Statute of Kalisz

The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the

Statute of Kalisz was issued by the Duke of Greater
Poland Boleslaus the Pious on September 8, 1264 in
Kalisz.

summoned, nor shall the Jew make answer before the judge in the ecclesiastical court, but the
Jew shall appear before his palatine appointed
for that term, and furthermore the aforesaid
palatine, along with our governor for that term,
shall be required to defend and protect that Jew,
and prohibit his responding to the summons of
the ecclesiastical court. No Christian is to accuse
a Jew of blood libel.

The statute granted Jews unprecedented legal rights in

Europe, including exclusive jurisdiction over Jewish matters to Jewish courts, and established a separate tribunal for other criminal matters involving Christians and
Jews. The statute was ratied by subsequent Polish Kings:
Casimir III of Poland in 1334, Casimir IV of Poland in
1453, and Sigismund I of Poland in 1539.

36. ... Jews are allowed to purchase any items,

as well as to touch bread and other food.

Following are abridged and translated excerpts from the

forty-six chapters of the Statute of Kalisz:[1]

11. ... For striking a Jew, the usual punishment

in the country shall apply.

In the 1920s, Polish-Jewish artist and activist Arthur Szyk

(18941951) illuminated the Statute of Kalisz in a cycle
of 45 watercolor and gouache miniature paintings. In addition to the original Latin, Szyk translated the text of the
Statute into Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish, Italian, German,
English, and Spanish.[2] In 1929, Szyks Statute miniatures were exhibited throughout Poland, namely in Lodz,
Warsaw, Krakw, and Kalisz.[3] With support from the
Polish government, selections of the Statute miniatures
were exhibited in Geneva in 1931,[4] once again in Poland
as part of a 14-city tour in 1932,[5] in London in 1933,[6]
in Toronto in 1940,[7] and in New York in 1941 and then,
without government patronage, in New York in 1944,
1952, and 1974-75.[8] In 1932, the Statute of Kalisz was
published by ditions de la Table Rode de Paris as a collectors luxury limited edition of 500.[9] Szyks original
miniatures are now in the holdings of the Jewish Museum
(New York).[10]

13. ... Jews shall not pay for the transport of

their dead.

1 See also

1. ...Should a Jew be taken to court, not only

a Christian must testify against him, but also a
Jew, in order for the case to be considered valid.
2. ... If any Christian shall sue a Jew, asserting that he has pawned securities with him, and
the Jew denies it, then if the Christian refuses to
accept the simple word of the Jew, the Jew by
taking oath must be free of the Christian.
10. ... As punishment for killing a Jew, a suitable punishment and conscation of property is
necessary.

History of the Jews in Kalisz

17. ...Any Jew may freely and securely walk or

ride without any let or hindrance in our realm.
They shall pay customary tolls just as other
Christians do, and nothing else.

Warsaw Confederation
Religious toleration
Human rights in Poland

22. ... If any of the Christians rashly and presumptuously jeers at their synagogues, such a
Christian shall be required to pay and must pay
to our palatine their guardian two talents of pepper as punishment.

2 References
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, Jews in Poland. A Documentary History, Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1998,
ISBN 0-7818-0604-6.

30. ... No Christian may summon any Jew into

the ecclesiastical court in any way whatsoever,
or for whatever property or summons he be

http://wwwg.uni-klu.ac.at/eeo/Kalisz_Statut
1

[1] The Statute of Kalish of Bolesaw the Pious for Jews in

1264
[2] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Art and
Politics of Arthur Szyk
[3] Ansell, Joseph P. Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole. Portland:
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2004. 62.
[4] Ansell 71.
[5] Ansell 74.
[6] Ansell 77.
[7] Ansell 118.
[8] Ansell 121, 126, 234, 237.
[9] Ansell 59-60.
[10] Widmann, Katja and Johannes Zechner. Arthur Szyk Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror. Berlin:
Deutsches Historisches Museum, 2008.

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

3.1

Text

Statute of Kalisz Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Kalisz?oldid=664904943 Contributors: Piotrus, Ttyre, Pearle, Kosher

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3.2

Images

3.3

Content license

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