Pressburg 1438: Jewish Conversion in the Aftermath of the Vienna Gezerah

After the expulsions of 1420/21 in the persecution known as the ‘Vienna Gezerah’, Pressburg in the Kingdom of Hungary (today Bratislava in Slovakia) became a place of refuge for a number of Jews from the Duchy of Austria. They found shelter there under the protection of King Sigismund of Hungary until his death in 1437, when Duke Albrecht V of Austria—the very ruler who had initiated the Gezerah—was elected the new King of Hungary. Although the Gezerah had been characterized by forced baptisms ordered by the duke, Albrecht’s religious motives for the persecution have recently been called into question. This article examines two individual cases from Pressburg, which are documented in letters from 1438, with regard to Albrecht’s attitude towards Jewish conversion after his coronation and explores the extent to which the Pressburg sources allow conclusions to be drawn about his motives during the Gezerah.