TheArmleder persecutions were a series ofmassacres againstJews inFranconia andAlsace in 1336–1339.[1]
In 1336 a nobleman ofFranconia,Arnold von Uissigheim, claiming that anangel had commissioned him to do so, gathered a band of marauders and pillaged and murdered the Jews. These assassins styled themselvesJudenschläger (Jewbeaters). Somewhat later John Zimberlin, an innkeeper of Upper Alsace, followed the example set in Franconia. He tied pieces of leather round his arms and bade his followers do the same. This gave rise to the nameArmleder ('arm leather'). Their leader was called KingArmleder, and under him they marched through Alsace, massacring Jews in some 120 communities, includingRouffach,Ensisheim,Muelhausen, andRibeauvillé.[1]
Those who were fortunate enough to escape fled toColmar, where the citizens protected them.Armleder, whom success had intoxicated, besieged the city and devastated the surrounding country. The citizens askedEmperorLouis of Bavaria to assist them. WhenArmleder heard that the imperial troops were approaching, he fled toFrance. No sooner had the emperor left the country, however, thanArmleder again appeared. The persecutions soon spread toBavaria,Bohemia,Austria,Styria, andCarinthia.[2][3]
The lords of Alsace, under the leadership of thebishop of Strasburg, formed an alliance (May 17, 1338), the members of which pledged themselves to pursueArmleder and fifteen of his most prominent followers. But it was very difficult to attackArmleder's adherents; and in the following year a knight, Rudolph of Andlau, made an agreement with KingArmleder, granting an amnesty to him and his followers, provided that for the next ten years they would refrain from molesting the Jews. Though attacks ceased for a short time, the Jews, during the ten years ofarmistice, never lived in security; and in 1349 there occurredthe terrible massacres on the occasion of theBlack Death, to which the attacks of Armleder had been the prelude.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gottheil, Richard;Deutsch, Gotthard (1902)."Armleder persecutions". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 120.
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