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Christians and Jews in 17th-Century Kraków. Selected Aspects of Economic Cooperation

100%

Kazusek S.

Kwartalnik Historii Żydow

2007

issue 2(222)

A considerable part of trade in Jewish Kraków involved cooperation with Christian merchants. This aspect of the exchange concerned both trading inside the city and domestic as well as international trade. Evidence of it could be seen in the establishment of commercial companies co-owned by Christian and Jews, joint shipments of goods, cooperation in commerce between merchants and factors, or by the renting of apartments from Kraków burghers by Jewish merchants, to use them as shops. Commercial companies set up with the participation of Jewish merchants from Kraków's Kazimierz district occasionally also established a presence in the countries bordering on Poland. The company set up by Salomon Wlochowicz can serve as one example of such an undertaking. Honey and feathers were the products most often supplied by the Jewish traders. Craftsmen accounted for a considerable proportion of the Kraków burghers engaged in trade with the Jewish population. Famous burghers, including aldermen, as well as Church milieux traded with Jewish merchants in Kraków in the 17th century. The arranging of joint shipments of goods in foreign and domestic trade attests to cooperation between Christian and Jewish merchants.

THE ROLE OF JEWS IN POLISH TRADE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY

63%

Guldon Z., Kazusek S.

Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

2004

vol. 52

issue 3

287-303

According to I. Schipper already in the second half of the 16th century Jews dominated in foreign trade and in many branches of domestic trade in Poland. The 1620s and 1630s witnessed a major credit crisis, which preceded a decline of trade in the mid 16th c. On the other hand, R. Rybarski concludes that in the mid 16th century the proportion of Jews in trade was generally low. According to the records of the Warsaw customs house from 1605-1651, Jews constituted only 6.2% of all the merchants. In 1604 Cracow had 47 Jewish merchants (9.8% of all the traders), whose turnover constituted less than 3% of the town's global exchange. Cracow customs records indicate that Jewish commodities were about 5% of all the cargos in 1593 and 9-10% in 1636. The article is based mainly on Cracow records from the years 1601-1604, 1615-1619, 1641-1645 and 1649-1651. In the years 1641-50 the number of Jewish cargos decreased in comparison with 1615-19. In 1649 470 Jewish cargos were registered in domestic trade and 115 in foreign trade. In 1650 347 cargos were recorded in domestic trade, including 98 in exchange with towns located in Little Poland, 68 with towns in Red Ruthenia, 29 with towns in Great Poland, 25 with towns in Mazovia and 127 with unspecified towns. The total number of cargos registered in that year was 4965. Cracow's trade with Leipzig in the years 1649-51 was monopolized by Scottish merchants from Cracow and Poznan. A more thorough analysis was undertaken of transactions between Jewish merchants from Sandomierz and Cracow. The dynamic development of the exchange is evidenced by the average annual numbers of cargos: 109 in 1593, 56 in 1636, 80 in 1601-1604, 132 in 1615-1619, 77 in 1641-1645 and 52 in 1649-1650. Throughout the period commerce was dominated by Christian (Polish and Scottish) merchants, with the exception of Opatów and Pinczów, where Jewish traders were the majority.The claim that in the mid 17th century Jewish trade was in decline is definitely exaggerated - there is clear counterevidence in the records of the customs house in Dybów near Torun (Thorn) from the years 1656-1658. In the last quarter of the 17th c. many Jewish merchants from Poland could be met at fairs in Leipzig and Wroclaw (Breslau). At that time Jews began to dominate in Polish commerce, especially in foreign trade.

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1 Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej

1 Kwartalnik Historii Żydow

1 2007

1 2004

2 Kazusek S.

1 Guldon Z.

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Christians and Jews in 17th-Century Kraków. Selected Aspects of Economic Cooperation

THE ROLE OF JEWS IN POLISH TRADE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY