A yellow badge, also referred to as a Jewish badge is a mandatory mark or a piece of cloth of specific geometric shape, worn on the outer garment in order to distinguish a Jew in public. It is traditionally associated with the persecution of Jews. In some countries at times a badge was accompanied or replaced by identifying garb or hat. In the Middle Ages clothes worn by different groups of people were regulated by sumptuary law.
The Jewish Encyclopedia article on the Jewish badge[1] cites D'Ohsson's 1854 "Histoire des Mogols"[2] and Lane-Poole's 1901 "History of Egypt" [3]:
The idea of such a discrimination seems to have been derived from Islam, in which the dress of the Jews was distinguished by a different color from that of the true believer as early as the Pact of Omar (640), by which Jews were ordered to wear a yellow seam on their upper garments. This was a distinct anticipation of the Badge. In 1005 the Jews of Egypt were ordered to wear bells on their garments and a wooden calf to remind them of the golden one.
In the Dhimmi dress codes, forcing all Jews to wear a yellow badge, were sometimes — but not always — enforced, so that dhimmis would be visibly distinct from Muslims. The practice is not found in the Qur'an or hadith.
Timeline
- 717
- Possible date of the Pact of Umar which stipulates that Christians (and by implication also Jews) living in Muslim lands are required to wear distinctive clothing. Although there are questions about the status of this document as a historic source, it appears that in seventh century and eighth century Iraq and Syria non-Muslims might be required to wear distinctive marks, such as metal seals fixed around their necks. [4]
- 807
- Abbassid Caliph Harun al-Rashid orders Jews to wear yellow belt, blue for Christians. [5]
- 850
- A decree of the Abbassid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil, reported by the tenth century historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, requires Christian and Jewish subjects to wear honey-coloured hoods and belts of a particular type. Distinguishing marks are also prescribed for their slaves. [6]
- 1005
- Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim, orders Jewish and Christian residents to wear bells on their garments and a "golden calf" (made of wood) around the neck when bathing with Muslims. [7]
- 1058
- Start of less tolerant policy towards Christians and Jews by the Seljuk authorities in the Abbasid empire. Existing laws imposing distinctive dress are enforced. Non-Muslims in Baghdad are forced to wear signs on their dress.[8]
- 1085
- Non-Muslims are required to wear distinctive signs on their turbans.[8]
- 1091
- Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadi decrees that the "non-believers" had to wear yellow headgear and girdles of various colors, and a sign of lead around their necks to show they had to pay the poll-tax. Women had to wear shoes of different colors, such as one red and the other black.[8]
- 1121
- A letter from Baghdad describes decrees regulating Jewish clothes: "two yellow badges, one on the headgear and one on the neck. Furthermore, each Jew must hang round his neck a piece of lead with the word dhimmi on it. He also has to wear a belt round his waist. The women have to wear one red and one black shoe and have a small bell on their necks or shoes." [9]
- 1215
- Fourth Lateran Council headed by Pope Innocent III declares: "Jews and Saracens of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress." [10]
- 1219
- Pope Honorius III issues a dispensation to the Jews of Castile.[1]
- 1222
- Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton orders English Jews to wear white band, two fingers broad and four long. Later the color was changed to yellow.[1]
- 1228
- James I orders Jews of Aragon to wear the badge.[1]
- 1267
- In a special session, the Vienna city council forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum (a cone-shaped head dress, prevalent in many medieval illustrations of Jews). This distinctive dress is an addition to yellow badge Jews were already forced to wear. [11]
- 1269 June 19
- France. (Saint) Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without a badge (Template:Lang-fr or roue, Template:Lang-la) to be fined ten livres of silver.[12] This regulation is repeated by local councils at Arles 1234 and 1260, Béziers 1246, Albi 1254, Nîmes 1284 and 1365, Avignon 1326 and 1337, Rodez 1336, and Vanves 1368.[1]
- 1274
- The Statute of Jewry in England, enacted by King Edward I, enforces the regulations. "Each Jew, after he is seven years old, shall wear a distinguishing mark on his outer garment, that is to say, in the form of two Tables joined, of yellow felt of the length of six inches and of the breadth of three inches." [13]
- 1294 October 16
- Erfurt. The earliest mention of the badge in Germany.[1]
- 1315–1326
- Emir Ismael Abu-I-Walid forces the Jews of Granada to wear the yellow badge.[1]
- 1321
- Henry II of Castile forces the Jews to wear the yellow badge.[1]
- 1415 May 11
- Bull of the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII orders the Jews to wear a yellow and red badge, the men on their breast, the women on their forehead.[1]
- 1434
- Emperor Sigismund reintroduces the badge at Augsburg.[1]
- 1528
- The municipal board of Venice allows famous physician and professor Jacob Mantino ben Samuel to wear the regular black doctors' cap instead of Jewish yellow hat for two months (period extended later), upon the recommendation of the French and English ambassadors, the papal legate, and other dignitaries numbered among his patients. [14]
- 1555
- Pope Paul IV decrees, in his Cum nimis absurdum, that the Jews should wear yellow hats.
