ABSTRACT | With the death of the Emperor Karl in 1740, Europe was plunged into war contesting the succession of his daughter, Maria Theresa to the throne of the Habsburg realms. Fought on several fronts, it was in the battles conducted in the lands of the Bohemian Crown, today’s Czech Republic, that Jewish communities suffered the most as rival armies gained, lost and regained territory. When Prague was recovered toward the end of 1744, the Queen ordered the expulsion of Jews from the city in short order. Soon after, she went further and decreed their expulsion from the entire Kingdom of Bohemia as well as neighboring Markgraviate of Moravia. Jewish notables throughout Europe lobbied the various courts allied to the Queen, to intercede on behalf of their brethren and revoke the harsh decrees. While many of these efforts have been chronicled by historians, this lecture seeks to throw light on the life and activities of a unique personality, Baron Diego d’Aguilar, one of the most important shtadlanim, intercessors, of his time.
BIO | DR. MICHAEL KALMAN SILBER, Cardinal Franz Koenig Senior Lecturer in Austrian Studies (retired), Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He earned his PhD in 1985 at Hebrew University under the supervision of Prof. Jacob Katz. He taught at Harvard and was visiting professor at Central European University, Budapest; École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris; Stanford and Yale. He has served as chair of the Dept of Jewish History and was Chair of the Executive Board of the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People over a decade.