Parchment Production by Jews in Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages

Abstract

Until recently, the common assumption was that the Medieval Jews in Germany were mainly merchants and money lenders, and that guilds of various crafts prohibited Jews from joining their guild. Yet recent scholarship reveals more and more the existence of Jewish craftsmen. This paper presents the craft of parchment production, which at the beginning of the Middle Ages was in the hands of non-Jews only, and toward the late Middle Ages became a craft in which that Jews engaged, even as members of the guild. This shift stemmed from two processes. The first was halachic: More and more halachic scholars approved medieval technologies of parchment production with lime, regardless of Talmudic instruction to use gall and flour. In addition to the halachic change, there was a change in the power of the guilds and their ability to prohibit Jews from joining, due to economic changes.