»The Honorable and Wise, Our Dear Friend David Steuss« – Tracing the Career of Medieval Austria’s Most Successful Jewish Financier

Abstract The Viennese Jew David Steuss can safely be considered the richest and most successful Jewish moneylender in late medieval Austria. Sources on him consist mainly of business documents, most of which are debt instruments or related charters resulting from credit transactions. This article analyzes the information that can be gleaned from this kind of documentation with regard to David Steuss’ background and family connections, his social and business networks in Austria and abroad, his relationship with the territorial rulers, his general standing in Jewish and Christian circles, and his descendants’ handling of his legacy. Thus, the documentation of his exceptional career demonstrates the potential of sources on Jewish moneylending as a basis for research beyond the scope of purely economic history.