Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe

Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe PDF Author: Haym Soloveitchik
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1802071156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Although Jews were at the centre of commercial activity in medieval Europe, a talmudic ban on any wine touched by a Gentile prevented them from engaging in the lucrative wine trade. Wine was consumed in vast quantities in the Middle Ages, and the banks of the Rhineland hosted some of the finest vineyards in northern Europe. German Jews were, until the thirteenth century, a merchant class. How could they abstain from trading in one of the region’s major commodities? In time, they ruled that it was permissible to accept wine in payment of debt, but forbade trading in it, and they maintained that ban throughout the Middle Ages. Further study in the twelfth century, however, led Talmudists to discover that Jews were only forbidden to profit from trading in Gentile wine if they dealt with idolaters, but that trade with Christians and Muslims was permitted. Nevertheless, the German community refused to take advantage of this clear licence. Using Jewish and Gentile sources, this study probes the sources of this powerful taboo. In describing the complex ways in which deeply held cultural values affect Jews’ engagement in the economy of the surrounding society, this book also illustrates the law of unintended consequences—how the ban on Gentile wine led both to a major Jewish contribution to German viticulture and to the involvement of Jews in moneylending, with all its tragic consequences.

Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe

Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe PDF Author: Haym Soloveitchik
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1802071156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although Jews were at the centre of commercial activity in medieval Europe, a talmudic ban on any wine touched by a Gentile prevented them from engaging in the lucrative wine trade. Wine was consumed in vast quantities in the Middle Ages, and the banks of the Rhineland hosted some of the finest vineyards in northern Europe. German Jews were, until the thirteenth century, a merchant class. How could they abstain from trading in one of the region’s major commodities? In time, they ruled that it was permissible to accept wine in payment of debt, but forbade trading in it, and they maintained that ban throughout the Middle Ages. Further study in the twelfth century, however, led Talmudists to discover that Jews were only forbidden to profit from trading in Gentile wine if they dealt with idolaters, but that trade with Christians and Muslims was permitted. Nevertheless, the German community refused to take advantage of this clear licence. Using Jewish and Gentile sources, this study probes the sources of this powerful taboo. In describing the complex ways in which deeply held cultural values affect Jews’ engagement in the economy of the surrounding society, this book also illustrates the law of unintended consequences—how the ban on Gentile wine led both to a major Jewish contribution to German viticulture and to the involvement of Jews in moneylending, with all its tragic consequences.

The Wine Trade in Medieval Europe 1000-1500

The Wine Trade in Medieval Europe 1000-1500 PDF Author: Susan Rose
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441143149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Wine has held its place for centuries at the heart of social and cultural life in western Europe. This book explains how and why this came about, providing a thematic history of wine and the wine trade in Europe in the middle ages from c.1000 to c.1500.Wine was one of the earliest commodities to be traded across the whole of western Europe. Because of its commercial importance, more is probably known about the way viticulture was undertaken and wine itself was made, than the farming methods used with most other agricultural products at the time. Susan Rose addresses questions such as:Where were vines grown at this time? How was wine made and stored? Were there acknowledged distinctions in quality? How did traders operate? What were the social customs associated with wine drinking? What view was taken by moralists? How important was its association with Christian ritual? Did Islamic prohibitions on alcohol affect the wine trade? What other functions did wine have?

Medieval Work, Worship, and Power

Medieval Work, Worship, and Power PDF Author: Abigail P. Dowling
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040252869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Medieval Work, Worship, and Power: Persuasive and Silenced Voices celebrates Sharon Farmer's significant contributions to the fields of medieval European social, religious, gender, environmental, labor, and interfaith history. This volume explores and builds on Farmer’s influence through 20 chapters organized across five intersecting topics that capture, chronologically, topically, and theoretically, the scope and trajectory of Farmer’s work. These are (1) Saints, Power, and Piety; (2) Gendered Work; (3) Gender and Resource Management; (4) Women’s Agency and Networks; and (5) Interfaith Tensions and Encounters. At the same time, the chapters themselves reflect the ways in which these fields of inquiry are intertwined, many drawing inspiration from the multiple themes that Farmer has explored. Beyond paying homage to a dedicated and influential scholar, mentor, and teacher, this volume represents current and future directions in the field of medieval history, and how scholars are engaging with unexpected sources and interpreting more familiar sources in new, interdisciplinary ways. The volume will appeal to medievalists and early modernists interested in how religion, gender, and status shape human connections to each other and their environment. More broadly, it will also be of interest to scholars interested in historical methods.

