Methodology

What Counts as an Official Anti-Jewish Act

For the purposes of this database, an official anti-Jewish act is an official measure that was in force, even if only briefly, and that explicitly targeted Jews in its wording, purpose, or legal effect, whether Jews alone or Jews together with other groups. Such acts may include laws, decrees, regulations, proclamations, administrative orders, church canons or bulls, ordinances, writs, and final court rulings.

The core concern of the project is not private prejudice or social hostility in general, but formal acts issued or enforced by recognized authorities. These acts may restrict residence, work, worship, movement, property, legal standing, taxation, civic participation, or physical security. In some cases, they may also impose expulsion, forced conversion, confiscation, or other forms of formal discrimination or persecution.

Why the Database Uses the Term “Anti-Jewish”

The database uses the term “anti-Jewish” rather than “antisemitic” because many of the acts included in the corpus long predate the modern term antisemitism, which emerged only in the late nineteenth century. More importantly, the database covers a very long historical span, and the meanings, contexts, and forms of hostility toward Jews have varied significantly across periods. Anti-Jewish therefore serves here as a broader and more historically workable designation for the corpus itself.

This terminological choice does not deny the importance of later debates about antisemitism. Rather, it reflects a methodological decision: the database is designed to document official acts directed against Jews across different historical settings, including periods in which such measures clearly existed, even though the modern category and vocabulary of antisemitism had not yet emerged.

Scope and Exclusions

As a rule, a record is included when there is sufficient historical basis to identify a formal act directed against Jews as Jews. This includes acts directed exclusively at Jews, as well as acts that target Jews together with other groups, provided that the anti-Jewish element is explicit and historically significant.

By contrast, the confirmed public corpus generally does not include every hostile or discriminatory act in which Jews may have been affected indirectly. Measures aimed only at one individual or a small number of named persons are usually excluded, as are acts whose anti-Jewish character is unclear, indirect, or highly conjectural. The purpose of the project is not to assemble every possible instance of anti-Jewish hostility, but to document a historically defensible corpus of official acts.

Structure of the Records

Each record is organized around a consistent set of core historical fields, including date, description of the act, issuing authority, geographic scope, quotation, historical source, and notes.

The aim is to present each act in a form that is both historically precise and accessible to non-specialist readers. The description summarizes what the act does in practice. The quotation presents a short passage that captures the act’s relevant anti-Jewish content. The notes provide limited context, clarification, or interpretive caution when needed.

Where possible, the project distinguishes clearly between the content of the act itself and later scholarly explanation. Interpretation is not avoided, but it is meant to remain transparent and proportionate.

Dates, Geography, and Historical Context

The database seeks to identify the most precise date that can reasonably be established for each act. In some cases this is a full date; in others, only a month, year, approximate date, or broader chronological range can be determined. When uncertainty remains, it is indicated rather than concealed.

Historical geography is also treated with caution. Many acts originated in empires, kingdoms, principalities, dioceses, provinces, or cities whose borders do not correspond neatly to present-day states. For that reason, records generally prioritize the historical geography of the act itself, while present-day equivalents may be used selectively when they help orient the reader. Such modern equivalents are only approximations and should not be treated as exact historical translations of earlier political space.

Sources, Quotation, and Translation

Whenever possible, records are based on identifiable historical sources. In some cases, the text of an act survives in an official edition, archival reproduction, legal compilation, or contemporary publication. In other cases, the act is known through later editions, scholarly reconstructions, translations, or reliable historical studies. When modern editions or secondary works are used to establish the text or meaning of an act, this should be understood as part of the source history of the record.

Quotations are intended to present the most relevant and historically meaningful portion of the act, rather than the entire document. Some long texts are therefore quoted selectively, and ellipses may occasionally be used for brevity. Where an English translation is provided, it may rely on an existing published translation, a modern edition, or a translation prepared for the record. Because translation can affect tone, nuance, and legal meaning, records aim to indicate uncertainties or limitations where these matter.

Records Under Review

The public database includes confirmed records that meet the project’s current evidentiary and editorial standards. At the same time, additional materials remain under review. Some records require further work on date, source, quotation, translation, attribution, or legal classification before they can be included in the confirmed public corpus.

For that reason, the database should be understood as an ongoing scholarly project: substantial, searchable, and carefully curated, but still open to revision, correction, and expansion as research continues.

The database does not claim to be exhaustive, and additional acts may still be identified through ongoing research. Users who believe that an act is missing are invited to contact the project through the Contact & Feedback page