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Belgium

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

managed

to settle again in the several communes. Not, however, till the middle of the fifteenth centurydo they reappear in Belgian history. One of their number, it is said, was chosen by the citizens of

Fifteenth.

and

Luxemburg Bon in 1444

to treat

with Philip

le

for the surrender of the

This would imply that there Following were some who even exercised an Centuries, influence on public affairs. But their castle.

position was at all times of a precarious nature. They possessed no legal status, and under the houses of Burgundy and Hainault they

were subjected

to heavy and special taxation. The right of residence had to be dearly paid for. Every Jew who entered Luxemburg had to pay, if on horseback, a sum of 5 sols, and if on foot 2-J- sols. Any one leaving the duchy was mulcted in 34 sols. Besides all manner of other restrictions, the Jews in many parts were compelled to wear a distinctive dress. Under the pressure of these influences it is no wonder that the native Jews gradually disappeared from the Belgian provinces. In 1477, by the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to the archduke Maximilian, son of Emperor Frederick IV. the Netherlands became united to Austria, and thereafter its possessions passed to the crown of Spain. The whole country, owing to the cruel persecutions of Philip II. of Spain and his attempt to establish the Inquisition, became involved in a series of desperate and heroic struggles. There is no doubt that the Jews played some important part in those At the beginning of the sixteenth stirring times. century a number of Maranos from Spain and Portugal began to arrive in the country. They were looked upon with suspicion, and Charles V., whom Cardinal Ximenes had prejudiced against them, refused them asylum, but they nevertheless managed ,

They were to obtain a footing and to live there. rich and possessed of talent and enterprise, and evidently ingratiated themselves with the people, with whom they sided in their struggle against the hateSeveral attempts were ful Spanish domination. In 1532 and 1549 and again in to expel them. 1550 decrees were issued by the court against harboring Maranos, and citizens were bidden to inform the authorities of their presence but this utterly failed of effect. The duke of Alva, the Spanish governor, was especially severe in the repression of Jewish books. His edict of Feb. 15, 1570, ordered the expurgation of all errors from heretical books. On the advice of Arias Montanus and others, a list was prepared of such passages as ought to be expurgated, and a

made



commission at Antwerp compiled an " Index Expurgatorius," the first of its kind (June 1, 1571). The " Trent Index was published at Liege (Popper, Censorship of Hebrew Books," p. 55). The number of secret Jews who entered the country increased daily. They, moreover, took an active part in the uprising of the Pays-Bas, the happy issue of which was to establish forever the principle of liberty of conThe Jews labored science in the United Provinces. assiduously in the cause of the people, and together

with their brethren in Holland, who already enjoyed contribthe right of publicly professing their faith, uted materially to the success which crowned their

II.—42

Belgrade

They were strenuous supporters of the House of Orange, and in return were protected by it. But in that part of the Pays-Bas which remained

efforts.

under the dominion of Austria, the Jews, in contrast to their brethren in the Dutch Netherlands, were subjected to all the old restrictions and to hateful and discriminating enactments. In the treaty of peace (concluded April, 1609) between Albert of Austria and the States General it was stipulated that the subjects of either, excepting Jews, should be free to pass between the two countries. The intolerance of the archduke affected those only who publicly professed their faith, like the Jews of Amsterdam. In 1670, when the Comte Monterey succeeded the Duke de Feria, the Jews of Amsterdam petitioned for admission to the Pays-Bas. The count was at first disposed to grant the request but clerical interference prevented its adoption. There are few facts to relate concerning the Jews during the eighteenth century. They were still subjected to special imposts and harassing enactments but, for the most part, that did not prevent



them from growing

numbers and in prosperity. and standing came from Germany and Holland and settled in the principal towns of Belgium. Among them were the Landaus, the Fiirths, the Liprnans, the Hirshes, and the Simons, and to the last-named family belongs the

Many

in

families of position

chevalier Jean Henri Simon, a distinguished artist who had an adventurous career in the French RevoUnder the influence of the Revolution, many lution. Belgian writers and publicists took up the cause of the Jews. The most distinguished of these was the Prince de Ligne, who published a memoir defending them from the attacks of Voltaire, and eulogizing their virtues and character. He predicted for them a great destiny if admitted to full civil and political rights. deep impression was made by this publication; and the Jews were soon placed on an equal footing with their fellow-citizens. In 1815 they obThenceforward their potained their full freedom. litical and social advancement and religious development proceeded on similar lines to those of their For the history coreligionists in western Europe. and condition of individual communities in the vari-

A

ous towns of Belgium, see Antwerp, Brussels,

Charleroi, Ghent, Mons. The Jews of Belgium number about

by imperial decree dated Maroh

and were di-

12,000,

17, 1808,

vided into consistorial circumscriptions of nine departments, each comprising a synagogal district. The seat of the Central Consistory is at Brussels

and

official

communities exist at Antwerp, Arlon,

Ghent, Liege, and Namur. Gratz, GescU. der Juden, v. 43; Carmoly, Revue Orientale, i. 43 et seq.; Emile Ouverleau, JVotes et Docude Belgique sous VAncien Regime, in les Juifs ments sot Rev. Et. Juives, vii. 117 et seq., 252 et seq., vlii. 206 et seg., lx.

Bibliography



Monatsschrift, i. 499 et seq., 541 et seq., 264 et seg.; seg.; Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 124.
 * .; ._

D.—G.

BELGRADE

J.

11.

370 et

FR.

Capital of the kingdom of Servia, situated at the confluence of the Save and the DanAfter Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent had ube. captured the city from the Hungarians in 1522, the Turks remained in possession until 1867, when they withdrew their garrison. The House of Austria