Manessier de Vesoul

Manessier de Vesoul was “Procureur-général” and “commissaire” of the Jews of Langued’Oyl (central and northern France) during the reign of Charles V (1364 - 1380).

Manessier was native of Vesoul, France, and a member of the family of Héliot de Vesoul, a banker of that town during the early 14th century. When the Black Death occurred in the autumn of 1348, Jews of Vesoul were imprisoned and banished. Manessieer was the one that, in 1359, negotiated with Charles, duke of Normandy (subsequently King Charles V) for the return of the Jews to France and then acted as the financial intermediary between the Jews of northern France and the monarchy – to his own personal profit as well. Once again, in 1374, he secured a further ten-year extension of the Jewish right of residence in France. He and his family had some privileges that other Jews had not. Manessier’s family was exempted from wearing a distinctive badge and had the complete exemption from the payment of taxes.