Official Discussions about the Toleration of Jews in Bohemia:
Official Discussions about the Toleration of Jews in Bohemia:

On the Circumstances Surrounding the Issuance of the so-called Edict of Toleration in 1781

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with the Josephinian policy of toleration towards the Jews of Bohemia and aims to clarify in detail the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the Court Decree (Hofdekret) of 19 October 1781 (the so-called Edict of Toleration) for the Jews of Bohemia – the Habsburg Monarchy’s first key document in the sense of Joseph II’s renowned Handbillet of 13 May 1781. On the basis of newly found sources in the National Archives in Prague, it sets out the official discussions that took place in Bohemia’s highest provincial authority (the Bohemian Gubernium) and the discussions between this office and the central authorities in Vienna, which, in 1781, accompanied the promotion of Joseph II’s policy of Jewish toleration. It complements and corrects the results of previous research, which is almost exclusively based on sources of Viennese provenance. It also reveals the mechanisms for implementing the Josephinian reforms, specifically the nature of the interaction between the monarch, the court authorities, and the provincial authorities. In addition, it furthers our knowledge of an understanding of the Jewish question in Enlightenment circles in Bohemia at the end of the 18th century. It shows that between Joseph II’s Handbillet and the issuance of the Court Decree of 19 October 1781 for the Jews of Bohemia, there emerged a lively debate in the Bohemian Gubernium on the intentions declared by the emperor, which saw a clash of completely contradictory opinions, the most progressive of which ultimately prevailed, including views on the toleration of Bohemian Jews that went further than the monarch was willing to accept.

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