by Arik Solomon, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

The following analysis is a micro-historical fragment drawn from my wider research into the Jewish communities of the Merseburg region during the late Middle Ages and early modern period. While my overarching project investigates the complex political, economic, and social forces at play before, during, and after the expulsion of the Jews from the diocese in 1514, this article isolates a critical precursor from 1493. Far from being a random jurisdictional feud, this earlier power struggle between Bishop Thilo von Trotha and Archbishop Ernst illustrates the precarious nature of Jewish settlement in the region and how, decades before the final expulsion, the community’s fate was used as a pawn in a broader struggle for territorial sovereignty.







