During the 17th and 18th centuries moneylending still remained one of the Jewish main occupations, but Jews also traded, sometimes simultaneously, in all kinds of merchandise, or they earned their living as craftsmen and artisans. Above all, there was the ascendancy of the Court Jew who, in spite of his fluctuating fortunes, played an important part in the economic administration of the estate of many a duke and king in peace and war.