From 1348/9-1477, the Jews of Alsace were expelled from the cities in which they had lived throughout the Middle Ages. While many opted to leave the Empire for centers in Eastern Europe and Italy, some Jews remained, moving to the towns and villages in the countryside. By the 1470's, the majority of Alsatian Jews lived in rural areas. Quotas often dictated residential policies in towns and villages, so it was not uncommon to find one or two Jewish families per village/town.

Although Jews were not permitted to return to the cities until after the Thirty Years War or even later, rural Jews maintained a relationship with the magistrates and citizens of various Alsatian cities. Primarily, this was an economic relationship, as Jews entered urban marketplaces as moneylenders, wine and horse sellers, and as doctors. Though such activity was at times illegal, Jewish commerce in the cities of Alsace persisted throughout the early modern period. City magistrates also protected the Jews of the countryside in various times of strife, including the Peasants Rebellion in 1525, and the Thirty Years War.

The following documents detail the relationship of rural Alsatian Jews, as represented by their communal leaders, with two Alsatian cities, Strasbourg and Hagenau.

The first text is a letter from Josel of Rosheim to the magistrates of the city of Strasbourg, dated 1534. This letter is a draft of a contract between the Jews of the province of Hagenau, in Lower Alsace, and the city's magistrates^[1]. Jewish moneylenders had been charging what the magistrates deemed to be overly high usury. In addition, some Jews had been pursuing unpaid debts and claims in the Imperial Chamber Court at Rotweil, which charged high legal fees. Because the city held the right of non appelando, an exemption from imperial courts even for cases involving appeals, among its privileges as a free imperial city, litigation between Jews and Strasbourg's residents in an imperial venue was seen as all the more threatening to the city.

In response to the usury and to the court cases at Rotweil, the city banned all Jewish commerce under its jurisdiction. (An example of a law from 1530 banning Jewish commerce is included on the website. While this law was not directly responsible for the formation of the contract, it is referred to by Josel in the body of the contract.)

In order to preserve the relationship between Strasbourg and local Alsatian Jews, and to ensure that Jews could continue to do commerce in the city, Josel drew up this contract, which was eventually signed by the Jews of Lower and Upper Alsace.

The third and fourth texts document Jewish requests for refuge during wartime. The first text is from Josel to Strasbourg's magistrates in 1534, the second, from Lazarus of Surbourg, a Jewish communal leader, to the magistrates of Hagenau, a free imperial city in Lower Alsace, in 1575.

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