Lvov soon became an uninterrupted market for spices,silks, oriental carpets and cloth. These goods were destined not only forinternal markets of Poland but for the export as well; they were transported to Germany (Nuremberg) and later to Flanders (Brugge).117Among the oriental goods carried from the Orient via Lvov-Torun'-Poznan' to Germany (Breslau) were silks, ornate fabrics (samites) wovenwith gold, pepper, ginger and thyme. Lvov merchants also exported toCentral Europe the products of Moldavian and local originoxen, horses,hides, silver, red dye, fish and wax.118 From Lvov to the East viaMoldavia, woolen cloth from Flanders and local cloth, metal goods fromUpper Germany, Poland and Bohemia, arms and red dye were transported.119Along with the Turkish expansion some change occurred in thecharacter of goods traded. Lvov's merchants brought from Turkeyduring the late fifteenth and in the beginning of the sixteenth centurymuslins, satins, silk fabrics, precious stones, expensive wines from Greece


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356 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIand above all the famous oriental carpets.120 From the West to theOttoman Empire primarily the cloth was exported as well as arms, lead,tin, knives, fur hats and the grain from Southern Poland.A closer look at the structure of Lvov's trade from the point of view,of origin of the traded goods, character and directions of exchangenetwork" of trade routes reveals the following:

1. South-eastern direction:From Lvov towards Moldavia and Hungary: wool cloth from theWest, local clothes from Silesia, Poland; hats (ready-made),cutlass, swords and hunting knives.121To Lvov from Moldavia and Hungary: cattle, hides, wax, saltedfish, hammerheads, flux silver, honey, plums, Moldavian wine.122From Lvov towards Crimea (Kaffa): woolen cloth from Flanders,Brabant, Torun', Silesia, cheap cloth from Poland, metal goodsfrom Upper Germany, Bohemia, Poland (especially Germanscythes, joiner' and metal' workers tools), fustian, red dye fromEastern Poland (kerms) also wax, furs, hides, etc. Before 1475the red dye of East European origin was mostly designed forfurther transportation to Florence and Genoa.123From Crimea towards Lvov: pepper and other spices, olive oil,fruit (especially lemons), silk fabrics manufactured from rawmaterial brought to Crimea from Northern Persia, damask,kamkas (silk fabric often woven with gold and designs), side laps,Persian carpets, arms, jewelry.124From Lvov to Turkey (after 1453): different kinds of woolen cloth,fur hats, knives, arms, tin, lead.125From Turkey to Lvov: spices, rice, wines, carpets, alum for dyeing,silk, silk taffetas, muslins, muchair (cotton fabric with silk or wool),morocco (leather), sheepskin coats, leopard skins, Asian goat woolcloth (camlets), precious stones.1262. Western direction:From Lvov towards Cracow: silks (silk taffetas, kamkas, brocades,damasks, velvets, kofftyr (kind of silk fabric), spices and carpets.127As to the wide selection of silks the Lvov market was comparableto the Venetian. Also cattle were shipped further to Brieg (Brzeg)-Saxony-Germany.From Cracow towards Lvov: cloth (local and in transit fromEngland, Flanders, Italy), shoes, knives, herring.128From Lvov to Flanders (via Cracow-Nuremberg): belts.From Flanders to Lvov: cloth.129From Lvov to Italy: red dye, alum, furs (sables) and slaves (up to1475), Russian furs came to Lvov via Smolensk.130From Italy to Lvov: oriental goods, Italian silk products from thesixteenth century.From Lvov to Silesia (Breslau): horses, furs (expensive sorts likesables). Sables were sold in the sixteenth century by the batch of40 skins (sorok).From Silesia to Lvov: cloth, green wax for sealing, horses.181


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- o tv - ^ 3 / P\i

ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 3573. North-western direction:From Lvov to Toruri: furs (sables), wax, salt from Red Russia.From Toruri to Lvov: old amber trade in the fourteenth century.From Danzig via Toruri to Lvov: iron crates for gunpowder,English cloth, beer.132

As to the structure of Lvov's trade from the point of view of provenance of the goods three groups can be identified: oriental goods, westerngoods and local goods.The following local products were exported from the Kingdom ofPoland: resin, tar, potash, rye, wheat, furs uch as wolves, lynxhoney,wax, red dye (czerwiec) local cattle, hides, hemp and linen. Local Lvov'sproducts were limited to a few items like: wax, red dye, salted fish, potashand honey. A glance at the map of the trade routes (see map below)shows the unimportance of trading with Lithuania and Muscovy ascompared with the East-West trade of Lvov. Of lesser importance wasalso the direct northern connection with the Hansa. Lvov goods wentto the Hanseatic markets via Cracow (mostly furs and wax) and Breslauwhich had connections with Frankfurt-on-Oder and from there with thecities of Northern Germany and Flanders.It is perhaps a modernization to speak about a "network" of traderoutes regarding medieval Lvov, since there were quite a few in general.Nevertheless, the importance of the oriental trade is documented by theexistence of three different roads (see above), while the western connectionvia Cracow (the capital of Poland until 1595), the northern direction toLithuania, the northwestern to Torun' and the southern to Hungary arerepresented with one or two routes respectively:133Lvov-Cracow: via Przemysl-Jaroslaw-Rzeszw-Tarnw-Bochnia;via Sandomierz (longer route).Lvov-Toruri (with extension to Gdansk): via Przemysl-Jaroslaw-San-domierz;via Grdek-Lubaczw-Sandomierz.Lvov-Hungary: via Grdek-Przemysl-Sanok-Dukla Pass-Munkachevo;via Bbrka-ydaczw-Stryj.Lvov-Lithuania : via Olesko-Lutsk.Statistical data concerning the volume of Lvov's trade are very rare,fragmentary and difficult to obtain. Materials from the custom recordspreserved in the Archives of the Crown Treasury in Warsaw and madeavailable through the monograph of Rybarski shed some light on thesixteenth century, in part on the Vallachian trade as documented by theCustoms House Rolls of Halich (1536), on western trade as recorded inthe Rolls of the Custom House in Grdek (1546-1549), which was thefirst stop from Lvov in the direction of Przemysl, and on Lvov's foreigntrade as reflected in the Custom Rolls of the city (1578/1579-1580).134


