1665

ADMISSION TO THE SHOPKEEPERS GUILD

Unlike Amsterdam, where since 1636 Jews were forbidden to run or own a shop, in The Hague this was allowed. Aron Morijno was the first Jew to become a member of the Sint Nicolaas Guild (the guild of shopkeepers), he ran a shop near the ‘Kikforsbrug’, the Frogs Bridge. The guilds started here in the Middle-Ages. They regulated the production and sale of goods for the local market, but they also had a prominent social function. They were closed fraternities, where in some of their documents one finds fiercely discriminating statements about outsiders, Jews, strangers and foreigners. They were open to Christian men only, so the acceptance of Jewih shopkeepers to the Sint Nicolas Guild was extraordinary. The system of Guilds in Holland survived until 1818!