Statute of Kalisz
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The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the Statute of Kalisz, and the Kalisz Privilege, granted
Jews in the Middle Ages History of European Jews in the Middle Ages covers Jewish history in the period from the 5th to the 15th century. During the course of this period, the Jewish population gradually shifted from their homeland in the Levant to Europe, primarily C ...
special protection and positive discrimination in
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when they were being persecuted in
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. These rights included exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to
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courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and Jews designed to favour Jewish people. It led to the formation of a Jewish 'state within a state', which attracted Jewish immigrants from across Europe to Poland, which became the center of the world's Jewish community for centuries. The statute was issued by the Duke of
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...
Bolesław the Pious on September 8, 1264 in
Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
. It was then ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: Casimir III in 1334, Casimir IV in 1453, and Sigismund I in 1539. Jews in Poland were freemen rather than serfs, and so further enjoyed the country's religious toleration codified by the
Warsaw Confederation The Warsaw Confederation, signed on 28 January 1573 by the Polish national assembly (''sejm konwokacyjny'') in Warsaw, was one of the first European acts granting religious freedoms. It was an important development in the history of Poland and o ...
of 1573. The Polish aristocracy developed a unique social contract with Jews, who operated as arendators running businesses such as mills and breweries, and certain bureaucratic tasks to the exclusion of non-Jews, especially tax collection. After Poland expanded into
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, the introduction of the system was a partial cause of the
Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
' anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic
Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian language, Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніц ...
of 1648.


Excerpts

Following are abridged and translated excerpts from the 36 clauses of the Statute of Kalisz:


Accusations of forgery

Some Polish researchers, such as the pro-Russian
Romuald Hube Romuald Hube (1803–September 1890) was a Polish law scholar. Romuald Hube studied in Warsaw, then listened to the lectures of Savigny, Hegel, Steffens, Boeckh, and Ritters in Berlin. In 1825 he became a lecturer of general legal history at the ...
, having analyzed source documents and claimed that both the original and its authenticated copies could not be found and that the text was a 15th-century forgery done for political purposes.


20th-century edition

In the 1920s, Polish-Jewish artist and activist
Arthur Szyk Arthur Szyk (Polish: artur ʃɪk June 16, 1894 – September 13, 1951) was a Polish artist who worked primarily as a book illustration, book illustrator and political artist throughout his career. Arthur Szyk was born into a prosperous mi ...
(1894–1951) illuminated the Statute of Kalisz in a cycle of 45 watercolor and gouache miniature paintings. In addition to the original
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, Szyk translated the text of the Statute into
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, and
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. In 1929, Szyk's Statute miniatures were exhibited throughout Poland, namely in
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
,
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, and Kalisz. With support from the Polish government, selections of the Statute miniatures were exhibited in
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in 1931, once again in Poland as part of a 14-city tour in 1932, in
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in 1933, in
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in 1940, and in New York in 1941 and then, without government patronage, in New York in 1944, 1952, and 1974–75. In 1932, the Statute of Kalisz was published by Éditions de la Table Ronde de Paris as a collector's luxury limited edition of 500. Szyk's original miniatures are now in the holdings of the Jewish Museum (New York).Widmann, Katja and Johannes Zechner. ''Arthur Szyk – Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror.'' Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, 2008. File:Arthur Szyk (1894-1951). Statute of Kalisz, Jewish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (1927), Paris.jpg, Jewish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (1927) File:Arthur Szyk (1894-1951). Statute of Kalisz, English page (1927), Paris.jpg, English-language page (1927)


See also

* History of the Jews in Kalisz *
Warsaw Confederation The Warsaw Confederation, signed on 28 January 1573 by the Polish national assembly (''sejm konwokacyjny'') in Warsaw, was one of the first European acts granting religious freedoms. It was an important development in the history of Poland and o ...
*
Religious toleration Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
* Human rights in Poland


References

*
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski (3 September 1921 – 21 July 2016) was a Polish-born polymath and inventor with 50 patents to his credit. He was a civil and industrial engineer by profession, educated in Poland, Belgium, and the United States. He was al ...
, ''Jews in Poland. A Documentary History'', Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1998, . * http://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Kalisz_Statut {{reflist 1260s in law 1264 in Europe 13th century in Poland Jewish Polish history Legal history of Poland Kalisz