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1&TO UTHlAMlA/

*~r /-*k I 1 ' Hi


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THE SOUTHEASTERN TRADE ROUTESOF LVOV BETWEEN 1400-1600


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f \i

360 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIIII

One of the important trading communities in Lvov was Armenianwhose internal organization was based on a code of law called Datasta-naghirk. This codification was made in Eastern Armenia, around theyear 1 184 by Mekhitar Gosh. Gosh (Kosh in Western-Armenian dialect)who was born in the middle of the twelfth century, after completion ofreligious studies became the abbot of the Nor-Getik monastery. TheMekhitar Gosh collection or Datastanaghirk consists of ecclesiastical andcivil parts. There were two main sources on which Datastanaghirk wasbased: the Mosaic law (especially Exod., Levit., Deuteron.) and canonlaw of the Armenian church (the decrees of synods such as Dvin (645and 719) and Partaw as well as of the Greek church (Apostolic canons,apocryphal canons of Nicea, the works of St . Basil and St. Athanasius).136This Nomocanon collection was used both in Great Armenia and inCilicia as a textbook of ecclesiastical and civil law. The Armenian lawin Poland comprised the rules of common law, court sentences and codes.The local practice in Lvov had brought changes to the old Armenianusages and as a result a new codification was composed about 1434comprising ten articles to which a larger codification was added between1462 and 1469. Both of these parts formed the so-called Armenianstatute, which was translated into Latin and was approved by KingSigismund I in 1519 as valid for the Armenian community of Lvov.186 Onthis Statute were based the decrees of the Polish kings given to Armeniansof Kamenets in 1567 and of Zamos in 1694.

The institution of Armenian elders (seniores) probably existed beforethe Armenians in Lvov were granted the Magdeburgian Law in 1356 andwas based on the native practice of law. The oldest Armenian communalcourts were known to have been composed of the elders of the communeand this tradition continued following the Armenian arrival to RedRussia. The leader of the elders, the Armenian judge (wjt) was limitedin his actions. Since 1356 his place in the court was taken by the cityjudge (advocatus).137 I shall note, however, that the institution ofArmenian judge continued to exist; he headed the jury, while the cityjudge pronounced the sentence. Along with Armenian elders and judge,the Armenian bishop also had a right to judge in ecclesiastical and civilaffairs. Bishop Gregory was granted that right in 1367.The economic struggle of the Armenian community with city authoritiess reflected by continuing limitations on the Armenian court system.Starting with the decree of 1469 the institution of Armenian judge wasindirectly abolished and the court of elders were to judge Armenianaffairs only. The further decrees of 1476 and 1510 confirmed the previousenactment and put Armenian affairs under the supervision of "mixedcourts" (city judge presiding over Armenians) and city jury. The casesof manslaughter, bloody and bruised wounds, of larceny and Armenianimmovables such as real estate, land, etc., belonged to the jurisdiction ofthe city jury, which would try these cases according to the MagdeburgianLaw. The other court cases, both civil and criminal, were under thejurisdiction of the "mixed courts" and were judged by the Armenian Law.


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 36 1The decree of 1510 also introduced the norms regarding appeals from theverdicts passed in the Armenian cases. The appeal from a "mixedourt" was to be made to the royal court which in turn should considerthe case according to the Armenian law.138

