Manuscript Document Signed by King Jan III Sobieski of Poland Appointing the Jew, Simon de Pool, as Royal Agent and Negotiator

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Warsaw, 1677. Very Good. The Centrality of the Jew in the success of European CommerceThe Appointment of an Amsterdam Jew as Polish Royal Agent during the Dutch Golden Age(POLAND/DUTCH JEWRY) Manuscript Document Signed by King Jan III Sobieski of Poland Appointing the Jew, Simon de Pool, as Royal Agent and Negotiator. Warsaw: May 12, 1677. Signed “Jan Krol” [Jan, the King]. Text in Latin. Document measures 8 1/8 inches x 13 inches. Royal paper seal affixed to bottom of page. Age toned, marginal repairs to small abrasions.Translated from Latin the document reads:"We, Joannes, guided by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia, Prussia, Masovia, Sanoglia, Kiev, Volhyn, Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia, and Czernigov, announce in this writ to anyone to whom it may concern, in general and in particular"That We have examined with a sympathetic look in detail the practical talent and industriousness in business management that has been revealed by the Jew [in the original Latin text: proxeneta, the term for agent in Spanish, the language of the Jew under discussion] Simon de Pool, agent, resident of Amsterdam, and he has called upon us to testify to his diligent effort and is craving and eager to be worthy of reward and good payment, deserved for his great excellence, and We extend our royal quality for generosity, in order to employ him in the area of our agreement and We appoint him as our agent and negotiator of contracts in the city of Amsterdam, which We determine and establish in Our Present writ. It is given and granted to the aforementioned to carry out our business with full energy and potential and everything that may be done in our affairs in order to do them and execute our undertakings…"For the information of all to whom it may concern and anyone who learns about it, and particularly the noble and notable mayor of Amsterdam, or anyone who is of high status, honor and office, We request to receive willingly the aforementioned Jew Simon de Pool in the role of real and actual servant and negotiator of contracts, and the force of our privilege will preserve him from all who may question [his authority] so that they should maintain it. In turn take friendship and good will to every place that you can…”The freedom enjoyed by Amsterdam’s Jews during the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century was remarkable, certainly when compared to that of Jews almost anywhere else in Europe where persecution, discrimination, and ghettos were commonplace. During the Eighty Years War (1568-1648), in which the Dutch gained independence from Spain, the Jewish immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula were regarded with some suspicion, fueled by traditional Christian prejudice against them, but this did not cause the Protestant burgomasters to lose sight of the commercial importance of the Sephardim. The international connections and knowledge of languages so often present among educated Jews at this time, made the Polish King’s appointment of Simon de Pool not only a wise decision for Poland but also provided an additional impetus to Amsterdam’s economic growth.In 1579, the founding document of the States of Holland provided the Dutch Republic with a considerable degree of religious freedom, with its declaration that "everyone shall be free in religion and no one shall be persecuted or investigated because of religion." For centuries the commercial city of Amsterdam was a haven for refugees of many persuasions. In addition to the Jews, Catholics and Protestant dissenters benefited from the city’s climate of tolerance. Without the constraints of a ghetto or distinguishing dress that were common elsewhere, Jews lived among the non-Jewish majority in the same neighborhoods. By 1674, the 5,000 Ashkenazi Jews in Amsterdam already outnumbered the Sephardim two to one, but this did nothing to surpass the cultural and economic prominence the Sephardim would maintain for another 100 years.

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