During the 1920s much attention was paid to the history of Jews in Germany since the Enlightenment and the subject became popular again, with renewed emphasis, after 1945. Many historians were deeply committed to understanding and explaining the tragic path that led from the emancipation of the Jews to the Holocaust. For a long time, much less work was done on the history of Jews in Germany in earlier periods, particularly the period between the late Middle Ages and the Enlightenment. This book is the first comprehensive account of Jewish-Gentile relations in central Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. It lays particular emphasis on cultural, economic, social, and political issues, and incorporates much new research.