The aspiration of the city of Lvov for the unification of judicature onone hand, and the struggle of Armenians to preserve their independenceon the other, were the basis for new quarrels and disputes. Quite a fewdecrees and privileges issued at that period indicate the strength of theArmenian community in Lvov. Finally, the Armenian statute of 1519which comprised the elements of Armenian, Mosaic, Islamic, Eastern-Roman laws as well as Western Polish and German laws confirms theimportance of Lvov's Armenians. The value of the statute lies in thefact that its provisions were obligatory not only within the Armenianjudicature but outside as well. Therefore it had to be respected by theother nationalities and social groups.139The very beginnings of an Armenian trading colony in Lvov could beascribed to the thirteenth century. According to the legend, Prince LevDanilovich installed Armenians in Lvov around the year 1280. l4 Thefirst Armenian settlers are thought to be Armenian soldiers in the Prince'sarmy. The fact of an already existing Armenian colony is confirmed bythe Magdeburg Law privilege of 135b granted to the city of Lvov byCasimir the Great.141 The King recognized the existence of an autonomous rmenian community, confirming their right to self-administration,according to Armenian law, courts and the office of judge (wjt). Asidefrom Armenian court, they had an option of being judged by the MagdeburgLaw. In cases where the Armenians opted in favor of Armenian law the

city judge (advocatus) presided over the Armenian elders (seniores). Theelders were six in number until 1563, after that year their number increasedo twelve.142 When the Magdeburg Law was applied they weresubject to the city judge and the bench. De facto, however, the cases ofrepresentatives of the same ethnic community were tried solely by theirown court, while the joint courts played the role only when outsiders wereinvolved.The Armenians coming to Galicia came from two points of origin.148The earlier wave who settled in Crown cities (such as Vladimir, Lutsk,Lvov) during the fourteenth- fifteenth centuries came from Crimea, whichhad large Armenian colonies between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries in Kaffa and Sudak,144 while the latter wave who were installed byPolish magnates in private cities such as Zamo, Brody, Stanislav(Stanislawow) above all came from Vallachia. The former group spokethe Tatar (Kypchak) language while the latter knew only commonArmenian. Adopting Kypchak, Armenians in Crimea preserved Armenian s a liturgical language only. The legal documents of Armeniansfrom Galicia and Podolia were written in Kypchak with Armeniancharacters. The Kypchak was used by Armenians in correspondenceuntil the end of the seventeenth century when it was replaced by Po lish.146The oldest privileges concerning Armenians in Lvov were privilegesof 1379, 1380, *3$7 and I4i5.14e On the basis of these charters Hungariankings and later Vladislas Jagellon confirmed privileges of the Armeniancommunity previously granted by Casimir the Great and transferred the


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362 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIArmenian inhabitants of the suburb of St . John under jurisdiction ofArmenians in the city.In the beginning of the fifteenth century Armenians were limited intheir commercial pursuits, only in 1402 Lvov's Armenians received theright of trade in all Ruthenian, Polish and Lithuanian lands.147 TheArmenians received the right to retain trade in 1462, when CasimirJagellon confirmed the privilege of 1402. 148 Beginning in the middle ofthe fifteenth century Polish kings strived to increase the number ofArmenians in the city and as a result Armenians received the right toimport and sell malmsey and other wines.149 From this privilege it isapparent that as the Tatar trade with Crimea diminished, the trade ofArmenians began to orient itself toward Constantinople (the wines fromGreece were exported via Lvov to Poland and Muscovy).Around 1497, when Lvov merchants entered the phase of their strugglegainst the commerce of suburbia, suburban Armenians were deniedthe right to trade, the latter appealed to the king who repealed thisrestriction.In 1505 Armenians were partially exempted from custom duties onthe merchandise brought from Vallachia, Turkey, Hungary, Crimea andSilesia.150 This was only a partial exemption since they were obligedto pay for it, a sum of 30 kopa of grossit, to King Alexander. In 15 19 theArmenian law code Datastan was translated into Latin and confirmedby Sigismund I. This statute was the basis for the Armenian judiciaryuntil 1784, when the Special Armenian Courts were abolished.Despite the kings' protectionist policy the city of Lvov did notobserve Armenian rights. The Council attempted to hinder Armeniancommerce (under the pretext of not paying the city dues the officialsstopped Armenian caravans going to the Cracow fair).161 In view ofgrowing Armenian commerce the city strived to restrict Armenians inthe same way as the Jews and limit their trade only to certain goods.In 1574, according to the privilege of Stephen Bathory, city Armenianswho did not own any property outside of Lvov were allowed to buy landin the suburbs under the condition that they could not put up any innsor taverns.162 This clause was insisted upon by the city, which was afraidthat the incoming merchants would sell their goods to Armenians andthen enter the city without payment of taxes or deposit of merchandise.At this time the city further attempted to curtail Armenian rights,denying them the right to sell expensive cloth, to produce and sellbeverages and hindering their professions. The Armenian communitybrought a suit against the city in front of King's Court, which ruled infavor of the Armenians. On July 7, 1587, Bathory confirmed Armeniansin their right to sell silks, produce beverages and the right to crafts, thusequalizing them with the rest of Lvov's citizens.163 From the documentof November 12, 1577164 we have a description of the goods Armenianswere allowed to sell. The nature of merchandise in the big stores corresponded to Turkish products coming from Istanbul, while the goods soldin small stores were mostly of local, German or Lithuanian origin.Written sources preserved various information regarding the Armeniancolony in Lvov. The oldest Armenian settlement which was located atPodzamche is confirmed by such names as Armenian street, Armenian


