Hoffman, Christoph (d. 1534; pseudonym.: Christophorus Ostrofrancus)

De Ratisbona metropoli boioariae et subita ibidem judaeorum proscriptione.

      Silvan Otmar; impensis Ioannis Wagner, Augsburg, Germany 1519 - [21] ff.; 155:210 mm Pamphlet; in Latin; colophon: ¿Augustein edibus Siluani Otmar. Impensis Ioannis wagner ciuis Ratisboneñ. excusum, die.X. Iunii, Anno domini.M.D.XIX.¿ This account of the tragic expulsion of the Jews from Regensburg in 1519 was written by Christoph Hoffman (Hofmann), a Benedictine monk at St. Emmeran in Regensburg. Hoffmann wrote many historical studies and often used the pseudonym Christophorus Ostrofrancus, reflecting that he was born in Rotenburg an der Tauber, a city in Franconia. He died in 1534. Regensburg (in Latin: Ratisbon) was one of the religious and cultural centers for German Jewry in the middle ages. Many members of its community were engaged in trading, especially with Slavic countries. Regensburg Jews were under imperial protection. The general decline and impoverishment of Regensburg, combined with growing social tensions between the upper and lower classes of the citizens, made the years 1475 to 1519 a period of increased hostility against the Jews. When Emperor Maximilian died in January 1519, the citizens of Regensburg seized the opportunity and forced the Jewish population¿which then numbered about five to six hundred¿out of the city within a few days. About five thousand gravestones were removed from the Jewish cemetery and used for buildings. The synagogue was razed within hours and replaced with a chapel that was later used for pilgrimages. Before the synagogue building was destroyed, the Jews of Regensburg removed the building¿s interior, Torah scrolls, and other holy books. They especially took great care to remove wall inscriptions, e.g., those with the name of God, by scraping them off or painting them over so that the name of God would not be dishonored by non-Jews. Hofmann describes this particular incident in a factual and rather understanding manner: ¿Judaei . . . sanctuarium . . . ipsi probahanabant, ne Goim . . . illud dehonestarent¿; this was in contrast to other chronicles of the event, which describe the Jewish reaction as ¿coarse.¿ This 1519 account of the events in Regensburg is one of the earliest printed (factual) accounts related to Jews in German-speaking countries written from a historical perspective. Most of the early printed books related to Jews are of an anti-Semitic nature or are related to conversion and religious topics, lawsuits and other legal matters. SOURCES: VD 16 (H 4132). Holzmann-Bohatta: Deutsches Pseudonymen-Lexikon, p. 204. Kobolt, Anton-Maria: Baierisches Gelehrten Lexicon. 1795 (via DBA). Straus, Raphael: Regensburg and Augsburg. Philadelphia, 1939. Straus, Raphael: Urkunden und Aktenstuecke zur Geschichte der Juden in Regensburg, 1453-1738. Muenchen, 1960: Urkunde 1040. Meyer, Isaak: Zur Geschichte der Juden in Regensburg. Berlin. 1913. Wittmer, Siegfried, 1920-Juedisches Leben in Regensburg vom fruehen Mittelalter bis 1519. Regensburg, 2001, p. 152. [Attributes: First Edition]