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During the height of the 1525 Peasants' War in Alsace, Josel of Rosheim, the representative of the German Jewish community, went to negotiate with the peasants. His aim was to protect the Jews living in the Alsatian countryside, where he himself resided. According to a chronicle he composed in 1547, the negotiation had initially been successful. Although references to this negotiation have been preserved both in Josel's Hebrew chronicle and in his correspondence, housed in local archives, no detailed record of what was said during the conversation remains. 1Previous biographers of Josel have sought to reconstruct his negotiation with the peasants, but their respective analyses were heavily shaped both by the time and place in which they lived, and by the particular methodologies in use at that time.2This article reassesses Josel's negotiation using the tools of histoire croisée, exploring the episode as a case study that highlights the necessity of studying Jewish history in a broader context.
The Context: Josel of Rosheim and the Peasants' Rebellion in Alsace
In late 1524 and 1525, the peasants in the Holy Roman Empire rebelled, seeking various rights, including the right to fish and hunt, the right to use the woods and meadows, the right of each community to appoint its own preacher, the elimination or reduction of certain taxes, and the abolition of serfdom. 3Although this was not the first peasant rebellion in western Europe, the Peasants' Rebellion of 1525 is one of the most famous, both because of its importance in the larger context of the Protestant Reformation, and because of the romance and significance that it held for subsequent generations. 4
The Peasants' Rebellion began in southwest Germany and Alsace, spreading eastward to central Europe.5The violence reached a high point in the spring and summer of 1525. While the peasants' specific demands varied from region to region, the most popular iteration, the Twelve Articles, was printed and widely read. The articles presented a mix of economic and religious demands, employing Protestant rhetoric to argue that the Bible granted the peasants the rights they desired. 6
Despite the Protestant overtones of the peasants' claims, their cause was not championed by reformers such as Martin Luther. Luther ultimately argued that...