WENCESLAUS IV°

WENCESLAUS IV° (1361–1419), German emperor from 1378 to 1400 and king of Bohemia from 1378 to 1419; son of Charles IV. Wenceslaus, who was in constant pecuniary need, continued his father's policy of relinquishing his legal and economic rights over the Jews (see servi camerae regis ) in return for financial benefits. After protracted negotiations, on June 12, 1385, he concluded a treaty at Ulm with the swabian league , whereby, for an indemnity of 40,000 florins, any debts to Jews of less than one year's standing were to carry no interest, while the others were to be computed as capital and interest and the total reduced by one quarter. In order to carry out this project, all the Jews in the kingdom were imprisoned simultaneously, their pledges and records were confiscated, and they were thrown on the mercy of the city councils which were given the right to arbitrate in disputes between them and their debtors. This measure, which barely alleviated Wenceslaus' financial needs, caused economic havoc throughout the country. Five years later Wenceslaus arrived at an agreement with the chief princes of his lands, secular and clerical, whereby they were to be freed from all debts to Jews in return for high indemnities. This measure, a severe blow to the cities in possession of the promissory notes given by Jews, was not fully carried out. In 1398 Wenceslaus had to promise that he would not again cancel debts to Jews. Though Wenceslaus offered special rights to the Jews of eger (Cheb) in return for compensation, he was prompted by economic considerations. He acquiesced in the massacres of the Jews in prague and goerlitz in 1389, and tried to profit from them. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Sussmann, Die Judenschuldentilgungen unter Koenig Wenzel (1907); Baron, Social2, 9 (1965), 160f., 202, 318; Bondy-Dworský, nos. 154, 190.