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 363bridge, etc.166 The Podzamche community became a suburb after 1360when a new city was founded to the south of the community. PodzamcheArmenians had three churches, the monastery and the bathhouse. It isestimated that the oldest of the churches (St. Anna) was founded in thethirteenth or fourteenth century. The more prosperous Armenians andnew Armenian settlers from the Orient inhabited the Armenian quarterof Lvov, which was located in the northeastern part of the city. In thebeginning of the fifteenth century there were over sixty houses in thisquarter.166 The Armenian cathedral church was erected here in 1361157and in 1365 a special bishopric was established. Despite theirdiaspora, Polish Armenians kept close ties with their metropolitanate inEchmiadzin until 1630. King Casimir recognized Armenian religiousfreedom in 1367, when Gregory (Krikor) became the first Armenianbishop of Lvov.In 1407 the city tax roll listed eighty names of the heads of familieswho paid tax.168 The Armenians played an important role in the economicife of Lvov. There were many skilled craftsmen among them, especially in such professions as tanners, dyers of leather, saddle-makers,shoe-makers, metal workers, goldsmiths and embroidery makers. Armenians were also employed as coin strikers starting from the fourteenthcentury.In the medieval ages the Armenians were the most commerciallyoriented nationality and settled predominantly in main trading centers.In the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries Lvov was one of the three mainArmenian centers of Europe, along with Venice and Amsterdam. Armenians helped make Lvov a desirable center of international trade asthey had no equals as the organizers of trade with the Orient, particularlywith Crimea. In their travels they used the Tatar route to Kaffa and inthe fifteenth century the Moldavian route. The Armenians had a monopolyn the organization of trade caravans, their services were soughtsince they had a profound knowledge of the Orient, its customs andlanguages. The head of the caravan was always an Armenian, whocarried the title of karavanbasha and had absolute power during thetrip. The caravans had the right of extra-territoriality and were protected by the trade treaties between Poland and Turkey.159The Armenian trade was entirely oriented towards the East. In thesixteenth-seventeenth centuries they dealt with goods called "Armenianoods," which were above all luxury objects, carpets, embroideries, armsadorned with precious stones, jewelry, raw silk, kamkas and orientalspices pepper, ginger, saffron and nutmeg. Armenians were oftenemployed by Poles as diplomatic interpreters or customs officials. SomeArmenian merchants owned so-called "rich shops" (institntiae) inLvov, i.e., large stores in the center of the market square. In 1588, ofthe thirty-eight existing large stores, Armenians owned twenty-two,while Catholic merchants owned nine and Kuthenians seven.160 Armenian rade with Constantinople is attested by the letter from SultanSuleyman I to King Sigismund I of June 27-July 5, 1540. The subjectof the letter is the matter of inheritance after deceased Constantinoplemerchant Elmir who dealt in camlet {ciambelloto, the fabric made fromgoat and camel wool in Asia Minor) and cloth.161


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364 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIThe previously mentioned Sefer Muratowicz worked for two Armenianmerchants, Murat Kierymowicz and Norberg Popowicz. The main seatof trade was in Lvov; their business contacts, however, reached Constantinople, Muscovy and even England. They kept an uninterrupted tie

with Warsaw and at the same time visited fairs in Lublin, Jaroslaw,Kamenets-Podol'sk, Torun', Danzig and other Polish cities. Their merchandise included silk carpets, samite (zlotoglow), doublets (kaftany),horsecloth (czaprak), Russian leather (skora juchtowa) and Tatar herbsamong other things. In the spring of 1601, Sefer Muratowicz left forthe Persian city of Kashan which was famous for its oriental carpets.Muratowicz's records mention the goods he brought back from Persia;besides the carpets for King Sigismund III, there were outer garments(wielence), kerchiefs woven with gold, musk, small bells of damask steel.The cost of the goods totaled 876 thalers.162A Lvovian merchant, Furek Iwaszkowicz, bought in Constantinoplein 1593 several thousand thalers worth of goods, such as silk, saffron,pepper and other oriental articles which he sent to Lvov to his brotherZachariasz Iwaszkowicz. The latter again sent Gabriel Kaprius toTurkey, who was supposed to buy silks, carpets, morocco and brocadesfor 14,919 thalers. The caravans of brothers Iwaszkowicz followed viaMoldavia to Lvov for several years.163The prosperity of Armenian colony in Lvov is also attested by reportsof the travellers. The image of the prosperous community was renderedby Ghillebert de Lannoy, who travelled through Lvov in 142 1164 as wellas in later times by Armenian traveller Simeon Lekhatsi (Leatsi) whovisited Lvov in the 1620's. Simeon described Armenians of Lvov asfollows: "In the city stood seventy Armenian houses. In each housethere were two or three tauntery (city seniors); outside of (the city) stoodsixty houses. The townsmen were rich and reverend, magnificent andworthy as princes, stately and azvaury (noble), they were dressed in richclothes of kamkas, wool, red fabric and cloth, their hats were made ofvelvet (trimmed) with fur."165Many Armenian merchants made great fortunes in Lvov. In themid-seventeenth century the income of 147 Armenian families wasvalued at 3,200,000 zlotys, while one Jan Warteresowicz had a fortuneof 600,000 zlotys.166 Christophor Bernatowicz was able to loan to KingVladislas IV 300,000 zlotys, one-third in gold, one-third in silver andone-third in copper.167 At the same time the income of the richestCatholic Jan Alternmayer was appraised at 120,000 zlotys. During thesiege of Lvov in 1648 the Armenian community was able to pay Khmel-nitsky the ransom money of 91,423 zlotys.168The other Armenian communities in Poland were in Kamenets (exactdate of founding unknown, however, in 1344 Casimir the Great concededto the Kamenets community the right to Armenian court.) 16e Kamenetscontained the most important Armenian colony after Lvov. TheKamenets community had three Armenian churches (first one, St . Nicholas, as constructed in 1394). Towards the middle of the sixteenthcentury this colony had its school and its bishop. In 1575 there werethree hundred families in Kamenets.170 In 1600 the colony numbered1,200 families who possessed nine hundred houses.171 The colony


