My question is occasioned by an amusing incident-I was logging on, and another stupid pop-up ad assaulted me-this for a “geneological” site, where you type in your name, and they send you your “coat of arms”, family history, etc. So, I typed in the name “Goldblatt” -and it told me there was no such name listed! So there was (apparently) never a nobleman named “Goldblatt”! Which leads to my question: since Jews were a persecuted minority in medieval Europe (when this heraldry baloney came into being), I take it would be impossible for a Jew to be elevated to the nobility? Yes, i know that some Jews were knighted (for exceptional service to the king),but I don’t think they were ever elevated to the Hereditary nobility (such that their sons would inherit a title). Was there ever an exception?
This reminded me of a book I read a long time ago-it was the autobiography of the late Dr. Theodore Von Karman, the great aeronautical engineer (who did MOST of 20th century aeronautical theory). He was from Hungary, and his father was an educator-because of the father’s exceptional service to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this Von Karman was given a title of nobility (by the Emperor Franz Josef)-hence the “von”.
So, any Jewish counts, dukes, or barons?
What’s your take on this ?;j
The Rotschild barons, obviously.
The Kornfelds from Hungary also bought nobility in the late XIX century, but I don’t remember their titles.
Just curious: any reason you typed in “Goldblatt”? I’ve been trying to track down family members with that last name for years.
Sorry for the hijack.
I also can only think of the Rothchilds. I had two classmatss in school who both had surname’s that started with “Von”. Whether that is all that is needed to indicate nobility I’m not sure but it indicates there might be more.
A case can also be made for the 8th century Counts of Narbonne. I don’t know too much about this, but apparently there was a Theodoric of Septimania, the Judiarch of Narbonne, who was awarded the rule of Narbonne. But there’s some question as to whether Theodoric was ruler of the whole area or just took the title “King of the Jews of Narbonne”.
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pseudotriton, my wife’s family is named Goldblatt. It’s a semi-common name, so they may not be any relations of yours, but you never know! If you’re interested, contact me offline.
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Re the OP: The old (1906) Jewish Encyclopedia - which was recently placed online - has a long article about Jewish coats-of-arms. They also mention a number of pre-Enlightenment instances where Jews were granted titles of hereditary nobility, such as Michael Jesofovich of Brest-Litovsk in 1525, and Jacob Bassevi von Treuenberg in the early 17th century.