- 1566
- King Sigismund II passes a law that required Lithuanian Jews to wear yellow hats and head coverings. The law was abolished twenty years later.[1]
- 1933–1945
- The Nazi regimes in the occupied countries of Europe force Jews to wear an identifying mark under the threat of death. There are no consistent requirements as to its color and shape: it varies from a white armband to a yellow Star of David badge.
- 1940
- The Danes undertake heroic efforts to shelter their Jews and help them escape from the Nazis to neutral Sweden. A popular legend portrays king Christian X of Denmark wearing an armband as he makes his daily morning horseback ride through the streets of Copenhagen, followed by non-Jewish Danes responding to their king's example, thus preventing the Germans from identifying Jewish citizens and rendering the Nazi order ineffective. The Queen Margrethe II of Denmark described the legend: "It is a beautiful and symbolic story, but it is not true… To me, the truth is an even greater honor for our country than the myth."[15][16]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jewish Encyclopedia: Yellow badge
- ^ D'Ohsson, "Histoire des Mogols," 1854, iii. p.274
- ^ S. Lane-Poole, "History of Egypt," 1901, vi. 126
- ^ Robinson, Chase F. (2005). "Neck-Sealing in early Islam". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Volume 48 (Number 3): pp. 401-441. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
{{cite journal}}:|issue=has extra text (help);|pages=has extra text (help);|volume=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Ye'or, Bat (2002). Islam and Dhimmitude. Where Civilizations Collide. Madison/Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press/Associated University Presses. pp. pp. 91–96. ISBN 0-8386-3943-7.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ al-Mutawakkil's decree of 850 (JVL)
- ^ Roumani, Maurice M. (Summer 2003). ""The Silent Refugees: Jews from Arab Countries"". Mediterranean Quarterly. Volume 14 (Number 3). Duke University Press: pp. 41-77.
{{cite journal}}:|issue=has extra text (help);|pages=has extra text (help);|volume=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c Fatimids and Seljuks: 909 CE - 1100s CE. How Spain Became the Intellectual Center of the Jewish World (jewishgates.com)
- ^ Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews (1987), p.204
- ^ Fourth Lateran Council, Canon 68
- ^ Judenhut (Jewish Encyclopedia)
- ^ Eli Birnbaum. "This day in Jewish History". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
- ^ "A Day in the Life of 13th Century England". BBC. Retrieved 2006-09-05.
- ^ Jacob Mantino ben Samuel, (Jewish Encyclopedia)
- ^ Anne Wolden-Ræthinge, Queen in Denmark
- ^ Did King Christian X of Denmark wear a yellow star in support of the Danish Jews? (USHMM Research Library). Accessed 2006-08-17.
See also
External links
- The Jewish Badge at About.com
- "Wear It With Pride, The Yellow Badge" by Robert Weltsch Juedische Rundschau, No. 27, April 4, 1933
- An Exemplary Response - Denmark
- Rescue of the Danish Jews at auschwitz.dk
- King of Denmark and yellow stars at Snopes.com's Urban Legend website