The Gypsies, The Bohemians and The Habsburgs - A Connection Hidden in Plain Sight

"Before Bohemian meant artists hippies and boho it was a name attached to people traveling Europe under the protection of kings."

The history of Jews, Gypsies, Roma, Bohemia and European royal families contains connections rarely discussed together. Roma groups traveling through Europe in the early 1400s sometimes carried safe-conduct documents issued by kings and rulers, allowing them passage through territories controlled by local authorities. The historical use of "Bohemians" for Gypsies also developed from their association with Bohemia and royal protection rather than from Roma origins in Bohemia.

Jewish communities likewise had complicated relationships with European kings, princes and aristocratic families. Jews could be expelled from one territory while receiving protection, settlement rights and commercial privileges from another ruler. Both Jews and Roma therefore became known as outsiders while simultaneously maintaining documented relationships with the political and aristocratic authorities controlling the territories where they lived.

The powerful Esterházy family, closely connected with the Habsburg world, provides an important example. On Esterházy territory at Galánta, Jewish and Roma communities existed under the authority of the same aristocratic family. Historical records show Roma families receiving protection and occupational privileges, while Jewish families received settlement, religious and commercial privileges under Esterházy patronage.

The similarities between historical stereotypes surrounding Jews and Gypsies are also preserved in language. The derogatory expressions "gypped" and "Jewed down" both became associated with financial transactions, bargaining or cheating. These expressions reflect longstanding European stereotypes involving money, trading, outsiders and distrust rather than establishing the actual behavior of either population.

The history of Roma safe-conduct, Jewish protection agreements, the Esterházy family, the Habsburg monarchy and Galánta reveals that Jews, Gypsies and European aristocrats were not living in completely isolated worlds. They participated in the same political, economic and social systems. Following those relationships provides a different way of examining the history of Gypsies in Europe, Jewish history, Bohemia, European royalty, Roma history and the Habsburg world.

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