| Title: Forordning for Hertugdammet Siesvig angaaende Joedernes Eedfaestelse = Verordnung fuer das Herzogthum Schleswig betreffend die Eidesleistungen der Juden. Frederiksborg Slot, den 4 Marts 1857.
Danish decree in Danish and German regarding the Jewish Oath for the Duchy of Schleswig, issued by Frederik VII (1808-1863), king of Denmark. If Jews have to take oaths they have to take them in public courts in the supervision of a Rabbi, and they have to swear on a designated Pentateuch edition. An epilogue to the degree elaborates on the importance of an oath and on oath formulations with respect to saying the truth.
The Jewish oath or "More Judaico" was a special form of oath, accompanied by certain ceremonies, which Jews were required to take in European courts of law until the 20th century, and which was often intentionally humiliating or dangerous. More Judaico is Latin for "onlby the Jewish custom." The question of the trustworthiness of the Jewish oath was intimately connected with the meaning that Christian authorities assigned to the Kol Nidre prayer recited by Jews on Yom Kippur. Most medievallawbooks and statutes contained elaborate provisions and formulae for the More Judaico. Many provided for concomitant degradations and insults, such as having Jews take their oaths while standing on a pigskin.
For many centuries Schleswig was either integrated into Denmark or was a Danish fief, and ruled by the kings of Denmark. Schleswig only became part of Germany after the Second War of Schleswig in 1864. |