Eating at God's Table

Eating at God's Table PDF Author: Jody Myers
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814349560
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
The practice and meaning of kosher Orthodox foodways in sustaining a vibrant and diverse community. How do contemporary American Orthodox Jews use food to create boundaries, distinguishing and dividing groups from each other and from non-Orthodox communities? How does food symbolize beliefs, sustain and grow communities, and represent commitment to God? Eating at God’s Table explores answers and examples from ten years of ethnographic research in the Orthodox enclave in the west Los Angeles Pico-Robertson neighborhood. Author Jody Myers explores the food-centeredness of Orthodox Jewish religious practice and the evolutionary development of today’s demanding kosher laws. Opening with four scenarios based on real observations, Myers illustrates how many Orthodox residents’ religious beliefs and practices around food are integrated into, even inseparable from, their daily activities. While the shared commitment to the kosher diet creates an overall sense of community, Orthodox sub-affiliations in the neighborhood use foodways to construct smaller, intimate communities, and individuals use food to fashion personal identities within the larger group. This rich exploration of kosher Orthodox foodways and their meanings demonstrates the inadequacy of limited or simple definitions of Orthodox Jewishness and offers insight into the religious diversity in American communities.

Cultural Exchange

Cultural Exchange PDF Author: Joseph Shatzmiller
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691176183
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
Demonstrating that similarities between Jewish and Christian art in the Middle Ages were more than coincidental, Cultural Exchange meticulously combines a wide range of sources to show how Jews and Christians exchanged artistic and material culture. Joseph Shatzmiller focuses on communities in northern Europe, Iberia, and other Mediterranean societies where Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries, and he synthesizes the most current research to describe the daily encounters that enabled both societies to appreciate common artistic values. Detailing the transmission of cultural sensibilities in the medieval money market and the world of Jewish money lenders, this book examines objects pawned by peasants and humble citizens, sacred relics exchanged by the clergy as security for loans, and aesthetic goods given up by the Christian well-to-do who required financial assistance. The work also explores frescoes and decorations likely painted by non-Jews in medieval and early modern Jewish homes located in Germanic lands, and the ways in which Jews hired Christian artists and craftsmen to decorate Hebrew prayer books and create liturgical objects. Conversely, Christians frequently hired Jewish craftsmen to produce liturgical objects used in Christian churches. With rich archival documentation, Cultural Exchange sheds light on the social and economic history of the creation of Jewish and Christian art, and expands the general understanding of cultural exchange in brand-new ways.

Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe

Jews and Crime in Medieval Europe PDF Author: Ephraim Shoham-Steiner
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814345603
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 510

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Book Description
The intended readership goes beyond scholars and students of medieval Jewish studies, medieval European history, and crime in pre-modern society.

The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion

The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion PDF Author: Rachel M. McCleary
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195390040
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
In this Handbook, leading scholars demonstrate the application of the economics of religion approach to topics on human capital, the state regulation of religion, economic aspects of religion, and how religious markets function. The chapters also provide a discussion of new data sets and methods of measuring religious participation and beliefs.

The Chosen Few

The Chosen Few PDF Author: Maristella Botticini
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691144877
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.

Christians and Jews in Angevin England

Christians and Jews in Angevin England PDF Author: Sarah Rees Jones
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN: 1903153441
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
The shocking massacre of the Jews in York, 1190, is here re-examined in its historical context along with the circumstances and processes through which Christian and Jewish neighbours became enemies and victims.

Holy Waters

Holy Waters PDF Author: Ryan Lemasters
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040092691
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
This edited volume brings together scholars from across disciplines to examine the relationship between religion and alcohol. It examines the historical, social, ritual, economic, political, and cultural relationship between religion and alcohol across time periods and around the world. Twelve chapters are tied together by two major themes: first, gender identity, and its intersection with religion and alcohol; second, identity construction in religious communities, demonstrating how alcohol can be used as a distinguishing factor for religious, ethnic, and national identity. A key focus of the volume is how alcohol can bridge and divide the point at which the sacred and secular meet. With its interdisciplinary approach and engaging style, this book is an essential resource for undergraduate and graduate students in religion departments and appeals to scholars of material culture, food, and alcohol. Additionally, the book is of interest to professionals in the alcohol industry, particularly those involved in microbrewing and winemaking, who are interested in understanding the historical and cultural contexts of their craft.