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 365received privileges from Vladislas Jagellon, John Albrecht (1491) andStephen Bathory (1576). The Armenians had their mayor, eight consuls,forty "men of confidence" and their city hall.After the Turks took Kamenets in 1672, the Armenian communitydiminished; some families found refuge in Lvov, some 121 families inMacedonia.The other cities with Armenian communities were Bar (the Armenianswere granted the privileges in 1540), Lutsk (colony formed in 1400),Zamo (1585), Iazlovets (1600), Sniatyn (1630). There used to beArmenian colonies in Jaroslaw (which disappeared at the end of theseventeenth century), Galich, Vladimir Volynskii, Lublin (disappearedin the eighteenth century). In Bessarabia, Armenian colonies numberedamong them Akkerman, Izmail, Bendery; in Vallachia the colonies wereGalami, Vaslui, Khotin and Urman.Despite their relatively small numbers Armenians constituted thesecond most important group in Lvov after Catholics. Despite theirstatus as second-class citizens (with no political rights, Armenian eldershad to take an annual oath of loyalty to the city council and had restrictedresidency until 1630) Armenians contributed a large part to Lvov'sdevelopment. Protected by the policy of Polish kings, they were anisolated ethnic group in the sixteenth-century Lvov and in the seventeenth century upon the union with Rome, became quickly polonizedand assimilated.In the late sixteenth century the Armenians lost their dominant position in international trade to Jewish merchants who became prevalent inLvov's oriental commerce.

IVThe situation of the Jews, as already mentioned, was very differentfrom the position of Armenians in Lvov. Due, at first glance, to theirreligious adherence, Jews in medieval Poland were never regarded ascitizens (burghers) of Lvov. Settled there by decrees of Polish kings andfulfilling an economic role which was not taken up by any other nationality,he situation of Jews was similar but not identical with that of"serfs of the treasury" (servi camerae) in Germany and Austria.172The separation of the Jewish community from other nationalities wasdue not only to its religious denomination (non-Christian) but also to itsspecial economic role in the Polish Kingdom. The Jews constituted anautonomous religious and legal community subjected only to the king orlater to the local lords (magnates). The king or the great lords acted asprotectors of Jewry and at the same time as ultimate masters ofJewish wealth, factual companions in income of Jewish financiers, beneficiaries of special taxes on Jews and of their many credit operations.Settled by the king in autonomous cities with Magdeburgian Law, theJews had to work out also some practical arrangement of coexistence withthe burghers who guarded jealously their citizenship monopoly.173The Jews arrived in what was later known as Red Ruthenia (East

Galicia, Podolia) as early as the eleventh century, but because of lack of


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366 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIconcrete documentation the history of the Jewish community in Lvovcan be examined only beginning with the fourteenth century.174First mention of Lvov's Jews came down to us in the privilege ofCasimir the Great granting Magdeburgian Law to the city of Lvov in1356. m According to this charter the Jews were given the legal optionof being judged cither on the basis of Magdeburgian Law or on the basisof Jewish (Talmudic-rabbinical) law under the supervision of the cityjudge (wjt). In practice, however, th e cases in which both parties wereJewish were subject to rabbinical courts, while the cases involvingChristians and Jews were going to the court of the under-wojewoda(sad podwojewodzinski) only when the defendant was a Jew. If thedefendant was a Christian, the type of the court depended upon the socialstatus of the defendant. So, for instance, burghers were referred to thecity bench, while nobility (szlachta) were taken up to the royal court atfirst instance administrated by the starosta (sad grodzki).1

In 1367 Casimir granted to the Jews of Lvov the same privileges,which were confirmed earlier for the Jews of Little Poland (statute of 1334,Wislica statute of 1347). 177 On the basis of this privilege Jews weregranted internal autonomy, freedom of worship and state protectionagainst persecution. Jews had to pay taxes directly to the royal treasury,had the right to travel and trade in Polish provinces and were subjectedonly to royal jurisdiction.Legally the Jews of Lvov as elsewhere in Poland were not servicamerae of the German or Austrian type, but rather free, protected and atthe same time dependent people; historically, however, the evolution ofthe status of Jews was tending from the former freer situation to the laterdependency of the type mentioned above.178 In practice during thediscussed period, the Jewish (rabbinical) court was in charge of civil casesbetween Jews, while criminal cases against Jews as well as cases betweenJews and Christians fell under the jurisdiction of Polish courts. Thetype of court, as stated previously, depended upon the social status of thedefendant.During this period the King's Court itself and the High Criminal Courtin the seventeenth century acted as courts of appeals in cases involvingJews. In 1571, for instance, a royal decision was issued in a case betweena Lvov burgher, a certain Matthews, and the widow of Jacob Tatarian,a Lvov Jew.179In some cases the city authorities of Lvov tried to usurp jurisdictionover Jews and to try them for felonies. This caused clashes with theroyal jurisdiction. In 1554 a royal ordinance prohibited the Lvov citymagistrate from putting Jews on trial, since it was the prerogative of theking's governor in Red Russia.180From the mid-sixteenth century Jewish communities in Poland developed an autonomous organization with judicial functions called theCouncil of Four Lands with courts in every town inhabited by Jews andappellate courts for each of the four provinces: Great Poland, LittlePoland, Red Russia or Podolia and Volhynia.191 The appellate court forthe province of Red Russia was located in Lvov, and that for Volhynia

