Introduction Jews in Poland in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times This article offers an overview of Jewish history and the development of Jewish settlement in medieval and early modern Poland, from the first recorded mentions of Jewish centers in the 11th century through to the end of the 18th century. As in the neighboring countries of Hungary and Bohemia, the Polish monarchs were also interested in Jewish settlement; the privilege of 1264 and its confirmations created the legal framework for this. Jews were involved in the economic and demographic development of Poland. The Jewish percentage of the urban population also grew, and their formative influence was particularly visible in the south-eastern provinces, which found expression in the concept of the Jewish "shtetl". In modern times, Poland-Lithuania also became a center of Jewish scholarship. The crises and wars in the mid-17th century brought an influx of messianic movements. In the 18th century, the impulses of the Jewish Enlightenment and the emancipation of the Jewish population were the subject of lengthy and lively discussion.
Background Article Poland as a Colonial Power? Poland as an object of colonial policy has been much discussed in recent research on the 19th and 20th centuries. But was Poland itself a colonial power in former times? We examine this possibility using two case studies.
