CHARLES V°

CHARLES V° (1337–1380), king of France, 1364–1380. In 1349, when he was still dauphin, he granted the right of residence to 11 Jewish families in Dauphiné. In 1358 or 1359, while he was regent for his father John II, then a prisoner, he authorized the Jews expelled in 1322 to return to France. The money the Jews had to pay in entry rights (14 florins for every couple) and in yearly residence rights (7 florins) enabled Charles to pay the ransom claimed by the English for releasing his father. He granted the Jews generous privileges, confirmed in ordinances of 1370 and 1372: they could acquire houses and cemeteries; they were not judged in civil or criminal courts by the local judges but by the king himself or their conservateur, an official specially appointed for this task, or else his delegates; they could decide themselves on the expulsion of particular Jews; they were not to be tried for any anterior crime; they were authorized to follow any occupation, especially moneylending at a specified rate of interest; they were not to be compelled to attend church services; their books and sacred scrolls could not be seized; and they were authorized to organize themselves in communities, to elect representatives, and to levy domestic taxes. The right of residence, at first limited to 20 years, was twice renewed, for six and ten years respectively, long before it was due to expire. For the second prolongation granted in 1374, the Jews paid the king the sum of 3,000 gold francs. In 1378, in return for a loan of 20,000 francs, the king exempted the Jews of Languedoc from quitrents and local tariffs. In 1379, a royal ordinance protected the Jews from attempts to deprive them of monies owed to them when their debtors had died. Shortly before his death Charles ordered the commissioners sent to Languedoc to investigate also the conduct of the conservateurs and the judges appointed set over the Jews. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Prudhomme, in: REJ, 9 (1884), 244ff.; S. Luce, La France pendant la guerre de cent ans… (1890), 163ff.; Ordonnances des Roys de France… 4 (1734), 438ff.; 5 (1736), 490ff.; 6 (1741), 44ff., 339ff., 468ff. (Bernhard Blumenkranz)