and Ukraine in Ostrog. All civil cases among Jews were decided by


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 367provincial judges chosen by the Council, complicated matters regardingfines, priority of ownership, etc., were judged by the leaders of theCouncil themselves who acted as a High Court of Appeals. In theseventeenth century the Council met twice a year; during the spring fairat Lublin and during the early autumn fair in Jaroslaw. With the emergence of the Council of Four Lands (separately existed also a Council ofLithuanian Jews) the Jewry in Poland centralized into one agency manyof the former activities of the separate communities, such as defence ofJewish rights at the King's Court and before the Polish Diet (sejm),collection of state taxes paid by Jews (poll-tax, tax on behalf of thekahal organization, the so-called powrotne tax),182 regulation of religiouspractices and some other. Before that time each community dealt withthose affairs on their own.The organization of the local Jewish communities in Poland wasmodeled after the structure of city autonomy according to MagdeburgianLaw. It was hierarchical with eiders (seniores) recognized by theauthorities. The seniores were usually the wealthiest members of theJewish population. In Lvov existed two Jewish communities: onewithin the city walls (urban), the other outside the city walls but stillwithin the city limits (suburban), with separate administration (kahal).For the second half of the sixteenth century the following most prominentJewish elders were attested: Isaac Nachmanowicz (1565-1595), senior ofthe urban kahal, David Alexander, senior of the suburban kahal, AbrahamWolfowicz (suburb), Marc Izakowicz (city, from 1588) and his brotherNachman Izakowicz and a certain Moses who represented the urbancommunity at the King's residence.183 Isaac Nachmanowicz was a financier,money-lender giving loans to nobles up to 3,200 florins and a leaseholder of royal and city revenues.184 Since the kahal offices were inherited y the richest families, the Jewish communities practically wereruled by an oligarchy which had almost unlimited power regarding allaspects of Jewish life including taxation, trade, finances, right to petitionthe authorities.185The older Jewish community in Lvov and also the poorer was thecommunity founded in the suburb called Krakowskie Podzamche in 1352outside the city walls. There was a prayer-house which burned in 1624and a cemetery used until 1855. The same cemetery was also used by theKaraites. 18e After the great fire of Lvov, Casimir founded a new city inthe dell above the Peltev River and granted to its inhabitants Magde-burgian Law, as already mentioned. The newer and richer Jewish community was located within the new city occupying its southeastern part.From 1383 there is mention of a Jewish street which had 60 houses anda synagogue, the oldest attested in the sources, which was also the mainsynagogue of the city until 1582 and the residence of the Jewish court.Across the street from the synagogue, Jewish shops and slaughterhouseswere located.187 Soon the wealthier families moved from the suburb tothe city attracted by consideration of safety, better prospects for autonomy nd trade activities. At the end of the sixteenth century the twocommunities became completely separated and each created its own rabbinate and rabbinical court.188

