Metadata: Incunabula
Collection
- Country:
- Austria
- Holding institution:
- Tyrolean Regional Archive
- Holding institution (official language):
- Tiroler Landesarchiv
- Postal address:
- Michael-Gaismair-Straße 1; 6020 Innsbruck
- Phone number:
- 0043 512 508 3502
- Web address:
- https://www.tirol.gv.at/kunst-kultur/landesarchiv/
- Email:
- landesarchiv@tirol.gv.at
- Reference number:
- Mischbestände - Inkunabeln (Frühdrucke)
- Title:
- Incunabula
- Title (official language):
- Inkunabeln (Frühdrucke)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Möser, Karl
- Date(s):
- 1470/1530
- Date note:
- ca. 1475-1530
- Language:
- Latin
- German
- Extent:
- 2 boxes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection “Incunabula” is a non-Jewish collection with a small number of Jewish-related documents. It covers the period from about 1475 to 1530 and includes documents of law, such as printed regulations and announcements of the Tyrolean sovereigns, e.g. the territorial law code (“Tiroler Landesordnung”) which was printed in the beginning of the 16th century. Furthermore, one may find the regulation of the Superior Court of Justice (“Kammergerichtsordnung”) from 7 August 1495, which includes information about different regulations concerning the court, such as the conference site, funding and the composition of its staff. Emperor Maximilian I was the founder of the Superior Court of Justice as well as the highest authority. Cf. Beimrohr, Das Tiroler Landesarchiv und seine Bestände, 62; Cf. Ralph Glücksmann, Die Reichskammergerichtsordnung vom 7. August 1495 (http://www.smixx.de/ra/Reichskammergerichtsordnung_1495.pdf)
The collection also includes further records from the early 16th century such as indulgences, announcements of Emperor Maximilian I referring to the Turkish Wars or concerning the war with Venice. Additionally, there are resolutions by the Landtag, conferments of privileges and rights, summoning of Imperial Diets (“Reichstag”) as well as mandates of Emperor Ferdinand I directed to the territorial estates. Referring to Jewish life, there is at least one printed document, in Latin, with the title „De Vultu deus votum meum prodeat“ (“Let the vote determine”) of 1478. It is a trial document with eight pages about the execution process of the Jewish Community in Trent, because of their accusation of murdering the child known as Simon of Trent. (In brief: Simon, a three-year-old boy, went missing on 24 March 1475. His dead body, covered in many wounds, was found in a moat which lead to the river Etsch. Said moat flowed through the cellar of Samuel, a member of the Jewish community. The accused community consisted of three households: Samuel, Tobias and Engel, who first arrived in Trent in 1461 and were thus recent immigrants. The members of the Jewish community had the permission to stay in Trent and to practice their professions, but they were dependent on protection by the authorities of Trent. Because of Simon’s death the entire Jewish community was accused of ritual murder. The members of the community were arrested and forced by torture to confess to the murder. All men of the Community were executed by January 1475, except for the disabled cook Salomon. At the same time, trials of the women of the community were also initiated. They were brutally tortured and some did not survive this cruelty. Simultaneously, the community’s whole property was confiscated by Hinderbach, the bishop of Trent. The fate of the surviving women and children is unknown. This is an instance of “blood libel”, the myth of Jews who killed Christian children to use their blood for their rituals, which was very widespread at the time. (Cf. Albrich (ed.), Jüdisches Leben im historischen Tirol, Vol. 1 Vom Mittelalter bis 1805, 109-129.)
- Archival history:
- This collection was transferred to the Tyrolean Regional Archive as part of the regular document transfer process stipulated by national archival regulations.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The collection “Incunabula” includes documents of different administrative departments which were collected and described by Karl Moeser in the year 1930. Moeser (1877-1963) was a historian and an archivist at the Tyrolean Regional Archive. (Cf. Beimrohr, Das Tiroler Landesarchiv und seine Bestände, 62.)
- Access points: locations:
- Tyrol
- Access points: persons/families:
- Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1459-1519
- Simon, of Trent
- Subject terms:
- Blood libel
- Civil rights
- Legal matters
- Nobility
- Plunder
- Privileges
- Access, restrictions:
- Public access
- Finding aids:
- Finding aid: Rep. B 454. NB: Most of the catalogues of the Tyrolean Regional Archive include not only content registers but also subject indices. These can be searched for terms such as “Juden” (“Jews”), “Judentum” (“Judaism“), “Judenschaft” (“Judaism”), “Israeliten” (Israelites) and “Hebräer” (Hebrews). Usually there are numbers next to the entries concerning Jewish matters, which are needed to find the records in the register. The next step is to look up the number in the content registers to get a first impression of the written sources. Documents of interest can be ordered with their reference number for further consultation.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Rebecca Muršec, June 2017
