The sixteenth century brought change to most of the western world. The general upheaval being felt throughout Europe affected the lives of the Jews, as well as the Christians. The Middle Ages had ended and the Renaissance begun. Jewish communities from all over Europe were being expelled. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was in need of settlers and the nobility of Eastern Europe, soon to become part of Russia, was in need of services that the Jews could provide. National boundaries were not yet set between countries. The different groups of Jews found conditions at each region or locality dependent on the current ruling nobility. This paper will look in a general way at the conditions found by Jews living in the Ottoman Empire, in the sixteenth century, the area of the city of Safed, and the conditions that were found along the border of the Ukraine, in what was soon to be Russia.
It is impossible to discuss the state of the Jews, in the sixteenth century, without acknowledging the effect of wider events upon the group. The Reformation saw the expulsion of large numbers of Jews from European cities and towns. Martin Luther, after trying to convert the Jews to Christianity called for their expulsion and for Christians to remain separate from them (Israel, 1985, p. 11). These expulsions of Jews from their homes meant that there was a large population which enterprising nobles could entice to relocate to their lands. The nobility of Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine did this. The nobility were not being kind, they wished the financial services and craftsmen which were included within the larger Jewish population.
Allowing a Jewish community to settle on their land would increase their profits accruing from their holdings. The Ottomans were also aware of the economic advantages of relocating Jewish settlements into their areas. The Governor of Cyprus repeatedly tried to gain permission to move a Jewish settlement,...