With the spread of urban colonization and Magdeburgian Law in the


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368 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIRed Russian provinces, Jews from Poland, Silesia (where in 1350 Jewishcommunities existed in at least 33 cities), and also those from Germanyand Bohemia, moved East. Jewish settlements emerged in Lubomla(between 1372-1382), Drohobych (1404), Podhajce (1420), Krosno (1426),Halich (1436), and Belz (1439). The new settlements became populousand important, so that the Jewish population in Red Russia soon numbered one-third of all the Jewish inhabitants of medieval Poland. Correspondingly, Lvov's Jewry became the most significant, if not in numbers,certainly in wealth. In the beginning of the sixteenth century Lvov'sJewry paid the largest sum of yearly tax (300 zlotys) of all Jewish communities in Poland.189As a rule Jews settled primarily in Crown cities, rarely in privatecities from the end of the sixteenth century, not being admitted at all tocities belonging to the church, which from around 1420 became activelyanti-Jewish. The church generated anti-semitic feelings among theCatholic population, endorsing a complete ban on Jews for city government oles and the attempts of some elements among the nobility tocancel financial indebtedness to Jewish money-lenders.At the beginning of the sixteenth century jews lived in every fourthcity in Red Russia, with the largest settlements in Lvov and Belz. In1550, 352 Jews lived in Lvov in 29 houses within the city walls, while 559lived in 52 houses outside the walls. In 1578, there were 1,500 Jews inLvov as computed from the registers of poll-tax. Seventy-eight Jewishfamilies were counted in the center of Lvov, 103 families in the suburb,15 families living in the so-called Podgrodzie and approximately 50 families nder private jurisdiction (the count is based on the figure of a six-person family).190The exile of Jews from Cologne, Spire, Augsburg, Magdeburg inGermany during the years 1426-1450, Breslau in Silesia (1453), Prague inBohemia (1485) and Spain (1492) generated new waves of Jewish immigration to the East. Some of the immigrants reached Red Russia andLvov in particular. Following the arrival of Jews from Spain, Lvovreceived a number of physicians, pharmacists and scientists. In 1520-1530, Jews from Bohemia, Hungary and Germany appeared in Lvov. Atthe very beginning of the sixteenth century Lvov received a number ofLithuanian Jews expelled by Alexander Jagellon in 1495, although theywere soon allowed to return to Lithuania (1503). Later, Jews immigratedfrom some Polish cities after 1538, when these received the "privilege ofnot tolerating Jews" (privilegium de non tolerandis judeis), which madethem forbidden cities to Jews with the exception of short visits duringfairs. In 1538, the total Jewish population in Red Russia was approximately ,500, while in 1578 it rose to 17,900. With its 1,500 Jews, Lvovsheltered about one-twelfth of all the Jewish population of Red Russia.191The main occupations of Jews were trade, financial operations, handicraft nd the leaseholding of small farms, mills, malthouses, breweries andtaverns as well as the collection of state and city taxes. Because of thepolicy of the Catholic burghers in Lvov to control the economic life ofthe city, the Jewish community was in constant struggle over the right totrade and engage in crafts.

In 1453, Casimir Jagellon granted to Lvov Jews the right to trade in


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 369Poland. As early as 1484, the Lvov burghers complained that Jews wereviolating the city's staple right. In 1488-1490, the same king had forbidden the Jews to trade in woolens. In 1493, King John Albrecht restricted Jewish trade to two wholesale items: woolen cloth and livestock.As for woolens, while the former ban on retail trade was still valid, theJews were allowed to travel to any fairs in order to exchange 1 ,000 headsof cattle for woolen cloth, however, they could sell cloth only in two places,Przemysl and Jaroslaw, and only in the quantity of 500 lengths wholesalein each place.192In 1503-1505, Alexander Jagellon granted the Jews the right of freetrade as well as the right to benefit from tax reductions bestowed uponother citizens. King Sigismund I confirmed in 1515 the right of freetrade with the following restrictions, which, nevertheless, were improvingthe legal trade position of the Jews; first, Jews could sell cloth at retailduring fairs only (lifting, at least partially, the ban on retail sale issuedby Casimir Jagellon) and secondly, Jews could sell or buy only 2,000 headsof cattle per year. However, in 1521 the same king repealed this privilege n the following charter: (a) Jews could not maintain shops in theirhouses, (b ) Jews were allowed to sell woolens in wholesale lengths onlyduring the Lvov fairs and elsewhere at retail either for cash or in exchangefor cattle or raw hides of cattle, (c) Jews were not permitted to trade othergoods, and (d) during fairs, Jews could only sell hides, cattle and wax, butwere not allowed to buy those items.193In response, Jewish trade moved from the city to the suburban community of Lvov until 1527, when King Sigismund forbade practically alltrade activities by Jews in that suburb for two years. At the same timeGdansk forbade Jews to enter the city so that they could only visit itduring the local fairs. But the situation in Lvov was different, since theking was not interested in completely destroying the economic role ofJews; and after a fire of that same year, which caused great damage tothe Jews, he exempted them from taxes for five years.194Despite these and other imposed obstacles, Jewish trade grew andplayed an important economic role. In 1534-1535, Jewish cattle tradeamounted to 32,5 percent of Lvov's total cattle trade, while in 1539-1540 the Jewish share in cattle trade topped 54.2 percent of thisbusiness.195In 1578, King Stephen Bathory gave Jews in Lvov the privilege offree trade on an equal footing with other merchants.196 As a result theCity Council was compelled in 1581 to conclude a trade agreement foreight years with the Lvov Jews (Pacta judaica).191 On the basis of thisagreement Jews were allowed to trade in Turkish goods. The idea was tostir up competition between Lvov's Jews and the Turkish merchantsamong whom Jews also were prevailing. There is a preserved list ofmerchandise from 1577 to 1582 under the title "Short description of goodswhich city Jews and suburban Jews carried to Lvov from Germany, aswell as Lvov to the border (i.e., Sniatyn), also to Kamieniec. "198 Accordingo this list, exchange with the East included raw hides, moroccos,velvet, silk taffetas, raw silk and silk fabrics, woolens, Turkish sheepskincoats, sacks, blankets, carpets and spices. From the West, Jews importedknives, Nuremberg iron goods, saltpeter, scythes. From other sources


