Abbots – Canons – Bishops

The Gastein Valley (Austria) had belonged to Bavarian nobles and dukes for almost three hundred years when Archbishop Konrad IV (1291-1312) of Salzburg bought it back from the dukes of Bavaria in 1297. Dukes Otto and Stefan needed the 600 marks of silver and 600 pounds of new Regensburg pfennigs to pay their debts. The archbishop himself had to borrow money for the transaction – and both the dukes and the archbishop had borrowed from the Regensburg Jew Atschim.

In the document of 1 May 1297, Atschim and his brother Jacob confirmed the payment of 326 marks of silver to the dukes, and that the archbishop now only owed them 274 marks. The document was authenticated with the seal of the dean of Regensburg cathedral, Konrad von Ehrenfels.

The two lenders, Atschim and Jacob, also attached their seal. The circumscription reads:
חותם שיש לפטר ב''ר משה הלוי נ''ע
(Seal, belonging to Peter, son of Mr Mosches haLevi, may his soul rest in the Garden of Eden). Peter was the father of Atschim and Jacob. In other words, the brothers were using the seal of their father, who is named in the seal as already deceased. This is the oldest surviving Jewish seal from a German-speaking country.

It was not only the Archbishop of Salzburg who borrowed money from the Jews of Regensburg. So too did the Bishop of Regensburg and the canons. In the city law book, there is confirmation of repayment of debts of the men mentioned by Gamerit von Sarching to the Jew Gnendl, and also to Christian moneylenders. Numerous witnesses are listed.