Medal with portrait commemorating Joseph II’s Edict of Tolerance

This medal commemorates the Edict of Tolerance of 1782. On one side is Emperor Joseph II as an enlightened ruler, on the other there are three “clerics”: in the center a Catholic priest, left a Protestant pastor, and right a rabbi. Joseph II created customized edicts for all crown lands. The top priority was utility for the state, as lists of tolerated Viennese Jews clearly illustrate. They contained people who could boost the economy and could also pay their tolerance tax. The status was not easy to retain and had to be re-applied for every year.