Moses Joseph Aschaffenburg, zum Schwan

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He is first mentioned with wife, children and grandchildren in Mainz on 13-7-1515, when “Mosse Goldschmidt mit sampt seiner hausfrauwen, seinem sone Isaac, Lazaro seinem tochterman, auch desselben hausfrauw und kinder” was given permission to live there as Judenbürger (Hausmann 2013; Marzi 2018, p. 71). In 1522 he moved to Frankfurt (Linnemeier and Kosche 1998, p. 312), following his marriage to Bele bat Natan Katz, the widow of Gumpel. The couple moved into the house of Gumpel, the Goldener Schwan.

It is not known where Mosse lived before 1515. It is generally believed that he came from Nuremberg, when the Jews there were expelled in 1498. Dietz (1988, pp. 143-144) writes that “Mosche Goldschmidt and his wife Bela, were at the Goldener Schwan. It would seem that this family was one which, like many other Jewish families, trekked from Nuremberg at the end of the fifteenth century. From Nuremberg they went to various towns such as Esslingen, Weinsberg and Bopfingen in the Neckar region and thence to such places as Bacharach and Boppard on the Middle Rhine. They finally became domiciled in Frankfurt. Mosche Goldschmidt could be one and the same person as Moses Itzig from Bopfingen who was living at the Weisse Rose in 1506. Moses Itzig was the son of the wealthy Itzig from Bopfingen who was living at the Pforte, but moved to Mainz in 1515. The Goldschmidt family was connected with the Levite family of Buchsbaum, which originated from Nuremberg. E. Mummenhoff, the Nuremberg archivist, compiled a monograph of German handicrafts. On page 55 of this, he states that in 1490 the sons of one Mosche from Schaffhausen had learned the goldsmith’s craft and that he had required the permission of the council to do so. Could this Mosche from Schaffhausen be one and the same as Mosche Goldschmidt who died in Frankfurt in 1531?” However, Mosse Goldschmidt cannot have been a son of Itzig from Bopfingen, because the holy name of his father is Yosef, whereas the evidence that he came from Nuremberg is shaky. Ettlinger (ca. 1955) also thinks that Mosse is identical with Mosse von Schaffhausen, who became citizen of Nuremberg in 1461, because in 1490 two sons were being trained to become goldsmiths. The names of the two sons are mentioned in 1495: Ysaac and Mair. He also mentions a son-in-law called Gyhiel, who became citizen in 1467 (Stern 1894-96, pp. 82, 84, 87, and 309). However, this would imply that Mosse was at least 85 years old when he died and that he married his second wife when he was almost 75 years old, because he must have been at least fifteen years old in 1461. Moreover, it is unlikely that Mosse had a daughter who was already married in 1467. This would imply that Mosse was born before 1437 (=1467-15-15) and that he died Frankfurt at the age of 94 (=1531-1437) at least, assuming that he and his daughter were at least fifteen years old when they married and that this daughter married in the same year (1467) that her husband became a citizen. Finally, if Mosse von Schaffhausen was a goldsmith, why did someone else have to train them?

References: Alexander Dietz [1988 (1907)], The Jewish Community of Frankfurt: A Genealogical Study 1349-1849 (Camelford, UK: Vanderher Publications). Schlomo Ettlinger (ca. 1955), Ele Toldot. Ulrich Hausmann (2013). Wohnen und Wirtschaften der Mainzer Juden im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, Unveröffentlichte Magisterarbeit, Universität Mainz 2010, verbesserte und erweiterte Ausgabe. Bernd-Wilhelm Linnemeier and Rosemarie Kosche (1998), "Jüdische Privatkorrespondenz des Mittleren 16. Jahrhunderts aus den Nordöstlichen Westfalen." Aschkenas 8: 275-324. Werner Marzi (2018), Die Judenpolitik der Mainzer Erzbischöfe und Kurfürsten (Oppenheim: Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag & Media). Moritz.Stern (1894-96). Die israelitische Bevölkerung der deutschen Städte - Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Städtegeschichte. III. Nürnberg im Mittelalter. Quellen: Erste und zweite Abteilung (Kiel: H. Fiencke).

Emigrated to Frankfurt in 1509