Fust's firm had produced the Benedictine Psalter, in 1459, the forty-eight-line Bible in 1462, and an edition of Cicero's “De officiis.”

The Jewish community of Mainz, which dates to the tenth century, is noted for its religious education: Rabbi Gershom ben Judah (960–1040),  who taught here, among others, had concentrated on the study of the Talmud, creating a German Jewish tradition.

The Jews of Mainz, Speyer and Worms in the twelfth century had created a supreme council to set standards in Jewish law and education.

The city of Mainz has responded to the Jewish population in a variety of ways, behaving, in a sense, in a bipolar fashion towards them.

Sometimes they have been allowed freedom and have been protected; at other times, they have been persecuted.

The city in 1462 expels its Jews.