Jewish Goldsmiths in Early modern Prague: A paper on Immigrations, labour Mobility and socio-ekonomic Relations in 16th-Century Prague Jewish Society.
2021
Abstract
This paper focuses on the topic of Jewish goldsmiths in early modern Prague who constituted a small but highly specialized professional group of artisans in the local Jewish society. It describes the legal conditions under which guild-organized Christians could practise goldsmithing, and compares them with the legislative pre-requisites under which Jews were allowed to engage in this profession.
At the same time the study seeks to capture the broader cultural and social framework of the lives of Jewish goldsmiths in the Prague metropolis, which was shaped not only by solely professional, financial and business relationships, but also by other personal contacts both within their own community and in various Christian social strata.