[lit-ideas] Re: Plock and the Golden Bulls (was J.S. Bach on Fitba') and the Ashkenazi Jews


On Jun 25, 2008, at 8:03 AM, wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:
Whom to root for?? What kind of a question is that tovarish? And hope for a 
Germany-Russia final.

Returning to preparations for today's game, and maybe a bit of tennis,
And how would we prepare for such a final? Re-viewing "Enemy at the Gates"? Or something about Tannenberg?
BTW, Wikipedia on the first battle of Tannerberg, aka the battle of Grunwald and the battle of Zalgiris, (could plausibly be called the battle of Lodwigowo, or the battle of Zielone Pole) reads like Terry Pratchett wrote the first draft of the script.
The Teutonic Order received the territory of Prussia via golden bulls from the Emperor and papal edict, which gave them effective carte blanche as owners of a new Christianized state of Prussia, instead of the pagan native land of Terra Prussiae. They later received the territory of further north Baltic coastal regions of what are now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and showed every sign of further expansion. The Order of Dobrin was established by Konrad of Masovia previously and had received land around Plock. They were just a handful and were therefore ineffective, so by papal order they were combined with the Teutonic Order. They built many towns, including Culm. The Prussians fought against takeover of their territory. In order to further their war efforts against the (pagan) Lithuanian state, the Teutonic Knights instituted a series of crusades, enlisting support from other European countries. In 1385 the Union of Kreva joined the crown of Poland and Lithuania, and the subsequent marriage of Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania and reigning Queen Jadwiga of Poland was to shift the balance of power; both nations were more than aware that only by acting together could the expansionist plans of the Teutonic Order be thwarted. Jogaila accepted Christianity and became the King of Poland as Władysław Jagiełło. Lithuania's conversion to Christianity removed much of the rationale of the Teutonic Knights' anti-pagan crusades. It can be said the Ordenstaat lost its raison d'etre.
Is there a connection between Zielone Pole in old Polish and Polska, does anyone know? Is Poland the land of green fields?
Looking at the Wikipedia entry on Poland, I found a photo of a wisent and was reminded of Simon Schama's, "Landscape and Memory." Also of a question that had occurred to me earlier in the week, "Why did Sephardic Jews who were displaced by the inquisition choose, in addition to the Netherlands, Poland as a new homeland? Because the Ashkenazis were already well established?" 

This only tells me what happened after they settled:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement
This tells me that Ashkenazi Jews get their name from the Rhineland, which is a long way from Poland. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews
So how was it that Ashkenazis went from three percent of the world's Jewish population to ninety two percent in 1931?
Paul Johnson, "A History of the Jews" marks the beginning of the Polish Jewish population growth in the sixteenth century: 1500 20 to 30 thousand Jews in Poland (total pop. of Poland 5 million), by 1575 the Polish population as a whole had risen to seven million whereas the Jewish population had risen to 150,000, "and thereafter the rise was still more rapid."
What did he think was making this growth possible? Grain growing that fed the expanding population of Western Europe. "The Polish magnates [snip] owned or conquered the land. The ports were run by German Lutherans. The Dutch Calvinists owned most of the ships. But the Jews did the rest. They not only managed the estates but in some cases held the deed as pledges in return for working capital. Sometimes they leased the estates themselves. They ran the tolls. They built and ran mills and distilleries. They owned the river boats...[snip]...they were in soap, glazing, tanning and furs..." How? "A new kind of credit instrument, the mamram, emerged and got rabbinical approval. In 1607 Jewish communities in Poland and Lithuania were also authorized to use heter iskah, an inter-Jewish borrowing system which allowed one Jew to finance another in return for a percentage. This rationalization of the law eventually led even conservative authorities...[snip]...to sanction lending at interest."
So? Booming economy and a good system of credit. Answer enough...but it doesn't mention what role soccer played. 

May Walter's serve be faultless.

David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon

Other related posts: