The Fettmilch uprising () of 1614 was an antisemitic revolt in the Free imperial city of Frankfurt am Main, led by baker Vincenz Fettmilch. It was initially a revolt by the guilds against the mismanagement of the patrician-dominated city council, that culminated in the pillaging of the Frankfurter Judengasse (Jewish quarter) and the expulsion of Frankfurt's entire Jewish population, the worst outbreak of antisemitism in Germany between the fourteenth century and the 1930s. The uprising lasted from May until it was finally defeated in November through the intervention of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Archbishop of Mainz.
Background
The uprising had its origins in the consolidation of the patrician regime in Frankfurt at the end of the 16th century, along with the discontent of the citizens about the council's mismanagement of the city and the limited influence of the guilds on civic politics. These political complaints of the guilds were intertwined with anti-semitic sentiment from the beginning.
Outbreak of disorder
The unrest began on 9 June 1612, when the citizens and guildmasters demanded that the privileges of the city be read out publicly by the city council () before the election of the new emperor, Matthias, as had been customary in earlier times. This had last occurred 36 years earlier, before the election of Matthias' predecessor Rudolf II. The city council denied the citizens' demand, leading to rumours that the council was planning to withhold information from them about the tax exemptions that would be awarded by the new Emperor.
Moreover, the citizens wanted a greater say in civic government. The 42-member city council was dominated by the 24 members from the "patrician" families belonging to the society. This was the part of the Frankfurt patriciate who had a noble lifestyle and lived off ground rents rather than from commerce or trade. Alten Limpurg was opposed by another patrician society , which contained the city's wholesalers, and shared the remaining 18 seats with representatives of the artisans' guilds. This arrangement of seats was fixed. Furthermore, there were no general elections; voting only took place when a particular councillor resigned or died, in order to select his successor.
The guildmasters were also pushing for the establishment of a public cornmarket in Frankfurt, in order to bring about lower grain prices, and a decrease in the interest rate charged by Frankfurt's Jews from 12% to 6%. The Calvinists were demanding an equal civic position to that of the Lutherans and would later support the uprising in greater numbers than them. In addition to these concrete but very diverse demands, there was a general discontent that had been brewing for decades about the perceived self-servingness of the council, which had begun referring to the citizens as "subjects" in its public pronouncements.
The antisemitic aspect of the uprising owed something to the merchants, craftsmen, and others who were in debt to moneylenders in the Frankfurt Jewish quarter, the Judengasse. They hoped to get rid of their debts by getting rid of their creditors.
The citizens' contract
In the conflict about reading of the privileges, the shopkeeper and gingerbread-baker Vinzenz Fettmilch, who had been a citizen of the city since 1593, was the guildmasters' spokesman. After being rebuffed by the council, they turned first to the prince-electors and their representatives, who were present in Frankfurt to hold the election of the emperor, and finally to the new emperor himself, when he arrived in Frankfurt for the coronation. Initially, the electors and the emperor refused to get involved in the internal affairs of Frankfurt. But when the guilds formed a committee to negotiate with the council, Matthias established a commission to arbitrate the dispute.