The Jews of Rousillon during the Spanish rule (fifteenth century)
were governed by two syndics and a scribe, elected by the community. The
latter levied the taxes due to the King of Aragon. In Burgundy they
cultivated the vines, which was rather singular, for the Jews generally
preferred towns where they could form groups more compact, and more
capable of mutual assistance. The name of _Sabath_, given to a vineyard in
the neighbourhood of Macon, still points out the position of their
synagogue. The hamlet of _Mouys_, a dependency of the communes of Prissey,
owes its name to a rich Israelite, Moses, who had received that land as an
indemnity for money lent to the Count Gerfroy de Macon, which the latter
had been unable to repay. In Vienna, where the Israelites had a special
quarter, still called _the Jews'_

[Illustration: Fig. 358.--Jews taking the Blood from Christian Children,
for their Mystic Rites.--From a Pen-and-ink Drawing, illuminated, in the
Book of the Cabala of Abraham the Jew (Library of the Arsenal, Paris).]

_Square_, a special judge named by the duke was set over them. Exempted
from the city rates, they paid a special poil tax, and they contributed,
but on the same footing as Christian vassals, to extraordinary rates, war
taxes, and travelling expenses of the nobles, &c. This community even
became so rich that it eventually held mortgages on the greater part of
the houses of the town.

In Venice also, the Jews had their quarter--the _Giudecca_--which is still
one of the darkest in the town; but they did not much care about such
trifling inconveniences, as the republic allowed them to bank, that is, to
lend money at interest; and although they were driven out on several
occasions, they always found means to return and recommence their
operations. When they were authorised to establish themselves in the towns
of the Adriatic, their presence did not fail to annoy the Christian
merchants, whose rivals they were; but neither in Venice nor in the
Italian republics had they to fear court intrigues, nor the hatred of
corporations of trades, which were so powerful in France and in Germany.

It was in the north of Europe that the animosity against the Jews was
greatest. The Christian population continually threatened the Jewish
quarters, which public opinion pointed to as haunts and sinks of iniquity.
The Jews were believed to be much more amenable to the doctrines of the
Talmud than to the laws of Moses. Howeve