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370 ELEONORA NADEL-GOLOBIwe know that they brought also nails, copper, Moravian and Nurembergcloth (see Appendix 2, table 4).The trade policy of Lvov and the other medieval Polish cities aimedat creating a restricted type of a Jewish merchant active only during thefairs who would not become a competitor for city merchants. Besidesfairs in Lvov from the end of the fifteenth century, fairs were also held inSniatyn, Kolomyja for Moldavian goods, Lublin, Kamenets for Rutheniangoods, as well as in Jaroslaw, Przemysl, Tarnopol', Zlochev, Buchach,Trembovlia, Jazlovets, Ostrog, Bar for regional or local goods. In spiteof partial support by the royal authority prior to and after Bathory'sreign, the burghers failed to achieve their goal in complete suppression ofJewish trade. In 1589, Sigismund III restricted Jewish trade in the cityand in 1591 returned to the tenor of the charter of 1521 excluding thesuburban Jews consistently from trade activities. Nevertheless, thetrade agreement of 1592 concluded between the city authorities and theJews for the next eight years depicts a situation, where both sides werewilling to compromise, not insisting on the letter of royal legislation andconflicting interpretations of the parties involved. According to thePacta of 1592 the following trade agreement was reached:1991. (a) Jews could sell certain goods to Lvov burghers at all timesand not only during the fairs.(b) As to goods barred from Jewish trade, if bought by Jews inLvov, they could, however, be resold by them.(c ) As to goods of southern and oriental trade, Jews were permitted to sell them to Lvov's burghers at any time, to outsiders onlyduring the fairs. This category included: Italian silk fabrics, furs andhides, Turkish goods, Moldavian goods.2. During the fairs Jews were permitted to trade all goods with theexception of merchandise brought from Austrian lands (rakusskie towary)and Nuremberg (tin, copper, iron, steel and nails). Jews could trade intallow.3. Jews were obliged to observe Lvov's staple rights. They had towait a week before they could buy merchandise brought to the city. Theywere not allowed to form partnerships with Jews living outside the city orwith foreigners.The agreements on trade concluded between the city of Lvov and thelocal Jews, in spite of their temporary character, covered a period of morethan fifty years (1581, 1592, 1629) and were a testimony to the relativeimportance of Jewish trade in Lvov. The renewal of these contracts wasusually accompanied by protest from the townsmen, but the rulingpatriciate, for self-interest and interest of the entire city, considered themuseful and indispensable.The Jews were prevalent in cattle trade, trade of hides, furs, honey,wax, tallow and red dye.2o Especially important was the Jewish sharein cattle trade as attested by the Custom Rolls of Grdek near Lvov (seeAppendix 2, table 3): 44.5 percent in 1546, 37.2 percent in 1547, 46.9 percent in 1548 and 63.3 percent in 1549.The jews had an important role also in international trade. At theend of the sixteenth century Lvov's trade with Constantinople was inJewish hands. Turkish Jews received trade privileges in Lvov in 1567-


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ARMENIANS AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL LVOV 37I1570. Those Jews were personal trade representatives of Don JosephNasi, Duke of Naxos, a former Portuguese Marrano who became animportant Ottoman statesman. It is interesting that King SigismundAugust in granting these privileges curtailed the prior existing prerogativesf the Lvov burghers and caused a conflict with the Piotrkow Dietwhich supported them, while the Lvov Jews sided with the Lvov burghersagainst the Turkish Jews. Some of the Turkish Jews even settled inLvov. One of the Turkish traders, Jacob Sydis of Constantinople, boughta house in Lvov. He was also in litigation with a rich Lvov Italian, PeroGalanthus over a contract breach.201The trade concession given to Don Nasi's representatives concernedthe trade of Mediterranean wine from Greece, Sicily, and the islands Parosand Naxos called malmazya (malmsey). During three years (1567-1569)those representatives of Don Nasi, Chaim Cohen and Abraham de Mosso,sold in Lvov 377 kufa of malmazya worth 33,000 flor ens approximately,212 kufa of muscatel wine worth about 30,000 florens and other goodsfor 5,000 florens. Again in one year (from May 25, 1569 to May 25, 1570)they brought to Lvov 374 kufa of malmazya, 70 kufa of muscatel andother goods costing 5,000 florens. Owing to their privileges, the Turkishtraders saved in Lvov at least 1,000 florens on custom duties. In 1587,Mordechai Cohen, son of Abraham, received from the Turkish Sultan themonopoly of wine export to Poland and settled in Lvov. His olderbrother Moshe de Mosso Cohen participated in the wine trade residingtemporarily in Zamo and commuting between Constantinople, Zamoand Lvov. Moshe in a letter complains to his brother Mordechai abouthindrances made by the Lvov burghers in his trade activities. He characterizes also the hostile attitude of Lvov Jews and calls them "Our (jealous)ogs." He mentions also the invitation of Chancellor Jan Zamojski forTurkish Jews to settle in the new founded city of Zamo.202The trade venture of the brothers de Mosso Cohen in Lvov led to theirbankruptcy and even imprisonment of Moshe for a few days. One of thereasons was their lack of cash and borrowing money at very high ratesfrom Lvov lenders of 50 to 150 percent, another was the growing rate oftolls imposed by the various customs along the route Lvov-Constantinopley land; the third and decisive, however, the growth of maritimetrade and shipping of Mediterranean win